Musings on the byways of popular culture
by 9 Comments
This authenticity thing in rock music really irritates me, given it’s modern folk music turned into show biz and display for the mass market. All entertainment is artefice and exaggeration, and that’s what makes it fun. Being noisy and cross in front of other people who clap and give you drinks, particularly so. Maybe Crass or The Clash should have paid the audience?
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Arthur Cowslip raises the issue of authenticity on the “RIP Meat Loaf” thread. I must admit to thinking the concept of “authenticity” is largely idealist/ essentialist / existential tripe, particularly when people are composing creative things for a commercial entertainment market. What I do like is “authentically inauthentic” (where people play with artifice as part of the expression, Bowie being an expert, and where it can turn into irony). If people are creating for themselves and genuine outsiders, then they may be authentic, but an awful lot of authenticity is derivative. And to call yourself authentic is like calling yourself “cool”: desperate. But at the same time, some music sounds sincere, and other music doesn’t. Views of the massive?
https://www.facebook.com/mouseonmars/videos/314214030627827
