My progress with thesis this week is honestly more substantial and productive than the sum of the activity I had in the previous year. That would be my justification for this short LiveJournal break while thinking about how to revert my discussion on Indonesian urban planning with law and order in the Marcos regime. So enough with the academic stuff for the next few minutes. The reason why I feel like rambling at this hour and in the middle of productivity time is to talk about Bon Iver.
If I remember correctly, I have posted about Justin Vernon in this blog a couple of years ago when I was in JTA. Bon Iver seemed like the perfect soundtrack to my life back then: I was temporarily studying in a strange country, I was recovering from a very bad life event, and I was mustering up enough courage to do something new with my life. I am not exaggerating whenever I say that Vernon's first artistic output as Bon Iver, the album For Emma, saved my life. I personally think that the quiet success of For Emma was a combination of the unexpected brilliance of the material and story behind it. I honestly doubt that if not for the Thoreau-esque tale of Vernon holing up in the woods to recover from a break-up, For Emma would not be considered as one of the best and most poignant records of the last decade. My bias shows mostly when a comparison between For Emma and his sophomore work Bon Iver, Bon Iver is brought up. The latter, I think, offers stronger material and gives us an idea of how Vernon has matured with his craft.
It took too long for Justin Vernon to be recognized by the mainstream (and this doesn't even include his other equally terrific work with DeYarmond Edison and his solo outputs), but I'm honestly glad they did. I know we operate in a world where these award-giving bodies have been reduced to notions of exchange value and passing affirmation for the trends of the day, but his acceptance speech gave us the insight on the real significance of things like the Grammys: that 'business as usual' in the contemporary artistic scene which has turned into an industry of profiteering discursively defines who are the 'haves' and 'have nots', and who are just in it for the money and those who are in it for something greater. His humility and seemingly unnerved reaction are, in fact, acts of braveness, in that he stood up and spoke for (quite literally) those who will always be the 'subalterns' of the music business.
So suck it, Nicki Minaj. While the award was indeed a question of quality, I think it is primarily a question of struggle and making it through despite what the system defines. At this point, I remain a fan, and I remain even more hopeful that Justin Vernon will continue what he has started and always see the music business as an industry that has to be reminded of how it really operates.
If I remember correctly, I have posted about Justin Vernon in this blog a couple of years ago when I was in JTA. Bon Iver seemed like the perfect soundtrack to my life back then: I was temporarily studying in a strange country, I was recovering from a very bad life event, and I was mustering up enough courage to do something new with my life. I am not exaggerating whenever I say that Vernon's first artistic output as Bon Iver, the album For Emma, saved my life. I personally think that the quiet success of For Emma was a combination of the unexpected brilliance of the material and story behind it. I honestly doubt that if not for the Thoreau-esque tale of Vernon holing up in the woods to recover from a break-up, For Emma would not be considered as one of the best and most poignant records of the last decade. My bias shows mostly when a comparison between For Emma and his sophomore work Bon Iver, Bon Iver is brought up. The latter, I think, offers stronger material and gives us an idea of how Vernon has matured with his craft.
It took too long for Justin Vernon to be recognized by the mainstream (and this doesn't even include his other equally terrific work with DeYarmond Edison and his solo outputs), but I'm honestly glad they did. I know we operate in a world where these award-giving bodies have been reduced to notions of exchange value and passing affirmation for the trends of the day, but his acceptance speech gave us the insight on the real significance of things like the Grammys: that 'business as usual' in the contemporary artistic scene which has turned into an industry of profiteering discursively defines who are the 'haves' and 'have nots', and who are just in it for the money and those who are in it for something greater. His humility and seemingly unnerved reaction are, in fact, acts of braveness, in that he stood up and spoke for (quite literally) those who will always be the 'subalterns' of the music business.
So suck it, Nicki Minaj. While the award was indeed a question of quality, I think it is primarily a question of struggle and making it through despite what the system defines. At this point, I remain a fan, and I remain even more hopeful that Justin Vernon will continue what he has started and always see the music business as an industry that has to be reminded of how it really operates.
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