Most songs that have been hits this year have been fairly difficult to distinguish from the other. Luckily however, the folks at the Grammy Awards didn't let the real musical innovators feel empty handed. Arcade Fire took the Album of the Year nod, Lady Antebellum received Record of the Year and the wonderfully talented Esperanza Spalding defeated, among others, Justin Beiber for the Best New Artist Award. So, not too shabby at all! But how is it that this wasn't reflected in the charts? Did the Grammy 'committee' get it wrong? Are the fans just tired of singer-songwriters? Are those of us, who consider ourselves music oficianados, being snobby? Or, maybe, people felt they needed cheering up after a couple of years of bad news about the economy etc. Maybe, just maybe, the fans just wanted to let their hair down and not pay much attention to lyrics and musical riffs and licks?
It's hard to turn around and say that people are 'dumb' and that 'they have no idea about "real" music' when all you have to do is take a look at what has gone down this year! 2011 has been one of the most depressing years in quite a while, despite some of the successes seen in some countries. If we look back to the UK and US charts shortly after 9/11, we can see that the majority of the next year's chart toppers were covers by TV show created Barbie and Ken dolls, as well as the 'nce-nce' zingers that dominate nightclubs around Europe and the US. All but a few pieces of genius by the likes of Eminem and Ashanti, the year would have been, for the beatniks and hipsters, lost.
It would seem that when we see a onslaught of bad news smashing us in the face, we zone out from the little indulgences in life that make it oh so sweet. We take a step back, turn off our receptors and return to the music that doesn't require us to think too hard about "what that song means to me". We want to let loose and have fun. And the 'nce-nce' and Eurotrashy tunes seem to make for a good backing track that we don't need to worry about. In otherwords, it's harmless.
What do I mean by harmless? It's quite simple actually. Most of us have a song that has resonated with us, for whatever reason. Sometimes it's the song you had your first kiss to. It was the song that was playing when someone told you they loved you for the first time. Maybe it was the song that made sense to you when you lost someone. To give a better example, I recently watched a clinic hosted at Berklee College of Music by John Mayer (admittedly a bootleg copy, sorry Berklee). In the earlier part of his clinic, Mayer spoke about 'defining expectations' or, what do musicians hope to achieve from making their music? Do they want fame or fortune, do they want to sell millions of records, or do they want people to relate to their music and screw the rest? This was an interesting approach that I hadn't really thought about before. At the end of the day, what is more important, to be successful in terms of sales or successful in terms of bringing meaning to people? The flipside is that the same can be said for the music fan. What matters most, having a 'taste' in music that is truly insightful all the time or being able, when times are tough, to say "f**k it, I want to feel good about what is going right in life and not dwell on the bad"? This I believe is what we are seeing when we look at the charts. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's just a theory.
For those of you who are still disheartened by this years apparent 'lack' in 'great' music. Fear not, there are still plenty of musical geniuses still hard at work preparing what will surely be gems for us to hold on to. I believe that 2012 will bear great gifts. It has been said in numerous sources that the aforementioned John Mayer will be releasing a new album in the earlier half of the year. An album that is believed to be a step aside from his usual pop-rock endeavors. John Legend has confirmed that he is working on a new studio album. Rodrigo y Gabriela are due to release their next album, "Area 52" by the end of January. We can also expect releases from Paul McCartney, Estelle, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Mumford & Sons, Rufus Wainwright and the young and brilliant Kiernan McMullan.
So let's chin up a bit because, who knows, maybe since things have begun to pick up around the world, so too might the charts. Perhaps people will go back to listening to an album while holding the cover in their hand or smoke a cigarette while thinking about 'that line' that got to them on some level. But while 2011 has but another 24hours left in it, maybe we should stop worrying for a day and join the party! Next year is going to keep our musical feelers very occupied!
SmokingHotCoffee
PS Thanks to everyone that has emailed about the blog - you guys are awesome! I'm, luckily, not as busy as I have been over the last few months, so I am really hoping to get to throwing some more stuff up here. I have a few interviews with musicians from the US and Ireland lined up that just might surprise you and introduce you to some stuff I think you'll really like - so stay tuned! And Happy New Year 2012
