Posted on August 11th, 2005 by Andy
This is a rehash of a couple of posts I made to the Galaxie 500 Mailing List a couple of months back - it seemed a shame for my insane megalomania to vanish into mailing list obscurity
Part one
A PARAGRAPH BECAUSE A SMILEY MIGHT NOT BE ENOUGH
I’m on a rant so while I believe everything I’m about to write please
be aware that this is my own opinion and is not a personal attack on
anyone. I believe everything I’m about to write but I don’t want
anyone taking it personally…
WRONG! WRONG WRONG WRONG!!
Music should be partisan. The fact is that I do have the VERY VERY
best taste in music. And anyone who likes Celine Dion or Hall and
Oates is plain wrong - anyone who was disappointed in The Clientele
has cloth ears and all this “we all love music so it’s fine” attitude
is utter nonsense. It gets really granular - I, for instance, don’t
get how anyone could think Luna were greater than Galaxie 500 - you’re
wrong (Darren - OK that was personal 
MAKING MUSIC
I can give genuine reasons about how the music I like is ACTUALLY
BETTER than, say Coldplay or U2 or Feist (!) - there are things like
passion and feel and edge and anger and emotion and love and rejection
and embrace and smooth and sharp and cream and sugar and lemon and
lime that go into making music - and sometimes it works and sometimes
it doesn’t - but there IS good music and there IS bad music - it isn’t
ALL subjective.
HEARING MUSIC
The fact that, for the most part, the music that sells in huge numbers
is generally pretty lame means that there is an issue also with the
way people hear music. When you ask someone what music they like and
they don’t get passionate then they don’t understand music and if they
don’t understand music then their opinion is valueless. There are
other things that influence taste such as age, environment, sexuality,
politics - all of these things make music opinion as a subjective
thing questionable - a little girl who likes to scream at boy-bands
doesn’t have a relevant or valuable opinion.
THE FACT IS
That anyone who is passionate about music (at its purest level) has a
right to think that they also have the VERY VERY best taste in music -
they have earnt that right through love and passion and understanding.
AND ANOTHER FACT IS
That my listening is affected by the same afflictions of emotion and
environment as I level at other people and therefore my argument is
completely redundant and I should just shut up.
SO WHAT WAS THE BLOODY POINT OF ALL THAT THEN?
I guess my point (apart from the fact that I have perfect taste in
music) is that only someone who is passionately moved by music is
really entitled to respect of their tastes - and there aren’t that
many of people who are that passionate. Sure if you are moved by Hall
and Oates that’s fine - but most people aren’t - most people just hear
music like a backing track or an accompaniment or a funny joke or a
nice dance or something to put you to sleep.
MY ARGUMENTS ARE FLAWED
But my taste is beyond question
If you couldn’t argue and be opinionated about music (or politics or
sport (preferably NOT ON THIS LIST:)) then life would surely be a less
rich thing.
Part two
I don’t get people who are happy to accept other peoples musical
opinions because “it’s thier choice” - I genuinely think that without
a partisan attitude to music we may as well all be listening to
elevator music. I believe that you have to have an attitude because
without the ability or desire to justify your tastes there is no point
in having taste.
Part three
IMO you can’t accept that
all music is equally valid and it’s only people’s perception that
changes. It means that all music is equally good which is just plain
wrong.
Just because my mum (and a billion mums around the world) loved Daniel
O’Donnell records doesn’t mean for a minute that we have to accept
that becuase it illicits emotions it is valid musically. It’s shite -
and in a lot of ways it was created solely to illicit those very
emotions so not only is it shite but its manipulative shite.
