Unpopular Opinions

[tokyo vogue]

1. Quality rap is more interesting than quality pop.

2. The youth of today are no worse than the youth of yesterday.

3. Liberals are more dangerous than the right-wing. I'm making a distinction between 'liberal' and 'left'.

4. Punk's not dead.

5. I like Harry Potter, but I'd rather read fanfiction than the actual books. Examples will be provided if requested.

6. Horse racing is not a sport. Philadelphia, please, come to your senses. It's a fecking horse, ferchrissakes, not the savior.

7. Singer/songwriters who only record AA songs with airy vocals, acoustic guitars, and midtempo beats should be forcibly banned from ever performing, ever.

[El Vez]

The unofficial sequel to Larry Elders' The Ten Things You Can't Say In America!

Just a few thoughts/comments on your list....

#1. I'm assuming that The Roots, Blackalicious, Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Common make the cut as quality rap/hip hop. What's out there now that you rate as quality pop?

#3 I'd like to know your definition of "liberal." I'm assuming you mean the zealots but I want to hear your qualifications for this one.

#5 Bukowski would disagree. Actually, his caveat would be that betting well on horses is the sport of mental olympians.

#6 Some links please!

#7 Who are the worst offenders to your ears?

[wehitandrun]

a-men Tokyo.

[tokyo vogue]

El Vez:


1. And how! I use 'pop' to mean everything that's popular now, was popular at some point, or is modeled after something that is/was popular, but doesn't transcend into the 'Oh Holy Mother of Fuck' category (EC, Dylan, etc).

3. Liberals, to me, are the complacent, well-fed, politically-correct people who have complete faith in the Democrat party, listen to Norah Jones, and discuss cheap philosophy at their local Starbucks. I am, of course, stereotyping. Stereotyping is fun!


5. Be warned: I am a fan of pretention and minor characters.

"Like Light", by Marvolo
"Unsticking the Shadow", by Pogrebin
"Courage Potion", by Rhoddlet.


7. Where I live, we get this radio station, XPN. They tend to play acts which would kindly be described as blander versions of the Dave Matthews Band. Their very nature keeps me from remembering any names.



edit: why on earth is the html code for this forum so screwed up?

[Pov]

1. Quality rap is more interesting than quality pop.

2. The youth of today are no worse than the youth of yesterday.

3. Liberals are more dangerous than the right-wing. I'm making a distinction between 'liberal' and 'left'.

4. Punk's not dead.

5. I like Harry Potter, but I'd rather read fanfiction than the actual books. Examples will be provided if requested.

6. Horse racing is not a sport. Philadelphia, please, come to your senses. It's a fecking horse, ferchrissakes, not the savior.

7. Singer/songwriters who only record AA songs with airy vocals, acoustic guitars, and midtempo beats should be forcibly banned from ever performing, ever.

1. It depends on what you consider "quality." I'd rather listen to Eminem than most of the other stuff I hear on the radio today. "Popular," in terms of music, has become synonimous with "banal." But there is a lot of very good music out there in the "pop" and "rock"veins that I would listen to any day over most rap songs.

2. The youth of today are probably better than the youth of yesterday. They certainly seem to work harder and are more goal oriented.

3. Depends on who you are talking about, and what the issue is. Was Janet Reno more dangerous than John Ascroft? I don't think so. Ashcroft is pretty high on my "danger to civil liberties" meter.

4. Who said it was?

5. Harry Potter is great reading for 10-14 year olds. Let's not forget it's for KIDS, people!

6. Have you ever tried jockeying a horse?

7. How could anyone disagree?

[El Vez]

1. It depends on what you consider "quality." I'd rather listen to Eminem than most of the other stuff I hear on the radio today. "Popular," in terms of music, has become synonimous with "banal." But there is a lot of very good music out there in the "pop" and "rock"veins that I would listen to any day over most rap songs.

POV makes a good point about the flimsy definition of popular music. I think the death of the regional radio hit has a lot to do with the watering down effect we've seen. Up until about the 1970's you could have artists who had records that were very popular in radio stations in, say, Missouri and Arkansas and the exposure they received in those areas allowed them to tour and record in a manner that specifically catered to their fanbase.

Listening to anything before the corporate co-opt (for me, The Eagles, stadium rock and the whole prog thing signaled the death of the "good old days") is a bit of a revelation. From Charley Patton to The Carter Family to Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys to Muddy Waters to Carl Perkins to The Sir Douglas Quintet you can trace music that sounds like it came from another planet but was very commerical and accessible for its day. Doug Sahm may not have played in Peoria but his homestate popularity alone helped float his brilliant idiosyncratic career along so that he could give the world She's About A Mover and Augie Meyers. We owe you, Doug.

If Johnny Cash or Lightnin Hopkins were to come along today they would flop. Too weird and their respective demographics wouldn't justify the expense that goes into producing two or three music videos, having the production team of The Matrix work their magic in the overdubs and booking the artist for a weeklong stand on TRL.

So, we end up with music that is meant to appeal to everyone but winds up as little more than bland, lukewarm oatmeal.

[wehitandrun]

I really hope that The Streets, Nas, Notorious BIG, and Eminem make your list of quality hip hop/rap.

[bambooneedle]

Basically, fm radio turned into am radio at some point when programmers realized it could be so profitable (probably around the time of disco, Saturday Night Fever's Soundtrack sold an unprecedented many millions). Generally speaking, am was for popular hits, fm for more album oriented stuff or whatever the hell the programmers of the day were into and wanted to share with their particular audience including out of the ordinary things that could range from long 'experimental' music, b-sides... whatever they felt like playing. Now, it's a real science.... A&R people think about how many beats per minute their artists' songs should have to get on the radio, what standard verse/chorus/verse/chorus or acceptable chord structures and compulsory 'hooks' they should have... and it's the same songs over and over. I can hardly be bothered with radio now.

[wehitandrun]

Aw.