Preface To The Angry Show: Is There A Place For Emotion In Music?

Music is, of course, first & foremost a cerebral pursuit, as we have always acknowledged, from the first writings of Professor Elvis Presley to the most recent - &, some say, the most difficult, as he invented a whole new scholastic language to dealing with music criticism - works of Dr. Shawn Carter. But recently, as the fourth deconstruction of popular music resulted in the demise of three record labels & the mass suicide of the Harvard Music School faculty, some people have begun to ask: but what if we made music with our hearts rather than our minds?

It is terribly easy to dismiss this as some kind of science fiction nonsense, but a small group of younger students has begun suggesting that the way a singer sings & perhaps the sound of the music might actually echo & create emotions in the listener. Appearing in smaller journals & also in unofficial publications called "fanzines," these "punks" (as they call themselves) have turned off their minds & started dancing (!) & singing along (!!) to the music. Some have also asked that the music be performed live (!!!) by groups of people who stand in front of them.

It hasn't taken too long for this strange, nearly heretical thinking to find its way to the establishment. Some of the old guard - the songwriters whose music could never be accused of have emotion in it - like Sir Paul McCartney & Brian Wilson - have waved the stories away as fabrication. Others, however, seem intrigued -& have in fact found themselves in places called "clubs" where there are actual "bands" playing music on stages. A few of those have managed to stay through the entire "show" without needing medical assistance.

It may be too early to tell if this is in fact some strange derangement caused by the intense intellectual experience of music - there are those who rue the day music was allowed to be shared with everyone, when it was freed from the academies, churches & halls of power - or if this is truly some revolution in the way human beings interact with & enjoy music. Only time will tell.