Tag: Death of the Cool

Brian Eno says farewell to the uncool

It almost sounds as though Brian Eno has been reading Ted Gioia.  Here’s Eno on “the death of uncool”:

We’re living in a stylistic tropics. There’s a whole generation of people able to access almost anything from almost anywhere, and they don’t have the same localised stylistic sense that my generation grew up with. It’s all alive, all “now,” in an ever-expanding present, be it Hildegard of Bingen or a Bollywood soundtrack. The idea that something is uncool because it’s old or foreign has left the collective consciousness.

I think this is good news.

Read more from Brian Eno at Prospect.

Ted Gioia on the Birth and Death of the Cool

The end of "cool"?
The end of "cool"?

Has coolness runs its course?  Are we living in a post-“cool” culture?

Musician and writer Ted Gioia talks about his new book, The Birth and Death of the Cool in episode 102 of The New Modern podcast.  You can listen using the embedded player above or via iTunes.  Please consider leaving a review and subscribing (for free) to future New Modern podcasts in the iTunes store.

Renowned for his important books about music, especially his History of Jazz, Ted Gioia is a prolific culture writer and literary critic.

Scott Timberg, the Los Angeles writer (and a pretty cool guy), recently posted a Q&A with Gioia on his new book.  Though many will find much to disagree with in Gioia’s arguments, there’s a unquestionably a new fashion for authenticity and sincerity.

Whether that spirit marks the death of “cool” in the sense that Ted Gioia means it, remains to be seen.  Listen to our interview, read the book, and decide for yourself.

[Watch this space for additional links and a full transcript.]