Does it convey emotion?
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When I met Britt Daniel from Spoon after their show at the Cannery Ballroom, shook his hand and complimented his music, he looked me in the eyes and asked "Does it convey emotion?" "Well, yeah!" I answered. "Of course it does." And it got me to start thinking about what the core of music should consist of. Is it a good song with proper melody and intonation where all of the chords are perfectly and mechanically played? Is it the reverberating arpeggio function of a good synthesized keyboard? Or does good music really need to convey emotion to be good? Maybe it does.
We arrived at the show a little late - I'm not sure how much we caught of the opener. Talked with friends, found a spot in the crowd, the regular concert routine. When Spoon came on, we were in another place in our minds - but the music brought us back to the location. They started with the song "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case" which might be one of my favorites because it's a pop song about nothing. Or at least that's what it seems to be. I respect people who can write catchy songs that seem to have little meaning. "Don't You Evah" is a little more my style when it comes to real emotion. I would say that the vocal tone conveys urgency, the lyrics mean something, there is something there to be reckoned with. But does it truly convey emotion? Well, it depends what you place it up against. Next to Britney Spears or Panic at the Disco! ? Worlds of emotion. Next to Radiohead or Tricky? Not entirely much.
I wouldn't say that Spoon does the whiny emo fake emotion or that they do the overtly sincere emotion akin to Tricky or Radiohead or old Tori Amos, but I would say that it is good and it is technically sound. Since the world, of course, is clamoring for my opinion. I like "The Underdog" and "Cherry Bomb" but I think the sound of each is so similar they could almost be the same song. I don't think they necessarily convey massive amounts of emotion either - but they have a good message, right? They make their own exclusive points in a world where real input is lacking - where the radio gods typically decide that music completely devoid of emotion and realistic situations is perfect for airplay. So Spoon is indeed a diamond in the rough in that sense - way more emotive than any pop jingles, more expressive and realistic than almost all commonplace radio tunes. Isn't that good enough? And yes, it conveys emotion. But never too much.
The show was in Nashville, by the way, and it was good.
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Comments (6)
Didn't know they were touring again, I've yet to see them live. I'll have to see if they're coming through NY soon.
Happy New Year Helen!
Wonderfully put, Helen. And I really like that he asked you that. You handled it well, I would have started to ramble :)
Happy new year to you dachmo! Looks like they're not really on tour anymore now, but it is definitely worth going when they have a show near you.
Thanks, Anna! It wasn't really something I expected him to ask so I was a little baffled about what to say myself! Thankfully it just came out that way. ;)
nice review. it mademe thnk of if i've ever been moved by sppon's music. not like radiohead or other moody stuff, but it def gets me moving, well more like bobbing along to the beat.
'Conveys emotion"!
We should put that on t-shirts.
-G.
Great post..and a mighty question indeed. You give an excellent answer.
I'm writing a paper on the aesthetics of music (and really procrastinating), and this question is part of it. One thing I know for sure, is that philosphers have a lot of problems defining music, or at least I have a problem understanding their definitions.