Background

I’ve been digging out some music that I think folks are sleeping on (meant in the hip hop sense of ignoring something you really shouldn’t) so I thought I’d mention some bands-
I dig the Chameleons. Virtually everybody in the “overly dramatic rock” category from Interpol to Coldplay owes the Chameleons.
I also dig the Dream Syndicate. Of all the “paisley underground” bands, they played both the loudest, and the longest, and folks still don’t give ‘em the credit they are due. Bands like Wilco and the Hold Steady really owe the Dream Syndicate for re-interpreting the Velvet Underground as a bar band. The mix of country, and psychedelic is fitting, too, in that fuzztone guitars were made for country records, too.
Of course, Pop will Eat Itself. Besides writing every decent Soundtrack of the past few years, Clint Mansell, in PWEI pretty much brought the postmodern grab everything you like and stick it together vibe into dance music- as much, if not more than the Beastie Boys. So, all these mash ups, all this Remix culture? Sounds like PWEI to me.
This is the tip of the iceberg, of course. There have been so very many records, tapes, CDs, Mp3’s you name the format that are less discovered than they should be. Again, that’s the reason for my title. You have a list, as well. TV shows, music, books, Movies, Artists- we all have our idiosyncratic favorites. We all have our individual tastes. I hope that more people remember that, because, as the Music Business dies a well-deserved death, I’d like for us to replace with the beautiful cacophony of the idiosyncratic, of the eccentric, of the just plain strange, so long as it really speaks to the individual. Replace Mass culture with the cultures of the masses…