Take another step OUT THERE
Guest post from Simon Christensen, founder of Passive/Aggressive
It's time to be idealogical. More now, than it has been in a long time of... lets say 20 years, music today invites us to choose and to make that choice an idealogical one, and maybe even idealistic, anarchistic or even totally random. What I strive for in music is something that takes it "out there", which could be whatever experience of music that spans from world music, freejazz, avantgarde to punk, hardcore and (on good days) melodic indie music. That's why I enjoy the alternative labels, media and organizers out there - and right now Copenhagen seems to be in an extreme state of really good music and entreprenuering these conditions.
But I also often ask myself; how can we keep these initiatives and the good music alive, no matter how diverse people's music taste is? My personal response is to keep music listening idealogical. Whatever you shows, you go to; records you listen to, stream, buy or download (even illegally on the current music system); or even more important whatever music you talk about, recommend and write about, you should maybe make that choice idealogical. Support the initiatives you believe in. Challenge yourself and your friends to maybe go to avantgarde, punk and freejazz shows and buy the alternative records (and stream/download the mainstream ones), just because you really want to keep all the opportunities and alternatives alive for the future.
We try to do this by writing the blog and recommending shows at the Live In Denmark-calendar, if nothing else then just for the sake of making an argument and adding something to the alternative and the democratization of music media and markets.
This is three of my latest music discoveries/re-discoveries:
Oneohtrix Point Never - the reissue of 2009 Rifts unreleased material
Roscoe Mitchell soloperformance - I streamed this five times during the last week and discovered because of some random research at work. Pure expression of a 70's Chicago-school freejazz pioneer:
Joshua Abrams - this bass-lute player of the old Gnawa-instrument the Guimbri is neither indie nor jazz on his soloalbums. They dont sound like Western-import of world music but in a non-virtuoso way are just there to heal you and put you into ceremonial trance of the Guimbri.
Shoutouts to all the alternative labels, music collectives, organizers, festivals, radios, blogs and venues that challenge the danish music systems.
