Monday, 16 Oct 2006
I talked to Will Sheff of Okkervil River before his band played the High Noon Saloon in Madison on October 6th. In our interview, Will states:
My only qualm with the internet is that I feel like there’s so much information out there – so many Flickr pictures and YouTube videos and sound-board bootlegs and 128k mp3s of songs ripped off albums – and the quality varies so much that after awhile all information kind of starts to feel equally valueless.
I think he makes an excellent point here. In what is probably the complete opposite of what he’d want me to share with you I have to direct you to a video of their performance of “Kansas City” filmed at the aforementioned Madison show. Thanks to Oceans Never Listen for the link and heads up.
This brings me to my next question for discussion. Do you agree with Will? The video, for the most part is alright audio-wise, but there are definitely a lot of cracks in the sound. While I love to be able to revisit a band’s performance, especially ones that are as moving as the one captured above, I can also totally see Will’s point of view regarding the issue of everything becoming “valueless.”
Anybody have any thoughts or care to weigh in on either side?
October 16th, 2006 at 11:06 am
The saturation threshold for the amount of music I can safely digest is in the danger zone. Will’s point regarding art becoming ‘valueless’ is pretty accurate.
I remember when I’d spend time with a handful of cd’s and really listen to them, get to know a lot about the artists, and fully explore the music’s potential. Now, I find myself in a very different pattern, one which is increasingly disposable and unfulfilling. This is not to say that I don’t enjoy music anymore, only that there is a sensory overload taking place. Also, with there being so much “free” music available online, there is a devaluing of the art in place. I may spend a lot of time reading articles and talking about music before selecting a new cd. This gets me invested in my selection/art. It is sad when someone comes along and downloads the same music and gives nothing back.
The Police may have seen it coming years ago:
“Overkill
Overview
Over my dead body
Over me
Over you
Over everybody
Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane”
October 17th, 2006 at 4:50 am
On the YouTube videos specifically, since that’s what I’ve been debating myself:
I agree with what Will’s saying and the video on my digital camera is admittedly crappy, but this is somethiing very powerful about showing readers a piece of a performance instead of just describing it. Music is a visceral event that begs to be seen, heard, felt and tasted. Even the best of writers often can’t convey the energy and force of a song that a shaky, imperfect two-minute clip can. But I’m also guessing that as technology improves, so will its quality and affordability and soon, we can all be much better documentarians.
October 17th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
hey, i posted that video on my site just last week!
glad to see it’s getting spread around though, because i think it does a great job of giving people a feel for the intensity and awesomeness of an Okkervil River show (as a previous commenter alluded to, sometimes words can only do so much in terms of capturing the energy of something)…
still, i understand will’s point, and i think it’ s a good one. and coming from his point of view, as an artist, i’m sure it would be somewhat frustrating to see the market get flooded with all of this stuff that you have no real control over; good or bad, some one is filming your show and posting it somewhere, someone is listening to a low quality mp3 of your brand new song that you played for the very first time in concert last night, and spreading it around like it’s a finished thing. it’s a new dilemna for musicians, definitely. and an interesting one. i’m curious to see if it will change how things are handled in terms of playing new stuff on tour, etc.
anyway, great post, interesting questions!
October 18th, 2006 at 7:06 pm
I’ve asked a few similar questions on my site the past couple days, and here’s what I’d add:
I think that some people have a false notion that by checking out YouTube for a live video of their favorite band and ripping their music off EMule or whatever is going to give them a complete feel for what the band is about or what the concert was like. The internet is saturated with these quickies (vids, mp3s, etc), but you won’t ever take away from what you’re seeing like the kids that had to wait two hours to get into the show did.
If you’re a true fan of music or a particular artist, you know that you are going to support that artist by going out and seeing their shows and buying their tshirts and their discs and vinyls. Blogs like our do a lot to get people excited, but if their excitement only generates into grabbing a couple mp3s and then saying that’s that, then as far as I’m concerned they aren’t true fans of music to begin with .
March 26th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
The problem is quality control.