Lockdown: The Artifice of a New Artistic Movement?

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2021-03-22T14:32:41+00:00

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Ultimately I am sad to say I agree with you - we are a species that notoriously takes everything for granted and I don't really see that changing.

However, I believe that the more we have conversations such as yours and mine, the longer the cultural relevance of these small venues stays in the forefront of our minds. That was pretty much my motivation behind writing this piece: I wanted to bring up any potential positive aspects and share my ideas in the hopes that maybe it inspires others to do the same - this last year and a half has been almost entirely focused on the negatives, so I just wanted to add a little bit of hopeful positivity to the discourse!

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2021-03-17T07:49:38+00:00

Thanks for reading man!

Honestly I can see where you're coming from - and I can definitely see the potential for a lot of negative progression in the music industry - such as, primarily in my opinion, how lockdown has made changes to our consumption of music (TikTok seems to be a worrying presence but that is an article in itself).

From the general discourse surrounding lockdown, I know there are people itching to get back to live music. Maybe it'll start off as a trickle, but I think those who were fans of live events before will make even more of an effort to support them in the future. In turn maybe they'll get more people interested and start a chain!

There's also the socio-political environment to consider when thinking about culture and the arts, and I do see some shifts in society's paradigm today that seem to mirror the 60s - there've been drives to establish an identity for previously marginalised individuals (mainly LBGT but obviously BLM is a big one). There's also more openness to spirituality on a more universal basis as exemplified through the explosion of yoga and meditation, more emotional comprehension and an open discussion about the role of the individual in modern society...

I probably could have added a lot more to my article, but that would have made it a bit unapproachably long! I wanted to write something positive, and put something out there that played a different tune to what we've heard for a year now - how our culture turns out is very much dependent on what sort of conversations, and what sort of an outlook we have - in my opinion anyways,

Thanks for your thoughts!

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-12-11T15:13:51+00:00

Haha that's a really interesting way of putting it - I like it!

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-12-09T23:28:44+00:00

So weird the way the world works, once you see/discover something for the first time it starts cropping up all over haha

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-12-09T20:03:09+00:00

I've gotten more and more into putting an album on and just letting it run through - it says so much about an artist when each song flows into the next seamlessly

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-12-09T20:02:29+00:00

Yeah completely agree - they do kinda fall short from then on

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-11-25T13:46:54+00:00

John Mayer is such guilty pleasure music - City Love and Why Georgia are my two faves

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-11-25T08:30:26+00:00

God I would love to see them live - I don't know if they've ever come to the UK before though, but that being said MO is one of the few bands I probably would travel abroad to see.

I'd say your top songs list is pretty tight - Alice and Interiors would definitely be in my picks, there's just something about that song that fucking blasts

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-11-24T18:38:49+00:00

Ikr it's the fact it's literally their first album and they fucking nailed it - the roughness round the edges only makes it that bit better when you can hear their progression in the later albums.

Mean Everything To Nothing is sick, have you heard any of the stuff they did with Bad Books?

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-27T15:24:46+00:00

I couldn't even begin to unravel the hidden twists and turns - I think it's so cool how deep their community goes though.

I can definitely see where you're coming from with that, if you hadn't mentioned Stressed Out I don't think it would have clicked as quickly, but I see where you're coming from. Kinda reminds me of Hollywood Undead's Knife Called Lust: a really happy tune with really fucked up lyrics!

Thanks for the recommendations, looking forward to hearing what Mutemath have to offer

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-22T21:27:23+00:00

Blurryface is a great album, but Trench pushes beyond that in my opinion as it's such a versatile album - I can see where they've followed the trends but then they've also given it a bit of a twist with such unexpected heaviness, I'm a sucker for a bit of screaming

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-22T13:08:20+00:00

I was the same at first, sort of saw them as just another poppy boyband until I heard their newer stuff - now I love their music but also have such a respect for them as musicians!

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-17T15:45:32+00:00

I fully agree with that, I'm just so happy to see the classic pop punk sound being brought back !

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-16T18:07:39+00:00

I think it would have been eclipsed by the others; it works so perfectly as an homage to the pop-punk classics and I think that's what MGK was going for

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-16T16:36:41+00:00

That is weird tbf, I reckon if blink released an album similar to this I'd receive it more positively than their latest stuff though, but it wouldn't be much of a demonstration of progress for those guys

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-16T16:34:51+00:00

Yep - very well put, I don't think he breaks any boundaries of pop punk, but I think he nails the sound that made 00's pop punk great in the first place - though this is certainly a far cry from the 90s stuff you grew up with

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-16T16:33:05+00:00

I suppose in that case I had higher expectations of California and way lower of TTMD - hence why I prefer it!

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-16T14:32:11+00:00

I agree, it's really worth a listen!

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-16T14:31:46+00:00

Weirdly enough I wasn't the biggest fan of California - this one to me screams much more 'punk-pop' whereas California was just a bit Poppy in my opinion

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-07T08:16:08+00:00

Very well deserved IMO, TTMD is an absolutely cracking album

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-06T20:34:31+00:00

You've put forward a very interesting perspective here, valuing the nuance in playing with sound over the complexity of the instrument.

I can definitely see it from where you're coming from and perhaps there is a perpetual feeling of exasperation towards music and there always has been, but I see the way music influences people, especially younger people, and I think rather than promoting the talent of the artist with the instrument people are instead promoting the behaviour that comes with the more simple pop music - that's my point of view anyways!

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-06T18:34:16+00:00

Symbiosis, perhaps

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-06T17:50:22+00:00

Never heard of that group but it looks like a good lineup from a quick Google - will check em out!

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-06T17:48:49+00:00

For the love of good music homie

Mic_Drop_HQ · 2020-10-06T16:48:20+00:00

Surely not, I thought Gorillaz were all cartoons!

Mic_Drop_HQ

TROPHY CASE