Ranting Against the Machine...

I'm sick of Madison. More over, I'm sick of the music I hear in Madison. I've become convinced that over 99% of the music performed in Madison is just plain boring. The music that occurs in this town is often the most recycled, mid-life crisis, Blatz-league crap. The musicians in Madison tend to fall into one of the following categories:

• aging punk trying to relive youthful glory of "sticking it to the establishment"


• rocker gone country because it's "where my roots are"


• UW music grad that thinks that playing in a group with his/her professors is the greatest


• aging metal guys that jump on every 'alt*' bandwagon to come down the pipe

I didn't include the Pabst drinking hipster crowd as they're generally just one of the above in disguise.

As John Cage said, "I'm not scared of new ideas. It's the old ones that scare me." I tend to agree with his statement, at least in principle. It's so frustrating to have to listen to CDs and bootlegs and mp3s to hear any new ideas. Or just to hear some honest-to-goodness art. Something that actually speaks to life and experience today, rather than simply regurgitates the experiences of others from bygone times.

I want to blame the sad state of music here (and most everywhere it would seem) on the accessibility of cheap instruments and promoters/booking agents desire for a quick buck. However, I can't. These seem to be a part of a larger problem in our culture. A problem of product and passivity. A problem that I'm not interested or equipped to address at this point.

Happy Wednesday!

Been pretty busy this past month. Tracking on the Dorothy Heralds' new album has been complete for a while. We're waiting for mixes from Bill Connors up in Minneapolis. Should have them all by the first of September! You can hear a preview of our new song 'Nora' at our MySpace site.

In other news, it looks like I'll be working on a couple of infrastructure projects for DNA Studios. I'm very excited to work with Brian and Mark as they're both very creative and open. I'm still writing material for a CD to be released this year. Hopefully I'll be able to get it done in time to submit for the WI Arts Board Fellowship Grant. All I need is scores and recordings of three pieces. Don't know how I'll be able to do it, but it'll be fun trying.

By the way, the Dorothies are in the MTV2 "On the Rise" competition. Stop by and vote for us by clicking here. I'd like to thank A Planet Named Janet and Dr. John's Fortress for spreading the word about this.

Update: We're at second place locally! Thanks for everyone who's vot(ed)/(ing)!