Musicism: A definition
Published 3rd Jun 2003 by Dan

Music is a thing of passion. No doubt. But too many people take their musical niche too seriously and most of us don?t take music in general seriously enough. You may not like what I?ve got to say, but that don?t mean it doesn?t need to be said... This is meant to be a music article, but it?ll probably turn into something completely different. I can?t stand most music articles for the same reasons I can?t stand a lot of people who?ll tell you they love music. They are all: ?this is a good band? (screaming along the pretentiousness turnpike) or, ?this is a great new night out? (I know what I like and like what I know) or, ?isn?t it great?? The problem with music - I?m very dull. It just puts the friggin? wind up me.

Music is one of those lovely things that manages to unite the whole world in a mutual disappreciation. Now you?re talking. I like jungle music, I like ragga and eighties pop. New wave punk, I like electronica and hip hop.

Did you ever notice that rigidity of style, that monosyllabic expression of conformity inherent in most self defined music or cultural groups? Maybe people are so scared by the diversity of the world that they have to retreat into their stereotypes?.

Back to music.

A person I knew went to Palestine as a member of some kind of Peace Corps. He was shot in the back of the head by an Israeli army sniper. Now he is in a coma and has brain damage. A prayer to the martyr Tom Hurndall. Whenever I think about it I hear ?Death of a Swan? from Swan Lake.

Music is the sound track to my life. It?s up with me, down with me, violent, sexy, and, whenever something hardcore happens, it?s ?Death of a Swan? from Swan Lake. People who can?t appreciate that don?t really love music. Some people will disagree, some so much they think they can?t appreciate it, but deep down I think they can.

Music for me is more than a selection of sounds; it is more than a means of exclusive self or group definition. I love all music like the Squirrel loves all nuts. I don?t think less or more of someone because they can tell me everything I never wanted to know about a particular genre of music that is so exclusive only that one dude and his two spoons know anything about it. That?s why, when certain things happen, I hear classical music. Instead of something by the Clash, Pavement, Louis Armstrong, Aim, Urban Species or some other guitar or beat based tune, I hear the simplistic, understated, hugely emotionally expressive notes and harmonies of a set of instruments I probably couldn?t even name. That?s why when I was a really

little kid my favourite thing was to get out all the pots and pans, take a couple of wooden spoons, and raise hell. That?s why I love the line from a track on the new(ish) Chilli Peppers album ??Music, the great communicator; Beat two sticks to make it in the nature??

People get immersed in their cliques. They find what they like and throw themselves into it like a dead body into a canal. Fair enough. Truth is, they probably get more satisfaction from that whole hearted breed of musical appreciation than someone like me does skirting on the edge of the various musical genres and cultures. In Brighton alone Indie kids (oh, how they hate that tag) have a home at the Pav Tav, Rastas; the Root Gardens, Jungalists; Meltdown, and recently, thugged out whiteboy hip hop fans have found a new home at the Event II. I have visited all of these often high quality musical emporiums, and others, and not once have I sat back with a few alcoholic beverages swimming round my tiny mind and really felt I belonged. Maybe its cos I was just plain born a loser, but my ego tells me I disagree. Maybe its cos I never had the energy to conform to some abstract notion of what I had to do, wear or say to enjoy the music I love. Either way, these kinds of self-inflicted, mutually exclusive cultural pressures exist and enforce themselves regularly.

I guess the point is that in all the different groups of friends I?ve had or known where music has figured prominently (and that?s most of them), there has always been a couple of distinct personality types amongst the proponents of their particular music. First there?s the ice-wouldn?t-melt, arrogant (insecure?) kids just don?t want to share the love ? ?musicists? I call them. They?re the ones who shoot dirty looks to new or different faces like ?country folk? do when ?town folk? walk into their favourite local alehouse. I just can?t help but figure that these people love themselves more than they do the music. These are the people that would scorn me for my enjoyment of classical music, or for that matter my desire to get down to ragga or R n? B, Cindy Lauper or Cpt. Beefheart. Then there are those who really love music. The people who smile despite the obvious lack of continuity between your clothes and theirs, the people who will talk to you at length about the pros and cons of Jodeci, or will admit to liking that one Coldplay song, even if it isn?t cool. They like music in general, not their music; they like the stuff they like, not the stuff they should like and, more importantly, they have enough gusto to admit it.

See, like I was trying to say at the beginning, music is a soulful, emotional and highly individual thing. I find its impact on me indescribable, but it permeates every second of my life. I?m not one of these arseholes who reckons they know better than anyone else but I just figure tolerance is a virtue and people could benefit from opening their ears, hearts and minds to stuff they ain?t so used to. Diversity is the spice of life, right? And fascism in all its forms should be fought against.

Despite what musicists will say I?m almost certain that the cause of all their dissappreciation and arrogance is their insecurity. Because somewhere deep inside they aren?t sure of themselves they feel the need to forcefully and pretentiously exert themselves all over other people. It?s the musical equivalent of a Napoleon complex. I?m not saying that the music doesn?t touch them, or that I?m not insecure about more things than I need be myself, it?s just that despite my nomadic musical existence I can find more emotional solace, strength and enjoyment in music because I love, or at least am willing to really listen to, music in all its forms.

Truth be told, this article will probably assure my status as an uncool outsider, a novice who doesn?t know what he?s talking about, more than it will make people think about how they relate to music and the others who love it in all it?s varied forms, but fuck it. The truth is the truth, and the truth is that too many people take their musical niche too seriously and music in general not seriously enough.

Still, life goes on. The other day I sat in my garden with my flatmate. We had just been fixing dinks in his surfboard. We had a couple beers. He played a down tempo blues on one of our old acoustic guitars and I heard ?Death of a Swan? from Swan Lake.

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