[FA Worldmusic] relativity

[Steve Hochman]

oh, and that Carolina Chocolate Drops album is terrific... great spin  
on old-timey music from a long, oft-overlooked tradition.

and Steve Riley is always amazing. He was just here as part of the  
Li'l Band o' Gold swamp pop supergroup in a recent rare visit to L.A.  
recently...


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On Aug 14, 2007, at 3:14 PM, Bill Bragin wrote:

> I'd definitely count bluegrass and American roots music in world  
> music -
> and globalFEST has included artists like the Carolina Chocolate Drops,
> Ollabelle and Steve riley & the Mamou Playboys for that reason.
> (speaking of which, last night we presented  NY based Black string  
> band
> the Ebony Hillbillies, on a bill with the Lovell Sisters - two groups
> that are worthy of greater recognition)
>
> And Abba - absolutely Swedish, and part of a Swedish pop tradition  
> that
> continued with Ace of Base and songwriter max martin (Britney Spears,
> *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys...)
>
> And just as relevent as talking about the Beatles or Radiohead or  
> Oasis
> or Blur in the context of their Britishness.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: fa-worldmusic-bounces+bbragin=publictheater.org at folk.org
> [mailto:fa-worldmusic-bounces+bbragin=publictheater.org at folk.org] On
> Behalf Of Steve Hochman
> Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 6:06 PM
> To: Dmitri Vietze
> Cc: fa-worldmusic at folk.org
> Subject: Re: [FA Worldmusic] relativity
>
> I have no problem with an act's country of origin figuring
> prominently in promotion, especially if its relevant to the nature of
> the music. Heck, even if it's only tangential. Is Abba's music
> particularly Swedish? but there's no reason not to identify them as
> being from Sweden.
>
> The problem is lumping so many things that have no relation together
> in one big category, as well as treating anything in that big ol'
> jumble as different and separate from "western" or "first world"  
> music.
>
> And from the other side of the coin, there's a built-in snobbishness
> about the "authenticity" of music being the most important thing, as
> well as excluding things that somehow don't fit what often is
> arbitrary criteria. For example, why isn't bluegrass music just as
> much "world" as Bulgarian folk music or anything else?
>
> -----------------------------------
> Check out my column:
> http://www.spinner.com/category/around-the-world/
> -----------------------------------
>
> On Aug 14, 2007, at 3:03 PM, Dmitri Vietze wrote:
>
>> Good and bad are in the eyes of the beholders. And what each person
>> perceives as good or bad includes a lot of data that has less to do
>> with
>> issues of technical skill, production quality, and even musical
>> passion, and
>> more to do with subconscious factors. Including what friends listen
>> to,
>> personal and cultural identity, what people think they are
>> "supposed to
>> listen to" to fit into their affinity groups, and some wacky song
>> they heard
>> on the radio when they were a kid and their parents turned it off,
>> etc. So
>> in the end, if we eliminate labels and categories, how do we talk
>> about
>> music?
>>
>> I still think there is a place for organizing music and presenting
>> it in a
>> framework. I think it is interesting how emotional some people get
>> about how
>> you should or shouldn't categorize music, how certain music should or
>> shouldn't be grouped together. (Heck, why call it music? Let's  
>> call it
>> sound.) The point is that with so much sound out there, it is
>> helpful to
>> create entry-points for newcomers to a particular sound, and  
>> reference
>> points for talking about sound when playing the sound is not  
>> feasible.
>>
>> The question is how to create entry-points for people in (North)
>> America to
>> listen to music in other languages, with other rhythms, harmonic
>> structures,
>> timbres, etc. In an ethnocentric USA, is it really the same for
>> global music
>> forms as it is for other forms of music? How many of you in the so-
>> called
>> "world music" field have promoted a concert, sold a CD, etc. without
>> mentioning the country of origin of an artist. Isn't that just  
>> another
>> category?
>>
>> Much respect,
>>
>> ===> Dmitri!
>> music at rockpaperscissors.biz
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Phil Ballman" <philballman at gmail.com>
>> To: <fa-worldmusic at folk.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 1:42 PM
>> Subject: Re: [FA Worldmusic] FA-Worldmusic Digest, Vol 18, Issue 14
>>
>>
>>>> What I meant is I'm not a fan of music categorization.  It
>>>> results in
>>>> arbitrary boundaries that encourage pre-conceived biases and
>>>> discourage open-minded listening.
>>>
>>> Bill, I'm with you 100%. Forget categories; just listen. I hate
>>> the term
>>> "world music", it's awful.
>>>
>>> My man Duke Ellington perhaps put it best:
>>> "There are only two kinds of music: good and bad."
>>>
>>> Phil
>>> -- 
>>> Mondo Mundo Agency
>>> www.mondomundo.biz
>>> 347-535-0927 office
>>> 347-365-0926 cell
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> FA-Worldmusic mailing list
>>> FA-Worldmusic at folk.org
>>> http://www.folkserv.net/mailman/listinfo/fa-worldmusic
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