Amanda goes to school and learnz a new word. Or two.

… …

backpacker: based on a fashion style popular in the mid to late 90s where people involved in hip-hop wore large backpacks. Originated by graf writers who kept all their cans and nozzles in the packs, the style caught on quick with the suburbanites and rock kids who didn’t want to stray too far from their style but still wanted to have a hip-hop flava. People use it now as a derogatory term for nerd-rappers, hippy-hoppers, and other fringe hip-hop followers, referencing the fact most of the listeners are suburbanites buying or co-opting into a certain style.

shoegazer: so named because the musicians in these bands stood relatively still during live performances, whilst concentrating on their effects pedals on the floor, hence the idea that they were gazing at their shoes. Could be used to describe bands such as Spacemen 3, My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, Verve, et al.

For reasons I don’t feel like explaining here/again, I have recently gotten back into my life-long love of musical exploration. This came about in stages, starting with that “25 albums that changed your life” meme, (which I was inspired to take quite seriously) and got me thinking about the progressions (and plateaus) in the development of my musical tastes. I remembered how much I loved the feeling of hearing new music – and by new, I mean new to me, I am not super caught up in being all cutting edge and dissing shit as soon as it hits the mainstream. So, I started to take advantage of recommendations of friends and strangers, hit up iTunes, and re-energized my iPod.

Back story:
When I arrived in Hong Kong I had my entire musical collection from home on my iPod. This was a lifesaver for the first few months I was here adjusting to life in a foreign country and dealing with occasional bouts of loneliness and disconnection. That iPod got me through some insane personal and professional and cultural transitions, eventually hitting the road with me in early 2006… where it met it’s untimely demise from dirty power on Koh Phangan. Of course, I had not backed up the music files on the laptop and so I went from 6,000 to -0- in less than five seconds. It literally felt like there had been a death in the family. Rebuilding the music collection since then has been a really interesting journey. I was given tons of stuff on the road from people I met from places far and wide; DJs and local bands offering up all sorts of stuff I could never have gotten my hands on at home (shout out to DJ Brent Burns (you are so hot) and Job 2 Do and the entire staff of Phoenix Divers on Koh Tao). The new collection was far more eclectic, if not as well-loved. From these contributions I did expand my tastes, incorporating a lot more underground dance music, international music and a tolerance for schlock that sucked but had sentimental value. The process was a lot of fun, but eventually I sort of stagnated again, relying on old favorites and not really making an effort to look around.

Fast forward to now:
Through Twitter (yes, Twitter) and the blogosphere, cyberspace friends and  meatspace friends, I have been finding tons of cool music that has really livened up the morning playlists at 47 Pak Kok Tsuen.

In my experience, the way music works is that the discovery of one thing inevitably leads to another like vast concentric circles, and coming across something you haven’t heard that you really like is awesome. What sucks, however, is when your excitement is crushed by someone going, “Shit, man, that stuff is tired… you haven’t heard that already? It is so 2008.” Or, “That is not real/legit/serious [insert genre here] – that is so mainstream.” Whatever. sometimes stuff stays indie because it sucks, not because it is making some big old statement. What this musical snobbery did get me doing though, is investigating some of these labels, because you know everyone’s a critic… and everyone’s brother is a pigeon-holer.

Checking out the connections from band to band led me to contemplate another phenomenon in the world of musical discovery – well, any discovery, really – this hive-mind thing that goes down – groupthink. Groupthink has totally negative connotations, but I am not sure it is all bad. [And of course things like trending topics on Twitter totally contribute to it...] Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point concept where the collective momentum becomes unstoppable considers the power of this idea, and while conformity seems to always be frowned upon (all it really is is the process by which an individual’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by other people – who doesn’t admit to that?) it is still a reality. [Maybe it is more palatable to call it a collective conscious.] The irony in all of this is that as people extol the coolness of their indie scene it gathers said momentum and then… uh-oh! People know about it! It is anti-indie. Further, the collective non-conformists adjust their behavior to match their ideal, becoming a group, so then the big deal becomes maintaining exclusivity in the group. This is where I really take issue. Why you gotta be all snotty about your group? You cannot really think you are the Original…? [This is of course leading naturally to my paradox du jour, the Russell Paradox - but that is a subject for another time.]

One musician whose stuff I was introduced to inadvertently (typical), and in fact I have turned quite a few people onto in Hong Kong… (we closed a very trendy bar in the wee hours to his music…) is Astronautalis. Somewhere I read he was a backpacker’s wet dream. Then I saw a description of him as a shoegazing backpacker. I had no idea what these descrptions meant, thinking only in terms of backpackers as I know them: annoying little shits, pretentiously marching through SE Asia. [Yeah, I am the judgmental-pot calling the music-snob-kettle black... I get to do that here.] So, I turned to the trusted Urban Dictionary. It turns out that while my idea of a backpacker and the hip hop context of a backpacker share some characteristics, the latter is more akin to the indie-rocker’s m.o. [This guy had a pretty funny take on the situation.] And the part about shoegazing? Well, combined with the former, I guess it means the kid is a thinker; a poet if you will. That’s pretty fucking cool. When you get down to it, liking music for the sake of image is really silly, right? I mean, you should like music because you like the music. And to that end, this song is completely awesome:

Another band I really have been enjoying is Mojave 3. Yeah, apparently they are shoegazers. But also really talented songwriters. Add to this the more commercially relevant TV on the Radio and female vocalists like Zee Avi (recommended by my neighbor) you can see I am not loyal to any genre… and (for better or for worse) I am totally open to the power of suggestion. But I do appreciate cool sounds. And I love music that mixes up all kinds of shit and actually surprises you while kicking ass, like Alabama 3 [Exile on Coldharbour Lane was part of the iPod reconstruction in 2006 and it never disappoints, and you should definitely listen to the entire album.]:

It’s really not the people, but the feigned exclusivity of the whole shoegazer/hipster/scenester/backpacker/indie/alternative thing that drives me nuts. If that is who you are… I guess it is cool. I have never really had a scene, so I don’t totally relate, but hey… to each their own. What aggravates the shit out of me is the proprietary attitude people have over musicians (and lifestyles and ideologies while we’re at it) that they claim as their own. If I am not allowed to think Jerry Garcia is awesome, enjoy the Culture Club, love the Beta Band, find ska irresistible, and still dig your indie stuff that seems pretty stupid. It’s fun to turn people onto new stuff… so why you gotta hate? Your favorite band didn’t just get worse because more people like them… did they?

Which brings my vocabulary lesson to a close with a review of a familiar term. If you only like the music for the scene then…

poseur: a person who pretends to be what he or she is not : an affected or insincere person; one who groups him or her self in a particular social clique in order to appear trendy or “edgy” but doesn’t believe in the principals held by said clique and is only leeching onto it in order to avoid the social ridicule of not being part of a clique. A poseur will probably change their “style” once every 6 months, possibly more.

Be who you are nothing more nothing less
and let the beauty that you love be….. the very best
Sing praises to the highest with your feet on the ground
And reach for your brother with the words that you sound

~ Michael Franti

{thanks to iDriss for many long hours of conversation about all this and also to Sue for knowing what she likes right away and totally being cool with that.}

~ by Amanda on July 4, 2009.