if andre had thrown these up on soundcloud, i don’t think anyone would have been bent out of shape about it. artists make music. in the digital age, “posting” the music in some way is the necessary “release” an artist must feel in order to move onto the next experiment. all of us however should be protective of the broader ecosystem of music, and i think shipp and others were right to call bullshit on the whole thing: a stunt major label release, tied to a stunt costume at the met gala, that contributes absolutely nothing to the broader ecosystem of jazz or recorded music or really much of anything except andré’s mystique as a celebrity and vaguely left musician. it’s an unfortunate misfire. i’m less sure it has anything to do with the broader devaluation of music, though i tend to dismiss any thought attributed to klosterman so maybe i’m wrong. but yeah i think music would benefit from a middle context, a la early soundcloud — something that clearly signals how one should approach one’s listening. these would have been lovely voice memos to receive from my cool rapper friend. andre’s mistake was he decided to put them for sale in stores.
I really enjoy reading intelligent and funny takedowns of things when people aren’t afraid to say something is bad, so first of all thanks for making me laugh. It feels like a spoof album.
It’s interesting to consider artistic freedom when your output is music. Maybe not so much jazz, but a lot of music depends on the audience interaction and reception in a way that most other art forms don’t, because they’re going to be performed live. Do musicians have a ‘responsibility’, or at least an obligation, to make music that is digestible for an audience?
if andre had thrown these up on soundcloud, i don’t think anyone would have been bent out of shape about it. artists make music. in the digital age, “posting” the music in some way is the necessary “release” an artist must feel in order to move onto the next experiment. all of us however should be protective of the broader ecosystem of music, and i think shipp and others were right to call bullshit on the whole thing: a stunt major label release, tied to a stunt costume at the met gala, that contributes absolutely nothing to the broader ecosystem of jazz or recorded music or really much of anything except andré’s mystique as a celebrity and vaguely left musician. it’s an unfortunate misfire. i’m less sure it has anything to do with the broader devaluation of music, though i tend to dismiss any thought attributed to klosterman so maybe i’m wrong. but yeah i think music would benefit from a middle context, a la early soundcloud — something that clearly signals how one should approach one’s listening. these would have been lovely voice memos to receive from my cool rapper friend. andre’s mistake was he decided to put them for sale in stores.
I really enjoy reading intelligent and funny takedowns of things when people aren’t afraid to say something is bad, so first of all thanks for making me laugh. It feels like a spoof album.
It’s interesting to consider artistic freedom when your output is music. Maybe not so much jazz, but a lot of music depends on the audience interaction and reception in a way that most other art forms don’t, because they’re going to be performed live. Do musicians have a ‘responsibility’, or at least an obligation, to make music that is digestible for an audience?