Music as art

A thought I have had for a long time is that different forms of music and different forms of painting go together quite well. What I mean by this is that if you were explaining the difference in the sensibility between rock and electronica i would describe one as actual representation , like a painting of a landscape, or cityscape and one as modern abstractism.

This got me to thinking if you could actually equate individual musicians and artists. i think you can actually.

Here is an example. The White Stripes. People love the White Stripes. i do too, i guess. it is not that I don't think they are any good, because they very clearly are. it is just i don't go nuts for them.

 This is a great video though

When I think of their music I think of Mondrian

Specifically actually I think of Trafalgar square

The black stripes represent men and women, the colours and the squares objects.

So I spent a fair while thinking about this i I get quite a few matches, for example, here is Arch enemy and I think of jackson pollock when I hear there music

I am not entirely sure that i am not a little bit crazy here. But what i think is that the music has the metal edge to it, the pounding drums and the wailing guitar, not to mention the female dirty lyrics. Now look at the painting. it has the dark edge to it, with the almost smudge like quality, the colors bursting through or maybe sitting on top with the tinges in red over the yellow. the drums, the guitar and the vocals. No?

Ok so here is another perhaps more tangible example

Radiohead and Munch. Please this should be obvious

I realise that there are actually videos that the artists have made to represent their music, but it is not quite the same. The videos are invariably directed by someone else with a slightly different vision. I also think that, much like a book, the visual you have when you are listening to music are far better than what someone else can imply for you. it is like the book and the film if you like. The book is almost always better because you create the whole thing in your head.

This is one that came to me today actually. i was listening to Boards of Canada, i listen to Boards of Canada a lot actually.

And i was thinking of Turner

The way the music has that almost dream like quality. The fuzzy edges, the artwork has a similar quality to it. That warm slightly hazy feeling.

Does anyone else get the same sort of thing when they listen to music? I guess they must, because a lot of people can sit with headphones on and simply listen to the music, without actually doing anything else. The images in their head are almost definitely not the same as anyone else's. but I bet a lot of the concepts are the same.

The song is about war, so I get a war picture similar to this one.

I guess i have made my point on this. not a particularly complicated point as far as it goes. But fun. Anyone have any that they would like to associate?