I want my MTV
Hi folks, for your reading pleasure.... another installment of The Volume! This month we got a whole bucket full of music goodness for ya. We have a review of the new Blackalicious album, some show reviews, a brief glimpse into the wonderful world of Canadian indie music, D'Arcy Ibson's second installment of metal and its sub-genres, and a piece here on what Much Music is turning into. So, for those about to rock, we salute you....
If video killed the radio star, than 12-17 year olds killed any chance that the video star had.
Canada used to have TV stations you could watch music videos on. I remember a time before Jessica AND Ashlee Simpson, before cars got pimped, before people liked to show off their crib, before vast groups of celebrities voluntarily offered up their personal lives for public display (at least in the form of television shows). That time has almost come to pass, it would seem. Today, our nations "music" station fills it programming with these sorts of reality-based television shows. Their sister station follows suit in a more "mature" way, giving us a schedule with shows based on trends, celebrity gossip, scandal, and vh1 specials (which they will repeat at every chance they have for years after the original airing). It is distressing to this writer that there seems to be such a lack of enthusiasm for music videos.
A music video is looked at in two ways: it can be considered an extension of an artists or bands art or can be looked at as a promotional tool. Either way you look at it, videos should be very important to an artist. The problem with this shift is that with these celebrity and reality shows, it seems celebrity status and cleverly marketed personas are almost more of an important promotional tool than a music video. No one cares about Tommy Lee's video, but they do care about how they can watch him go to college.
With this trend becoming more accessible than music videos, the need to make a solid video seems not so important. This will make art suffer, since one of the things a video needs to be good is a good song, and if target audience doesn't care about the video will it start caring less about the song? Again, I could be so bold to say that no one cares about Tommy Lee's last single, but they do care about what classes he's skipping and what other zany college pranks he might be up to, week after week (note - I realize Mr. Lee isn't the best example of an artist with much integrity to being with, but you get my point.)
With decreased importance placed on video and more importance placed on the crafted celebrity persona, there is no way that art could not suffer. (I wonder, how many more people know Xzibit as the host of Pimp my Ride rather than as a rapper? I wonder if thats what Xzibit really wants. Poor, poor Xzibit). Now, Much Music does have specialty channels one can order that definitly play music videos. Vibe, Retro and Loud are good alternatives (though I have noticed with Loud at least, they seem to stick to pretty safe bets. Top hits get played a lot. And I mean A LOT. People I know with a real affinity for "loud" music, ie - punk, hardcore, metal, are usually a little disappointed with Loud. They aren't usually interested in the flash-in-the-pan hits that get played 20 times a day on that station. Kind of weak for a "specialty" music channel. But that's just my opinion). And still, this option is only for people who want to pony up the extra cash. In my opinion, a perfect world would include a channel for music videos available on basic cable.
Some might say I'm a dreamer.... but really, it's easy for someone in my position to chastise Much Music since I am not their target demographic. Thus, 12-17 year olds (and anyone with a ravenous appetite for celebrities and their personal lives) killed the video star.
But there is still hope. For all us indie rawkers, the nations music station still throws us a proverbial bone once a week with The Wedge. Also, if you are lucky enough to have Rogers On Demand, you can access a whole bunch of videos from a slew of indie artists. Go to the "Rogers On Demand" channel, go to the "Free Zone" and click on "indie music" to have your pick of indie videos by Broken Social Scene, Controller. Controller., Stars, Comeback Kid, Joel Plaskett, and many more. And for those of you without the fancy cable, I would suggest you turn to the internet. Videos are still out there, it's just getting a little more tricky to find them.
If video killed the radio star, than 12-17 year olds killed any chance that the video star had.
Canada used to have TV stations you could watch music videos on. I remember a time before Jessica AND Ashlee Simpson, before cars got pimped, before people liked to show off their crib, before vast groups of celebrities voluntarily offered up their personal lives for public display (at least in the form of television shows). That time has almost come to pass, it would seem. Today, our nations "music" station fills it programming with these sorts of reality-based television shows. Their sister station follows suit in a more "mature" way, giving us a schedule with shows based on trends, celebrity gossip, scandal, and vh1 specials (which they will repeat at every chance they have for years after the original airing). It is distressing to this writer that there seems to be such a lack of enthusiasm for music videos.
A music video is looked at in two ways: it can be considered an extension of an artists or bands art or can be looked at as a promotional tool. Either way you look at it, videos should be very important to an artist. The problem with this shift is that with these celebrity and reality shows, it seems celebrity status and cleverly marketed personas are almost more of an important promotional tool than a music video. No one cares about Tommy Lee's video, but they do care about how they can watch him go to college.
With this trend becoming more accessible than music videos, the need to make a solid video seems not so important. This will make art suffer, since one of the things a video needs to be good is a good song, and if target audience doesn't care about the video will it start caring less about the song? Again, I could be so bold to say that no one cares about Tommy Lee's last single, but they do care about what classes he's skipping and what other zany college pranks he might be up to, week after week (note - I realize Mr. Lee isn't the best example of an artist with much integrity to being with, but you get my point.)
With decreased importance placed on video and more importance placed on the crafted celebrity persona, there is no way that art could not suffer. (I wonder, how many more people know Xzibit as the host of Pimp my Ride rather than as a rapper? I wonder if thats what Xzibit really wants. Poor, poor Xzibit). Now, Much Music does have specialty channels one can order that definitly play music videos. Vibe, Retro and Loud are good alternatives (though I have noticed with Loud at least, they seem to stick to pretty safe bets. Top hits get played a lot. And I mean A LOT. People I know with a real affinity for "loud" music, ie - punk, hardcore, metal, are usually a little disappointed with Loud. They aren't usually interested in the flash-in-the-pan hits that get played 20 times a day on that station. Kind of weak for a "specialty" music channel. But that's just my opinion). And still, this option is only for people who want to pony up the extra cash. In my opinion, a perfect world would include a channel for music videos available on basic cable.
Some might say I'm a dreamer.... but really, it's easy for someone in my position to chastise Much Music since I am not their target demographic. Thus, 12-17 year olds (and anyone with a ravenous appetite for celebrities and their personal lives) killed the video star.
But there is still hope. For all us indie rawkers, the nations music station still throws us a proverbial bone once a week with The Wedge. Also, if you are lucky enough to have Rogers On Demand, you can access a whole bunch of videos from a slew of indie artists. Go to the "Rogers On Demand" channel, go to the "Free Zone" and click on "indie music" to have your pick of indie videos by Broken Social Scene, Controller. Controller., Stars, Comeback Kid, Joel Plaskett, and many more. And for those of you without the fancy cable, I would suggest you turn to the internet. Videos are still out there, it's just getting a little more tricky to find them.
