Soapbox

Pop goes the weasel. It seems like only yesterday the glorious four chords of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" rang in a new era in music. For people like myself, our beloved underground seemed to burst through the cracks. For others, it was like an awakening; an emergence of music that spoke to the soul, while still appealing to our visceral need to rock. Soon, "alternative" music was everywhere: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, NIN, and others of their ilk were wildly popular, and a bevy of promising contenders waited in the wings. The underground had subverted the mainstream, and soon the mass media was fully on board. Great, right? wrong. It stayed special for about ten minutes and then the whole thing turned to shit.
Now, i'm not going to go on and on about how depressing the homogenization of alt music was. I've done that already. We're still listening to far too many second rate versions of Pearl Jam for anyone to need a reminder. What I'm excited about is pop.
That's right, pop is back, and with every new boy band, or pre-fab, sexy-yet-wholesome, ex-Mouseketeer, by whose svengali producer/record company we are blessed to be the focus of an all out media blitz by, I believe we are returning to a stable (and more preferable) platform for music.
Now, before you get too upset, think about it. Would you rather have your 11 year old niece and nephew decked out in thrift store, wallet chained to their belts and baggy pants riding low with the new copy of whatever Creed put out in time for Christmas, or would you rather see them in light pastel colors, humming the latest faux soul/r&b from the cutest kids you ever saw? I realize it's not much of a choice, but i'd rather see the kids singing songs about teen love and, well, teen love, than singing about heroin addiction and alienation. That can come later. You see, i don't think alt/indie was ever meant for the mainstream. As soon as it was accepted, it was imitated, and that's what killed it.
Now, I remember in an earlier essay I myself complained about how radio sucked. But it doesn't matter, because i don't have to listen to the radio. I'm capable enough to find and purchase the music I enjoy. Now, the beginning of 2000 is here, and while I'm certainly not going to run right out and buy the entire N'Sync catalog, I'm more than happy to let the pop audience (that's right, pop audience... if you don't like the music, don't listen to the pop stations) consume whatever they want. Bottom line: if you hate what radio plays, don't listen to it. Pop music isn't intended for the mature audience (at least, mature audience w/ taste). It's made for the preteen demographic w/ 100% disposable income.



Stuff I like





Alright, here's a new list of things I'm into right now. In no particular order, even!