Rock Martyrs?

Published by Sapheen | Filed under Debate, Music

Good god, if being a music journalist makes you this cynical and misanthropic I’m surprised we aren’t all disposed to jumping off the BT Tower like a bunch of Lemmings. Then again, SiH has never been this silly, unless a few of you out there wants to keep an eye out for the next ”Rock Martyr,” which to be honest is a phrase I haven’t actually heard until reading this:

Nice little spark for some debate I think, If any of you actually care.

On some level, I think the man has a point: without the death of Ian Curtis, Joy division probably wouldn’t have been as glamourised as it is today, We HAVE had just about 2 years of ”Joy Division mania.” Yep, there would probably be fewer 17 year olds wondering around at Bloc Party and Interpol gigs wearing Joy Division t-shirts/badges and what have you. Also, as brilliant as ‘Control’ was, it would probably never have come into existence… well there wouldn’t have been reason for it to do so.

At the same time, I fail to see the reason why Lester feels the need for bands to follow what he calls a more interesting ”Narrative arc.” Surely it’s enough for bands to continue to release albums until they truly stop making any decent music, and then be allowed to retire gracefully? I’d much rather artists such as Ian Curtis, Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith or Nick Drake were still alive rather than dead, even if only out of respect for their families. Lester appears to associate too much glamour with the demise of young musicians who’s music is more an attempt to wring beauty out of somewhat tragic alienation. It is quite irresponsible for Lester to go picking out who he feels will be our next ”Rock Martyr.”

Needless to say, if I were Thom Yorke, I would have punched the living shit out of him. Feel free to comment/debate as necessary.