"We can eclipse all that came before us."

"We can control the medium.
We can control the context of presentation.
Is there anybody on the receiving end?
Reaching out for some kind of connection.

Come on and wash these shores away.
Come on and wash these shores away.
I am looking for the crest,
I am looking for the crest of a new wave.

We can be the bands we want to hear.
We can define our own generation.
Is there anybody on the receiving end?
Are you ready to brave new directions.

Come on and wash these shores away.
Come on and wash these shores away.
I am looking for the crest,
I am looking for the crest of a new wave.

Let breathe new dawn this art is dead!
No signs of original thought in the mainstream.
Is there anybody on the receiving end?
We can eclipse all that came before us.

Come on and wash these shores away.
Come on and wash these shores away.
I am looking for the crest,
I am looking for the crest of a new wave."

-Against Me!, New Wave

I hate the word "kitsch".

Here's a brief summary brought to you by wikipedia...

"denoting art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art. The term kitsch was a response to the 19th century art whose aesthetics convey exaggerated sentimentality and melodrama, hence, kitsch art is closely associated with sentimental art. Moreover, kitsch (art) also denotes the types of art that are like-wise æsthetically deficient (whether or not it is sentimental, glamorous, theatrical, or creative) making it a creative gesture that merely imitates the superficial appearances of art (via repeated conventions and formulae), thus, it is uncreative and unoriginal; it is not Art. Contemporaneously, kitsch also (loosely) denotes art that is æsthetically pretentious to the degree of being in poor taste, and industrially-produced art-items that are considered trite and crass."

Who can judge art like this?
Who could say this about someone else's art?

We are all products of our surroundings. Things we are exposed to, things we've chosen to expose ourselves to. But we are not original. Not really. An original mix of things maybe... and our creations, whether music, art or otherwise, will be the same. Combinations of things that have already been. We take what we've seen... mix it with something else and try to do it better. But is there ever anything new?