September 21 - Wear Black

I'll confess that the orchestration of this isn't quite for me. it's too chaotic and robs itself of the clarity that I love from Mountain Goats songs. However, the theme is spot on. This to me is about identity and identification.

The not quite correct thing that people say about the tendency of subcultures to adopt uniform Looks is that they do so in part so that the members of the group can identify each other. This is almost the case but misses the mark. What's far more true is that the "uniform" aspects of the look are there so members can identify themselves. This is something that's true both in what we would recognise as subcultures (goths, punks, mods, scene kids, ravers) and in groups that we wouldn't necessarily label as such. On Wednesdays, I work from home. I typically don't take meetings that day (although I sometimes do). I could just wear a t-shirt on those days, but instead I wear a button down shirt and a tie.

Why is that?

At some level, it's because I'm At Work, and I have a visual signifier for being At Work. If I have the Look I'm doing the Thing. And that's true of being a goth or a metalhead or a hippy or anything else. When you wear black, you're identifying yourself as part of it. You're saying to the world what your affiliation is, but just as importantly, you're telling yourself.

And speaking of the Look as identification, this is Mexican post-rock band Austin TV with an absolutely gorgeous set from KEXP