Yes, I Listen To LFO

Unfortunately for me, writing for HearYa and playing a few shows a month around Chicago does not pay bills. Thusly, I have been forced into the “real world.” Fortunately for me, this does not entail a business haircut and evenings spent in front of the TV watching American Idol. While not wooing the ladies, perfecting the Dorian scale in EFlat on my guitar, or absorbing myself in the latest Ratatat CD, I find myself moonlighting as an Assistant Manager (read: glorified receptionist) of a local barber shop. As getting a haircut does not generally lend itself as a group activity, I encounter a fairly large number of people traveling alone. And a number of those who travel alone in the city, myself included, sport the omnipresent white ear buds synonymous with hidden iPods. Being the inquisitive person I am, especially regarding music, I often ask what they were listening to. So, here’s where the situation becomes interesting: the sheer number of people who simply, yet coyly, refuse to answer is absurd.

“Oh….it’s just a mix.”
“It’s…uh….something my sister gave me.”
“….I don’t know.”
And my favorite:
“Oh, nothing.”

Are people in this world that ashamed to admit what music they like listening to? Yes, the proliferation of blogs (HearYa definitely included) has apparently caused a rift between pop (mass) culture and so called indie (elitist) culture. Pick up any widely read music magazine, Rolling Stone, Spin, etc, and you will find several references, mostly negative, to the “blog culture” and their “influence.” They have been known to both create and destroy bands’ hope, often times both for the same band (The Arctic Monkeys), for musical relevance.

However, I do think they (we) are not solely to blame for the shame of the iPod playlist. Bad music has always existed and it has always, to some level, been heard, and often times enjoyed. The late 80s were plagued by what my friend lovingly calls “Butt Rock” bands. Cinderella, Dokken, and Ratt were terrible, just terrible. But they could appeal to the masses. The disco era saw many bands that even former members are ashamed of. Look at what Disco and the late 70s did to The Band; Before: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. After: Twilight. They were both commercially successful songs, but I don’t think any one person would say that Twilight is a better song than Dixie.

Where am I going with this? I don’t know. But songs are popular for a reason; they appeal to listeners. Whether or not they are well constructed, well performed, well written, or just, well, good, has no bearing on a vast majority of music fans. Catchy sells, just ask Nickelback; they had one of the highest selling albums of 2006, and musical purists are completely befuddled by this fact. Not one critic actually enjoys them, yet for the last few years, they have been unstoppable.

My point of all this is that if you like something, own it. It’s OK to like shitty music. You obviously like it for a reason. I’m just glad you like something. I’d rather you listen to Nickelback than to nothing at all. So the next time you see me with my headphones on, come up and ask me what I’m listening to and there’s a good chance I’ll respond with “I’ve got LFO on.”