First and foremost, it’s the World Wide Web!!!!

Over the past couple of decades, we have heard politicians cry out, “It’s the economy, stupid!” They claim to have our best interests in mind. (Yea, right!!!)

My cry would be, “It’s the Web, baby!!!” Why? A simple search for information on independent music turns up more than 6 million places to look for such goodies. In the interest of true research, I went not to the first three or four sites on the first page of the search engine, but to page 5, page 10, page 15, page 20. Lo and behold, there is good stuff even that deep in the pile.

For instance, I came upon some print and online magazines that do a credible job of interviewing individuals in the music industry who are not billboard beauties or rock pretenders. These publications, electronic and otherwise, focus on the poets and musicians, you know, those men and women who really feel something and can tell the street people what it’s like. (And the street folks believe it ‘cause it’s true.)

So, in digging down into the search engine I discovered an old friend, creativecommons.org. I like this definition from their site: Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright — all rights reserved — and the public domain — no rights reserved. Our licenses help you keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work — a “some rights reserved” copyright.

I even read a blog there that asked where the music slump was. The point being that the big guys (bean counters etc.) aren’t making enough (greed) while the independent music scene is exploding with great music and truth.

Told you creativecommons.org was a good site.

Talking on the Web on MySpace

[tags]talking on the web[/tags]

No, this is not the name of some relatively unknown band or artist. It’s a reference to Radio 1190, KVCU in Boulder (University of Colorado). Some claim that the best music, independent or otherwise, is on the AM dial, on this station.

While this seems a bit of a stretch, the folks there must be doing something right, because the station celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. This writer grew up on rock-and-roll tunes coming out of a small radio tuned to an AM station. In the early 1960s, around St. Louis, Missouri, that station was KXOK, AM 630. Johnny Rabbit was the on-air personality.

So I guess it’s not a real stretch to expect AM radio to put out some good tunes still. Many of the regular visitors to these independent music pages will get a mild thrill from visiting www.radio1190.org, and checking out just what some good minds can do.

For example, the Web site’s CD of the Month for September is the full length debut by the Kasai Allstars entitled “In the 7th Moon, the Chief Turned into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy by Magic.” I like the sound of that!

Various judges and comparison have named 1190 KVCU the best radio station around. Others have dubbed it the best “new music” radio station. In either case, it might be worth checking into.

Independent Air on MySpace

[tags]independent air[/tags]

Does it really matter that there are three chords used in a song, or four, or six (including a surprising A minor?)

Not really. Other musicians might appreciate this. Some listeners might actually notice, though this often happens during a quiet listen at home rather than at a concert. Rock critics who are often “want to be” musicians can sometimes irritate other fans by denigrating the ability of a guitarist in a popular group. For instance, a couple of years ago, one radio commentator said something to the effect that Edge, of the rock giant U2, was still playing the same two chords he learned in elementary school.

Of course, this mouth of the airwaves takes home a check every two weeks that probably covers rent and groceries, but not much more. Edge, on the other hand…..

So the question is put to us again – does it really matter how many chords we use or how complex music is? Not really. The message is all important.

One way that current bands might be able to satisfy the traditionalists among listeners is to add a keyboard. Somehow these displays of black and white keys seem to add something rare and delightful to a band’s output. But keyboard players are few and far between in the rock/alternative world.

It may be best to do what so many have done – hammer at those three chords and scream out the lyrics until someone starts paying attention. It worked in the 1950s!

[tags]Perspective 3[/tags]

In some sense, it’s all just been a loud, long F…You! Trying to isolate eras or seminal events and bands might be somewhat productive. But in the long run, it will be a study in frustration.

Maybe the rock historians can do us a service by patching together a “people’s history of rock and roll” that doesn’t just focus on the most popular or recognized names in music. Perhaps this work will actually show how indie/alternative music came to be in the place it is in 2008. One place to start would be by looking at the media used to promote music. There are still print magazines, of course, though the effect of these is quite limited. More to the point, there are online magazines, Web sites and band sites that are the new public relations/marketing tools. It took this explosive change in the way music is presented for this one fan to understand what Marshall McLuhan was trying to tell us decades ago – the medium is the message. He is also the author and social critic who helped many understand how Gutenberg’s printing press changed the world’s population centuries ago.

How we get our music, and how it is sold to us, should be one of the most important topics included in any rock and roll/alternative music history. Without that, it would be, as Counting Crows sings, “the clang of electric guitars” and not much more.

[tags]Perspective 2[tags]