posted
The real question is, "Dies the average person find that either the musician or his choice of music to be all that great?" And the answer was "NO!"
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
aspectre: that was neither the real question or the real answer.
At the very least it must be "Does the average person hurrying from public transportation along their way to work find the music by that particular musician compelling enough when briefly heard amongst a lot of crowd noise to stop and listen for a bit?"
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
i've read the article and comments many times, and started many responses. I think people who don't like the article and it's premise are more turned off by the way it is written which is described by the author as his style. "Ludicrous over-writing is a weakness of mine". He does sound that way to me and that is what I find most irritating about it. His references to skin mags and lotto tickets, quotes about children being born knowing poetry and many other examples can give the impression of a bit of smugness. Of course in the comments he knows he would have stopped because he appreciates beauty. I would bet that he would have walked on by if had a place to be...just like the majority of us would have
Posts: 1918 | Registered: Mar 2005
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There is obviously a huge lack in people with good taste in music because rap music is still thriving. That may just be my own personal onion, but it seems that the more a person listens to rap, in my community at least, the dumber the person actually gets. Now whether or not that is the case in the "big world" I am uncertain, but if great taste in music meanse music that takes thought, then I am certain that there is a lack....
Posts: 93 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
Truth be known, evaluation of any art is largely subjective, and not quantifiable. The idea of "good" or "great" music rests merely with the listener, and only reflects their tastes. We can talk about sophisticated technique all day, but in the end of that day, I will come to the same conclusion that it's all just a matter of personal taste.
Posts: 496 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Dagonee: Of course, listening to someone start by complaining about before even bothering to read it completely and then making repeated assertions about the author's intent that directly contradict the author's stated intent does suck the interest right out.
Yeah, so does reading your filth. Geez, it's too bad. When will we ever learn?
:Pirouette:
I think I'll go dig up some things you wrote over a year ago to talk about as if they correspond exactly with your present stance... Oh wait. I don't do that.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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But have you ever left an onion in your fridge for too long, and it started to really sprout? Coooool... Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Cool indeed, but I don't think you ever get baby onions from an onion sprouted that way.
On topic. The "experiment" in the article clearly fails at scientific rigor. That doesn't invalidate everything. I think it's a little silly to go drawing grand conclusions from it, but it's still interesting (if unsurprising) to note that a world renowned musician playing a technically elegant and highly regarded piece of music would be ignored so thoroughly.
Posts: 354 | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
I have no idea whether the article is worthy of a Pulitzer, but I do know that I enjoyed reading the article. What I enjoyed had little to do with any conclusions the author may or may not have come to but more with my own introspection. What I appreciated wasn’t necessarily the observations that the writer made about the people during that event. Rather, I appreciated that it made me think about myself, how I view art and greatness, and how I may have reacted if in a similar situation. The article didn’t make some grand generalization about people or society, but it did identify some different people, attitudes, and conditions that I feel I can relate to. The article wasn’t trying to tell me something about myself, it was trying to get me to ask questions about myself. How do I perceive and determine greatness, and how much of it is determined by context? How observant am I to my surroundings? Granted, everyone measures greatness differently, but if something that I value is right there in front of me, would I necessarily recognize it, or would I miss it completely? I think the goal of the author was not so much to try to convince me of something but to get me to think about something. And the article was highly successful at that.
Posts: 1256 | Registered: May 2005
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I haven't recently re-read the article, but I think the author did attempt sweeping generalizations, but I likely ignored them in favor of, as you say, introspection.
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote: I think the whole article just came at the right time, and everyone relished the fresh introspection it provoked.
Hah.
No, I really do think the timing was important to the success of the article. It was a fresh idea and provoked a new angle in which to evaluate oneself. It hit a nail that hadn't been hit for a while. It portrayed an odd but very believable situation people hadn't considered themselves in before. And since everyone has an opinion about music, and everyone likes to tell others what they would do in such a situation, the article created a lot of buzz.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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quote:Originally posted by BandoCommando: Well said, camus.
I haven't recently re-read the article, but I think the author did attempt sweeping generalizations, but I likely ignored them in favor of, as you say, introspection.
Eh. It's like the Time "person of the year" of a few years ago, or was it last year... "you," with a mirror on the front page. If this article prompted introspection in spite of itself, then fine, but it's ham handed at best.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: And since everyone has an opinion about music, and everyone likes to tell others what they would do in such a situation, the article created a lot of buzz.
I believe that part. But I think the "timing" aspect is a little thin. Unless you simply mean to say that it was a slow news week, or that the article was mentioned in the right blogs at the right times, or that there was just some invisible tipping point of public interest that got the thing moving quickly for a thousand different reasons. Nevertheless, I've read better writing this year, heard better ideas, and so I'm at a net negative with this. What people are saying about it opening up conversations, that's true. But it opens up conversations in such a way that I would almost rather not have them. There's something about the writing, the attitude, that screams: "I'm stupid! And so can you!"
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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