Looping Mind

Creating writing project of Parker Ewan

[loopingmind]

The Benefits of Challenging Your Music Taste

Is there anything inherently wrong with only listening to “popular” music, or music that you would typically find playing on the radio? The answer is a concise no. Continuing to listen to these popular genres of music exclusively is what’s wrong- Never stepping outside of the popular genre “box” is so incredibly limiting to both your personal taste and the expansion of your general music knowledge. There are a lot of personal accomplishments you can gain from challenging yourself in your music taste, but I think more important than challenging yourself is to simply know that there’s more to discover. An experimental album can offer a lot more once you are accustomed to the genre, and it produce a much stronger emotional response.

For example, a noise or drone song has a lot more going on in it than than a pop song- Separating yourself from the expectations of pop compared to an alternative genre is what’s difficult for people. Pop music is engrained in our culture and most Americans are raised on it, acclimated to understand what a “happy” pop song is compared to a “sad” song, and the emotions that follow. A song that works outside of the pop music structure and that is using different compositions than pop is not going to instantly bring about the same emotional reactions that a pop song would, especially if you are just starting to get into experimental music.

There are other pieces of noise and experimental music that I think people have trouble with, like a lack of lyrics and lack of mutual emotional response. For example, there’s no singular way to react to a Merzbow album, but with a punk song or a rock song, there’s a shared “anti-establishment” ideology or something similar. Since people react so strongly to lyrics, when there’s absolutely none in a song, I think that it’s much more difficult for someone to connect and have an emotional response. The benefit of this is that, without a an expectation for a mutual reaction, each individual can come away with a completely different personal response to the artist. Each person can have a completely singular response to a song, which allows for a much more open discussion of an artist’s work.

Each individual has different personal values when determining if an art piece is important to them, and the same concept can be applied to an experimental or alternative song. The difference between a painting and a 20-minute noise song is that a person can glance at a painting and determine its worth, while a lengthy song takes personal investment. Listening to a noise record all the way though is a definite investment, of both your time and interest. I think the end result is much more rewarding than a feeling any pop album could produce. It’s the difference between instant gratification and long-term enjoyment– Once you spend the time becoming accustomed to an experimental genre, you begin to appreciate the intricacies and alternative structures. 

Drone and noise are two completely different musical styles, although they can often overlap. Drone is a genre defined by ambience and the absence of form. Artists like Tim Hecker and Sunn O))) use abstract instrumentation to create a lengthy and slowly-changing soundscape. Getting through a full drone album can seem like a difficult task for someone not used to songs longer than 10-15 minutes, but really allowing yourself to be absorbed by the sounds can be an interesting and wonderful payoff. 

Noise, on the other hand, is characterized by a harsh and aggressive sound, sometimes even sinister. Merzbow is one of the most prominent noise acts (check out the album “Merzbient” for something lighter), and is well-known for the ear-pummeling vacuum-like environments he creates. Experiencing a noise record can seem overwhelming for someone not used to aggressive music, but again, allowing yourself to be enveloped in the wall of sounds can be a great experience.

My recommendations if you want to get into noise or drone: 

-“Merzbient” by Merzbow (ambient noise)

-”1930″ by Merzbow (harsh noise)

-"And Still, Wanting” by Prurient (harsh noise)

-“Haunt Me” by Tim Hecker (drone/ambient drone)

-”White 2″ by Sunn O))) (drone)

-“Amplifier Worship” by Boris  (drone metal)

[loopingmind]

Katy Perry's Hypocritical "Gay Activism"

The celebrities that we choose to worship in many different forms of media and pop culture are often so problematic behind closed doors, as illustrated in some of the private statements and actions made by people like Justin Bieber and Jonah Hill. Katy Perry is presently one of the most popular performers in the U.S.,and has quickly become a household name within the last five years. Katy Perry is currently worth an estimate of 44 million dollars, and was also ranked by Forbes as the seventh highest-earning woman in music.

Katy Perry has been problematic since the birth of her career, and since erupting in popularity; she has only continued to perpetuate cultural appropriation, racism, and a hetero-normative sexualized image. Katy Perry is a disgusting example of celebrity worship for many reasons, particularly the blind reverence that certain LGBT individuals have for her, claiming her to be an “ally”, a heterosexual individual who is an advocate for gay rights. Unfortunately, Perry has a troubled past in the gay rights arena. While her ongoing support and contribution to gay rights campaigns should not be minimized, her 2008 song titled “Ur So Gay” demonstrates the hypocritical acceptance she shows towards LGBT individuals.

“I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf while jacking off and listening to Mozart,” Perry sings in the song contained on the album titled, “One of the Boys”. The chorus of this song, which repeats the hook, “You’re so gay, and you don’t even like boys”, seems to be completely whitewashed by gay activists and media sources in general. The language used in this song, which was disgusting for its time of release and even more repulsive reviewing it in 2015, perpetuates an anti-gay, heterosexual lifestyle. Even though the song can be written off as simply a joke in bad taste, Perry is continuing to shame the gay community through this type of language. At best, the portion of her fan base that identifies as queer can be described as confused if they continue to support Katy Perry after learning this type of information about her. What is shocking to me personally is the number of people who continue to support her after this sparkling display of intolerance, which was ground into the minds of young listeners after being played thousands of times on the radio and performed in hundreds of cities.

Her music videos spanning from her 2008 album to her most recent, have moved from hyper-sexualized and distasteful to utterly racist. In her music video for “I Kissed A Girl”, also released in 2008, she is pictured in lingerie on bed, playfully turning a lesbian relationship into a novelty to be enjoyed by her heterosexual fans. The tired argument of a young girl’s body image being unrealistically shattered through Perry’s music videos still applies, although the hypocrisy of her self-proclaimed “gay activist” title is much more distasteful.

Perry’s spirited self-objectification and hetero-normality was again prevalent during her Super Bowl performance, which began seemingly innocent. (as much as Katy Perry can be). However, when she performed “I Kissed a Girl” with Lenny Kravitz, Perry “assumed the position” and grinded on the guitarist, using the Super Bowl’s millions of viewers to objectify herself and preserve the heterosexual lifestyle, through which she continues to make millions of dollars. Her actions and words in just a few short minutes can alienate and discriminate against her lesbian and queer identifying female fans. The singer-performer is more concerned with supporting the male gaze while in the middle of the song, than actually sending a message of support to her gay fan base.

Stop supporting Katy Perry and her hypocritical hero status of gay rights activist and ludicrous ally. If we continue to compartmentalize and separate the LGBT community, how in the world can we expect to achieve equality between these two seas of people? Perry needs to stop being shown as a supportive gay ally, because it is clear she continues to maintain the heterosexual lifestyle in her professional career, offering no clear support to her gay fans when it matters most. 

[loopingmind]

Mayor de Blasio and Instituional Racism

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/de-blasio-details-talk-son-dealing-cops-article-1.2036870

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/26/us/nba-team-owner-alleged-racist-remarks/index.html

There is perhaps nothing more socially irritating or upsetting than someone denying the existence of racial barriers continuing to persist in our modern-day American society. After reading these selected articles about the cultural obstacles that African Americans have to overcome, it seems undeniable that our Western society has a difficult path to travel before we reach anything close to equality.

The collection of articles and news stories outline the oppression of institutional racism and how it affects African American males on a daily basis. The article featuring Mayor de Blasio of New York speaking about his son paints a perfect picture of how institutional racism is eternalized in our systems of authority. After describing a personal conversation of warning his son against police racism, a police union chief felt the need to verbally attack de Blasio. Institutional racism works thusly: through key figures in power showing their opposition for cultural competency. Mayor de Blasio illustrated an important fact; that families of color need to protect each other from the continually overwhelming threat of police brutality. The police union chief, along with others, felt this was so unnecessary that they needed to publically defame de Blasio.

There are also examples of personal racism, such as LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling making disgusting racist remarks to his girlfriend. I was extremely upset by both of these select examples, and I think it is horrifying that these incredibly powerful figures, although in two very different social arenas, have so blatantly shown their racist views.

In order for African American males to be successful and thrive in their specific situations, we must completely re-examine the people we have chosen to put in power. Institutions and systems of power must be scrutinized carefully. We as an American people need to treat not only treat everyone equally but also equitably, as the NASW Code of Ethics and basic principles of social work outline for our profession. Social Workers need to be mindful about allocating resources and helping others based on their individual need and personal history, taking their cultural and racial background into account.

As a practicing social worker, I would hope that my clients would be open with their personal history and willing to talk about the social injustices they have had to experience personally, though I would not directly ask them. Through developing a personal relationship and treating people with empathy and love, I would ideally be able to glean that sort of information from each client. If I was the same ethnicity as anyone who has to go through these sort of daily aggressions, I believe it would give me an immensely deeper supply of compassion and understanding for my clients, including those in my personal life that I do not help on a professional level. Although I will never be able to truly experience the social barriers that African American males undergo, advancing cultural competency through racial awareness is a vital step we as a society need to continue to take.

[loopingmind]

The Internet's Reaction To Racism (Devin Perez & DIIV)

If you follow any semi-independent or “alternative” music news source, by now you have probably read enough on the Devin Perez/4chan debacle to make you sick. As music news sites often do, whenever there is any amount of brouhaha that can be turned into multiple stories and updates, it tends to become completely overblown. (This theme has re-occurred multiple times in the last few months alone with Mark Kozelek’s beef against The War on Drugs and Grimes denouncing Ariel Pink) The most recent of these melodramatic stories to breach a Google News search page is the revealing of DIIV bassist Devin Perez using racist, sexist, and bigoted slurs on internet message board 4chan. Without diminishing the actual events that occurred on 4chan and how incredibly damaging and hurtful they were, the internet’s reaction to the entire situation was perhaps even more disgusting.

After the screenshots of Devin Perez’s assorted, colorful comments were leaked online to multiple news sources, the creator and guiding voice behind DIIV, Zachary Cole Smith, turned to Twitter to voice his “disgust” at the situation and reaction to seeing what his bassist had said. After posting that he was “disguted, angry” and “will never EVER tolerate sexism, racism, homophobia, bullying, or bigotry of any kind”, the majority of Twitter responded with criticism against him. Smith has had a spotted record with music press because of his substance abuse issues and relationship with Sky Ferreira, and his actions in the last two years have seemed to amount to major animosity against him. Twitter users have been calling Smith a racist and a bigot, while others decried him for voicing a position against his bassist, claiming he was trying to gain favor with "internet strangers" in order to maintain some of his band's image.

There are a lot of problematic issues surrounding this issue. Devin Perez, who claims that he is in fact, NOT a racist despite his continual and habitual use of racist/sexist remarks online. Perez's argument is that his words were taken out of context, and do not paint any picture of him whatsoever. This is a disgusting claim to make, knowing the history of the words he's continued to use and the struggles associated with them. Absolving yourself of any wrong based on an internet message board's "lingo" is repulsive. Perez is using 4chan's past history of racial slurs and community of bigoted users to shift blame from himself and onto the internet as a whole. Popular music news sites are doing nothing to help the issue, merely perpetuating the popular idea that the mysterious enigma known as "the internet" is home to racism, intolerance, and hatred.

Dozens of Twitter users have also been claiming Smith should not voice his opinion, nor does he have one given his past history of substance abuse. People are labeling him as unworthy of taking any sort of stance on the issue because of his personal history, which is another incredibly damaging stance to make. The fact that people choose to make an argument against someone standing against racism/sexism/bigotry in order to declare them two-faced is a pointless argument. Why are Twitter users trying to make this stance against Smith? Why are they essentially supporting Perez's slurs and continuing the cycle of internalized racism used on the internet? What is the purpose of taking this stance?