leave it to popular musicians living in 21st century cocoon-worlds of likeminded individuals to drastically overestimate the importance of their work. the reason that cocorosie doesn’t get media attention is that their music simply annoys the vast majority of listeners, and what gets talked about in the press if what people like to listen to. printing severe and mock-highminded discussion of an album your readers don’t give a shit about is a recipe for being out of business.
when antony says that cocorosie are willing to be divergent and to experiment, it’s just another way of saying that they are willing to do things that will aggrivate many listeners. namely, sing very affectedly and write weird funhouse popsongs. this is the risk you run when you really start indulging yourself in music. the more “naked undisguised you” (if that’s what we’re calling this sort of play-acting) that you put in there, the less of themselves some other people will see.
antony hegarty is a good example of an artist that presents us with a somewhat bewildering and androgynous image, but still gets media attention and even gets on american television. why? because his voice and his songwriting are enjoyable to a much wider demographic. most people will never even become conscious of whatever psychosexual issues are at work in cocorosie, because they will turn their music off once the singing begins to annoy them.
i fully support the right of artists to make music that prizes idiosyncracy over mass appeal. cocorosie certainly does grow on you and i’d rather listen to (some of) their work than a lot of other shit out there. but i do not support the idea of making music whose sonic qualities intentionally alienate a huge number of listeners, and then using the resulting lack of media attention to invent some sort of fucking conspiracy and go off on dreamy philosophical tangents.
(@ comments of antony and annie clark.)
leave it to popular musicians living in 21st century cocoon-worlds of likeminded individuals to drastically overestimate the importance of their work. the reason that cocorosie doesn’t get media attention is that their music simply annoys the vast majority of listeners, and what gets talked about in the press if what people like to listen to. printing severe and mock-highminded discussion of an album your readers don’t give a shit about is a recipe for being out of business.
when antony says that cocorosie are willing to be divergent and to experiment, it’s just another way of saying that they are willing to do things that will aggrivate many listeners. namely, sing very affectedly and write weird funhouse popsongs. this is the risk you run when you really start indulging yourself in music. the more “naked undisguised you” (if that’s what we’re calling this sort of play-acting) that you put in there, the less of themselves some other people will see.
antony hegarty is a good example of an artist that presents us with a somewhat bewildering and androgynous image, but still gets media attention and even gets on american television. why? because his voice and his songwriting are enjoyable to a much wider demographic. most people will never even become conscious of whatever psychosexual issues are at work in cocorosie, because they will turn their music off once the singing begins to annoy them.
i fully support the right of artists to make music that prizes idiosyncracy over mass appeal. cocorosie certainly does grow on you and i’d rather listen to (some of) their work than a lot of other shit out there. but i do not support the idea of making music whose sonic qualities intentionally alienate a huge number of listeners, and then using the resulting lack of media attention to invent some sort of fucking conspiracy and go off on dreamy philosophical tangents.