Friday, March 30, 2012

Movie Review: The Social Network(2010)

9.5/10 The Social Network may or may not become the modern classic that previous David Fincher films such as Seven and Fight Club did, but at least for now, it remains an essential viewing experience for understanding not only modern communication, but also modern business. It concerns the seemingly sudden rise of genuis computer whiz Mark Zuckerberg onto the world stage by being the ipso facto creator of the society-changing website Facebook.com. But what it is really about is Zuckerberg's ambivalent personality and character. Adapted from the book The Accidental Billionaires, The Social Network is more of a character study than anything else: Jesse Eisenberg's Zuckerberg is teeming with ambition, brilliance, and leadership qualities, but a vile pettiness and selfishness undercuts nearly every single achievement he accomplishes in the film. Of course he's not the only one: the opportunistic Winklevoss twins claim he stole their idea, and Napster creator Sean Parker comes off as perhaps the slimiest of all the characters, riding the coattails of Zuckerberg  for all the money, sex, and drugs he can get. The only ethically sound guy in the whole enterprise is Zuckerberg's best friend Eduardo Saverin(perhaps not coincidentally a consultant on the book), who gets so royally screwed over by Zuckerberg that we feel the same catharsis as he does when he smashes his "friend's" computer to the floor. And yet, Zuckerberg's thorny pretensions are something to behold and at the end, we even feel a little sorry for him. It's important to note that Aaron Sorkin, the writer of the film, has made no secret about the fact that some of the material is blatantly false and full of what great director Werner Herzog might call "ecstatic truth". In other words, this film isn't necessarily about the events depicted themselves, but about what they mean. Do you have to be this selfish to be this brilliant? Do you have to be this ruthless to be this successful? and finally.... Have we all been brainwashed into joining the biggest social club in the world, created by an asocial genuis? and if so, What does that mean for society? These and many important contemporary issues are addressed in this brilliant film. It may not be worth owning unless you are a big Fincher or Sorkin fan, but it is a must-see for everyone. Get it at Redbox. 5WW4M8EZPFWY

Music Review: The Secret Museum of Mankind series(8 albums)

So, what is an Electronic Musician doing reviewing acoustic ethnic music from around the globe, all recorded from the 20s to the 40s? The answer is simple: great music is great music. Genres are really just labels, nothing more. Music is the art of sounds, harmonies, melodies, rhythms, cultures, individuals ,and ideas and if you are at all interested in traditional music of the world outside of the U.S. and U.K(and you should be)made before western pop music infiltrated much of the world, then this series is a treasure trove of sparkling gems. Every single one of the albums is filled to the brim with short pieces ranging from dance music(like the Romanian song above in the video) to virtuoso instrumental pieces to art music to folk songs and more. Sometimes, a stray western track pops up from time to time as a reminder that ethnic music also includes western music, but for the most part, this series concentrates on African, European, Asian, Latin, and other non-western countries. 3 of the discs offer music from specific areas, namely Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, and Central Asia and they are all terrific as well.  To someone unaccustomed to music outside of the west, much of this music will sound strange indeed, but this is a good thing, as it exposes them to music that will challenge their ideas about the possibilities and the realities of global music culture. Sadly, much of the traditions that led to the creation of this music are being lost as our global culture assimilates and disposes of traditional musics made before industrial music production started taking over global culture in the 50's. These seem to be mostly field recordings from a bygone era, clouded in mist and legend, even as you listen to them. In other words, these are recordings to treasure and hold onto the rest of your life.
The Secret Museum of Mankind series on Amazon

nairboman's insights #1

At the beginning of the year, I decided it was time to try to actually make some money with something I have done creatively, which I think is one of the most noble ways to earn a living. We are all creative at something, because creativity is a part of our nature. Einstein famously said "Imagination is more important than knowledge". The multinational corporations would like to stifle much of our individualistic creativity and convince us that the lifestyle we lead should be based on a generic monotony of familial repetition. It's no accident that franchise fast food "restaurants" and convenience stores almost all look the same, wherever you happen to go. This is part of their coercion.

Small businesses are disappearing across the land and I, for one, am saddened by this development. It means that independent variety and creativity are slowly dying in the marketplace. Corporations depend on a numbing sameness that they might call Branding and while they may have a lot of creative people working for them, the ultimate goal for them is to make their shareholders happy, not their creative artists, and even less so their "hands on" workers.

Next month, I will try marketing my music more locally. So far, I am making good progress marketing on the internet. My facebook, twitter, soundcloud, youtube, reverbnation, and blog are all experiencing continual growth. But marketing my Electronic Music locally in a conservative midwestern small town like the one I live in(Moberly, Mo., about 14,000) may not be so easy, but then again I believe people are by nature open minded. It's just that our social and corporate culture tends to grind some down into having "boxed in" taste in art and music. I have the feeling it wasn't always this way. Did people from 75-100 years ago only like specific genres mostly or were they more open to variety? I wonder.

Friday, March 23, 2012

My Philosophy on Art, Culture, and Life

I thought I would take this opportunity to discuss my basic philosophy concerning art, culture, and life. By doing this, you will understand me and my worldview far more than a simple short bio might provide and I don't like to discuss my private life in depth in a public forum anyway.

Let's start with art. Art seems to be a necessity in human culture. It, along with with philosophy (focused ideas) and science are the elements which seem to separate us from the other animals on the planet. We still have a lot of the same desires, urges, and instincts as other animals, but only we seem to have what could be termed the imagination impulse, the need to express ourselves creatively with our imagination. This naturally takes myriad forms: painting, writing, music, cinema, photography, the list seems as limitless as human imagination itself. Yet, what separates quality art from mediocre or bad art? This is an eternal question that everyone has their own answers for. Many people that are highly influenced by mass media marketing may not even consider the question relevant, but this is a mistake if we are to ever maintain a healthy, progressive artistic culture. For me, any important art, whatever the type, contains a good amount of at least 1 of these 3 qualities: originality, intelligence, and substance. By originality, I simply mean something that isn't substantially tied to traditions that have ensconced themselves in the culture. Originality is the defining feature of many of the most visionary artists, as they choose to take the road less traveled(as the poet Robert Frost put it), or tread an entirely new path altogether. Examples of these types of artists include  painter Pablo Picasso, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, author James Joyce, and musician Aphex Twin. Intelligence in art is a controversial issue, not the least part of which is the question "how do you qualify the term?". Does it mean complexity, cerebral or progressive features, or simply having an academic or studied affect? You could include all of those ideas and more if so desired , but to me, it's a bit simpler than all that: it simply means art which stimulates thought and consideration as much or more than it does emotionalism. Not to say that emotionalism isn't an important aspect of art, because it certainly is and in fact can and often does exist concurrently with the intelligent aspects of it. Yet, it is certainly easier and some might even say shallower to evoke emotions in art without including much, if any, intelligent aspects. Musical artists like Mozart, The Velvet Underground, and John Coltrane, to name some of the most prominent, were able to mix emotionalism and intelligence in their art in a masterful way, as were the artists mentioned previously. In fact, originality and intelligence often go hand in hand in some of the best art. And now we come to substance, which is just as elusive a term as intelligence when it comes to art, perhaps more so. What is substantive art? Is it just another term to stand in for originality and intelligence? Does it simple mean art which will endure, or is it simply the direct opposite of style? Well, yes and no. Originality and intelligence can be important aspects of substance in art, but substance can go above and beyond them. Does much substantive art endure and be returned to after decades or even centuries after it was created? Yes, but not all of it does. Is it the opposite of style? In a shallow way, you could define it as that, even though much style is substantive in its own right. Substance in art is synonymous with the value and meaningfulness in it and can  take on many shapes, whether it be aesthetic, intellectual, emotional, psychological, metaphorical, technological, or any other number of others. The important thing about substance in art is that it is an attempt by the artist to provide valuable and meaningful insight into what effects and defines individuals and cultures at a certain point(s) in time. Sometimes these insights are not always pleasant, and shine a critical light on those subjects such as the 70's film Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorsese and the classic novel Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes(though with Don Quixote, while the insights aren't always pleasant, the prose and story almost always are). Taxi Driver is both a critique of the culture of the Vietnam War and of American urban society following that war and how they have an effect on one particular individual. Don Quixote is a paradoxical novel as it critiques both romantic adventure novels and a society which is bereft of romantic ideals and it is perhaps the paradox itself that is the most meaningful aspect of it. One might ask how painting and music(especially instrumental music) can have the same kind of substance as they are somewhat more abstract art forms compared to storytelling. Yet, it is in the very abstract aspects of them that the meaningfulness lies: a painting or a piece of instrumental music (obviously lyrics in music make it less abstract) can tell you a lot about the cultural, aesthetic, and individual values that produced it. For example, listen to an album of jazz music from the 30's and one from today and while you will notice basic similarities, you will notice differences too, sometimes many. These differences tell you how much the culture of jazz has changed aesthetically but they will also tell you how it(and the society it was produced in)has changed technologically, perhaps even psychologically, emotionally, and intellectually, and what values the individual artist has, as well, concerning those things from each era. The value and meaning of painting(visual arts)and music are more challenging to discern than storytelling, but it is their very abstract nature that makes them so endlessly fascinating.

Which brings us to culture: what is culture? Though there are many definitions out there, it seems to me that culture is the elements which influence and define society: everything from art to politics to sports to philosophy to (unfortunately) corporations. Culture is the amalgamation of all of these elements and more which make up society. There are basically two ways to approach culture: one way is to study it objectively and another is to look at it critically. Both are valid. As long as there have been groups of people organizing society together, culture has existed. In fact, society is literally built on the culture underneath it. In groups of people, ideas form individually(though often built up from or added to other ideas), ideas become words, words become actions, actions become norms. And then norms either stick around a long time or a relatively short time depending on the proceeding stasis or change in the element(s) of culture that maintains the specific norms. And of course, there are subcultures, which are types of culture usually maintained by relatively smaller groups of people as a reaction to and/or as a direct alternative to mainstream culture. As far as what constitutes good or bad culture, it is a very controversial subject. For me, a staunch anti-authoritarian, I see government, religion, and corporations as institutions which have helped build up our now massive global village, but that will eventually at some point in our social and cultural evolution, need to be left behind(at least in the way they exist today), much as a child eventually grows up and leaves their parents to make their own way. Obviously, this seems to be far from now. The Corporation(documentary)

Ah, Life. We finally come to ye. How do I approach the subject of life? To understand that, you have to understand 3 of the aspects which probably define my life the most: introversion, anti-authoritarianism and for lack of a better word, idleness. Truth be told, I am not a "highly" introverted person, more like "weakly" introverted, as I only need about 60% of my time alone, but I do cherish it.  Extroverts make up the majority of the population and this is as much a result of culture as it is "naturalness", for the highly systematized society in which we now live depends on extroversion to keep it going. If most people weren't taught from a very young age to be extroverted, we would not have an industrial society that depends on the extroverted qualities of materialism, greed, and consumerism to thrive. Introverts tend to get energized and be more comfortable when alone(or with a few good friends), are less attention seeking, and perhaps think more about the nature and meaning of society and how to fit into it doing what they want to, instead of becoming a cog in its machine or using the other cogs to get rich. Extroverts tend to get energized and be more comfortable when around other people (including strangers and groups), are more attention seeking, and perhaps think less about the nature and meaning of society, preferring instead to fit in with the "normal" customs and expectations of mainstream society(e.g. the striving for money, power, status, possessions).  Scientists, Philosophers and  Artists of all types tend to be introverted. Politicians, Athletes, and Businesspeople tend to be extroverted. These are generalities: there are of course always exceptions(considering we almost all have both sides to us in varying degrees, and in fact, when I speak of introverts and extroverts, I am including those who fall in the middle -most of us - but favor one or the other type to a degree). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraversion_and_introversion I am a natural anti-authoritarian and am staunchly against the misuse and abuse of authoritarian government, religion, and industry, as well as individual authoritarian features such as aggressiveness, exploitation, and serious(e.g. non-playful)competitiveness. By idleness, I don't mean simple laziness, though at times that can be very enjoyable too. What I mean by idleness is the deliberate lifestyle of doing what you enjoy doing for most hours of the day, whatever that may be. If we cannot enjoy most of the hours of our lives due to so-called social responsibilities, then are our lives really meaningful? In other words, be creative, have fun, be comfortable. If you are stuck at a job you hate with a spouse you no longer love, you aren't being very responsible to yourself and if you can't be responsible to yourself, can you hope to be with others? Some things to think about. http://www.idler.co.uk/

Normally, my posts will not be this long, but I thought it was a good idea to outline my philosophy about the subjects I will be discussing in my blog posts. Starting next week, I will start my regular blogs concerning my life, my music, and reviews of albums and movies. Cheers!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Nice to Meet You...

Hmm, my first blog post ever. What to put? I guess introductions are in order. My name is Brian Lackey from Moberly, Mo. I am an aspiring Electronic Musician who is hoping to meet some new people, discover some cool blogs, and to be honest, attract some people to my blog and my music. I will be posting about my life, my work, and my love of the arts, particularly movies, music, and literature. I have very eclectic tastes in all 3.

For those of you familiar with Electronic Music, my music could be labeled as variously IDM, Experimental Electronic, and/or Electronic Dance, at least as of now. For those of you not very familiar with Electronic Music, but curious, I highly recommend this list...http://www.listology.com/enigmazach/list/200-greatest-electronicdance-albums. Go to http://grooveshark.com/ from there(most of the albums should be there for free listening) or your preferred music listening website.  I am more than sure that I will release albums in the future under completely different styles within the general framework of Electronic Music. To get a taste of my music, simply type nairboman or nairbomanmusic into Google or go to http://www.wix.com/nairbomanmusic/nairboman, my official website.

Yet, I am not only here to market myself, but to revel in the joy of creative writing and to see what I think about the experience of blogging. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to tell me. I have always been a writer, and have written stories, essays, poetry, and non-fiction for my own pleasure, but I got burnt out on it for awhile, and hope to get back into it eventually.

I also have the ambition to become a movie writer and director and have made some amateur films in the past.

For now, though, professionally, my goal is to market and sell my first(double) album Here We Go..., which will be released in download form through CDbaby in May through its own site and various online stores including Amazon, with a physical CD release hopefully soon thereafter.  I hope you will give some of my music a listen and tell me what you think of it.

I will be posting two or three times a week for now, most likely all on Fridays(as I am busy marketing my music the rest of the week), but possibly more in the future. I will be blogging more in future posts about the personal details of my past and present life, what inspires me musically, my music itself and the marketing that goes along with it, as well as reviews of movies and music and occasionally literature(it takes a while to read a book after all...lol). I hope you will find my posts enjoyable, entertaining, and informative. I hope you like my music too. :) Cheers!