At 11:28 AM 11/12/2003 -0500, Zachary Steiner wrote:
I throw Beck and Jim O'Rourke in for consideration. Beck in particular, as he has made no two albums that sound the same--or like any one else for that matter. I don't see the Dylan connection, sorry Efrén. Neither musician--nor the Strokes, White Stripes, or any of the other critics' darling of the month--will save rock from the current morasses. The best we can hope is that the best of the worst will make music that is enjoyable.
I agree that Beck seems like he's in a holding pattern now (the latest one sounds like bad Nick Drake). O'Rourke is a good example too but he hasn't really broken out into any pop market yet (even as part of Sonic Youth though that'll cerrtainly help him).
Rock artists certainly have to earn their dues, though an artist can unleash something like Freak Out! on the world as a debut.
Zappa's a great example, esp. as he was able to cause a stir at the outset and reach the pop market also. I guess I'm just a little disappointed that a lot of artists today aren't willing to risk more of their standing to do something more... risky, edgy, unexpected. I think that someone like Madonna pushes buttons more in terms of cultural mores than in terms of music as she goes from album to album so I don't think I'd count her here. Since you brought up Dylan, he was another one to add with Beach Boys and Beatles as he managed to alienate a lot of old fans when he went electric and stopped writing protest songs- I'm sure a lot of people thought this was just some pathetic bid at a more commercial market but I don't think he had any sure-fire guarantee at the time that he'd make as much headway in the pop stakes by doing that. Best, Jason