There is a tendency to reject bands that get a lot of buzz. Well, I have that tendency, especially based on where they get a lot of said buzz (e.g., Pitchfork, Spin, NME, etc.) A lot of the time, buzz is all the band has going for it, especially with some of the acts that NME loves like Gallows or Biffy Clyro or Stereophonics or Arctic Monkeys or whatever the flavor of the month is, but there are a number of bands that I've ignored because of "buzz" that I shouldn't have, namely Modest Mouse (back in the day), Lupe Fiasco, Badly Drawn Boy, Boat, Magnetic Fields and so on. I tend to have a brief period of guilt when I start listening, but it goes away when you realize that you should like music because its good, not to impress friends and acquaintances. Once you get to that point, music is a lot more fun because you're not stuck into a genre/scene. People who are "into" music thanks to genre/scene are the ones who suck all the life out of it and are really "lifestyle" fans, not music fans.
Oh yeah, and I still like Vampire Weekend. So there. Everyone told me the same thing about the Strokes and I still love there stuff. That's music for ya.
Reviews
Erik Gonzalez said on May 5, 2008:
There is a tendency to reject bands that get a lot of buzz. Well, I have that tendency, especially based on where they get a lot of said buzz (e.g., Pitchfork, Spin, NME, etc.) A lot of the time, buzz is all the band has going for it, especially with some of the acts that NME loves like Gallows or Biffy Clyro or Stereophonics or Arctic Monkeys or whatever the flavor of the month is, but there are a number of bands that I've ignored because of "buzz" that I shouldn't have, namely Modest Mouse (back in the day), Lupe Fiasco, Badly Drawn Boy, Boat, Magnetic Fields and so on. I tend to have a brief period of guilt when I start listening, but it goes away when you realize that you should like music because its good, not to impress friends and acquaintances. Once you get to that point, music is a lot more fun because you're not stuck into a genre/scene. People who are "into" music thanks to genre/scene are the ones who suck all the life out of it and are really "lifestyle" fans, not music fans.
Oh yeah, and I still like Vampire Weekend. So there. Everyone told me the same thing about the Strokes and I still love there stuff. That's music for ya.