Detroit: Cars and Stars

Any art is inextricably linked to the time and place from which it comes. There can be argument to the contrary, but really, no creative force can remain the same once its environs are altered. If a band is used to recording in basements and the like, the first time they hit the studio, the results may be drastically different. Just ask the Dead Boys.

Keeping things Midwest, the BBC posted a short flick detailing the two most famous exports from Detroit: Cars and Motown.

And as Motown turned fifty, the city, much like other mid-western towns, is in the grips of a recession economy. Automakers are suckling at the teat of government, who at one point were chastised by these business men for playing to large a role in manufacturing regulations.

So, how will music respond to all of that?

During the ‘80s and the era of the an omnipresent Reagan, who supported smaller government only to engorge the national budget with the war on drugs and other such failures, a maturing of punk came to be. Due to the floundering economy of that time and seemingly stifling right wing values, kids picked up guitars and ripped loud music as much as they could. We’ll count the Necros as a Detroit band even though they hailed from Toledo, Ohio. But, the hardcore aesthetic that the Necros stumbled upon was clearly tied to the time and place from whence they came.

The same can be said of the MC5 as well.

But moving forward through time, the ‘90s export of Detroit that’s had the most lasting legacy is probably J Dilla. And during the early part of that decade, as Americans sought to be lifted from the depths of the first Bush presidency, Dilla’s music took on a mechanical Detroit feel, but with all of the soul and jazz that he used to make beats, it still sounded hopeful.

So if linearly, Detroit’s musical heritage can flow from the Motown stable to the MC5, to the Necros and finally Dilla, what is the city to do as an encore? If the presidency of Obama is a barometer, the music probably won’t be as angry or aggressive as the Necros or the MC5. But we’ll have to see how the automakers use their new found capitol – and we’ll have to see how Obama uses his.