Listener apathy

So it seems like listener apathy is rampant these days. I suppose it has been for a while, except that maybe it's getting worse of late. If emotional investments in music are minimal, and it's no surprise that so too are the returns. I think the mainstream has well and truly gotten to the stage where "it says nothing to me about my life" (mostly*). (Apologies, I'm going to start ranting again) It's all too easy to see why people like AS consider rock to be the stuff of instant gratification, the stuff of no substance; I would too if I sat through an hour of the top music videos of the moment.

And yet, I should be careful when thinking about what it means to be an apathetic listener these days. When I was in the car with A, he started talking about music and what he likes. He asked S about Radiohead's Kid A, and S made the point that it took maybe three listens to find songs that one liked. A agreed, and added "But who has the time anymore to take so long just to find something you like?". Indeed! I can see where he's coming from; it also makes me realize that people like me can make just about anyone seem apathetic. But it seems obvious enough that there has to be music that requires multiple listens for one to appreciate, simply because there aren't enough geniuses around who can create songs or albums with immediate resonance (you might think POB is a very "obvious" attempt at this, but I think actually trying to make such a thing work is a far more subtle proposition).

Since I'm on the subject of music and the public's reaction to it, I've often thanked my lucky stars that I managed to somehow get past peer-pressure listening. I suppose I left VM before it set in, and in KH, well, I guess I didn't hang out with the kind of crowd who cared about these kinds of things. I may as well put forth the wild speculation that one of the reasons that our Zeppelin friends can be viewed with such contempt by some is precisely because there are those who are so religious in their admiration of the group, that it's only natural that a group of the populace decide to completely reject this stance, sometimes letting this emotion get the better of them. Due to this reverence, Zeppelin seem to be the kind of band for which, unfortunately, people can have a gut-level dislike against. I'd probably be in the same boat had someone come up to me and said "'Little Deuce Coupe'**? The hell's this ****? Listen to 'Stairway', that's real music". The funny thing is, there is a point there, inasmuch as 'Stairway' is arguably a better-crafted song that 'Coupe'. But the attitude, man, the attitude just puts me off (the phrase "real music" does too, but again I would feel like saying it is an appropriate statement in some cases, just not this one - yet how do you draw the line!?!). If I had an experience like that (and, from what I've heard, there are dopes who go around talking like this), lord knows what sort of listener I'd be now.

I dislike this sort of musical elitism, and yet funnily enough, I sound so terribly elitist in this post. Yet I can't help it. I don't look down on those who follow the mainstream, but I do feel that those who treat music as a means of instant sensory pleasure are missing out on something. But hey, they get their kicks from other things, so I should just leave them be.

The funniest thing out of this whole experience is that now I've got them apathy blues. Not listener apathy, but rather genre apathy. I'm unable to muster the interest in the entire post-punk scene, something that I thought was an ideal milking ground for a music lover. I seem to want to retreat to the comforting realm of singer-songwriters. Since I remember reading about John Prine a while back, I now feel like getting one of his albums. Heck, all I've listened to of late is country-rock, the most maligned of all genres. The thought of Joy Division (even though I love Unknown Pleasures), The Fall, The Jam and others just makes me somewhat clammy, and I haven't a clue why.

* There's talk of the Arctic Monkeys album being really good. And it's #1 on the charts!

** My musical collection come class XI was a Beach Boys greatest hits CD. It amazes me even now.