HALFWAY THERE

Resulting from the recent backlash against Ashlee Simpson's SNL apperance, Kelefa Sanneh dissects the term "rockism".

Unlike other articles by Sanneh, and despite some weaker points, I enthusiastically demand that everyone reads this article. I was somewhat of a "rockist", which was a rather mature musical attitude -- for an eigth grader. Dismissing any music that was made with profits in mind, by big time producers, or made to appeal to people's base instincts, does not automatically make it bad music, and doesn't automatically invalidate the artist's intended statement.

Today, the rockist attitude is rampant, even with people who don't listen to anything not released on a major label. When I sign onto thefacebook (a college edition of Friendster), tons of kids have joined the "People Who Like Good Music" group (good music, apparently, is The Used). Every other kid has their musical interests listed as either "anything good" or "everything except country". What does that even mean? How could a person posssibly listen to every genre except country, and moreover, why would I care?

Sanneh says it best when she says, "The challenge is to acknowledge that music videos and reality shows and glamorous layouts can be as interesting - and as influential - as an old-fashioned album." And I would like to take this time to state that despite the music I am most passionate about (the music that shows up on this site), I have also spent a lot of recent time listening to and thinking about other kinds of music, including Ashlee Simpson, Jimmy Eat World, The Killers, and goddamnit, even "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi. So when my iTunes shuffle starts playing, yes, there's catchy tunes from Mouse On Mars, lcd soundsystem, and The Futureheads, but every once in a while I've got to hear something from Third Eye Blind's debut album.

A rundown of other recent NY Times articles:

A good overview of the new iPod photo.

Scroll past the Jet recommendation for an excellent blurb on the Walkmen [very last entry].

Jay-Z kicked R. Kelly off of the tour for the record they collaborated on. Sweet.