Hello Everyone,
Man, what a time to be alive right now. In the past month I've found myself caught up in all the newest albums and all the political events in the US. And at the same time, my mind and heart have been experiencing some deep thinking and deep feelings about many things pertaining to music, songwriting and people. But before I get to that, I will just give an update on my Top 101 albums of 2016 list.
There are still many many albums I have yet to listen to and I don't think I will be able to listen to every single one. With that said, my current list is up to more than 90 albums, and with just a few more releases to go in the next month and a half, I might actually be able to get the list up before New Years. I will also say that there is a big difference with this year's list compared to last year. Don't get me wrong, there were many great albums in 2015 and a good amount of them I still listen to. But man, 2016 just has too many good albums. From Bowie to Beyonce, Bob Weir to David Crosby, Common to De La Soul, Drive-By Truckers to Dillinger Escape Plan. Many veteran artists have been releasing some of the best albums of their careers while there are also some great work from the more contemporary artists. Unlike last years list, I can say with confidence that I recommend every album that will appear on this list. I think these albums deserved to be heard and revered by all music lovers and music fans. So you can look forward to that.
Now I don't usually do this often, but I would like to drop some serious dialogue about things that I've been feeling strongly about in the last couple of months that relates to more than the music I've been listening to recently. As some of you may know I am a songwriter. I have been writing songs for about 10 years now and I am currently in a songwriting masters degree program. Over the past few years I have developed my songwriting abilities through working with others, exposing myself to many types of music, living through many experiences, and learning how to communicate my thoughts and feelings in a profound yet sincere manner. The key word is sincerity, and we'll come back to that in a little bit.
As a songwriter, I find myself surrounded by many other musicians who are striving to become successful artists in their own right. Some are turning out some great work and I greatly admire them. With that said, I tend to be a very harsh critic of other people's work if I don't care for it. Of course, to each their own and I might not have the same tastes as other musicians, but I do often find other artists' music uninteresting. Usually this is because of one of two reasons, or both.
One, I find the music to sound boring. This has less to do with the melody and chord structure and more with the arrangement and the vocal performance. For example, it can get tedious when a band uses very echo-y and reverb-y sounds on every song they perform with very little dynamics. Also, I find many many vocalists, both male and female, to sound very whispery and soft and quasi-operatic. It's like they're all trying to copy Bon Iver, Lana Del Rey, Regina Spektor or a wimpy version of The Tallest Man On Earth. At least those vocalists have an edge to their voice that makes it a bit more soulful and present.
Two, I find the lyrics very disinteresting. I know there is an art to performing songs with simple lyrics, and I'm not against simple lyrics. What frustrates me are lyrics that are either self-absorbed or pretentious, especially when written in cliches. In other words, lyrics that say something without actually saying anything. Lyrics that make it difficult for audiences to get immersed in the story or the emotional journey because either they are not in on what's going on or it's not clear. And I'm not talking about what we are supposed to feel after we hear the song, because that's where interpretation comes into play. I'm specifically talking about what we are supposed to feel when we hear the first few lines. In listening to a songwriter, you ask yourself - "what's the point?" or "what's the point of not having a point?" (purposeful irony as opposed to irony for the sake of irony).
Of course, I understand that this is all subjective and everyone is going to have their own opinions about these things. And this is not to say that I am not open-minded about listening to other people's music. I do my best to listen to all styles of music from all backgrounds and have good things to say about it all. It's just that at times I can't help but have these other critical thoughts in the back of my mind that can be difficult to express because they don't seem constructive or fair. Nonetheless, the thing that I look for the most in a song is sincerity. Does the song mean the message or story it is attempting to convey, and in extension, is the artist conveying sincerity?
We are at a point where ethos of songs like "Shake It Up", "Work" and "Chandelier" are just starting losing their relevance in the culture of popular music. Most pop music today tends to sound either ironic or cynical sounding, saying either that things are inevitably going to go to shit so you might as well live it up today by partying or talking about yourself with self-deprecating humour. These are all concepts that make up the term "post-modernism"–weird for the sake of being weird or ironic self-awareness. We are starting to see this trend more in television series, moving away from the parody, cynicism and self-deprecating humour of Family Guy, The Simpsons, Seinfield, and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and moving towards qualities of sincerity and human connection that exists in current shows like Bojack Horseman, Community, The Office, Steven Universe, Rick & Morty, and Parks & Recreations. The video below explains this in great detail using these examples.
I believe this trend is beginning to take place with music. I feel that in these times that we live in, inspiration can be taken from many different places that can make for interesting songs that can elicit an emotional impact. Writing purely about nature, existential rumination, cynicism, and heartbreak is passe. That's why there is so much great music coming out recently. The songs are creative, thought-provoking, relevant and sincere. Listeners relate to new music from David Bowie, Chance The Rapper, Esperanza Spalding, Snarky Puppy, Common, Drive-By Truckers, David Crosby, and Beyonce because they are creating music that is present and forward thinking. They are not relying on their established morals. They are seeking more creatively–new sounds and relevant lyric topics such as mortality, racism, empowerment, identity, sexuality, and expressing love and empathy. Then you also have artists like The Monkees, Bob Weir, Vulfpeck, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Van Morrison who may not be breaking new ground musically or striving to communicate messages based on those serious topics, but are still creating music with enough subtlety that still makes it present and current, and listeners will still find it relatable and full of sendimentality, sincerity, reflection, and occasionally some redemptive optimism.
“What passes for hip cynical transcendence of sentiment is really some kind of fear of being really human, since to be really human [...] is probably to be unavoidably sentimental and naïve and goo-prone and generally pathetic.” - David Foster Wallace
Songwriters tell stories to convey emotions. We are troubadours. We are bards. We can write about social issues (prejudice and misogyny for example), growing up, family, friends, lovers, places, imagination, revolution. We can write about real people going through real struggles. We can SAY we are happy, sad, angry or afraid, and we can SAY it with raw soul and grit, holding nothing back. Now more than ever is music/art so important. Harsh realities are setting in and we should write about that too. Being broke, jobless, hopeless, uncertainty of where the journey will take us. All of these ideas and subjects are as relevant as ever. The times are a-changing and we must grow and adapt with it while also striving to communicate ideas of change that makes the world a better place not just for a few individuals, but for every single human being on earth. Say something and let it be heard.
Thank you!
–MT
