Hooves on the Turf

Awesome blog post from Titus Andronicus

Photo credit: Rez at Impose Magazine

While I wasn’t posting on this blog, I spent the last several months in disenchantment with the current indie scene (and the wealth of PR emails that accompany it), while figuring out a proper/decent career path for myself (which remains unresolved). The culture of independent art is in a mess. A pointless search for originality and decent income exists in an environment that is structurally quite hostile to both originality and decent living via art. No matter how creative, everyone must sell something eventually, but with the idea of “free information” comes the question, “Must we really buy and sell culture?”. Caught in the confusion of “democracy of the internet” and the unavoidable capitalism of the market, the indie scene (who even knows what that means?) feels like a really mumbled-jumbled mess, a poor imitation of itself at this point. I have heard very few new bands that I can bring myself to care about, and it just feels like a shitty part of the cycle right now.

This amazing post-Halloween post from Patrick of Titus Andronicus somehow sums it all up. Read: The VICE Halloween Party is Decadent and Depraved

"That $2 was for your ass"

You know that website that’s going around that mocks hipster clothing? It’s not offensive at all, but neither is it funny (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is my gold standard for comedy), and nor is the mockery deserving. The more adventurous and expressive the clothing, the more colorful my world is as long as I don’t have to be the one wearing them, only because my taste is slightly different. But if a guy has a mohawk and it’s dyed pink, and his jeans are really skinny, is it really that funny? Does it really tickle your intellect? Secondly, who cares, why is it so terrible? With that said, here’s my own douche bag report. There is a notion amongst some assholes in New York City that when you pay the subway fare, you’re paying for the right to be seated, and that this is a right to be upheld against a toddler who by law can ride the subway for free.

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Douchebag at AA Bondy show

Snark is not a new pastime hobby; I’m not even sure if it’s necessarily on the rise, though the comment section of most blogs may make you think otherwise. For one thing, how can the witty (in my book the brightest) not have always turned to full-time mockery as a channel for expression only too fulfilling (especially if the others really are halfwits), second only to comedy, or maybe not even that. But my point is that when witty people do it, snark is highly entertaining and totally hip. I, however, have neither the wit nor the heart to attack people whose only fault is to love themselves (happy and confident people are often the subjects of cutting snide, aren’t they?). But! I am dying to talk about a real douchebag who grabbed me by the arm and yelled at me to stand up at tonight’s otherwise fun AA Bondy show at Union Hall. I hope you read on, and then tomorrow I’ll tell you all about how great AA was.

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