Passion, dance, boppability, possibility (meaning that it's got the entire world to explore and lift from, but remains unsettled as to what it is and what it can do), athletic ambition, personality, beauty, sex appeal that seems joyous rather than a grim task. Pretty good for a music that's mostly mainstream and not wildly contentious. But I don't think my list of attributes really explains much. Why do I love music, for that matter? I mean, I get strong appealing personalities in my life and on these threads, so what more do I gain from the wisps of image and sound out of Korea? "Artistry," perhaps — not in the Fine Art sense but more along the lines of "here's the shuffle dance, how can we make it ours?" (dance it in a circle, add astronauts). And then all this can be source material for our own lives, our own art, our dance of words.
K-pop has flipped me, in that, though I've long given lip service to the importance of visuals and hairstyle and social style and context and fan activities, etc., I'm actually quite poor at visual comprehension (I'm a verbal guy who lives in his head). With K-pop I find myself at least trying to use my eyes, sometimes seeing the real story more in sketchily vocalized, day-in-and-day out TV dance shows than in full-sounding mp3's. I love the YouTube mix and visual mash of "Lovey-Dovey" live clips by KPopMuzikLuvr34, it unintentionally constituting a History And Compilation Of T-ara Fashion, January, 2012.
"Ethnicity" is an interesting question but it's not necessarily the most relevant, unless we drastically redefine and rethink it. In 1980 in New York, a sort-of bridge-and-tunnel metal punk asked me, incredulously, "Since you're a fan of the Sex Pistols, how is it that you love Donna Summer?" Whereas, "Since you're white, how come you love Donna Summer?" "Since you're American, how come you love Donna Summer?" "Since you're a Jew, how come you love Donna Summer?" "Since you derive from Eastern Europe, how come you love Donna Summer?" aren't crucial questions. So my real ethnicity is, "Since I'm Sex Pistol, how come I love T-ara?"
(As I indicated above, the terms "punk" and "bohemian" no longer cut it.)
Since I'm Sex Pistol, How Come I Love T-ara? (Background Becomes Foreground, part three)
Passion, dance, boppability, possibility (meaning that it's got the entire world to explore and lift from, but remains unsettled as to what it is and what it can do), athletic ambition, personality, beauty, sex appeal that seems joyous rather than a grim task. Pretty good for a music that's mostly mainstream and not wildly contentious. But I don't think my list of attributes really explains much. Why do I love music, for that matter? I mean, I get strong appealing personalities in my life and on these threads, so what more do I gain from the wisps of image and sound out of Korea? "Artistry," perhaps — not in the Fine Art sense but more along the lines of "here's the shuffle dance, how can we make it ours?" (dance it in a circle, add astronauts). And then all this can be source material for our own lives, our own art, our dance of words.
K-pop has flipped me, in that, though I've long given lip service to the importance of visuals and hairstyle and social style and context and fan activities, etc., I'm actually quite poor at visual comprehension (I'm a verbal guy who lives in his head). With K-pop I find myself at least trying to use my eyes, sometimes seeing the real story more in sketchily vocalized, day-in-and-day out TV dance shows than in full-sounding mp3's. I love the YouTube mix and visual mash of "Lovey-Dovey" live clips by KPopMuzikLuvr34, it unintentionally constituting a History And Compilation Of T-ara Fashion, January, 2012.
What is your ethnicity/nationality?
American, white, musical marginal intelligentsia (MMA).
Heritage: Eastern and Central Europe, Jew, Kid From Tomkinsville, Desolation Row.
"Ethnicity" is an interesting question but it's not necessarily the most relevant, unless we drastically redefine and rethink it. In 1980 in New York, a sort-of bridge-and-tunnel metal punk asked me, incredulously, "Since you're a fan of the Sex Pistols, how is it that you love Donna Summer?" Whereas, "Since you're white, how come you love Donna Summer?" "Since you're American, how come you love Donna Summer?" "Since you're a Jew, how come you love Donna Summer?" "Since you derive from Eastern Europe, how come you love Donna Summer?" aren't crucial questions. So my real ethnicity is, "Since I'm Sex Pistol, how come I love T-ara?"
(As I indicated above, the terms "punk" and "bohemian" no longer cut it.)