A deejay mentioned the other day on Radio Jacaranda (it is a bit superior to East Radio and they have Barney Saayman who plays great music on a Sunday late morning) he wonders if, in 20 years time, music such as that by Avicii (currently all the rage) would be looked upon by musical experts in awe as we still marvel at the classics by Mozart, Beethoven and the Beatles.
I somehow do not think so. Music, like most things these days, is synthetic, quickly made and quickly forgotten.
Remixes, rehashes and plain old rip-offs of someone’s music is the norm these days.
If Mozart is a old-fashioned home-cooked Sunday lunch, complete with a warm dessert, then Nicky Minaj is a plastic burger from a dubious shack set up on the pavement. Of course, in Dundee – where the by-laws are yet to consider noise disturbances – playing your music really loud is considered the ‘in-thing’ to do. This past week, a tone-deaf man in a van has been driving around the central business district with huge speakers conveniently placed for maximum irritation levels blasting out a medley of noise. The purpose of his yet-to-be-challenged mission is still nebulous but if he is out to pee off poor office workers, shoppers and glue sniffers, then he has achieved his aim.
Calling the police is not always a good idea as the debate to exactly how to implement the much-vaunted municipal by-laws is still a source of much debate in the pubs. clubs and charge offices. Reporting a burst water pipe on a Sunday morning is easy: you phone the Umzinyathi plumber’s cellphone – much easier than calling the call centre where the chances of the person understanding your complaint or knowing which street is where are higher than Sarel’s chances of winning another Derby Day.
A visitor to our fair town commented the other day that the town. while picturesque, is very noisy. Not only do we have to contend with mad men driving around with a vehicle full of speakers but also random taxis and other cars each playing a different song at some ear-cracking level.
Then there are those people who cannot talk but shout. They are quite happy to stand on the Victoria Street traffic circle and bawl to a friend who is walking somewhere near the old Beare’s building. No secrecy there.
Like dumping, noise is something that is destroying our tranquility. Visitors to South Africa marvel at the country’s natural beauty but if serious steps are not taken any time soon, the land is in danger of being swallowed up by a noisy, plastic monster and dumped into the sea.