2008-03-19

Music Questions To Consider

From the good people at Esquire. Discuss amongst yourselves:

1. In light of such innovations as Facebook and Thomas Friedman, is "world music" any longer a valid designation?

2. Has hip-hop become that unbearable, or have we just grown old and predictable together? Follow-up: Is it possible to be obnoxious and boring at the same time?

3. Name a guitarist under age thirty who is as good or famous as Hendrix, Page, Townsend, and Van Halen were at twenty.

4. How come the best song about Iraq -- Andrew Bird's "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm" -- was actually written during World War I?

5. Is American Idol successful simply because we like to laugh at pathetic losers, or because it's almost impossible to find real singers on pop radio anymore?

6. Now that Taco Bell is using Joe Jackson's "One More Time" to move Enchiritos, will the punk generation stand by while its most treasured musical touchstones are sacrificed on the altar of commercialism the way Baby Boomers have?

7. Given that they are composed and arranged by some of our most brilliant musicians, should movie scores be considered the classical music of our age?

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