In today’s Times, Ben Sisario writes about the indie scene out here in the ‘hood, which breeds technically proficient bands with big buzz and global reach, but low commercial promise. For example, LCD Soundsystem’s “Sound of Silver” topped the Voice’s most recent Pazz & Jop poll, but has only sold 103,000 copies. Yeasayer’s debut release, “All Hour Cymbals," has sold less than 15,000.
But, as Sisario writes, low sales can actually be a boon for this music:
"Without the pressure to make hits and repay large advances to record labels, groups have been liberated to experiment: an art-for-art’s sake situation that has been good for both musicians and audiences."
Dirty Projectors’ Dave Longstreth, who studied both music and art at Yale, is defiant in his resistance to the label system: “The community that I come out of is just interested in doing your own weird art project, not making something saleable."
Which begs the question: how do these kids plan on making the rent? Answer: By playing live. Yeasayer sold out the Music Hall of Williamsburg last month; they’ll be at SXSW next week, playing no fewer than six gigs over four days. The hope is that, through the buzz-generating power of the Internet, eventually the music will catch fire, no matter how strange or un-commercial sounding.
Which got me thinking: why hasn’t anyone figured out how to apply this model to classical music? Why do classical presenters insist on hitching their ride to the latest nubile violinist playing Bach or Tchiakovsky, rather than promoting young composers? Why aren’t more musicians taking this music outside the concert hall and into a more familiar context? And, when is someone going to figure out how to use the damned Internet? The appetite is there, guys: you just need to tell folks where to go.
(Speaking of bringing classical to the indie masses, Boosey & Hawkes is holding a SXSW showcase this Wednesday at St. David’s Church in Austin, featuring So Percussion and the SOLI Chamber Ensemble, hosted by none other than Steve Reich. I don’t get in till the following night, or I’d be there.)