Music as Art

Rarely will I ever call music art. Most musical 'artists' today are the visual arts equivalent of the guy who lays out the Sears Catalogue. Don't get me wrong, music is difficult to make and takes talent to perfect, but the use of the word 'artist' to describe the likes of Ja Rule and Maroon 5 is abhorrently offensive. I found this great quote from Sondre Lerche that elaborates on the lie of most peasant-naives who have wondered in front of a microphone with musical instrument in hand:

"A lot of artists will want you to believe that their music is so pure it's canalized to go directly from their heart, leaving their body - untouched by thought - via the mouth only to pour out over their audience. A disgusting thought if you ask me. . . . 99.9% of the musical bulimics use the above description when trying to convince you they're the real deal."

If you see it on MTV or hear it on the radio, odds are, it's not art at all.

One of the few bands I could ever categorize as 'artists' is Hem; they are musical perfection. I highly recommend after a long hard day or after an exhausting evening, sit down in a dimly lit room with a Coke in hand and listen to Hem. They are true artists.