Bring me the head of Peter Gabriel....

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Or, more specifically, what do you think of inflecting pop music with music of the world? Genre-bending eclecticism, mixing Irish melodies with African beats, having a Sri Lankan singer over a Cuban rhythm section, Portuguese vocalists with southern blues guitar players over a techno beat... all that WOMAD stuff. I think it's shit, music is better in it's purist forms. Do you agree?

― Andy, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hey, that sounds almost like racism! Good job! Don't get pissed, I'm funnin' with ya. Purist forms? At which point did the forms become "pure", when the first track became a radio hit or down the road when it fleshed out a little bit or even earlier than it's first hit when it didn't really have a name yet? If you mean rock, pop, jazz, disco, new wave, punk, rap, gaelic or whatever, tuva, new age, classical, etc. are the pure forms that should exist for all eternity, that's pretty lame. Maybe Peter Gabriel just didn't do it right for you.

― Nude Spock, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think maybe what Andy's trying to say is this "world beat" as he described loathing is analogous to, say, promoting an "international" dish offered at The Cheesecake Factory... as opposed to plugging a restaurant that combines traditions without blanching and removing the spice from the results.

― Brian MacDonald, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You know what I'm talking about... Of course all music forms evolve organically, and are influenced by new infusions of immigrants, etc. What I'm referring to is the contrived, "visionary" idea of bringing the world closer through music, and how it inevitably waters down the power of the unadorned, "pure" forms of regional music. It ends up just sounding like international Muzak.

― Andy, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh THAT! Yeah that's less than bad. It's worse.

― Nude Spock, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

while I find the "worldbeat" (as per the AMG) music andy is talking about horribly lame, oddly enough i really like japanese, spanish, french, etc. attempts to make typically US or UK styled pop or rock. Maybe it's because pop and rock aren't ethnic genres. When P. Simon, Gabriel et al throw in bits of african or indian music for ex it just sounds fake to m. Maybe it's just cuz I don't like those artists anyway. But when Le Mans play their Spanish version of UK indiepop, I have no such problems.

― g, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

how about cornershop? they do this stuff successfully i think. They are on David Byrne's label, and his world stuff is ghastly///

― g, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

And Ghost does it well. Oh and Sting. Ha.

― bnw, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

maybe this is some kind of perverse reverse racism on my part, but I'm more apt to like cross-pollination when I hear rock, funk or jazz influence in traditionally-based music than elements of traditional music in rock, funk, or jazz. Bollywood or Rai or Bossa Nova & Tropicalia or old Jamaican covers of Soul or Afrobeat songs seem infinitely more interesting than Gabriel or Sting. Is this fair on my part? Is it still gimmicky exoticism no matter which way influence flows?

― fritz, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Reducing Peter Gabriel to some kind of mere cultural pillager is way off. I think there's a world of difference between that and being a promoter of other styles, which I think is much more accurate in this case. Biko is the most obvious example of musical incorporation - and that's kind of for a *reason*. If we were talking about Paul Simon, it does get a bit icky and exploitative. But Peter Gabriel, the *founder* of WOMAD (it almost landing in financial ruin to boot I believe) and WOMAD isn't about appropriating or exploiting music - it's about exposing the world to the genuine article... IT IS PURIST. I mean really!

― Kim, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

as usual... must apologize for non-sensical stringing of words. if only there were a grammar checker on that input box...

― Kim, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I would, if "Games Without Frontiers" wasn't so ace. His sole saving grace.

― Robin Carmody, Friday, 16 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Bring me the head of Peter Gabriel....

Only if you bring me the severed head of Sting.

― Lord Custos, Monday, 19 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

bill laswell eats shit

― bob snoom, Tuesday, 20 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

We listened to his 1980 solo album last night. It was fantastic.

np: Genesis - Nursery Cryme

― sundar subramanian, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one year passes...

I'm listening to _Up_ for the first time today. I'm on
the last track. After _OVO_'s failure to impress, Mr.
Prim British Goatee has completely redeemed himself.
Is it safe to say that Gabriel has returned to mother
prog, in his own roundabout way - by way of Trent Reznor,
David Bowie, and film soundtracks?

― squirl plise (Squirrel_Police), Friday, 2 May 2003 22:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Sometimes it can work. Example: Abdelli's New Moon. In that case though, one reason it works is that there are specific similarities between the various musical cultures that are drawn on in that recording.

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 2 May 2003 22:46 (twenty-three years ago)

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