Maybe a band like this can only come from Canada.  Where they don’t have the American Dream.  Where it’s not about becoming rich and famous as much as personal fulfillment.

I was driving in the neighborhood pushing the buttons on XM and I found myself on XMU listening to a song that sounded like nothing special that eventually hooked me.  It was "All The People" by Jets Overhead.

We’ve been conditioned by the mainstream media to believe only what they authorize is any good.  That they’re professionals.  Sifting through the detritus.  Emerging with only what is best.  But somehow in the past fifteen years the world has gone topsy-turvy.  It turns out that reality is contrary to the perception those in power are purveying.  Turns out that the bigger the hype, the more mainstream something is, the WORSE it is.

Let us analyze why.

It’s about the bucks.  If you want instant revenue, the easiest way is to purvey something obvious, something just like what came before.  Because initially, innovation is hard to sell.  But it’s that which is left of center, that which is not made for a mass audience, that which is buffed and shined by the creator, not a committee of executives, which resonates.  Because by time those at the corporation get through with the work, it’s lost all its personality, all that makes it special.

I once read that it’s our imperfections that make us lovable.  But all the imperfections have been removed from mainstream media.  The women have all been plastic surgeried to look like an airbrushed icon out of the pages of "Playboy".  Yet almost nobody in your hometown looks like this.  The records have this sheen, this in your face quality that if they were human you’d reject.

Life is lonely.  Just talk to a high school student going to a dance.  Making him or herself up in front of the mirror.  Worrying whether they’ll end up desirable.  The singular goal being to be popular, and almost nobody qualifying.  What helped these individuals prior to MTV was music.  They felt that the music they listened to was made just for them.  Now, music is made for the masses.  Sold in in your face videos.  Mainstream music doesn’t even play the same role in society anymore.  Now it’s just grease for the club.  Whereas it used to be a lotion that you rubbed all over yourself in your bedroom, to not only feel good, but to shield you from the barbs of society.  And, with your tunes playing you felt powerful, like you could win.

This music that resonated was oftentimes subtle.  Without the sledgehammer hooks of the records on the radio.  Stuff like Jets Overhead’s "All The People".

I didn’t want the track to end.  But eventually it expired.

I came home and fired up my P2P application.  And couldn’t find the track I was looking for.

So I googled Jets Overhead.  And found their Website.  Where they were GIVING AWAY THEIR MUSIC!

Bands no longer split up their enterprise.  There’s no longer recording income from the record company, an advance from the merch company, touring revenue.  Now it’s all together.  Maybe because most of those who can render advances aren’t interested until you no longer need them, are worried they’re going to fuck with your product.

The major label is no longer your friend.  The seventies are dead.  They’ll tell you what to record, how to look, they’ll choose the emphasis track and if you don’t hit right away, you’re done.

Whereas if you do it yourself, you’ve got control.  You can execute according to your OWN vision.  Not that there has to be rigidity.  Sometimes you decide to be OUT OF CONTROL!  To take RISKS!  Knowing that if you fail, you can go right back to the drawing board.  But, oftentimes it’s these risks which pay dividends.

Jets Overhead doesn’t sound like there was ANY third party input.  That a group of people got together in a rehearsal space and got the sound down that THEY wanted.  And sure, they want people to hear their music, but they won’t COMPROMISE IT in order to achieve this.

But the funny thing is, if you succeed at this game, of following your own muse, fans tell EVERYBODY ABOUT YOU!

That’s what I felt as I heard "All The People" play on XMU last night.  I wanted to TELL YOU!  I wanted to be the bearer of the news.  Wanted to clue you in on something you were unaware of.  That would make you feel connected.  In touch.

This process has been eliminated by mainstream media.  Used to be movies grew by word of mouth.  Now there’s saturation advertising climaxing in endless TV ads on Thursday night and all but the box office smashes are gone from theatres in three weeks.  And despite all the hype, the big records don’t last long on the chart either.  They’re momentary, of a time, and when that time is gone, they’re forgotten.  But GREAT music is timeless.

So go to: Jets Overhead/Music Download the MP3 of "All The People" (on a Mac, hold down the Control button when you click).  And be ready to be taken away.  To a soothing place.  Where life makes sense.