It is true that Chet Bollins is not unclassifiable. He was however a Philadelphia phenomenon and a regional product little seen since the early 60s. Where else are you going to find that Garden State sound, new wave, show tunes mixed all together with a loving amateur touch in its own little universe?

I am going to be bold and say that the Shaggs is the key for gentlemen like Simon Reynolds if they are really serious about seeing “pop progression.”

Next thing you know, though, someone’s going to tell me that the key to everything is the Shaggs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR9d4ESlpHY&feature=related

In other words, she has really individualized her art and craft- the exact type of artist a gentlemen like Simon Reynolds could see has escaped the cave but doesn’t understand or grasp how or why they are more free than his rock&rollers. These aren’t people, who like John Lennon, spend their whole lives forever trying to emulate Chuck Berry nor are they David Bowie looking to dress up with clever skins new pretenses. “Weirdos” are going to be weirdos and sometimes really interesting and beautiful things come from these weirdos out there. (Perhaps in a pre-recording era, these weirdos would be creating new styles to be passed down region from region until it mutated into a new genre distinct to a group of people.)

So how about Mr.Scott, where does the subterranean “outsider music” fit into all of this? Could some group of outsiders [with a genuine talent] be crafting that “future” push forward?

There is A LOT of crud with outsider stuff, but whenever I’m down, I put on this album ’cause it’s so much fun (and totally downloadable from this site) :

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/10/365-days-284—.html

I especially suggest:

Track 01) All American Masher
Track 06) Love Mugger
Track 09) Superman Love

And two comments about the album from the above site summarize the experience pretty well:

“This is such a weird album…it sounds really stupid and commercial, but like from a genre that never existed at all, even though 1/2 new wave, 1/4 oldies horn section, 1/4 show tunes doesn’t sound like THAT weird of an idea. And yet the lyrics are incredibly clever and funny, despite the boring song titles.

I’ve listened to this like ten times, and the ONLY thing I can think of that it sounds like is the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack, and it took a long time to realize even that. But it doesn’t really sound like that either. Were there other bands like this, a genre that has been totally forgotten?”

“The Chet Bolins Band sounds like Frank Zappa meets Clarence Clemmons & the E Street Band. I like what I’m hearing. The saxophone work on the title track is exceptionally good. Besides, any song that can mention underwear, satirize American ideals of masculinity, and denigrate the French is a must hear in my book.”

I’ll perhaps do a “solutions” post or two later this year…basically what I recommend is an approach to music characterized by the following phrases: 1)non-historicist , 2)voluntary self-limitation, 3) full gamut of perennial human needs, 4) respect for virtue-cultivation, 5) respect for the reality of genre, 6) community-music, and 7) hierarchical.

I’ll have to look into the newer Bjork stuff…attempts to bring in Part and Tavener influences would be something. There does seem to be more ambitious “post-rock” compositional experiments occurring these days, and it sounds like you know about them.

Ok, in general I really agree with the insights from Copyright and Trademark (while copyright of course requires fixation, the emphasis is more on the originality, Trademark, genres, archetypes, all these things remain stable, legalistic and blueprinted.)

Alright, here is the objection: (not really a pure one)

“our era is characterized by a personality who prefers liberty to determinateness, which inevitably closes doors. I can become anything if say that I am nothing definite. …Indeterminateness consists in the desire to explore, to refrain from making choices…[It] provides a great euphoria, an illusion of plurality and perfection.”

If we have an era (hat-tip indeterminateness) it is I think characterized by personalities which for the most part prefer determinateness to liberty. (I am not actually sure what remixing this sentence does, it just seems like the sort of paragraph that is general and abstract enough to read true either way).

In fact if we did not prefer determinateness wouldn’t we object almost reflexively to “Indeterminateness consists in” (obviously if we are reading this in agreement we are sort of fooling ourselves.) Indeterminateness consists in Indeterminateness (unless you plan by operation of a copyright remix perogative to change the meaning of this word, which DelSol’s slick deployment of original expression is attempting).

The only authentic answer to the question: What is Indeterminateness? is: “I do not know.” If I know what Indeterminateness is, then it is not indeterminate to me. There is perhaps the saying in our era: “ignorance is bliss”, I am not sure it belongs to our era (but here again I am trying to make an archetype of it.)

“our era is characterized by a personality who prefers liberty to determinateness, which inevitably closes doors.”

Here, I think the mechanics are all wrong. In so far as our era is characterized by a personality who prefers liberty to determinateness(plausible enough) it is only because liberty closes doors.

Trademark, reputation, orderlyness, predictability, following the blueprint, performing the contract, living up to determinateness, this keeps the doors open.

Anderson is right, but do you really think a Starbucks could keep its doors open if it did not provide multiple quality products, personalized but also commodified. (One reason is inventory control, but another reason is that the customer expects a certain standard of product.) If the genre or commodity in this case is “coffee”, what Starbucks provides is not the “Liberty” of coffee, but rather its “exceptionalism”, that is a Trademarked (literally) Frappucino.

Do you think Starbucks would stay open if it indulged in the liberty of serving up burnt coffee as a Frappucino?

The entire language of “era” is for cheap hucksters, there are all sorts of “consumers”, and niche markets. But as producers of rather sophisticated products, aquainted with a sort of process driven legalistic determinateness, or the act of manufacturing 100 Frappucino’s (enter the irony of post-production), the idea of a simpler life involving the indeterminateness of just coffee(which I assure you is not itself an indeterminate commodity, just relatively so), begins to sound like Freedom.

“I can become anything if say that I am nothing definite.”

If this were indeed the case in our era, some bold soul would try it on a resume. If this were also the case, then there would be no “educational bubble”. Again it seems to me this sentence can be re-mixed “I can become anything if I say that I am something definite.” (much more common tact, I believe).

But I’ll pipe down now that this subseries is over. Maybe Crystal Castles’ upcoming album will alter your perspective.

In any case, I’d love to see a “solutions” subseries by the end of this that touch on remedies. There are already music training programs that rely on livestreaming practice sessions, and that (along with digital education’s general growth) could roll back bedroom geniuses. Red Bull, despite my low opinions of their product, does amazing sponsorship work. 1 of the things is the well-known Red Bull Music Academy, which pays young people from EVERYWHERE (not just 1st and 2nd world) to attend seminars, intensive training and practice sessions, and songwriting workshops while inviting some of the world’s most articulate electronic genre practitioners to lecture. That could become the new avenue for this form’s “folk traditions.” I think there are people who fully reject your aesthetic opinions who would agree with your social ones, and are acting to counter the issues you mention.