I was thinking the other day about what it is in art that draws me to different artists. At the time I was thinking mostly of literature, but the discussion can be just as aptly applied to music. I think of all the bands that have influenced me musically and try to think of what common musical themes there are. The bands are diverse both lyrically and sound-wise, running from Blindside to mewithoutYou to Copeland, Umbrellas and then on to Tegan and Sara. 

 I think ultimately the reason that I don’t become as attached (though I respect them wholeheartedly) to bands like The Arcade Fire or bands or popular bands or those relentlessly dedicated to technical virtuosity can be applied to the fact that I have more of an admiration for music that takes an established mode (or genre) of music and masters it, then reinvents it.

 Take Saosin for example (and try not to roll your eyes). They play with the bands leftover from the now decrepit screamo scene, yet they’re making something new through the combination of new and old styles. Metallic influenced guitars combined with melodic sensibilities and vocals that ought to be respected in any other form of rock music. Or The Rocket Summer which rose out of a convoluted emo scene with a completely opposite sort of attitude toward both lyrics and music, but stays within the framework of traditional pop music. (In this case I use “pop” in the sense that I would call The Beatles a pop band, NOT Britney Spears.)

 This is not all to say that I don’t love experimental music. Pink Floyd, oh yeah. Bands that are weird and even bizzarre have a home in my heart. They’re typically just not the ones that keep getting listens weeks after I initially hear the album for the first time. And the ones that do embody some element of common humanity, be it in the music or the lyrics (think the personality and honesty in mewithoutYou). I want to feel connected in a deep way, feel the sense that the artist understands something I feel or at least shares a common bond. Sometimes I think the pretentious bizzareness becoming more and more prevalent in the indie scene gets in the way of that.

 What do you think?