How are art and culture doing these days?

[Charlie Bernstein]

Oh no he is the paid security guard at Waffle House in Asheville! . . .

Omigosh. I'd feel more secure without him!

Back in the early seventies, I volunteered on a kibbutz in Israel for a while. Part of the volunteer deal was regular day trips around the country with an armed kibbutznik.

This was a problem because none of the volunteers felt safe bouncing down mountain switchbacks with a machine gun in our noses. What made it even was scarier was that some of the kibbutniks were certifiable.

But the kibbutz hippie, Eetzy (nickname for Isaac), told us that while the gun was required, bullets weren't. So we let him leave his bullets at home and take us on our day trips. Good time had, and everyone was happy.

(Of course, he could've just been selling woof tickets about leaving them at home. We never asked him to show us the magazine. But we figured it's the thought that counts. Plus, he always had great hash.)

 

[teletimetx]

I’m just totally ignorant of homeowners who can accommodate paying an out of town artist to play a show at their home, fitting 30 guests in, providing living quarters for the travel, and paying for all that on musicians income.

Which was why I suggested wealthy people have that much space and money?
Musicians here struggle with high cost of living as arty tourist communities tend to end up.
Not a lot of homes here with the space for such events.
I mean I could fit 30 people in my living room I guess but this is a new premise I had not heard of.
I may be in the wrong echelon of society for this.

The idea this partially replaces the old ways musicians got paid is also confusing to me.
I guess a solo act getting $1000 for say two travel days and a house party gig works, but wow.
Not a standard thing I’ve heard of.
Sounds cool actually.

I can only relate my experience with house concerts in Houston, having played a few.

The homeowner doesn’t pay the musician(s), they just host the event. The people attending pay a cover/entry fee. It was typically $20. Maybe 50 people show up. There’s your $1000.

It’s a potluck dinner format. So musician(s) get free meal as well. Typically, the musicians come from out of town, but like me at the time, sometimes local.

Sometimes, the host encourages an after party jam with the folks who show up, sometimes not.

In some cases the hosts could be upper middle class, maybe, but mostly just really engaged music lovers who opened their homes to like minded people.

 

[telemnemonics]

A rather scathing critique of the art scene in New York.

The Art Scene Is Dead and the Liberal Class Killed It

Why absolutely everything sucks now

duedissidence.substack.com

"If “artist” isn’t a Professional Managerial Class job, what is it? It sure ain’t factory work. The pretense of artists to social disenfranchisement calls to mind John Goodman’s line in Barton Fink, where his serial killing salesman tells John Turturro’s slumming writer, “You’re just a tourist with a typewriter, Barton. I live here.”"

The grandiose self importance of this man confirms he is as much like a YouTuber whining for likes and subscribes as he is a clear medium showing us reality, or even an honest reporter telling us the most accurate story based on limited experience.

Too many statements and comments stuck out to makes statements and comments about but he seems to be from the self aggrandizing NYC elite and not deeply rooted in any underground or revolutionary arts.

Of course even elites can fool themselves into a belief that they ARE the underground, while displaying the grandiosity of certainty attained in mass consumption/ regurgitation.

Still some of his claims are fair, which is kind of scientifically like a broken clock being right twice a day.
Or a good con man letting you win a few.

There is an interesting trendy pop culture assault on a segment of society that we assume is saddled with protecting the plebes and has failed to do so.
He himself is pompous about his assertive passiveness on the hopeless situation he feels is best addressed with a limp Richard approach.

His assertions that artists are a part of the professional managerial class confirms he is out of touch in his secure hip cloister.
Even if he distances himself from the hipsters he hangs with so much he seems surrounded by them while claiming distance.
Really I can sympathize, but this fellow is working the angles to monetize inflammatory statements on his YouTube channel in light of his theater having failed, or maybe his mid life crisis.
Or simple greed?
He claims to be a part of the professional managerial class!
Of course he will create offensive sound bites!

NYC is a lot to summarize from the viewpoint of theater management summarizing sub theater.
Same with artists attempting to summarize art.
We should know better…

 

[Knows3Chords]

The grandiose self importance of this man confirms he is as much like a YouTuber whining for likes and subscribes as he is a clear medium showing us reality, or even an honest reporter telling us the most accurate story based on limited experience.

Too many statements and comments stuck out to makes statements and comments about but he seems to be from the self aggrandizing NYC elite and not deeply rooted in any underground or revolutionary arts.

Of course even elites can fool themselves into a belief that they ARE the underground, while displaying the grandiosity of certainty attained in mass consumption/ regurgitation.

Still some of his claims are fair, which is kind of scientifically like a broken clock being right twice a day.
Or a good con man letting you win a few.

There is an interesting trendy pop culture assault on a segment of society that we assume is saddled with protecting the plebes and has failed to do so.
He himself is pompous about his assertive passiveness on the hopeless situation he feels is best addressed with a limp Richard approach.

His assertions that artists are a part of the professional managerial class confirms he is out of touch in his secure hip cloister.
Even if he distances himself from the hipsters he hangs with so much he seems surrounded by them while claiming distance.
Really I can sympathize, but this fellow is working the angles to monetize inflammatory statements on his YouTube channel in light of his theater having failed, or maybe his mid life crisis.
Or simple greed?
He claims to be a part of the professional managerial class!
Of course he will create offensive sound bites!

NYC is a lot to summarize from the viewpoint of theater management summarizing sub theater.
Same with artists attempting to summarize art.
We should know better…

The author has a YT channel with another guy and it's called Due Dissidence. They are are a left leaning channel. I love to listen to different perspectives on subjects that can't be discussed here. Russel does have an ego and he seems to contradict himself often. He often critiques capitalism only to later on in the show discuss how his stock portfolio is doing. His partner is much more of a left purist. They can be funny, at times, and they do discuss the issue of class and economics and criticize how those issues have been replaced by identity issues. That seems to have been lacking in social discourse and art for a while now, IMO. I find it interesting to see how this article has been hailed as a spot on critique by some while others find the same flaws you describe.

 

[telemnemonics]

The author has a YT channel with another guy and it's called Due Dissidence. They are are a left leaning channel. I love to listen to different perspectives on subjects that can't be discussed here. Russel does have an ego and he seems to contradict himself often. He often critiques capitalism only to later on in the show discuss how his stock portfolio is doing. His partner is much more of a left purist. They can be funny, at times, and they do discuss the issue of class and economics and criticize how those issues have been replaced by identity issues. That seems to have been lacking in social discourse and art for a while now, IMO. I find it interesting to see how this article has been hailed as a spot on critique by some while others find the same flaws you describe.

We can call it cognitive dissonance to criticize capitalism the chat about our stock portfolio.
Or we can say we are simply being realistic.
Or we can phish for hits by making our diatribes easier to attack.
Or we can “sell out” while still dressing for the revolution.

Has cosplay gone so mainstream it is akin to identity?

The current trend around defending a segment of unfairly treated citizens becoming a core central issue is kind of what society sees when trying to look at our collective selves in the mirror.

Keep swinging this way and that in reaction to reactions to reactive actions and meanwhile single minded agendas go unimpeded as any underground revolutionary power is splintered into weak little factions trumpeting symptoms rather than addressing “the cause” of the myriad symptomatic “causes” we may support.

Society grown out of capacity to see society, turns to influencers who choose to inflame or go broke.
Few can even become influencers without using inflammatory grandiosity as the peg that fits the social media shaped hole we peer through.

Fair chance that both opinions on his diatribes are reasonably correct.
I support grandiose inflammatory communication as a means to wake up sleepy consumers of whatever info snacking we are stuck with today.

“The cause” is fantasy while “the cause” is also reality.

 

[SimplyTH]

I’m just totally ignorant of homeowners who can accommodate paying an out of town artist to play a show at their home, fitting 30 guests in, providing living quarters for the travel, and paying for all that on musicians income.

Which was why I suggested wealthy people have that much space and money?
Musicians here struggle with high cost of living as arty tourist communities tend to end up.
Not a lot of homes here with the space for such events.
I mean I could fit 30 people in my living room I guess but this is a new premise I had not heard of.
I may be in the wrong echelon of society for this.

The idea this partially replaces the old ways musicians got paid is also confusing to me.
I guess a solo act getting $1000 for say two travel days and a house party gig works, but wow.
Not a standard thing I’ve heard of.
Sounds cool actually.

House shows are huge thing and always have been in the musical circles I run in but they are usually not run by wealthy people. Usually a group of young people who live in the house together, usually rent. Sometimes it is owned by someone a little older but then it is usually smaller and not in a great part of town. Accommodations are usually sleeping on the couch or a couple of air mattresses.

When bands I am in do runs of shows we usually play a couple and they are nice. You usually get paid more because the venue takes less of a cut and there is a built in audience. A lot people will just show up to pretty much any show that these venues put on even without knowing any of the touring acts of the bill. Usually a younger and more enthusiastic crowd too. I would say 300-400 would be an average take home for a touring act at these venues.

 

[telemnemonics]

An "Indie Rock Band" That Appears to Be Entirely AI-Generated Is Making Alarming Amounts of Money on Spotify

While real artists struggle to earn money on Spotify, a seemingly AI-generated band has garnered enough streams to actually make a buck.

futurism.com

 

[elihu]

At the individual level Art still works by reconnecting us.

It can still make the world a better place.

 

[Aftermath]

At some point they started recording rock music like electronic dance music, with quantizing and auto-tune, and it just killed the genre.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . They can be funny, at times, and they do discuss the issue of class and economics and criticize how those issues have been replaced by identity issues. That seems to have been lacking in social discourse and art for a while now, IMO. . . . .

It's true that it's not mentioned much on NPR, but among a lot if us, it's a hot topic.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . and meanwhile single minded agendas go unimpeded as any underground revolutionary power is splintered into weak little factions trumpeting symptoms rather than addressing “the cause” of the myriad symptomatic “causes” we may support. . . .

I think that's what Knows3Chords means by "[T]hey do discuss the issue of class and economics and criticize how those issues have been replaced by identity issues."

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

House shows are huge thing and always have been in the musical circles I run in but they are usually not run by wealthy people. . . .

That's my impression, too.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

At the individual level Art still works by reconnecting us.

It can still make the world a better place.

Shot — and — score!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

An "Indie Rock Band" That Appears to Be Entirely AI-Generated Is Making Alarming Amounts of Money on Spotify

While real artists struggle to earn money on Spotify, a seemingly AI-generated band has garnered enough streams to actually make a buck.

futurism.com

I watch some of one of its (I started to write their) videos, "Dust On the Wind."

Interesting.

On the one hand, it's a good Chris Stapleton imitation. On the other, it didn't know that the title is too close to "Dust In the Wind" or the line "March for peace, not for pride" suggests it hadn't figured out what a pride march is.

It also reminds me of my faux band Dreadnot, with its bunch of made-up members. Maybe I'm more cutting-edge that I thought!

 

[telemnemonics]

I think that's what Knows3Chords means by "[T]hey do discuss the issue of class and economics and criticize how those issues have been replaced by identity issues."

Similar to the military strategy of wounding as many of the enemy as possible but not killing then so the rest are scrambling to save lives while dodging bullets, unable to shoot back with all the bloodshed.

Really, ideology and values used to be what we debated.

Now only money and power is the assault weapon.
Stand for nothing other than to dominate and win control.
No debate against those “values” really.
Particularly when veiled in falsified ideology that makes mouths water but contains no nutritive value.

 

[telemnemonics]

The BBC banned a band over being bad to the brits.
B B B B B Bad

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/03/g-s1-75785/kneecap-irish-band-explainer

 

[BristolKeeno]

The people who would be channelling their desire to defeat boredom are lost in their phones.... All of culture is available at the touch of a button so the excitement of discovery is lost.
Screens are sucking out the passions of a generation (he said whilst typing on his phone )

 

[Knows3Chords]

The BBC banned a band over being bad to the brits.
B B B B B Bad

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/03/g-s1-75785/kneecap-irish-band-explainer

Them and the new guy have been doing that for a while now. They're are in trouble for saying bad things about another people.

 

[telemnemonics]

Them and the new guy have been doing that for a while now. They're are in trouble for saying bad things about another people.

Yeah we saw the Kneecap movie last night and my wife’s parents have dual citizenship, living in Ireland much of the year.
(Not familiar with the other guy with his other cultural hate)

The world got complicated 1000-3000 years ago as peoples killed other peoples to take their land or sometimes just to take their women etc then kids get upset about the last most recent violence over who owns what land thats occupied by which other people for whatever reason.
And 1000 years of war results in losers made to shut up (and forget their native culture) by the winners.
Sounds like I’m taking sides but really after 1000 years there IS NO TRULY CLEAR SIDE. Besides law?
Except it’s uncool to say bad things about people.
While it’s OK to send tanks and kill people.
After which we all supposed to talk nice?

I mean Kneecap is a very screwed up buncha kids who it seems want to do drugs and speak their naive language?
Art and culture are exactly that sort of thing, and sometimes it is ugly.
Not having lived in Northern Ireland during the conflict those boys grew up in I can’t really say the claimed core value of wanting to speak their native language has legit value.

One thing is obvious, if you hold a culture down with military and police action, they will say bad things.
And this will come out in the arts as it should.

Both good and bad.

 

[telemnemonics]

Visited my favorite arts spot in Asheville yesterday, nine months after the flood.