The Scene
March 9th, 2005It may be inherent skepticism or denial, but whenever people talk about trends and hotness, I immediately feel a need to distance myself from whatever scene I may be lumped into. Very archetypal hipster dilettante.
A brief history of my anti-scenesterism:
Two Tone/Ska — Came late to the game with the mod parka. English Beat, The Jam and a borrowed Vespa. Missed it by a half dozen years, never went to a mod-themed club. Embarrassed by: played keyboard for a ska outfit in the early 90s. Set off a firestorm of ska activity in region. Still apologizing to the kids.
Hip Hop/Rap — Hated the Beastie Boys first record, loved Run DMC. Loved Public Enemy. Never bought a single album. Had a roommate play NWA and EPMD as well as 3rd Bass enough to last a lifetime. Not so embarrassed by: backed up and featured rappers on Acid/Punk jazz album. Not apologizing to the kids, but wish I would have kept the kick drum on the drum machine (808) track up when the real drums came in.
Alt/Indie — Wasn’t that into the Replacements. Did like the early REM. Felt they sold out somewhere in the later 80s, early 90s. Not that moved by later work. Don’t own any Sebadoh. Guilty of owning Built to Spill. Like Wilco. Don’t own any Sunny Day Real Estate. Despise the layout of pitchforkmedia.com as cluttered and unreadable while being guilty myself of perpetuating intentionally unreadable design in print medium. Still, I love most of the stuff on 3hive…
In terms of design scenes, I’m guilty of everything: type mangling, grungy, edgy, using orange and gray, David Carson ripping off, electronic/rave and drop shadowing. I’ve been very into clean. Just like everybody else. Total scenester. I still think that design should reflect it’s subject matter. Particularly editorial design. This means that music magazines shouldn’t look like Rolling Stone.
Finally, the online scene. I do not blog because it is hip. I write online to keep myself writing. I do not regard myself as hip for publishing this site. I’m very wary of the big media saying that blogging is hip for the simple fact that I don’t regard it as such.
In other news: there is another round of America’s Next Top Model starting up and it appears cattier than ever. Fantastic.
UPDATE: Heather has informed me that in fact we do own Sebadoh and Sunny Day Real Estate. I married into them. o
Seriously Jon, isn’t it hip to be square?
And yet you watch reality shows….?
You’re so unhip you got the name pitchforkmedia.com wrong.
you rock. or not. whichever’s cooler these days.
go get an early Sebadoh album. yummy.
It’s okay – Wilco is my scene. I’m 25. Already been through the alt-country phase, then on to plain ol’ indie rock, now just trying to keep up. Have to say, though, thank goodness for Wilco, or else I would be totally un-hip-cool-with-it.
You’ve peaked my curiosity. Which ska band did you play keyboards for? I’m trying to think of Utah ska bands from the early 90s and the only one that comes to mind is Insatiable (or was it the Insatiables).
I know many fellow 30 plusses who spend much time trying to keep up with the latest stuff – like they were still 16. Occasionally, I’ll buy a music rag just to breathe some new life into the ‘ol music collection. These days though, I’m into 60’s jazz more than anything. Monk and Coleman being my current listens. Grew tired of buying music simply because SPIN or NME said it was cool.
Jeez, Built to Spill is unhip? Fooled Idaho. And Europe.
I don’t think it would take too much to fool Idaho. BTS has always been under appreciated in my mind though. They get too jammy for my tastes live, but between the crunchy melodies and the words that always make me grin, I’m a big fan.
Moose. I’m saying that in trying to be unhip, well, I’m just as scenester as everybody else. Built to Spill’s Twin Falls Idaho is an amazing song that brought a flood of elementary school memories. Ben Fold’s cover of that song is good also.
I was a ska groupie in denver for about 6 years, that is something to be embarassed about.
Blurb, you may be comforted by the fact that I really enjoy your blog but have no BLOODY IDEA what you are talking about with most of this music in this post. There. I am tragically unhip and I still like your site. Blogging may be hip for awhile, but the real writers will stick around.
Yeah, being hip and hating hip is just about the hippest thing you can do. It’s one thing to know cool, entirely another to be it and while simulataneously acknowledging it and apologizing for the transgression. It’s just hip on top of hip. So postmodern. Next, you should acknowledge the acknowledging and you’ll achieve third-order coolness that’s so sorely lacking in the Midwest. My friend, you’ve hit the Zen stride of modern life. I don’t know what you’re doing even ten feet away from San Fran. They need you.
I love that I read this post immediately after checking the UPN website for updated Top Model pics. Excellent.
Hey Jon, go check the mail — I sent a shirt for Leta and I’m dying to know if it is going to fit!! (I think it’s too small and I’m peeved. But I guess you could always stick Chuckers in it. Talk about a Kodak moment. hahahaa)
What Ska outfit did you play for? In what region did you cause a Ska outbreak? Ska drummer would like to know.
Is Buck Owens hip?
You should open GarageBand and put this post to music — George Jones style.
mmm. . . sunny day . . .
Dude it is simply a requirement to love Wilco. And if you love them, check out the Jayhawks and Uncle Tupelo. Where do you stand on those cool guys? Also, Ska rocks and nobody pays attention to it any longer.
On being hip, or unhip, my story is sad… On Dec. 23rd, I was called to a conference room outside of my secured area at work. Printouts of my blog were handed to me, and I was asked for my badge and key. Not even thinking that I had just lost my source of income, I was ecstatic that I had just been “Dooced!” I figured that one of the hippest things in the world is to be fired because of ones weblog. I had never been part of any “Group” or “Tribe,” and I was damn excited to be a part of one.
There has got to be a way to capitalize, or at least get free bourbon out of this. Bookers has helped me along the way, but thus far, I have had to pay for it. I need a shirt that says “Fired for blogging tour, sponsored by Bookers. “
’scenesterism’…that’s the coolest made up word I’ve heard in a long time. May I use it?
I love listening in on the conversations of the hip kids.
i learned to knit in the most unfashionable way ever – i taught myself from a book i bought AT WALMART with crappy acrylic yarn because i was bored. then all of a sudden it became hip. how??? now i look like one of those bandwagon knitters who picked it up because of all the hollywood knitters, but i didn’t even know it was on the cusp of hipness. who am i kidding? i’ve never even SEEN the cusp of hipness. i live in the suburbs of hip.
I have no idea where this came from but I like it. “I want to be just like all the different people”. As a 30 somthing I have given up on the being hip thing. So I have made my own movment calld Neo Normal.
It seems so post modern (uh oh, “early nineties” catch word) to label ourselves with these culteral tags.Can’t you be into different types of music at different stages of your life without having to “define ” it? It seems confining somehow for someone who seems to be a pretty original guy.
I agree with you on the design of rolling stone, are they still using centaur for text????
At 38 I can feel only so hip. But 40 is the new 20, right? Or is that 50 is the new 30? I can’t keep up.
I saw Uncle Tupelo play and that still feels real hip.
Speaking of alt-country: I saw Rank and File back in the day, great live band. Now however, I’m so un-hip it’s a wonder my bum doesn’t fall off.*
It just takes too much work to keep up now. Lately I just wander around a record store, grabbing things at random and have a quick listen. Discovered The White Stripes that way. Imagine my embarassment when I mentioned this interesting band I’d found and was told “Yah, they’re really trendy right now.”
*Thank you Douglas Adams