:: anne in the attic ::

Create Your Own Countdown

:: Monday, March 14, 2005 ::

I happened upon an imported copy of Portland's "Mercury" today, and it set off a nice little ride of discoveries in the creative world. I love it when that happens. Makes me feel like a pioneer. Left to my own devices, I often manage to scrape up/stumble over/step in some of the defining moments of my appreciation. Makes me feel self-sufficient to think that I can introduce myself to some of the best stuff out there. Of course, I do that mostly by reading and listening. The raw version of this kind of discovery would, I suppose, be going to live shows and picking books off of shelves NOT based on reviews I'd read or references from other musicians or artists.

Today I'm intrigued by Advancement Theory. Chuck Klosterman wrote a quick intro to it here:
http://www.thesongcorporation.com/klosterman-advancement2.htm
I'm a sucker for classification, even if it is clothed in seemingly anti-categorical rules like "overtness," where the very irony inherent in the term's definition is exclusionary. I have a fondness for a good brain twisting. It's like a good game.

Discovery number two is something that I didn't expect to grow on me, an album called "Morning Kills the Dark" by Biirdie (yes, two i's there). Their latest can be heard (excellent streaming quality for the high speed connection) in its entirety at
http://www.flyawaybiirdie.com/

With the advent of home recording, even the most foolish can preserve their inklings for all time. That's par for the course. The accesibility it provides is somewhere along the line of Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own," where "women writers" is replaced by "budding musicians" and "room to write" by "home studio." I call on blogs for evidence as well. Yes, there will most certainly be a lot more crap produced. But is it worth that to have perhaps a few great musicians who might otherwise never have found a way to their calling? I say yes, yes, and yes again.

:: Anne 11:12 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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