The Acoustic Aesthetic

In this entry I'll be discussing music, using lots of words whose meanings I'm not entirely sure of, not having had much formal education in music. Just so you know, I'm no expert, though I sometimes act like I think I'm one.

The latest addition to my music collection, and the last one I plan to get in a very long while, is Vienna Teng's superb new album Inland Territory. I greatly looked forward to its release, and was certainly not disappointed, as it's by far her best album - and as her first three are fair contenders for my favorite music ever, that's saying quite a bit.

From the beginning I felt somewhat ambivalent about the second track, White Light. Not for any reason I could name at first; the lyrics, as always, are well-crafted and thoughtful (one of the reasons I adore Vienna Teng), and there's nothing specific about the music that bothered me, except a vague sense that it didn't quite capture my interest. After several listenings, I judged that I felt it was a bit over-produced - too much had been done to it, too many electronic elements, making it seem almost like techno. After more thought, I decided that White Light reminded me specifically of Madonna's Ray Of Light, which I hadn't heard in almost a decade. Though I used to like that song (not well enough to buy it, but well enough), I do not remember it fondly. I remember it as being over-produced, and overrated, possibly because of Madonna's massive popularity. It's also possible that I don't like to be reminded of what I was like in my early teen years, when I listened to such music.

Interestingly, I'm actually fond of some techno music, though in the past few years I've mostly left that behind in favor of more folk-style, acoustic tastes (and, of course, heavy metal). For instance, I still enjoy a techno song from my past, I'll Fly With You, which is very over-produced. And another Inland Territory song, Stray Italian Greyhound, also has a few electronic sounds in it, which I think add to its appeal. Yet White Light wasn't appealing to me.

Today, then, I received an email from Amazon saying that, since I had pre-ordered Inland Territory from them, I was eligible to download a promotional "free exclusive MP3" - White Light, the acoustic version. I was immediately intrigued, and curious what it would sound like - would I like it? After all, I actively disliked Faith and the Muse's song Annwyn Beneath The Waves, until I heard an acoustic version of that song and instantly fell in love. Might the same thing happen again?

Well, I downloaded the acoustic White Light, and though it wasn't love-at-first-note like it was with Annwyn, I did enjoy it much more than the album version. And, after listening to it a few times, I could listen to the album version and enjoy it, because it reminded me of the acoustic version.

I find all of this extraordinarily interesting.