There are very few artists around today who are capable of creating the total, serious, musical experience. By this I mean that all the key components required of great contemporary popular music are present and correct. It still remains a mystery to me why and how our expectations of what great music is have been driven down mercilessly by the pile-driver of media (print and electronic) mediocrity. In the last few days UK band the Arctic Monkeys were judged to have recorded the best UK album of the year by the Nationwide Mercury Prize jury panel (quote, “regardless of hype and sales.”). It was the band’s debut album and while of a reasonable standard did not justify its elevated, supreme status. The very best music generally seldom offer instant thrills or generate the level of hype and reviewing herd mentality so often evident today. My point here is that the greatest music remains unheard and unrecognised by the masses, and artists like Ani DiFranco stay almost subterranean in popular terms, while enjoying worldwide loyalty and respect from ‘those in the know.’

Read more