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music |
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Hold On To Yourself; by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds |
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I don't quite understand people who complain when artists they like try to go in different directions with their music.
There's something about the phrase “I only listen to their early work” that is just like nails on a chalkboard. I'm not talking about “I preference their earlier stuff, but still have an appreciation for the rest of it, though I really don't like it as much”... no, I'm talking about “Their album sounds different from the first one... SELLOUTS!”
Scenario: If a fan found meaning in a given artist's earlier music then, obviously, they, at some point, were able to appreciate the being of that artist and the way that the artist thought and saw them as quite admirable.
Later disappointment in the artist's career after such a connection is nine out of ten times going to be because A) the fan is an atrocious judge of character with low to nonexistent standards and the musician was never that great in the first place, B) the fan lacks the ability to listen to more than one genre of music or never had a full appreciation for the artist's mind, or C) the fan only liked the artist in the first place for shallow or empty reasons involving the way that liking that artist made them perceived by others, rather than for their own enjoyment and fulfillment (once it becomes unflattering to them to enjoy the artist, they change their tune accordingly—“What? A music video? Everyone knows who my favorite band is now?! Oh, no, I'm not pretentious and underground anymore!”).
From what I have observed, there are very, very few exceptions to this rule.
If you find you are continually disappointed by “sell-outs”, then my advice is to develop some standards, and figure out what you like about the artists that you do. Not every jackass that happens to write a good song is worth admiring to such an extreme, while there are others who deserve more attention paid to the inner-workings of their minds than you probably give them. Dissect the fuck out of the music you listen to, find some connection with it, get in to the artists’ heads, and only esteem the musicians that you find you love in every respect. I mean find the ones that you love for the essence of their work, and not style in which they perform it or the image attached to it. When you find that connection, it's hard to be disappointed. It's also nice to keep in mind that there are no rules to enjoying music... you can take your own meaning, no matter how different it may be from that of the intended one, from whatever resonates something in you. Art, and the meaning that it has for you, is meant to be a very personal thing.
With that said, “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!” was awesome, and I dig Cave's 70's porno mustache, so STFU.
More of my amateur drawings...
( Drawing progression... )
I like this one better than the Eraserhead one, but the shading still isn't completely done yet. I really wish I could take art lessons or something, so that I actually had a clue as to what I was doing as far as technique goes.
Honest opinions appreciated... I know I made the nose far too pointy, and there is something off about the eyes that makes them look more like glasses.
Also, I picked up some of that sticky wall stuff today and was able to get up my posters finally.
( My room... )
And, lastly, I changed my LJ layout again because I am fickle.
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