Every time I hear some new music it seems all I can hear are the influences - and it's much to easy to be dismissive of the artist's efforts because of that.
The other day I was listening to a new release from a group of twenty-somethings and enjoying just about everything I heard...until my freakin' brain started to chirp.
"The rhythm track is derivative of 1980's synth pop - the bass line sounds just like those post-funk efforts British groups of the era utilized to give their dance songs an edgier sound. That guitar reeks of late '70's midwestern AOR rock, and that chorus is lifted strait from an early 1960's Burlesque influenced R&B pop song."
I cannot stress strongly enough how much I despise my own brain for chirping like that. Hell, I can't remember a key point in the plot of a mystery novel I read last week but I can remember what the chorus from a song released over sixty years ago (that didn't come close to cracking the top 40) sounded like?
Come on brain, seriously, I don't want to go out like that.
There has got to be a way I can stop my brain from filtering music through the ears of my past - a means of cleansing the palette if you will.
I know there are a ton of books out there on improving one's memory, but are there any books out there written on the topic of learning to forget?
If not, it's certainly a need waiting to be filled.
Or maybe I just have to sit on my hands and wait until I age a few more years - that might do the trick.
No comments:
Post a Comment