believing that music you listen to is "important"

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is this strictly an indie rawk phenomenon? i was reading the review of the new mogwai record on nme and they tried to add weight to the review by overestimating(my opinion) mogwai's impact on music. i guess what i am trying to ask is there anyone here that listens to music with a chip on their shoulder? in the mode of 'if other people listened to this their lives would be inexplicably better off' as if slint's 'spiderland' is that important and infused with the sort of gravitas that if unheard will profoundly diminish your quality of life. i look at the poses in the photographs on the us against them website(in my opinion the worst offender) and giggle, their tone is almost that of a school lecturer and i wonder if that is appealing to people here. a lot of the analytical pieces on FT have the same temperature but it seems to me more trying to convince someone it is not a put-on that they really do care to make pop music empirical and quantifiable. i guess i am entering a spiral.

keith, Thursday, 26 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think it happens in all genres, doesn't it? I thought there were always "classics" to buy. Classics usually stand the test of time because they were so unique in the first place that to rip them off would be too obvious or too difficult. Herbie Hancock's "Headhunter" was such an album. That ain't indie rawk!

, Thursday, 26 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i'm not really that big on 'important' and 'classic'.

most of my favourite records aren't important at all. often they might take the blueprint of a more 'important' record, not take it any further, but i could enjoy it more. guess slint is a good example here. spiderland/tweez are ok, but i've preferred polvo or cerberus shoal (before they went hippyish!) records.

i still think adorable were a wonderful group, but i'd hardly say they were important! but they were important to me.

all my dance/rave records might be important together, but individually i wouldn't say many had particular external importance.

my favourite jazz record is by shamek farrah. obviously far less important that davis, ayler, mingus whatever. but i like it more.

i do like 'important' records (kraftwerk, happy mondays) but their important status works often works against. i like them despite, not because of. i probably want to create personal space/context for my records

summary: subjective/personal importance more 'important' than historical/external importance.

gareth, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

This Freaky Trigger zine you speak of, the one which thinks pop music is empirical and quantifiable - it sounds GRATE. Where can I find it?

Tom, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)


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