Alternative
Music
It was a cloudy grey day. I passed the train station with my bike
and continued towards Haaga. In the intersection I had to be careful
not to hit cars while I listened to music.
I
had downloaded a special album on my iPod. It sounded as if it was
recorded in some undefined manner, with sligthly echoing and booming
quality. By its genre this was alternative/indie rock, restrained
and melancholic but at the same time passionate and powerful. The
compositions were original, with unusual but not too weird arrangements.
The rhythm was fast, but reassuring in a wonderful way. The bass,
drums, guitars, and synthesizers were recognizable, even if the overall
sound was resonant, dull and dark. It was as if the recording would
have required special arrangements for the sounds and vibrations to
be recorded on tape.
The
most peculiar aspect was the singing. It was verbose, melodic and
meandering, but also lamenting and challenging. The pronunciation
was clear but in some way altered. The words were almost unintelligible,
and it seemed like there was a kind of fundamental emotion which sought
an explanation. The songs sprang out from the depths, as if a situation
was seeking its way out, but not discovering it. The effect was intense,
inspiring, and incapacitating.
I
could not listen to it for too long, so I took the earphones out.
But soon I put them back. The singing was captivating.
Then
I realized that the album was not of this world. Someone had managed
to record these songs from the other side! This was sensational, the
first of its kind. In another world there was a band that still made
music, like they had done while living on earth. Maintaining their
interests and preferences, they had renewed their sound with new possibilities.
Or, who knows, perhaps the sound was simply distorted as it filtered
through one sphere to another?
The
idea was at the same time fascinating and creepy. I replaced the album.
The
next track was by New Order. To be honest, this was not so different
from the previous one: similar melancholy and vague lamentation. At
the same time I was reminded by Editors, Bat for Lashes, and I Love
You But I Have Chosen Darkness.
Did
it, then, really make such a big difference if I listened to modern
alternative/indie or music by the dead?
