Sprezzatura

"And it's like, 'How did Sunny Day Real Estate do a reunion tour?' I swear, it's like anyone with a Sub Pop Single Of The Month did one!" - Courtney Love , the year of Braid's third reunion tour  EMO. Perhaps the most misunderstood phrase in music discourse of all time, and that's really saying something. Everyone's probably seen the REAL EMO ONLY CONSISTS OF THE D.C. EMOTIONAL HARDCORE SCENE  etc copypasta at this point, but just to recapitulate: 1985 in D.C. is called the Revolution Summer . Members of the foundational hardcore bands formed new groups - Ian MacKaye from Minor Threat formed embrace , Brian Baker, also of Minor Threat, formed Dag Nasty , and Eddie Janney from the Faith formed Rites Of Spring . These bands pioneered a more sensitive, less violent approach to the D.C. sound they'd invented. People - musicians and audience members - are said to have burst into tears at early gigs by these lot. It was hardcore punk, but emotional....

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I got bad news in the end of December and decided to self-destruct for a wee while instead of writing. It slapped. Now. The stage is set. Drake has made it okay to hate clubbing. James Blake and the xx have made it okay to strip songs down to their essences rather than slathering them in layer upon layer of pop ear candy. The Black Eyed Peas have gone on hiatus, signalling the spiritual end of Large Stupid Pop Songs. The stage is set. I actually remember the first time I heard "Royals". I was in the back of a van with my scout troop driving up the hill that takes you out of Hastings back towards London. I didn't really get it. Patsy said "This is the #1 song in the world, how have you not heard it?" I didn't know how to respond. Turns out only listening to At The Drive In and Texas Is The Reason does not keep you up to date with the world of pop. I get it now, though. I feel I've spoken enough about the trajectory o...