Word: musicianship
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It’s a little difficult to know what to make of Ozomatli’s second album, Embrace the Chaos. The musicianship is great, and there is no shortage of personnel or good ideas (the album has at least five guest artists). Kicking off with the rollicking horn-driven “Pá Lante,” Ozo come rolling out with infectious energy. The track is almost surprisingly straight up, given the mix ’n match ethic of the rest of the album: There are no guests, and no breaks into turntable spins...
What Gob—and most punk revival bands of any commercial note—fail to realize, is that punk exists in words and not notes (that in fact punk is about a devaluing of musicianship), and that love songs in the guise of punk chord progressions just don’t cut it. This, though, isn’t yet a complete value judgment: We’ve said only that Gob fails as a punk band, not as a band at large...
...it’s a way of thinking and a way of living, a wholly integrated worldview. At heart, any and all punk rockers live by a few basic mantras: 1) Offend the establishment, 2) Dispense with anything that smacks of conformity 3) De-prioritize talent and musicianship, as they reflect the very sort of ostentation and self-commodification from which the entire movement seeks to distance itself. Musically, this plays itself out in a total lack of polish and shine—counterpoint melodies, precise articulation and attention to structure or harmonic detail are rare commodities in the corpus...
...roll acts—and their devoted fans—have been the victims of some brand of commodification long before the Jackson Five. Since the advent of commercial radio, music has beens an industry, and the importance of money has at times eclipsed that of talent and musicianship. And Wesley Willis, while musically insufferable, somehow remains a marketable commodity...
Part of the cultural resistance to hip-hop has to do with the music's do-it-yourself style. Musicianship in Cuba is traditionally measured purely by formal skill. Even the players working the lounges of Havana hotels are stunningly accomplished. Older Cubans, accustomed to salsa, have difficulty accepting rap as music...