Marconi Union produce "the most relaxing song ever".

[Charlie Grant]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8830066/Band-creates-the-most-relaxing-tune-ever.html

Okay. Most British people on this forum will know that The Telegraph isn't exactly Fluid Radio when it comes to informed opinions on experimental music, but this article still makes my head spin. The track itself is nice enough, but the most relaxing song ever? Hmmm. What exactly is the benchmark for 'relaxing' anyway? You'll probably see that their top ten relaxing songs ever also include the likes of Enya and Coldplay 

This track has already received 157,000 listens on Youtube so far and it doesn't even appear to have been released yet. It's astounding what a bit of promotion in the right places and a mantle like "the most relaxing song ever" can do for you, even if it isn't true.

So basically...what is your take on all of this? I still can't really believe what I've just read to be honest.

[Le Berger]

Short answer? lol.

A little more detailed:

'astounding what a bit of promotion in the right places and a mantle like "the most relaxing song ever" can do for you'
Hit the nail on the head right there. And if for that aspect, good for them, however ridiculous the publicity stunt if it gets people actually listening.

Is it laughable? sure thing.
Some sensationalist / pop psycho like babble? undeniably.

The one thing it embodies quite perfectly is that without some sort of catchy spin, 'mainstream' media won't cover that stuff, and then whenever they do end up demonstrating their ineptitude more than anything. Makes for a sort of loophole of short-sighted readers being fed more and more inane bullshit. Sort of a degrading culture that's an insult to intelligence if you ask me, and I say that without the slightest bit of cynicism really, it just seems an obvious state of affair.

What really really irks me is that things like this, even if it's poorly channeled, show that this mainstream / eclecticism spectrum is almost a false dichotomy, that people really aren't that short sighted and when exposed to interesting material at least a great deal of them will pay attention and make up their own minds.

[Charlie Grant]

Very well said.

It's often a crying shame that so much excellent music goes largely ignored. But at the same time, when by some slim chance that it does gain recognition, it often seems to be for reasons that are far removed from the original intended context.

Presumably, a situation like this may also create a bit of a personal dilemma for the artists involved.  Fair play to Marconi Union for taking the stance that they have, though. Refusing interviews and suchlike. It makes things seem pretty clear about where they stand.

Still, concepts like this set my nerves on edge. Making 'the most relaxed tune ever' sounds a lot like 'how much noise can I create with my dubstep chainsaw'. Like a contest.