(no subject)

[kradeelav]

something that's always puzzled me is why the indie music scene is so much more ... chill? discourse-wise than indie comics/fandom/etc. 

i know that's maybe false and the only reason why I don't see the drama is not being in it - but i can't help but compare the difference between Hozier's arsonist character doin' his thing, or having a song subtly about domestic abuse in a not-clear-cut sort of way versus some hapless indie comic artist getting fuckin axed to the ground by antis/discourse for depicting not even that much in creations? good example being the latest hissy fit over - eh fuck it, i don't give a shit.

but like what happened there? why is it that music has kept that intensity and sort of edgelord vagueness?  is it more ... communal, in emotions (thus making it easier to sympathize with)?  I was going to say 'because it can't be experienced out of context, music is music' - except you can take lyrics out of context? I don't really think it's a 'who makes it' sort of thing either 'cause you get plenty of folks from all walks of life making both, if you dig deep enough?

basically whatever music has there in terms of intense edgelordy ~connection~ minus the discourse i want that lol

Comments

[queenlua]

random off-the-top-of-my-head theories:

* the moral panic over music was the 90s, see everyone freakin out about rap and Eminem or whatever. everyone got it out of their system and now if you complain about music you are Irredeemably Square

* due to the nature of the form, people tend to pay attention to "do the instruments/beat/chords/etc sound good" more than the specifics of the lyrics—like, i think we've all had the experience of "oh i love that song!" and someone else is like "oh yeah that's the one about the serial murderer in the 1970s" and then you gotta be like WHAT? WHO? WHEN? i never actually LISTENED to the lyrics that hard jeez

* in the case of Hozier, probably because i don't think you count as an indie musician anymore if i heard you on every damn radio for a few hot months there :P i'm pretty sure Too Big To Cancel is definitely A Thing. (the comic scene is probably a smaller market overall than like, top 40 radio? so it's harder to get Too Big To Cancel)

* commenting on hip-hop/rap specifically since that's probably the genre i listen to the most—part of it may be historic? like, rap had the reputation for bein about Shootin Guns Doin Drugs Disrespectin' Women, and while that's definitely not all that rap is about, not even close to it, ahhh, like, that is a big part of rap history, it always has been, and while there is interesting dialogue about that from all sides, it more often takes the form of like... specific beefs rappers have with other rappers, songs responding to other songs, etc. like you can't throw out every rapper who has ever said a Problematic Thing because you'd be throwing away way too much history/influence for the landscape to make any sense.