Commenting the Comments

See now isn't this fun?

Several people left comments on the last post (not sure if that link will work, if not just go to the last post and read the comments) and instead of re-commenting the comments I thought I would start fresh here.

G$ - I saw Jack White on the Grammy's or something with Loretta. She appeared drunk/medicated and he seemed confused. I need to get you some White Stripes. Selectively, I think you will really like it.

Dan - I think they might be a little more substantive than you give credit for but it fits one of my theories about the music that is big during your late Jr. High and early High School days really sticks with you forever. No matter what genre you end up in later (as a choice) the music from when your are 14 chooses you.

Jamie - Where to begin?

First off 'physically mature'?!? For that you are sleeping in the alley when you come to Stockholm. Speaking of which, as of yesterday you had not called your parents since arriving back in the US. By your posting I can see that you are not in fact dead so please call them so they stop harassing my wife about your location/safety.

Secondly, I am trying to figure out what the 'new age hooie' is although I can imagine living in Japan these last years you would have given a very distorted view of music available in American just now. Hasselhoff is big there and Germany I think right? I'll assume 'new age hooie' is Pop music but using 'hooie' makes you sound like the one who is 'physically mature'

Finally, just so we are clear about Pop music vs. pop music. In my thinking Pop music (caps) is a genre of music and pop (no caps) music refers to popularity. Its inconvenient that they are spelled the same but let use this to define terms. (p)op (no caps), and we really should stop being lazy and use the full 'popular' just means that people are into it, it could be good music or bad music but it is at least famous music. Don't ask for the criteria to define how popular it has to be to be popular or how we even measure popularity. We will use the Supreme Court's porn test that 'we know it when we see it'.

Pop (caps) is like potato chips (except potato chips rock so that analogy kinda sucks) in that it might taste good but is completely unfilling. Pop music is bad music because it suffers a lack of creativity. If you have trouble telling which is which among 4-5 artists, they are likely Pop artists. If you find the artist overwhelming hot, it is usually Pop music. Actual musicians focus somewhat less on the hotness angle (although Shakira messes with this paradigm a bit).

Take the Britney, Christina and the (dumb one from the MTV show whose name I have forgotten) triumvirate. Of the group Britney is clearly the least talented but smartest (from a marketing perspective, I don't think I would take her to a spelling bee), Christina is the most talented (.....at singing I mean, you dirty old person) and the other one is basically banking on the fact that she resembles the other 2. None of the 3 make anything that is interesting or new and therefore are Pop. You can also spot Pop in the packaging. In most cases, the quality is inversely proportional to the size of the marketing campaign. So Pop is bad seems to be my main point but actually its not. I don't like Pop personally but because it is usually so popular, you have to be aware of it to know what is going on culturally. Ask Chuck Klosterman.

BTW, the opposite of Pop would be someone who is not famous, quite ugly but awesomely creative/unique ..... like Tom Waits.