I visit a lot of music news sites and a ton of blogs to try and find interesting information to put on here. Plus, it is a great way to learn about new bands and what is going on. The sad part is how often you hear the same thing. Plus, our society clings to certain words and phrases. Two of these words would be supergroup and hipster.
Supergroup
I actually wouldn’t mind supergroup except that it has been overused in recent years. Every group that has members from two or more separate somewhat popular bands become supergroups. There are only a few certifiable groups that deserve that title. Examples would include Cream, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and Bad Company. These bands all have members from numerous groups, but the reason they are supergroups is because they have made great music, and not just the members.
Examples of groups that are considered supergroups that had great artists, but never really made (or haven’t made) great music are Damn Yankeess and Contraband. They might have a song or two, but they never panned out. But it is more recent years that have a supergroup come out every other week. Groups like Hellyeah,Chickenfoot, and Them Crooked Vultures are all decent but shouldn’t get by on reputation alone. Most of these groups never get around to being original, they just put out unoriginal and uninspired music.
Hipster
Now on to the word I am sick of even more. Hipster is a word that was introduced a long time ago, but was out of commission until the last couple decades. Most of the time, this word is used in a negative tone. In fact, I would go with almost all of the time, someone called a hipster is about like being called a sellout. A hipster is not interested in popular music, they like music on the outskirts of society.
As a guy who enjoys metal music and metal websites, being called a hipster is next to the worst thing you can be called. According to most people, a hipster would first like a band like Mastodon, but wouldn’t like them anymore once they were popular. Obviously metal isn’t the only music for hipsters. Most hipsters are into indie bands like Animal Collective or Grizzly Bear.
This word doesn’t just work for music. Movies, clothes, and just about any other part of life can fit into the hipster category. And if you read enough comments on blogs, most of the people that talk about hipsters are hipsters themselves. I tend to look at it from a slightly different angle. I would use the word elitist since they are folks that think they know more about everything than anyone else. Their opinion matters more.
Eventually these words will be replaced by the next catchy word or phrase. So I suppose I shouldn’t worry about it, but it is fun to bitch from time to time. And if you are a hipster, I certainly didn’t mean to offend… too much. Even I like Sigur Rós.
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