Freak Folk!?

A recent article in the NYTimes about "Freak Folk" is a great piece about what they refer to in the article as the "neo-hippies" movement, which we here call the chippies.

One of the more articulate ways in which I've seen the chippie ideals put forth is a statement by Greg Weeks, of the Philadelphia based band Espers:

"There's an element in this community that's tied in to the most valid aspects of the counterculture and learning from the mistakes of the earlier generation."

For one thing, he notes that "there isn't so much reckless abandon" with regard to drug use; just alcohol, marijuana and the occasional psychedelic, most say. Politics, meanwhile, tend to be expressed subtly, through the way people live rather than through explicit song lyrics. "You don't have to have a grand statement," Mr. Weeks said. "You can just do things in your own little way, put them out there, and if people respond, it's going to have a chain reaction. And I think that's kind of what's happening."

This summary of values seems to capture what I see as a growing trend in the people I encounter in relating personal politics to a greater system of operating and working from there. Instead of always making it "us" vs. "them" it acknowledges the idea of a more complex relationship between every person and thing, it is really more diplomatic.

There are other great quotes in this article and it can all be read here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/arts/music/18herm.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

"You may be in a London basement with a laptop and a guitar, but you can make the city your rural area through music," said Mike Lindsay of Tunng.'

Nice to see they have an multimedia slideshow too in this article...multi...media.