on 6/23/03 2:10 PM, ahorton at ahorton@vt.edu wrote:
Here's my .02- I think that because these artists know that they're doing highbrow, high-concept, academic music, they feel that they have to (over)compensate by using novelty names and silly-stupid record titles. If Chris Speed's new record is a collection of modal excercises and pretentious, academic skronk-funk, he'll feel that calling it something equally academic like "fluxus/nexus diaspora" would be too pretentious, so he tried to "lighten it up" by coming up with a name like "My colostomy sandwhich" or something.
Thoughts?
Much of the time, when you're dealing with a certain kind of journalist, it's best not to go out there procliaming your own importance. Journalists do not like musicians who make it a point to trot out their own specialness. Frankly, neither do most people. If you call your live album I HEARD THEY SUCK IN CONCERT, you don't look so arrogant. On the other hand, if you become "Mr Clever Funny Title", people get a bee in their bonnet that you've being cute and precious all the time. In the event that there's a Dave Douglas backlash, watch what the contrary journalists trot out as proof that Dave deserves to be grilled -- it will be his album titles and things he says in interviews that gets hiim negative mention. He's so far unassailable on matters of content. In all fairness, the jazz world has long been weighed down by pretentious album titles that it's nice to see a little humor in there. There's historically been such a lack of it, especially in the titles. Carla Bley probably deserves mad props for bringing humor to the party. (That and being really brilliant.) sh