The Mob - Witch Hunt (JD Twitch Re-edit)
Affirmation does not come to New Yorkers naturally. One of the causes of this is that we are overstimulated, and used to finding reasons to filter out new phenomenon. The same way that an employer in NY, when looking to fill a position, must build a ruthless set of criteria for evaluating the landslide of applications that will inevitably manifest. Thus we say no alot not only because we're jaded, but as a means of psychic survival. Additionally, alot of us are paid to have opinions and be discriminating. We're critics and writers and art directors and designers and editors and stuff, so we like to throw our weight around.
Lastly, I would say that more than anywhere else in the world, musical taste in New York is an extremely intense cultural signifier. "Can I like this?" people seem to ask themselves. "Who am I if I like this, what club of people do I belong to?" This is obviously the wrong kind of question. It is the same line of thinking that leads into ironic enjoyment, which is a terrible form of enjoyment, maybe the worst.
Ironic enjoyment is a product of city life. No one in Kansas likes things ironically. Ironic pleasure got invented because people in the big cities listened to music that made them ask "who am I if I like this?" and were unable to stop liking it although they felt a certain cultural guilt about it, a coolness guilt. When it comes to aesthetic pleasure, irony is a product of guilt.
It's healthy to unabashedly, almost uncritically affirm something once and a while, it's like hugging a large, stupid dog on a spring day. This is how I feel about Optimo, who, as far as I am concerned, are always right.
Recently JD Twitch from Optimo made an 1o" called 1o Inches of Fear. He did edits of punk songs from Crass Records. They are all awesome. This one, he's looped the intro and done some deep filter tweaks, so it sounds alot like hawkwind. I ride.
