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Thursday, June 30, 2005

Buggles Strikes Deep Meaning in 2005

Something that bothers me. I encountered it today when I put a Tegan and Sara cd in my computer (which, by the way, is very good -- the old album, not the new one. And I want to thank the Red Head Supremacy Club president for bringing this album to my attention). I was going to make a long list of things that bug me, but there’s only one! Ha, just kidding. There are about a million. But I figure that if I sit here and list them all, I’ll get really perturbed and not be able to focus on my work. So I’m just going to give you this one:

1 – When I put a cd in my computer to put it on itunes and it starts loading some lame enhanced cd crap. I don’t care about the music videos. If I cared about music videos I’d watch MTV or VH1, both crap stations (in fact, I don’t see that they’re any better than The National Enquirer, People or Us magazine with all their annoying gossip). Remember the song “Video Killed the Radio Star” by Buggles (which the Presidents of the United States of America resurrected in the 90s)? I feel that way. I feel like videos kill the radio star, only it’s more for me because it also kills the song. Videos sap the meaning and energy of the song.

It’s like the literary school of thought, the one about the author being dead. Once the book is written the author ceases to exist and all that matters is what’s between the front and back cover. There’s something appealing about that idea of a piece of art existing in a void. I know it’s not entirely true. But I cringe when it comes to the vanity of some musicians, walking around, posing, looking thoughtful while they sing to music that’s not really there and play guitars without pickups or microphones. It’s embarrassing and I can’t suspend my disbelief at all.

I applaud musicians who DON’T make music videos. The only music video I could stand would be a music video minus the artist. I don’t want to see them. Cool photos and video of trees or robots would be interesting. Maybe a video of a little dog wandering around a small city, sniffing fire hydrants and chasing cars. That would be interesting and humorous. But if I have to see one more musician singing into the camera and acting all cool and punk rock, I’m going to have to sell all my records and cds and go live in the woods with just my pet rock, a desk and Stoker.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can set your computer to not autoplay cds. That will remedy the enhanced cd installation problem.

Anonymous said...

Hey weird coincidence! I was listening to Tegan and Sara today too! Their stuff is very good.

Nicole said...

Sneddy -- thanks for the suggestion.

Erica -- that is a strange coincidence...but not really, since they're albums are being promoted all over the media. It would be a strange coincidence if I was listening to, say, The New Seekers or someone equally as obscure and you were too. That would really be strange.

But you're right. Their stuff is good. I think their album If it was You is better than the newer one, though. And also, I think they rip off tons of riffs from older artists. I still like them, though.