CJ's Music Rant - youth online

Music Rant

I think its about time for me to do my patented rant on mass culture and the brainwashing
done by public media outlets.

Listen people. To get the main point right out there, you should NEVER like music
because its on the radio. The fact that the music gets airtime has nothing to do with talent.
Frankly, music gets on the radio because record companies pay to give their biggest
prospects mass exposure. This is called "Payola," and it is very much illegal. Clear
Channel radio, which owns most of the major radio stations in the United States, including
KROC, LASR, etc. has had more lawsuits regarding payola than any other radio company
in the US; Meaning, what you listen to on Rochester's radio stations is only there because
they sold out to major labels.

I beg of each and every one of you to shut off your radio for a week, and listen exclusivley
to bands you haven't ever heard of. I guarantee you that it will be a mind changing
experience. Can't find new music? Ask me. Or Alexi. Or Emily. Anybody, so long as its
a band you've never heard. Have you ever heard of The Weakerthans? The Hives? The
Shins? Calexico? Modest Mouse? Probably not, unless it was from me. Hands down, the
Weakerthans have the most introspective, magical lyrics of any band I have ever listened
to. That is important. These bands put their entire lives into their music, and everything is
pure and original. Compare that to pop stars on KROC who sing above canned beats and
other people's talent. You know the song "Angels" by Jessica Simpson? Its not by Jessica
Simpson. Its by a british artist named Robbie Williams, who's original version conveys way
more emotion than the cheap knock-off. I have the CD if you care to compare sometime.

Some people genuinely like listening to the cloned pop-culture thats on KROC and LASR,
and thats okay. Everybody is entitled to their own musical choices. But I am certain that
there are those of you who only listen to KROC because you didn't know of anything else.
I remember the first time I heard a song by Cake, one of my favorite bands. It was
different. Amazing. It made me go out and listen to more of Cake. I swung by
AllMusic.com and found bands that were like Cake, and I liked them too. Soon I got to the
point where I could recognize how everything on KROC sounded the same. I got sick of it.
I broadened my horizons, musically. And I have never looked back.

There is this amazing underculture of music, that most people will never hear of. Check
out MTV late night, you might find a few gems. Or even on KROC, much as it pains me to
say it. Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" is currently on the playlist. This excites me, even
though Epitaph Records bought their spot on the list. Maybe people will react to
Ferdinand the way I reacted to Cake. Maybe they will find their Gateway Band, and listen
to newer, more talented bands. Maybe they will abandon the pop of Britney Spears to the
Indie-Pop of The Shins. Maybe they will move from the pop-rock of Trapt to the
Alt-PunkRock of The Hives. Maybe the newly enlightened individual will give up the
abysmal pop-punk of Yellowcard, Starting Line and Blink 182 for the originals, like the Sex
Pistols. I can only hope that they will turn back from the cloned pop-emo of Dashboard
Confessional and find that The Weakerthans prove to be more intellectual and talented
than Dashboard will ever be.

The biggest enemies of artistic talent are apathy and ignorance. Fight it; we're all in this
together.
- CJ Krueger, 9/11/04