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Feeling compelled to mention and laud Vincent Moon for what he's doing for the independent music scene, I'm going to drop a few clips here. Though to be truthful, these videos have nothing ostensibly to do with an "independent" music scene or whatever that even means these days, as nearly every group and artist is stapling the "independent" name tag to their lapel just to cash in on a hot topic. But what Vincent and his Concerts a Emporter (Takeaway Shows) do is display the musicians in a frank and open setting, without being "plugged", save for whatever genius, just-barely-enough microphone La Blogothèque employs, giving listeners a crystal clear but entirely authentic and even at times flawed voice.
Where La Blogothèque transcend what MTV did in its nascent days back when it still proffered actual music and what at the time were seemingly obvious idiosyncrasies like Unplugged, is Moon and company take it to the streets. Which streets? Any streets. It really doesn't matter. Some are in Paris. Some are in Brooklyn. Some in San Francisco. Some by a nondescript beach with the wind battling the microphones. It honestly doesn't matter. What's great is the idea behind this: that music is indeed universal, can be taken anywhere, and anyone can quote-unquote get it. They take the concept of "living music" and bring it to more life than anyone has in recent past that I can recall by allowing these musicians, all of which, to Vincent's credit, are anything but superlative, to seep the workaday world and trumpet their songs a la modern day troubadours.
They walk the streets. Sit in cafes. Ride metros. Oftentimes using unorthodox instruments - spoons, beer bottles, metro handrails, elevators, plastic trash cans, and quite possibly my favorite of all, the backup vocals of their fellow city folk, whom they might find in bars, patios, cafes, or even schoolyards to sing along. Using all of this and more, the various and diverse artists bring a whole different kind of life to their songs, most if not all of which are already topnotch to begin with. Simple is a great way to describe these videos and renditions. No, the videos don't have any explosions. No, they don't have strippers. No, they don't have a plot line or anything exciting in them; that is, unless you count the songs, which, after all, are what music is supposed to be about. In a world where overwrought post-production and mixing has commandeered studio records, studio executives and labels continue to tear away at artists originality and vision, and where so many artists aren't even worth one grain of salt in front of a live audience, these Take Away Shows are a much needed windstorm of fresh air confirming the fact that somewhere out there musicians still care about playing music for music's sake and about bringing it to where it matters the most - the people. More people need to see these.
If I have only one complaint it's that now every time I open my apartment building's door and am not greeted by a cavalcade of sound sauntering through the streets I'm sourly disappointed.
hi
ReplyDeletei didnt actually read this post, but uh, i just wanted to pop your comment cherry. wahoo!!!!