status quo

So as I've been sitting with the proverbial writers block over the last few day. I asked  my friends on  Facebook whether I should write on either Visas or travel contracts , that grew into a story that I was going to post today . Till I saw a mates status this morning !


"is anyone still producing good music these days? Tell me who."


As said mate is in the music industry this has lead to quite a discussion within his group of friends and got me thinking .


We live in a consumer driven  world where in nearly any city one might be in , one will see the same brand name products either genuine  or fake  and  the same quick service food stores . and often one has to go out of ones way to find the different and local flavour of a place . Yes it often great that one can get your  cheap cheese burger and toy where ever one is , or that morning pick me up of a large drip . But where is that  local  difference the reason why we travel ? Even in a city like London one has to go out of ones way to find a "traditional cafe "for your morning fry up.


So along that line of thought , where is the different music ? If one goes clubbing one will hear the same commercial shit , from London , to Rome to Joburg . Yes you might hear a slight local variation or one or two different songs  here and there but its often the same songs world wide , yes they are popular songs that we all know , but where is that local different  sound , that sound that will stick in our memories of that place ?


From time immemorial man has used music to pass on history ,help him through hardship , celebrations  , mourning  or just pass the time. These songs have often been passed on and become parts of our heritage , some as nursery rhythm others as work songs , the likes of  "ring a ring a rose's " and  "shoshaloza"" come to mind.
Yet out of the current music that is being played/sung by the populous what will be remembered ?
 Has capitalism corrupted that last bastion of freedom that we had, that of our expression ?
We will be the mindless generation who doesn't save  the old songs and local music ?


If  in Sa Maskanda tuning of guitars is dying are the other local sounds around the world also dying ?


Human beings often can use sound to bring back memories , do you want to remember a brilliant trip you took by the most popular over played Gueta song of that year, or the local sound that you might never hear again ?




On this Day of remembrance  the populous has already forgotten the sacrifice that men nearly 100 years ago made for us , with more people anti it than pro it I ask :


If we forget the greatest sacrifice men have made and are slowly forgetting our own rhythym, 
What are we becoming ?