Hip to be square

Last night I went to a concert with an old high school friend. She works for a small record label, Polyvinyl, so going to trendy clubs for concerts is both a common thing and a big deal for her. If you know anything about me, you know that this sort of thing puts me completely out of my element.

After last night, I don't think anything changed that at all.

Perhaps I just don't understand what draws people to certain subcultural trends. It strikes me that a lot of the current 'hipster' trends reflects an attempt to live in ages bygone. I'm not really certain why my generation looks back at previous decades and wistfully dreams of reliving such golden days, but it seems to be the way it is. The 70s seem to bring out the hideous plaid shirts, the beers that are inexplicably being brewed yet, the haircuts (and facial hair) that show a contempt for the barber's tools . . . I don't get it. The 80s bring out too-tight, too-short jeans, Converse All-Stars (as well as other shoes which were probably fished out of a Thrift Store dumpster), etc.

Look, I'm probably the last person who should criticize anyone's fashion tastes. Lord knows my own choices run the gamut from "My sister dressed me at American Eagle" and "I own 1000 silly gamer tees." It's just strange to me how it seems like so much of the hipster scene is an attempt to capture something from the past. I wonder why that is.

Anyhow, to put a cap on this pointless post, I thought I would leave you all with Hipster Bingo. Enjoy!

Conductivity

Seniors are allowed to conduct the band during practice once at my high school. Our band director was a great guy, even allowing us to pick the song we wanted to conduct and making certain the band would be ready to play it decently.

This story is just a good bit of fun. And I love the picture that came with it:



I don't care what anyone else says, I like this guy.

Random Thought Generator

I just spent a lovely weekend in Nashville, and the title reflects my brain upon return. This post is just a few odd thoughts and a couple of articles I picked up since Friday.

Odd Thought 1: People with one-track minds are hard to talk to.

I suppose it shouldn't be weird to say that Nashville is full of people who have centered their lives around music. It's the musician's Mecca, I suppose. Still, I found myself eating lunch on Sunday with a group of musicians, and it was really hard to carry a conversation with them.

I'd like to think of myself as a well-rounded individual with a broad range of interests. I could probably talk about anything, though to varying degrees of depth. These guys . . . it was nothing but talk about music and being in the business for over an hour.

There's really nothing controversial or insightful to add here. Just . . . people with such high focus on one area of life are difficult to interact meaningfully with. That's it.

Odd Thought 2: Christian cleavage.

One of the musicians I met this weekend was this lovely young woman, a Christian singer with an album in stores now. I'm sure she's very talented (though I didn't hear her sing), but I was a bit bothered by her outfit. She was, ahem, well-endowed, and wore a shirt that let it show.

Perhaps I'm overly focused on modesty, but doesn't this seem like a conflict of interest? "I want to encourage my brothers in Christ to purity and holiness . . . but in the meantime, don't you think I have great jubblies?"

Random Rules

So, Slublog isn't doing an iCarnival right now, but he did suggest a "Random Rules." It's from the Onion AV Club, where they have a celebrity talk about the first 10 songs on their iPod which show up on a random shuffle. Here's what I have playing right now:

• Sammy Davis Jr., "That Old Black Magic."

Heh, classic swing. You gotta love it. This song came off of a 2 disc American swing album I bought at an outlet mall while on vacation with my family back in high school. I don't really listen to the songs on it much anymore, though it's not out of distaste. I just don't feel much like listening to classic swing much these days.

• Deluxtone Rockets, "Doing Time."

This is from the album Green Room Blues, which was a huge disappointment. Originally, I had a CD from a band called The Deluxetone Rockets, which was this awesome New Swing band. Later, I saw this album in a store and thought it was the same guys. It wasn't. These guys were some rockabilly group using the name, but the style was almost completely different. The album is pretty good, but I was really hoping for more from the original guys.

• Anathallo, "Yuki! Yuki! Yuki!"

So, I love Anathallo. Their music is superb. Except for Floating World, which this song comes from. It's as if they wrote it completely stoned. I just have nothing good to say about it. I'm not sure it's actually bad, I just don't like the style. I'd tell you to buy anything else of theirs without any hesitation. This one, buyer beware.

• Five Iron Frenzy, "Plan B."

Ah, FIF. I was just thinking earlier today how their show at Milikin University (Decatur, IL) was the best concert I'd ever been to. Not that I've been to a great many concert, but it was still a freaking awesome show. Pictures from that show? Why, yes I do have some:

• MxPx, "Do Your Feet Hurt."

Man, this takes me back. MxPx was my introduction to punk music and everything alternative. I learned about them through this olda-boy in the youth group named Jeff. I used to think he was the coolest guy on the planet. Thanks to him, I ended up at an MxPx show at Mississippi Nights when I was 14. It was ridiculously fun, though at the time I didn't realize how crazy it was for a 14 year old to be at that club. I nearly had my chest stomped in by some moron in a mosh pit. Thank God for bouncers.

• Chicago, "Beginnings."

I will listen to anything with horns in it. I developed my love for Chicago tunes by playing them in jazz band when I was in high school. It's one of the few areas of musical taste that I share with my parents.

• Thrice, "Stare at the Sun."

Now, here's another band I highly recommend, though it's really only for rock fans. These guys are great. I started listening to them on The Alien, a local Christian rock station which has turned into a country music/Cardinals' rerun station. I don't relish that change.

• Reliant K, "K Car."

I haven't bought a new Reliant K album in a long time. After they took off, their fan base shifted towards 12 year old girls, and their music changed accordingly. Blech. Hey, at least I can say I liked them when they were playing the side stage at Cornerstone.

Yeah, I'm one of "those guys."

• Anathallo, "Hoodwink."

This one is also from "Floating World." I believe I've made my feelings on this clear.

• Christopher Cross, "Ride Like the Wind."

I'm not even sure what this song is about. I have it because we used to play it in jazz band in high school and I thought it was a neat sounding song. After listening to the original version, I realize that it sounded better played by a high school jazz band. Sad.

If you feel like passing on the meme, let me know in the comments.

Imagine That

Elton John wants to ban all religion, because it promotes hatred of gays.

I'm glad it's not up to him.

Yeah, and never mind all the good things that religion has done for the world (*cough* Salvation Army, Red Cross *cough*). Religion "lacks compassion" because they "hate" homosexuals, so let's just get rid of it.

Good luck with that, buddy.

The Further Adventures of Blog-Out

Ha. If I had enough traffic, I'd find guest bloggers. In the meantime, I've enough assignments and exams this week that blogging will continue to be light. Such is the life of a grad student, I suppose. Especially one who ignored a weekend of grading papers to recuperate on the couch.

On the bright side, I caught up on about 4 weeks worth of cartoons and Stargate.

Possible blogging Tuesday night or Wednesday. I would advise against holding your breath.

In the meantime, something just for fun: I recently bought a slew of music off of iTunes on a whim (aside from the free music being given away through Facebook). They are, in no particular order:

Anberlin: Never Take Friendship Personal (album)
Anathallo: Luminous Luminescence in the Atlas Position (album), Floating World (album)
Thrice: The Artist in the Ambulance (album), The Illusion of Safety (album), Vheissu (album)

Lots of good stuff. Also, from the music being offered through Facebook, I really got a kick out of Junior Kickstart by The Go! Team. No pun intended.

Education vs. Taste in Music

Rap fans tend to be less educated? Here's the science:

Ever wondered whether the classical music aficionado next door has had a bit more schooling than the guy blasting rap from his car? New research suggests you may be on to something. A lot of the stereotypes concerning musical taste and socioeconomic status appear to be true.

Psychologist Adrian North of the University of Leicester, U.K., wanted to test musical stereotypes. So he and David Hargreaves of the Open University in Milton Keynes, U.K., conducted an extensive survey in the United Kingdom. The researchers buttonholed more than 2000 fans of 35 different musical styles in various places such as campuses, shopping malls, and train stations and asked them to fill out a questionnaire detailing their jobs, relationships, beliefs, and consumer habits.

As stereotypes might suggest, those with the most education were also the main fans of opera, classical music, and jazz. For example, 8.5% of the classical music lovers had Ph.D.s, compared with 1.4% of those who favored disco music. And classical music lovers' incomes averaged $66,000 compared to $44,000 for lovers of popular dance music. Classical music buffs were also inclined toward intellectual fare, such as current-affairs magazines, whereas the rap/pop crowd favored magazines about cars, women, or celebrities.

One "clear pattern" to emerge was a clustering of antisocial tendencies among young fans of pop, rap, and rock. For example, 53% of hip-hop fans admitted to having committed a criminal act, compared to 18% of fans of musicals.

Of course, some of the data doesn't fit stereotypes. Opera fans are listed as being the least likely to shower. Odd.

I wonder how I'd fall into that progression. I have a rather eclectic mix of music on my iPod.