English
How much further are they going to take it? I mean, what is modern music all about now? Modern meaning Pop. If we analyze a little the patterns and trends of the development of pop music over the last 60 years, we see that it´s not just all about piecing together sounds and images, creating and producing records for the young people who scream for Elvis, The Beatles, and so on… The strange thing about those early days was the impact of those artists on daily life; something which in general you don´t see so much today. That´s to say, however much a cultural phenomenon Lady Gaga might be, she is far more of a construction, taking iconography to fetishistic levels. Her invention is nothing more than a remix of a mixture; Ziggy Stardust must be turning in his grave…
Nowadays, pop is nothing but a cog in the wheels of the system- nothing but a silly game we all play, but don´t really understand. Indie Rock doesn´t count for much either. With the massive turnover of record labels, blogs, websites, the death of Myspace, the rise of Facebook, and all the other social networks you can think of, the sound of music all around the world is pretty much sold out, and exhausted. On the one hand, the mp3 is practical, useful, as a form of recreation in amongst that whole tangle of musical formats, but nevertheless it is bound to represent art, or knowledge in an inferior way. The spirit of recent vinyl has meant that monsters like Lady Gaga edit in vinyl, because if not, they can´t earn any more money – and the current love of vintage has also been absorbed into the music industry, and consumed, in the worst possible way.
The radicalism of pop is not to be found in these things. It´s got nothing to do with those catchy lyrics to make you dance, and all the people who dance but don´t know why. It´s all about dancing to change your body somehow; to leave the world behind for a moment, and get taken away by the rhythm of the bass, the drums and the vocals. Compare Blue Monday by New Order with Alejandro by Lady Gaga – the difference is huge, but at the same time not. So, the festivals continue to answer to these trends and demands; Rock the Seine being one of them. The line up is so random, and eclectic, that a city as preoccupied with “cool” as Paris, is deserving of such a quality festival – a festival of both low and high quality, and both superficial and profound. Paris in the summer unites for this great event. For more information, visit the festival website, get hold of your tickets and dance until you are the last one standing. The website is: http://www.rockenseine.com/en/
Alexa Ray
Why not find apartments in Paris and be a part of the one of the “coolest” summer festivals. Foo Fighters will be there. Kurt Cobain – and Elvis too will be turning in his grave. Amen.
Translated by: Poppy
