Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
The bands on the list seem to be very, very mainstream, and are a reflection of the readers of a very, very mainstream music magazine (Rolling Stone).
Doesn't being/liking the mainstream equate to being not hip?
That's what I was afraid you meant but wanted to make sure before I corrected you.
If you have to use a book to tell you what's hip, then, by definition, you're not hip at all. By the time that book went to press, it was already unhip.
The vast majority of those bands I saw when I was a teenager back in Hollywood at places no bigger than the 9:30 club. Just because they reached some sort of popularity, it's no longer hip to like them? Their live shows aren't great anymore? That's a load of bollocks and you know it.
If you continue to tell enough people how great alt-country is, you'd best be careful, one or two might listen to you and tell someone else. Then you (and it) won't be hip? Come on...
I think you'd have been keenly aware of or knowledgeable about the latest trends or developments if you would have predicted the success of u2's "All that you can't...." considering their previous lack of success with Zooropa and Pop. And that live show, well it was the greatest live show I've seen in the last 5 years, whether its hip to like them or not.
