Shock Doctrine

https://bit.ly/3mZnaZ5
Start at 1:33:33

I can't believe I found this.

So I was driving over the hill, going through the SiriusXM channels over 300.

Used to be these were only internet stations, but if you've got a relatively new radio you can bring them in over the air in your car.

And I started with Road Trip Radio, #301, driving songs, and not all old.

And then I moved my way up to the dial to Jam On at 309 and I heard this.

Now you've got to know I've got a noisy car, but one of the best stereos extant. The best of Focal all around, an AVI subwoofer, a JL amp and an Alpine tuner. So what you're hearing right now is not equivalent to what I heard, there's no way to replicate the experience in front of your computer, or on earbuds, but in my car...

I'm done with politics, at least for the last week. I give up. I'm just thankful I live in blue California. It seems we're going to go back and forth, from right to left, same as it ever was, but the parties and their beliefs are not the same as they ever were, but...this is a long explanation to tell you I haven't been listening to news in my car, but music...well, at least when I'm not listening to Howard.

And I must admit I heard something on one of the modern stations in the 300s that appealed to me earlier in the evening, but it was this STS9, Sound Tribe Sector 9, track that appealed to me.

Used to be Jam On was further down the dial, but now that station is called "Phish Radio," and people bitched when this happened, but maybe having two stations is better, especially when you can pull in both in your car.

Now the jam band scene... It peaked sometime in the nineties, but it still sustains, it even has its own festival, Rothbury, never mind so many act-based festivals around the country. And jam band music is the opposite of hit music, it's all about the live performance as opposed to the recording, a perfect fit for today's experiential world. But, the media hasn't caught up with the new world yet, it believes it's about the limited Spotify Top 50 when nothing could be further from the truth, there are more genres doing better than ever before, but it is hard to climb the ladder and become ubiquitous and rich, so you'd better really like being a musician, because the money is not spectacular, then again if you read the reports on Astroworld you learned that music was just a feature, an element of Travis Scott's empire. He's built a business, which is the goal of so many Millennials and Gen-Z'ers, but for those of us who remember the old days, primarily before MTV created a monoculture, it's all about the music and only the music.

Music is like pornography, you know it when you hear it. If you don't like it, that's fine, nobody likes everything, and now more than ever criticism means little, you can bitch but it falls on deaf ears, everybody's having too much fun listening to the music of their desires.

So, once upon a time there was nothing more than the music, maybe some lights. And most of the venues had seats, you were there to listen, not to hang. You were in your own private reverie, merging with the performer(s) and their sound. When done right, it was a transcendent experience, you had no photographs, just a brain imprint and that was enough, you can still recite the details of great concerts the way golfers can replay every hole.

But in today's multifarious world, it's hard to find new music, playlists have not solved this problem, they've only confused it, never mind being imperfect. You want something new, but not finding an entrance point you give up and play the oldies, or just watch streaming television, but when you encounter something new you dig you're elated.

Not that "Shock Doctrine" is new, the original studio version was cut in the aughts. But it's just a blueprint for what's come after.

Now looking at the SiriusXM readout I saw that this version of "Shock Doctrine" was performed live on the 9th of October, of 2021! Needless to say, it's not on Spotify, probably never will be. And it wasn't easily searchable on YouTube, but going through a million sites I found it. Which kind of amazed me.

Now the truth is it was the groove of this live performance of "Shock Doctrine" that got me. Not only did I feel comfortable, I melded with the sound, I was happy. This was not exterior, but interior. It pierced my body right down to my soul. I arrived at my destination yet I could not turn it off, I didn't want the experience to end.

And then I started thinking about the experience, being at the gig, having the sound wash over me. And it's only about the sound, not about the recognition of the hit, and every night the set list is different, the set is not set in amber.

So tune in at about 1:34:25 to hear what hooked me. The descending notes. Over and over again. Hypnotic.

Now this is not the only sound I like. I like acoustic singer/songwriter as well as metal. But this electric/synthetic sound is one that, when done right, resonates with me.

Now finding the concert online, I let the show play on beyond "Shock Doctrine," and it was just as enticing, I became unmoored, on a journey. And sure, the beat is important, but it does not dominate, there are elements of melody, despite not being a hokey pop confection.

Hell, listening to STS9's "Shock Doctrine" just makes me FEEL GOOD!

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