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Exceptions to exceptionalism
May. 26th, 2010 11:11 amJust posted this response to Tom's tumblr post about weak and strong exceptionalism*:
And there's always the classic, "I don't know much about [genre], but I know what I like."
"I don't listen to much [genre] but I really like [artist]" can sometimes be a simple statement of ignorance, not of exceptionalism; e.g., "I don't know much about [artist] in [artist]'s musical neighborhood, but I like [artist] for how [artist] plays in my neighborhood (though if I knew more about [artist]'s neighborhood that could broaden my understanding)." Not knowing much about a genre doesn't necessarily mean taking exception to it.
What if you do know a lot about [good artist]'s genre, even if you don't generally like that genre (admittedly, it's rare to really know a genre one dislikes), but you don't want to make your piece strong exceptionalism, or don't think that [good artist] particularly transcends or exposes the weakness of the genre? "While most indie bands try to turn weaknesses into strengths but fail, [particular good indie band] is one of the few that succeeds." I suppose this maybe exposes the weakness of the indie genre, if it's the case that unlike some other genres, indie doesn't help its second-level and third-level bands sound good; except one could also read this as saying that indie, while mostly producing artistic failures, also creates the conditions for the occasional extraordinary achievement - bands that successfully turn weaknesses into strengths often being genuine originals who sometimes change music through their accomplishments. So this reveals the strength of a genre that mostly produces bad music, the badness walking arm-in-arm with the strength.
*What I wrote in this old LVW column seems relevant ("When the wrong song loves you right"):
( You need a new wrong )
And there's always the classic, "I don't know much about [genre], but I know what I like."
"I don't listen to much [genre] but I really like [artist]" can sometimes be a simple statement of ignorance, not of exceptionalism; e.g., "I don't know much about [artist] in [artist]'s musical neighborhood, but I like [artist] for how [artist] plays in my neighborhood (though if I knew more about [artist]'s neighborhood that could broaden my understanding)." Not knowing much about a genre doesn't necessarily mean taking exception to it.
What if you do know a lot about [good artist]'s genre, even if you don't generally like that genre (admittedly, it's rare to really know a genre one dislikes), but you don't want to make your piece strong exceptionalism, or don't think that [good artist] particularly transcends or exposes the weakness of the genre? "While most indie bands try to turn weaknesses into strengths but fail, [particular good indie band] is one of the few that succeeds." I suppose this maybe exposes the weakness of the indie genre, if it's the case that unlike some other genres, indie doesn't help its second-level and third-level bands sound good; except one could also read this as saying that indie, while mostly producing artistic failures, also creates the conditions for the occasional extraordinary achievement - bands that successfully turn weaknesses into strengths often being genuine originals who sometimes change music through their accomplishments. So this reveals the strength of a genre that mostly produces bad music, the badness walking arm-in-arm with the strength.
*What I wrote in this old LVW column seems relevant ("When the wrong song loves you right"):
( You need a new wrong )
