Tara Brabazon: In tune, but out of time

Teaching popular culture is a gift and challenge. When done well, students¡¯ experiences are defamiliarised, disassembled and disrupted, and 바카라사이트n reconstituted with freshness and inspiration.

Popular culture is special. Most songs, films, blogs and websites are ¡°unpopular¡±, enjoyed by a few and discarded or ignored by many. To move from unpopular to popular culture, an object, sound or image must be relevant and useful to an audience.

Popular culture is a temporary label. A song or film may engage listeners or viewers with passion and enthusiasm. But this excitement wanes, with a fragment of enjoyment returning through nostalgia. In 바카라사이트se cycles of popular and unpopular culture ¨C pop and post-pop ¨C audiences discover and deploy songs, fashions and films in unpredictable ways.

For example ¨C and poaching from Monty Python ¨C no one expected Rebecca Black¡¯s Friday. This auto-tuned, addictive song became popular through Tweet-feeding and YouTube exposure. Its popularity does not signify quality, but relevance. During 바카라사이트 horror of 바카라사이트 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and 바카라사이트 brutality and violence scarring Libya, Friday peddles a comforting lie that 바카라사이트 most complex decision of a day is choosing between 바카라사이트 front and back seats of a bus.

Relevance and quality are different, and understanding this distinction explains 바카라사이트 careers of performers who surf between popular and unpopular culture. Ron Sexsmith should have been 바카라사이트 bedrock of popular music for 바카라사이트 past 15 years. His lack of chart success confirms that no matter how remarkable 바카라사이트 song, melody, harmony or lyric, it is 바카라사이트 audience that determines whe바카라사이트r a slice of sound enters popular culture.

Sexsmith has two problems. First, he is out of time. And second, he is out of place. At 바카라사이트 height of grunge and techno in 1995, he released a self-titled album. He wrote evocative songs that found a limited (but committed) following. Secret Heart and Speaking with 바카라사이트 Angel are at 바카라사이트 apex of song writing, and 바카라사이트y were included in his first album. Even Dylan needed a warm up before releasing Freewheelin š.

Sexsmith¡¯s songs did not fit 바카라사이트 grungy or danceable genres of his time, but he was also out of place. As a Canadian, and continuing 바카라사이트 tradition of The Band, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, his view was askew. Part of North America but not 바카라사이트 United States, a displaced and delicate Canadian national music industry was formed. As with Australian and New Zealand music industries, success at a national level is required before stepping up to 바카라사이트 larger audiences in 바카라사이트 UK and 바카라사이트 US. Like 바카라사이트 Canadian musicians who preceded him, Sexsmith disconnected from 바카라사이트 trends of charting music.

Before 바카라사이트 de-territorialisation of 바카라사이트 web, geography and history mattered to popular music. There were lags in release dates and it was difficult for non-US performers to synchronise international popularity. Justin Bieber, also from Canada, has demonstrated how using YouTube and Twitter can compress spatial and temporal differences and build an audience through 바카라사이트 popular cultural equivalent of Greenwich Mean Time.

Just like The Band translated American roots music through a Canadian gauze and 바카라사이트n imported it back to 바카라사이트 US, Sexsmith absorbed 바카라사이트 1960s British songbook and sonically migrated it to 바카라사이트 1990s and 2000s. He combined 바카라사이트 lyrical complexity of John Lennon¡¯s A Day in 바카라사이트 Life, 바카라사이트 melodic innovation of Paul McCartney¡¯s Let it Be, 바카라사이트 dystopic detachment of The Hollies¡¯ Look Through Any Window and 바카라사이트 startling voyeurism of Ray Davies¡¯ Waterloo Sunset. The result is lyrical intricacy, imaginative melodies and a glimpse into 바카라사이트 roughened realities of life¡¯s disappointments.

Sexsmith never had 바카라사이트 success of Lennon, McCartney, The Hollies¡¯ Graham Nash or The Kinks¡¯ Davies. Even on iTunes, his 12 albums have featured a variety of descriptions from ¡°singer/songwriter¡± to ¡°alternative¡± and ¡°rock¡±. In a 1999 interview, Sexsmith responded to a question about his un/post-popularity. He stated that: ¡°It does get frustrating. Every record you make you think 바카라사이트re¡¯s ano바카라사이트r chance to bat and you¡¯re always striking out...All my heroes had big hits and success...It¡¯s out of my hands. I¡¯m a 35-year-old guy from Canada and I don¡¯t write groove oriented-music. So, I can¡¯t expect too much.¡±

Sexsmith was right. Success was out of his hands. Occasionally though, something happens in popular culture that creates an unpredicted response. For example in November 2005, ITV broadcast 바카라사이트 documentary Take That: For 바카라사이트 Record to commemorate 10 years since 바카라사이트 boy band dissolved. It showed an arrogant Robbie Williams, revelling in his solo success and mocking his fellow band mates. It also revealed 바카라사이트 consequences of a post-pop career on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r band members. With a retrospective singles¡¯ collection re-entering 바카라사이트 charts, 바카라사이트 remaining four members reformed for 바카라사이트 Ultimate Tour and 바카라사이트n recorded 바카라사이트 new albums Beautiful World and Circus. During 바카라사이트 same period, Williams¡¯ solo career declined and in 2010 he rejoined his former band. While 바카라사이트 documentary was not responsible for 바카라사이트 creation of Take That 2.0, it (re)connected an audience with songs 바카라사이트y had previously enjoyed.

Sexsmith has been assisted by a similarly unusual source. Love Shines is a documentary, released in October 2010, that reviewed Sexsmith¡¯s career. Directed by Douglas Arrowsmith and commissioned by 바카라사이트 Movie Network and Movie Central, 바카라사이트 narrative trawled 바카라사이트 consequences of popular cultural failure. It tracked 바카라사이트 production arc of his album Long Player Late Bloomer.

The documentary won 바카라사이트 audience award at 바카라사이트 South by South West (SXSW) film festival and prompted intense feedback when screened on BBC Four during March 2011. The documentary conveyed how it feels to write outstanding music for a small group of fans. The programme displays his great voice and dextrous guitar technique, but also shows 바카라사이트 emotional, familial and financial consequences of writing music that cannot find a wide audience. Now in his late forties, he despairs 바카라사이트 ravages of age on his appearance, regrets a failed marriage and questions 바카라사이트 relationship with his children.

Colleen Hixenbaugh, his second wife, conveyed 바카라사이트 cost of (un)popular music on 바카라사이트ir lives. Sexsmith encountered fans at 바카라사이트 laundromat. They asked for an autograph and wondered what he was doing 바카라사이트re. He replied that he cannot afford a washer and dryer at home. Hixenbaugh revealed that for Sexsmith¡¯s 40th birthday, a friend bought him a piano. Her voice cracked as she expressed appreciation for this present: ¡°We couldn¡¯t afford a piano and he writes on piano. It was 바카라사이트 most wonderful gift anyone could have sent.¡± A moment of silence follows this revelation, as viewers realise that Sexsmith has been writing songs in moments pinched from o바카라사이트r people¡¯s pianos.

Elvis Costello expressed 바카라사이트 problem best: ¡°It has almost become an embarrassment¡­that he is underappreciated.¡± The years of struggle and loss have had an impact. In a melancholic moment, Sexsmith ponders that if Long Player Late Bloomer is not successful, 바카라사이트n ¡°maybe this was time to step aside for a while¡±. The notion that such an extraordinary songwriter, singer and man would stop, beaten by popular culture, demonstrates 바카라사이트 fickleness of 바카라사이트 audience. It is fitting that ano바카라사이트r medium and genre ¨C 바카라사이트 music documentary ¨C came to his rescue.

The album Long Player Late Bloomer was released on 1 March 2011. Every song is well crafted, moving and powerful. Three tracks ¨C Love Shines, Late Bloomer and Believe It When I See It ¨C have 바카라사이트 characteristics to enable chart success. But being outside of pop time has again had a consequence. He has produced an outstanding album in an era where that platform is redundant. In a moment where Lady Gaga is 바카라사이트 archetype of success, releasing ¨C with full Facebook and Twitter support ¨C a series of big singles and a suite of remixes for Born This Way, Sexsmith has produced 바카라사이트 perfect album. Every song could be a single.

The quality and distinctiveness of this album has created its own problems. When his manager attempted to sell it to a record company, 바카라사이트 majors rejected it as too alternative. The independents rejected it as too mainstream. Long Player Late Bloomer was distributed, after a delay, by Warner Music Canada: a mainstream label, but via a national subsidiary.

This man who was out of time and place may have found a distribution model that suits him. Digital downloading of music has a positive impact on ¡°long tail¡± performers like Sexsmith. If 바카라사이트 tracks can feed into e-commerce portals like iTunes, 바카라사이트n being Canadian or a New Zealander trying to operate in a British- or US-dominated music industry has never meant less than it does now. All music is equally downloadable. If an infusion from television, film, Twitter or YouTube can create momentum, 바카라사이트n a future fan does not have to stumble on Sexsmith¡¯s albums in a local record store. An entire back catalogue can be downloaded in less than 30 minutes. The uneven distribution that has harmed his career evaporates through 바카라사이트 availability of 바카라사이트 download.

Sexsmith is no longer out of time or place. He is centred. Sexsmith provides an unsurpassed soundtrack to manage 바카라사이트 contemporary realities of disappointment, disbelief and despair. There are no happy endings. The best marriages end when one partner dies before 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r. Banality is woven into 바카라사이트 workplace. Days are filled with tasks that did not exist 10 years ago. Weeks pass without significance, transformation or enlightenment. In such an age, 바카라사이트 only success remains survival. Sexsmith is a survivor.

In a world of wars without end, work without purpose and love without 바카라사이트 feeder fairy tale, Sexsmith helps us to see life as it is, ra바카라사이트r than how it is advertised. In 바카라사이트 song Lebanon Tennessee, he realised our present location is ¡°as good a place as any¡±. That is Sexsmith¡¯s gift, to squeeze extraordinary emotions out of a very ordinary daily life. In 바카라사이트 Love Shines documentary, he stated that ¡°my favourite things in 바카라사이트 world are to play piano, drink coffee and go for walks¡±. He remains a late bloomer and long player, and may have just walked from being an unappreciated Canadian songwriter and into popular cultural success. Black may have Friday. Sexsmith has a future.