New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote an interesting piece about the "fragmentation of American music" and its role in our "segmented society."
In it, he interviews Steven Van Zandt. The E-Streeter/actor argues that most young people don't know the heritage of music. As a music history geek who sorta still qualifies as a young person (I'm 29), that's probably what bothers me most about the current culture. Especially on the local level.
The young folks I meet and the musicians I interview typically exhibit a disregard for music's past. For instance, the singer from We The Kings, one of the few local bands to ink a major record deal in recent years, cited blink-182 as an influence. It made me want to cry.
Equally frustrating is the well-informed music fan that dismisses anything that's appreciated by the masses; anything that's too obvious, regardless of its beauty … the music fan who religiously reads Pitchfork and knows every name on the CMJ Top 20 but hasn't ever listened to the Allman Brothers Band's At Fillmore East.
Brooks writes: "People who have built up cultural capital and pride themselves on their superior discernment are naturally going to cultivate ever more obscure musical tastes. I’m not sure they enjoy music more than the throngs who sat around listening to Led Zeppelin, but they can certainly feel more individualistic and special."
That's a mindset I recognize — but can't understand.
This article appears in Nov 21-27, 2007.