Daryl - no, I don’t think I got any part of your post wrong. And I really have changed my opinion of blank, because he’s got to have really good friends who speak up for him even when he can’t speak up for himself. It was probably a little harsh to accuse him of not having pride but I would try to say without making it sound really sarcastic that his notion of pride differs somewhat from mine. I didn’t think your earlier post warranted a long reply (sorry) but now it has.
I think that soft already answered the main issue in your post. There’s the past, and there’s the future. When you have pride, you believe in the future. And you did ask in the other post, are there any bands that have passed the “all time favourites” list. I have mentioned one band that already has. Believe it or not, I have a shelf where I put stuff like “Monk’s Music” by Thelonious Monk, “Steve McQueen” by Prefab Sprout, “California” by American Music Club and “Ghostfather” by Humpback Oak. And yes, if you’re wondering, I am cutting some slack towards Humpback Oak. But not much. In that discrepancy between “good” and “moved me greatly”, “Ghostfather” definitely belongs to the latter. You should listen to it, it’s that good.
And in case you’re wondering, I don’t think that “Ghostfather” sold a hell of a lot. Yes, there were a lot of people who were looking for it after it went out of print and yes, you will never find it in a shop, new or second hand. My point is, even if a local band puts out music that’s that good they wouldn’t get recognised because the general public isn’t really looking out for that. And anyway they were more of an album band than a live band.
Observatory – I think there would probably be a few more scattered gems here and there. It sounds like Leslie Low is repeating himself a little bit, but let’s give him credit – he’s already made “Pained Stained Morning” and “Ghostfather”.
B quartet, I thought it was a great effort. But the one time I listened to them, they were opening for Tortoise, so that spoilt it somewhat.
And your Germany example furthermore brings up something else that I forgot to mention. Since when was supporting substandard music a crime against humanity? That’s the central issue I have with your attitude. What is so objectionable about having a little belief? Then I get reminded of something a friend threw in my face during an internet debate: an argument is in trouble if an equivalent has to be drawn with the Nazis. Why use a far fetched example when a near fetched one will suffice? Unless there is no near fetched example... And after the Nazis and the Soviets reduced Germany to a pile of rubble, what happened next? Didn’t they build their nation to become one of the great economies of the world? Did they say, “Oh, our Nazi past is so shameful, let’s call it a day”? Or was it more like “let’s forge on irregardless, forget about the past and move ahead with the future”? Aren’t they still proud to be Germans?
Part of this is I’m also wondering how far you’re willing to take all this local bashing. Wow. Pretty damn far. Looks like local musicians have to work really really hard to win you over. In fact it looks as though they never will. I am saying that you have to be slightly biased. It’s going too far to close 2 eyes, but closing 1 eye is not going to kill you.
Point is, Singaporeans are just loath to acknowledge success. How many ppl know that this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLXo17eYAQ4
was written by Singaporeans? Or this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp1xYGt4UmE
So the question is: why should we root for music which isn’t the best? There are a few answers. First, nobody starts out being the best. People depend upon your support. There are always talented people out there who are gauging your response to local music. I can think of Tanya Chua who did try to put out 1 or 2 indie releases, and then, upon realising that she was bashing her head against the wall, switched to writing for Chinese singers and having a good go at it. There are talented ppl out there wondering, "should I pick up my guitar" and trying to gauge the response they'll get. You might end up scaring away good ppl even before they get started.
Second, there’s a lot of great music out there that asks you to accept them in spite of imperfections. Punk and indie music is like that. And somehow it turns out to be even greater for it. That’s how ppl like the Clash with fairly dubious technical standards ends up being “the only band that matters”. Because a large part of their talent lies in transcending those limitations.
Third, all music starts out being sugar coated moose piss and that’s the only thing you got. All music starts in your own imagination. There is no other way – fake it till you make it. Given a choice between focusing on a present that imagining a glorious future, always choose the latter, because that’s the only way any great music has ever been made. You just have to switch on that nurturing frame of mind.
Then there’s the other thing – pride in your own self. Every time I see people trying to market Singapore bands as “internationally recognised artist” I want to throw up. It’s an insult to Singaporean bands, and an insult to Singaporean audiences. It’s like saying you can’t listen to something until some foreigners like it. When I see how much great music comes about from ppl having pride in their hometowns it makes me think there is something very very wrong with Singaporeans. I’m thinking about “Straight Outta Compton” by NWA, “Atliens” by Outkast, anything the Kinks put out in the 60s. Ever notice that almost everything Nelly puts out has the St Louis archway on it? And of course there’s this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eijc2tGe-zM&feature=related
I just think that it’s very wrong how bands look for greatness by avoiding sounding like Singaporeans.
There is no contradiction between a scene with a Beatles and one full of Nickelbacks. I got the impression that they came up from a scene full of Nickelbacks – after all, what was the second best Liverpool band in the 60s? I don’t recall. The British kept on plugging their own music, even though they only had Cliff Richard. Eventually they were rewarded with the Beatles, the Kinks, the Who, and the Rolling Stones.
What daryl and I agree on is that the mechanism by which good music is identified and brought up to the attention of the public is faulty. I have talked about the possibility of resurrecting BigO before. Singapore needs the equivalent of a pitchfork, or a consequences of sound. I don’t know whether it will ever happen. If Singapore was already a big rat race in the 90s it’s 10 times worse today. People don’t have a lot of time and energy to devote to stuff not directly related to making lots of money.
I still think that means that you got to cut people some slack. You already acknowledge that people are biased against local music. I think that local audiences are a big part of the problem. We’re all like the Singapore government. We want success yesterday.
It’s not even true that the average standard of the bands have to improve. But we need a few stars. We need 3 or 4 really good bands. 3 or 4 records at the level of Humpback Oak. We have so many raw ingredients – kids getting grade 8s, ppl good at maths and science (sorry to those who aren’t but there’s such a strong correlation between maths and music ability) – we got the internet, and there’s no good music? That’s very surprising.
As for trying harder – I don’t really think we need them to try harder. People are saying that there are already enough technically good people in Singapore. What we need is for people to be brave enough to try crazy things. Stretch out and do the high risk high reward stuff. And that requires audiences to be less conservative and more accepting of failure. I don’t see the suspension of disbelief that that entails. I think that intolerance of imperfection, of mistakes, is not the friend. It is the enemy of creativity. There is such a thing as music that is too sloppy to listen to. But otherwise, you get hung up on that because you only want to see the small portion of the stuff, instead of understanding the bigger picture of the music.
Blank – I saw your comments before they got deleted. I’m only mentioning them because they got deleted, because otherwise I would have ignored them. Now I’m going to have to say that I saw them and ignored them and that spoils the effect somewhat.
, I SAID that I dont understand how ANYONE wouldn't want to get their acts UP TO STANDARD before they even tell themselves that they are ready to play to the masses. I assume that anyone who goes out to play wants to be known for being able to put on a kickass show, right? 
