another musical musing...

How do you know when something is immitative? How do you know when it's original?

I don't mean songs that sample older songs (don't get me started), and I don't mean bands that re-write the lyrics over the same 3 melodies over and over and get hugely famous from it - I mean the vibe, the sound, the feel of the music being similar to other music, older music, other artists.

So much music that's out now sounds an awful lot like music I listened to from the 80s (yeah yeah, I'm old whatever). Not exactly the same but certainly reminiscent of. And more than that, people always want you to compare, to put the new in context with the old: "Oh they sound like...." or "They are the new..." or "They're like blah with heavier guitar." If that's true then how original can they be? And should we really care?

I find it funny that someone once said to me about someone whose music I really enjoy: "Doesn't she realize that she's just the poor man's version of insert semi-famous Canadian chick with piano here?" Which apparently is a bad thing. And yet the person she's being compared to is quite good and I happen to know this "new girl" has sounded like this since she was 6. And yet she's being unfavourably compared simply because someone else who sounded similar managed to get famous first.

So how do you win? There's only so many notes, so many chords, so many instruments...

I'm as guilty of the next music lover/critic... I'm just wondering aloud really. I think it's possible for music to sound like other music and still be good. I don't think I need to only love one Celtic band and not the others. I think there can and will be many worthwhile Canadian chicks who play the piano, or the guitar, or the maracas for that matter. (ok maybe not maracas)