is the amount of Twee we are respectively allowed to tolerate in our ouvre of treasured musical happenstance. I think there is a definite conversation to be had about what constitutes serious music, about how shitty it is to hate a genre of music or an artist because you hate the people that listen to it or you think they represent something bad about life. Because it seems like I have more freedom to advocate for music based on simple aesthetic bonding, like, “I liked this before I knew what I even liked.” But my opinion doesn’t carry as much weight because I’m not paying as much attention to “serious” music.
That shit is a double sword. I mean, I’m considered to be a constant musical dilettante, but I get to listen to ABBA unironically. I still haven’t listened to the Kanye album. I know I’m missing out. I know I should be right on top of that shit. But I figure, Jesus, we got at least 60 years of bangin’ music, and live recordings, and biographies. Why not follow bunny trails? Why not just explore? I discovered Kate Bush a few days ago. That was rad.
I think everyone feels they don’t know enough about music so they start drawing lines in the sand to make themselves feel authoritative. I mean I don’t know shit about music, but I also have a really deep connection with it. When I am into something, I play it and nothing else. I pick the music apart. I am assiduous.
It just seems shitty. I guess I’ll never be a “music guy.”
Or an astronaut.
Emphasis mine… I totally agree with this whole piece but the bolded bit mostest of all. It’s stressful trying to keep up with all the “NEW” “AWESOME” “IMPROVED” music. I tried doing it, but I keep going back to Tori Amos and Kate Bush and The Beatles and Aimee Mann and Ben Folds and, and… When I discovered Jeff Buckley I listened to Grace non-stop for about a month and picked apart most of the instrumentation and became so intimate with it that it was hard to move on. New music doesn’t mean anything to me yet, and I am a sentimental creature. I don’t wanna feel insecure because I’m not hip. So I shan’t.