Read and discuss amongst yourselves (if you find my
random comments merit discussion...)
Popular music (popular IDM as well as Allanis and
Celine and sh*t like that) is like chain restaurants.
McDonalds is extremely popular, across a wide variety
of cultures. McDonalds is so popular because it is
generic, it has been developed to appeal to as broad
an audience as possible, therefore anything that is
distinctive, esoteric, or non-standard has been
removed. Speaking in statistical jargon (pardon me),
most of the variance in quality has been removed.
This makes McDonalds food quite dependable, but not
very interesting. Local restaurants, on the other
hand, are more of a gamble. You may get a very good
meal, much better than you could get at McD's, or you
may get food poisoning (of course you could get food
poisoning from McDonalds as well, but let's just
assume for a moment that you can't). Also there is
much more variety in terms of style among local
restaurants. While most everyone (non-vegetarians)
can get a decent meal at McD's, I find eating at small
local restaurants more rewarding. Even though I may
get a few horrible meals, I more often find foods that
appeal to me, my own individual tastes.
When I buy an album of popular music, at least I know
what I'm getting. It's nice to have some safe,
inoffensive albums around. But I'd encourage everyone
to make impulse buys on occasion. Maybe even buy an
album by an artist you've never heard of. Or, if
you're not that adventurous, try buying an unknown
artist's CD from a label you know puts out good stuff.
You'll probably find it rewarding.
--Miss Lemon
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