Every week, right below the end of the column, the Daily Cardinal editors list my e-mail address along with some witty comment. As I look back on the precious few people who have taken advantage of replying to me, I have noticed some commonality. The majority of people that have responded are defending some particular artist.
I think this is hilarious. I (somewhat
insincerely) apologize to those of you who are offended by my distaste for Duffy, or Katy Perry or Disney tween pop. But I'm a little confused about what you are trying to accomplish through some of these e-mails. Are you really trying to get me to accept Katy Perry, or Duffy or ABBA? Do you really think that I'm going to read your e-mail, re-listen to Katy Perry's album and crown her heir to Alanis Morissette?
Let me take a step back. I draw a distinct difference between music that I like and music that I think is good. I see music as good or bad based on qualities that the music has. But I like music for any number of reasons. Sometimes I fall in love with a song because of a good memory from high school or an ex-girlfriend or a specific experience. I like music because I connect to it somehow. Something about the artist or the lyrics or the music itself resonates with my experience.
One example of this for me is Atmosphere's most recent LP, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold. The album was released to pretty decent reviews. Slug's lyrics stepped away from the juvenile shoegaze of his previous albums toward telling stories about the voiceless in society.
One song, The Skinny,"" is an extended metaphor for smoking addiction. Other songs talk about parenthood, lost dreams and broken relationships with family. The production from Ant was more creative and varied than past efforts. This is a good album. But that's not the only reason I like the album.
The ninth track, ""Yesterday,"" is directed toward someone from his past that he saw walking on the street. Slug reminisces about what it would be like to reconnect, but then he says, ""But I know it wasn't you, 'cuz you passed away, Dad."" This album dropped the week of the third anniversary of my best friend's death, a friend that I still think I see on the street, in the grocery store, at the gym. Then I look a second time and realize it isn't him, just like the lyrics.
The thing is, music has this amazing power to connect. I'm a music snob, and sometimes I want to pretend that listening to music is all about how ""good"" the music is. I want to find some band that no one has heard of, or engage in pretentious name-dropping to prove my musical superiority. But people connect with music for their own reasons. Honestly, most of the music I connect with is music that I also think is ""good,"" but I understand that you might not connect with that music.
So, when I mock an artist in this column, I'm not saying that you shouldn't like their music. Maybe you have some wonderful memory from high school that you relive each time you hear ""Toxic."" That's great, but it is different than arguing that ""Toxic"" is creative and interesting. So go ahead, enjoy Good Charlotte and Soulja Boy. Just don't call it good music. Tell me how music connects with you, just don't expect me to connect with your favorite Kelly Clarkson song.
If you have a small essay prepared on why Britney Spears and her music connect with you, email Dale at dpmundt@wisc.edu
