There is a term used in the psychology of aesthetics known as the The Uncanny Valley. It refers to that funny area when a computer image looks “lifelike” but still recognizable as artificially generated it causes immediate revulsion by pretty much all conscious beings. The idea is that it is programmed into us to protect us from ‘the other’.

It is my belief that we are at a point in “the digital revolution” where we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of that uncanny Valley in both movies and music. And this explains a lot of why we find so much of today’s art so empty.

It also explains why so many people are drawn to musical styles from another time. There is such a focus on the sounds that are digitally created that there is almost no focus left for the content. We find ourselves inevitably drawn to music from other areas that were frankly more nourishing. This partly explains all the interest in Americana […]

As I said last time there will be a new record next year, which I teased about, called The Solid State Siren. As the title implies it will be a 100% electronic production. After spending 3 years focusing completely on “acoustic” instruments, ie. writing for an orchestra, I wanted to do something of a 180. This is not as easy as it sounds.

I am not by nature an “electronica” kind of guy. As you know, I do not like much of the music that is created by computers and synthesizers these days simply because it is so mechanical and shallow. Part of my distaste is because I am frightened that such music accurately reflects the state of the world or rather the state of people in the world.

So my first attempts at writing after Detroit sounded very much like the stuff I have always written—just done with MORE SYNTHS! Oy. This is suspiciously like what happened when I started working on Detroit. Different bread; same sandwich. Worse than boring. […]

Official video from JCHMusic for the new album Songs From Detroit The Opera by JC Harris.

This is from Act II. The son has returned from WW II and is obviously depressed. Father meets him at a local bar and encourages him to snap out of his depression. Thinking to commiserate, he recounts his own suffering upon first coming to America. He then reveals that he has a ready-made business opportunity to share with him. Instead of being excited, the son explodes with anger. Father is clueless and turns away in horror. He now realizes just how truly damaged his son really is.

The first time I heard this word; the first time I heard that sentence, was the last time I wanted to hear that word or that sentence. My understanding is that the word came into being in the 70’s and I believe it. It is not a word created as were so many by Shakespeare or Milton. It is not a word of mercantile necessity from the 18th century. It isn’t even a word of 19th century commerce and business. It is a word of pure marketing and thus purely post-modern. Blechh.

OK, so how can I incentivize you to buy an album before December 24th, 2012? 😀

On December 24th I will be switching the ‘processor’ that connects my music to the various e-commerce sites. This is not the same as a ‘credit card processor’. Rather, this is yet another machination of the music biz. To keep out the riff-raff (get it?) every artist not linked to a major label must go through one of these ‘brokers’ in order to be […]