Everything's Stolen or Borrowed?

From Splice Today, on the release of Helplessness Blues by the Fleet Foxes, and the (sometimes self-conscious) use of old art in new art:

The Fleet Foxes come from a long tradition of pop cleaning up folk sources. Indeed, the tradition is so long that it’s sometimes hard to figure out where the pop starts and the folk ends.... The song “Lorelai” is a tribute to “Fourth Time Around,” Bob Dylan’s snipe at the Beatle’s “Norwegian Wood,” which was itself a tribute to Dylan. “Everything’s stolen or borrowed,” Robin Pecknold sings with just a hint of a nasal tic to remind you of Dylan’s mannered vocals, as the background harmonizers lilts in rapturous layers of pristine production to remind you of the sparse harmonies of John and Paul. The Foxes even include an odd, swirling out-of-time break, as if they lost their sitar and were forced, on the fly, to substitute genius arrangements and a state-of-the-art studio. “I was old news to you then/Old news, old news to you then,” Pecknold repeats on the chorus. Old news is good news, especially when it’s new and shiny and on the web.

He may have a point, to a degree...

The Beatles, "Norwegian Wood"

Bob Dylan, "Fourth Time Around"

Fleet Foxes, "Lorelai"

There is some significant borrowing taking place here. But Splice Today adopts the position that this kind of borrowing is a bad thing:

There’s something disturbing about listening to a band so enthusiastically celebrate the fact that it has no soul.

I agree with Joey. To the extent that one criticizes more modern generations for their retrospective, rather than prospective artist drive, then they should at least cite an example of true ex nihilo artistry for purposes of comparison. Otherwise, let's leave the "soul", whatever that may be, out of it.

The Indecision

Another Steve Porter gem: