Spring is in the air; as a result, I am largely confused with regards to music to listen to at my disposal. Normally, my one-two punch of harsh noise and black metal gets me through the frosty winter months. But what do I for the months where sun and fun is the order of the day? I've been searching for music to complement the weather, but I haven't necessarily found the right combo. Punk has been somewhat successful; the usual blend of Oi! and D-beat has worked to my advantage. Lots of lo-fi hardcore such as Total Abuse and Raw Nerve has been spun in the past few weeks, as have the requisite powerviolence and thrashcore discography CDs. However, when Scholastic Deth and Spazz can't pass muster, I turn to an old favorite: jazz.
I've loved jazz since high school and, naturally for me, my tastes have leaned towards the more chaotic, discordant realm of free jazz, especially the works of Sun Ra, Peter Brotzmann and John Coltrane. The jazz-fusion era of Miles Davis is also a must, especially the funkier acid-jazz albums such as On The Corner and Tribute to Jack Johnson. There are many contemporary jazz bands that make it into my rotation as well, notably Chicago's Tiger Hatchery (for their free-jazz workouts) and Cincinnati's Wasteland Jazz Unit (for their caterwauling free jazz meets harsh noise approach).
Spring also means the reemergence of hippies and their drum circles on College Green. Personally, while I enjoy the sound of tribal drumming and polyrhythmic drum patterns, I absolutely despise it when it's used as a way for hippies to draw attention to themselves. On top of that, I find it annoying to have to hear the same monotonous, unchanging rhythms over and over as I walk around College Green. Don't get me wrong, there are many people who are incredibly disciplined at their hand drumming and have been immersed from birth in the cultural traditions of generations of skilled people who use drums as a method of ritual, worship and cultural significance. I feel, however, that besides the AZA and other culturally-minded groups who embrace these traditional drumming rituals and meanings, 90% of the hand drummers wasting their time on Court Street or on College Green are doing their part to eliminate the cultural significance of tribal drumming.
Whereas a drum circle in Africa might signify any number of life occasions or religious ceremonies, in Athens, it means that King Lavender and Silverfish found their djembes in the garage and want you to know about it.
It's the same way I feel about white people with dreadlocks and mohawks. First of all, very few white guys can pull off dreads and not look like total tools. The symbolism of dreads lies in the ideas of black pride and African resistance to white standards of beauty, not in the popularity of Bob Marley as a cultural icon. The wearing of dreads by most white people is unintentionally a method of cultural colonization that erases the meaning of dreadlocks in popular culture. Instead of being associated with Black culture and Rastafarian religious beliefs, they become associated with the guy selling grilled cheese at 10KLF. The same goes for bros with big tribal tattoos down their arms. You're not a part of any “tribe.” You live in a housing development in Westerville. Stop getting tribal tats and get something original.
It's not just hippies and meatheads, though. Punks: shave your Mohawks. These were worn as a tribal hairstyle by Native Americans until DeNiro in Taxi Driver made them cool for alt kids to wear. Since the 1970s, Mohawks have been more closely associated with those scary punk kids at the mall than with Native American culture. Besides, its not really that edgy anymore. Shave your head or grow it out or do something new.
To clarify, it's not that I think whites should look “white” or something like that. It's that whites shouldn't appropriate the looks of cultures struggling to maintain what little culture they have. If I piss you off for saying shit about your hair, don't take it personally. I'm sure this is restating what a million punk zines and blogs have already said about these issues.
Listen to some free jazz, shave your head and enjoy the weather.
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