01 July 2007
Seven Ages of Rock
Last night I watched the last program in the BBC's Seven Ages of Rock series. I didn't see all seven episodes, but I really enjoyed those that I did. I was pleased that the BBC made a series about something I was quite interested in, and I was also pleased to see that they handled it well.
The seven ages according to the BBC are Blues-based Rock, 1963-1970; Art Rock, 1966-1980; Punk, 1973-1980; Heavy Metal, 1970-1991; Stadium Rock, 1965-1993; Alternative Rock, 1980-1994; and Indie, 1980-2007. Each program would generally take two or three important figures or bands from certain movements and tell the story of that age through these people. Whilst it's hard to categorise and specify when talking about music in this way, I think the methods used made the programs easy to digest; mentioning everyone involved wouldn't have been such a good watch. Plus, I believe each episode was directed by someone different, someone interested in that scene, which was a good idea.
Last night's episode was on indie, which I'm not a massive fan of, so I originally wasn't going to tune in. But I've enjoyed learning about the history of rock and how we got from where we were to where we are now, so I watched for that reason. The program featured mainly Suede, Blur and Oasis, with a lot of interview footage with Noel Gallagher, who has a much more inflated ego than I previously thought. The program was quite balanced though, acknowledging the inherent contradiction in the success of indie and the inaccuracy of the term these days; not simply singing the praises of the bands involved.
I think one of the main reasons why I'm not into indie (British indie at least) is because I'm used to it. I've grown up with it constantly on the TV and radio and in magazines, and like a lot of things that I'm used to, I'm bored of it. Musical tastes are a very subjective thing, but it baffles me that this style of music which I find so dull is so popular with so many people my age. I couldn't help mentally dropping my jaw when some NME guy being interviewed said he believed that we are currently experiencing the best period of British music ever.
I might respect indie a bit more if it was actually independent, but that's not the case at all any more. Originally indie music stood for something, but it was swallowed up by popular culture, and you can't really retain any integrity once that's happened.
Music and it's relation to different things is something I think about quite a lot. For example, do we choose a certain lifestyle because of the music we listen to, or do we listen to certain music because of our lifestyle? Is it a coincidence that I get along best with people who listen to similar music to me? Why do I view a person differently once I've learned about what music they're into? I heard about a survey which found that 100% of us claim to be music lovers, and that isn't hard to believe, so these kind of questions are issues that involve everyone.
To finish this post, here's a short video of the dude from Black Flag from the Seven Ages of Rock site.
The seven ages according to the BBC are Blues-based Rock, 1963-1970; Art Rock, 1966-1980; Punk, 1973-1980; Heavy Metal, 1970-1991; Stadium Rock, 1965-1993; Alternative Rock, 1980-1994; and Indie, 1980-2007. Each program would generally take two or three important figures or bands from certain movements and tell the story of that age through these people. Whilst it's hard to categorise and specify when talking about music in this way, I think the methods used made the programs easy to digest; mentioning everyone involved wouldn't have been such a good watch. Plus, I believe each episode was directed by someone different, someone interested in that scene, which was a good idea.
Last night's episode was on indie, which I'm not a massive fan of, so I originally wasn't going to tune in. But I've enjoyed learning about the history of rock and how we got from where we were to where we are now, so I watched for that reason. The program featured mainly Suede, Blur and Oasis, with a lot of interview footage with Noel Gallagher, who has a much more inflated ego than I previously thought. The program was quite balanced though, acknowledging the inherent contradiction in the success of indie and the inaccuracy of the term these days; not simply singing the praises of the bands involved.
I think one of the main reasons why I'm not into indie (British indie at least) is because I'm used to it. I've grown up with it constantly on the TV and radio and in magazines, and like a lot of things that I'm used to, I'm bored of it. Musical tastes are a very subjective thing, but it baffles me that this style of music which I find so dull is so popular with so many people my age. I couldn't help mentally dropping my jaw when some NME guy being interviewed said he believed that we are currently experiencing the best period of British music ever.
I might respect indie a bit more if it was actually independent, but that's not the case at all any more. Originally indie music stood for something, but it was swallowed up by popular culture, and you can't really retain any integrity once that's happened.
Music and it's relation to different things is something I think about quite a lot. For example, do we choose a certain lifestyle because of the music we listen to, or do we listen to certain music because of our lifestyle? Is it a coincidence that I get along best with people who listen to similar music to me? Why do I view a person differently once I've learned about what music they're into? I heard about a survey which found that 100% of us claim to be music lovers, and that isn't hard to believe, so these kind of questions are issues that involve everyone.
To finish this post, here's a short video of the dude from Black Flag from the Seven Ages of Rock site.
2 Comments:
Maybe it's because of where we live, but I find American Indie far less interesting than the same music coming out of Europe. Perhaps it is because, like you, I grew up hearing a lot of this music on the radio and everything.
That's interesting.
Yeah, I guess it's just the case that we don't get excited about things that have been and always are present in our culture. It's more exciting to look elsewhere.
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