Why does this guy get to be on NPR?

[quiethorn]

Saw this today:
http://www.npr.org/2015/10/07/444448...lla-tape-loops

It's really nice music, to be sure. But when listening to it, I thought, why does he get to be on NPR? There are people here who've made things at least as nice as this, and they're not on NPR. Is it because this guy has an agent? Is it because he used to be with Death Cab for Cutie? Just kinda bummed that a guy's first foray into ambient music gets plugged on NPR just 'cause he has a name for himself while others here or on Soundcloud are doing equally nice stuff.

[Toan_]

Hi. I understand your point of view. But I think that this phenomenon applies to all human relationships in general. (Work, art, marketing, production, publishing etc ...) The question about the success of some over others does not make you move forward. I think that what is sure, it's that talent is often the cause of success. But not all the time ... It's just a data that we must integrate and forget just enough to be able to progress oneself continuously. The real question is why and for whom You have chosen to be a musician. (money, success, peace of mind, listeners ...?)
I do not make you a lesson, and I do not give my opinion neither about the work of C.Walla.
Personnaly I make music because it is a vital need for me. Of course, if I can share it to many people it is even better. And if i can pay my bills too !

[aoVI]

NPR loves the DCFC-type bands so anything they or related musicians do will generate some interest. Lord, deliver me from Arcade Fire as well.

It does rub me a bit when someone is hailed for doing something recently that I have been toiling at for the better part of 3 decades, but (and this statement applies only to me) I recognize that a fair amount of it is envy.

As uncomfortable as I am with attention on me or my work, I do still seek it. I'd love to be featured on Hearts of Space or Echoes about my recent releases of my back catalog where I have taken "familiar things and gently rearranged them to form an abstract expression" to lift the definition from the NPR article. I also have been focused on the idea of "suspending linear time" via my music since about 1989. These ideas are fairly common within the ambient community though. But yeah, it is a bit frustrating when an artist hops genres and produces a nice work, but arguably no more distinctive or of higher quality than those who have been working at it for some time--yet receives attention.

Since the widespread adoption of the internet, I have found a couple of dozen people not only working in similar areas as I, but who are almost coming up with nearly the same results. Most of them doing it a lot better too. Just this weekend I ran across a guy from Russia whose work (IMO) was so similar to mine it almost spooked me.

Back in the late 80's, early 90's I was convinced no one else was working in the same areas.

This and Ahornberg's thread about unheard-of sounds has got me thinking and considering expending effort on changing my way of working to push a few self-imposed boundaries. Hopefully I will fail spectacularly enough to do me some good and widen my understanding of my own creative processes.

In the end I do agree with Toan--why you create is as important a question to answer as what you will create. For me, creating fulfills a deep need to map out whats in my head and heart, record it, then blur it with a sh**load of reverb and delays.

[GaryG]

NPR loves the DCFC-type bands so anything they or related musicians do will generate some interest. Lord, deliver me from Arcade Fire as well.

I'm not the only one who doesn't get AF then.

"familiar things and gently rearranged them to form an abstract expression"

Groundbreaking, we should have a challenge every month that pursues that goal. Oh, wait... ;)

Since the widespread adoption of the internet ... Back in the late 80's, early 90's I was convinced no one else was working in the same areas

I can't dis the internet as I've found so much great art through it over the years that I wouldn't have otherwise. But it has had this 'ensmallening' effect on the planet; no one's really isolated anymore, the whole idea of outsider art is sort of dead, finding something genuinely new and strange is a bit of a rarity. And, as you say, we're realising we're all not as unique as we maybe thought we were... Which is good and bad. Maybe bad for the ego but sort of reaffirming too ("maybe that noise I'm making does have an audience" etc etc...)

creating fulfills a deep need to map out whats in my head and heart, record it, then blur it with a sh**load of reverb and delays.

Yep, the next AO t-shirt is here. ;)

[aoVI]

I'm not the only one who doesn't get AF then.

I do think they are fine musicians, etc., its just some of the stuff I hear on some NPR shows strike me as being that sort of "we know how cool and clever we are" bands. I love Modest Mouse, and its the same kind of thing in a way, but AF just rubs me wrong. Like the Cranberries did in the 90's. It's like they figured out the formula to a previously honest form of expression and are producing on a mass scale or something. I can't pin it down to be honest. It just hits me like a reading college-level essay reeking of its own smugness and self-importance.

I can't dis the internet as I've found so much great art through it over the years that I wouldn't have otherwise. But it has had this 'ensmallening' effect on the planet; no one's really isolated anymore, the whole idea of outsider art is sort of dead, finding something genuinely new and strange is a bit of a rarity. And, as you say, we're realising we're all not as unique as we maybe thought we were... Which is good and bad. Maybe bad for the ego but sort of reaffirming too ("maybe that noise I'm making does have an audience" etc etc...)

Yes, I actually love finding people doing things that sound similar. It's encouraging rather than discouraging for me.

And it's not "ensmallening" -- it should be "debiggening":biggrin:

[aoVI]

In the spirit of the pre-election news here in the US, I'd like to walk my statement back a bit:

While my position may have been spoken strongly, I don't hate these bands nor find them without talent. I really want to emphasize that I can't pin down exactly why I do not care for the music--and that is my best guess of a reason.

I do like a lot of pretentious artists (and may be one on occasion) and it's no crime to be clever and aware of it. Many people I know who's taste I respect like them quite a bit.

Gary probably expressed it best here:

I'm not the only one who doesn't get AF then.

[bvsmv]

Maybe I'm showing my age or lack of ambient cred, but I just thought "Sweet! This will be a cool album!" I have been a DCFC fan for a long time though. I get where the original comment comes from, but that could be said for any type of music that gets quasi mainstream. Dcfc is on Atlantic, so they have a network.

[bvsmv]

Why does this guy get to be on NPR?

For me creating fulfills a deep need to map out whats in my head and heart, record it, then blur it with a sh**load of reverb and delays.

This is the best thing I've heard all day.

[metrosonus]

Id take it with a grain of salt. I think 99% of the programs on NPR, aside from the news, are peoples pet (and sometimes self indulgent) projects. Kinda of like a fancy cable or public access channel.