i've been helping an east coast writer document the music appropriation
genres (swing, lounge, jump blues, rockabilly, roots shoot-offs)
of the 90s. my job entails transcribing the interviews about
songbirds like ingrid lucia:
i'm wondering why appropriation is forgiven in the fashion industry,
but we're less forgiving of our musicians. we ask for an awful lot of
originality from our musicians. there is something inherently theatrical
about fashion in which the visual produces a direct impression, but still
in a referential passivity in which the source doesn't have to take
full responsibility. but there is something about including music,
including the human voice, where posing is a poor-man's scam.
