Death to #RealMusic

Facebook is a great way to find out who you disagree with, isn't it? If you use the social network on a regular basis, you may well have seen memes like these:

 

It would seem that a lot of people have very strong opinions about what constitutes 'real' music. The folks who litter the social media superhighway with this kind of crap are perfectly happy to dismiss entire genres out of hand for pretty flimsy reasons: hip-hop isn't 'real' music because Kanye West uses samples instead of playing his own instruments, and pop isn't 'real' music because autotune is cheating, you guys. R&B isn't 'real' music because...it isn't Bohemian Rhapsody, I guess?

Note that it's pretty easy to do this in the other direction - Bicycle Race, anyone?

Of course, all music is 'real' music. This 'down with everything but a very narrow definition of rock music' attitude is the pits, and it's particularly disappointing when these little nuggets of Luddism are being propagated by people you know. I don't want to suggest that these #realmusic memes are anywhere near as bad as those terrifying 'Britain First' posts, but honestly, they cause me to react in much the same way: Ew, really? I thought better of you, person who shared this. You just went way down in my estimations.

Top 20 Songs of 2015 (Part 2)

Here we go, then - the cream of the cream of the crop. Here are my Top 10 Songs of 2015 (if you missed the first half of this list, click here to read it before continuing):

10) Eugene & Maurice by Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom

(from Don't Believe the Hyperreal)

Eugene & Maurice is a bit of an oddity on Don't Believe the Hyperreal, which is - for the most part - an album of duets. However, this song (the album's closer) is sung by Ariel and Ariel alone, lending a sad, lonely feeling to a song that frankly would have been heartbreaking enough anyway. Eugene & Maurice tells the true story of author Maurice Sendak and his partner Dr Eugene Glynn; since both men are now (spoiler alert!) deceased, I suppose this biography was never going to have a happy ending, but Sharratt's splendidly sad and decidely Anway-esque delivery somehow makes the whole thing even more devastating.

November Playlist: Hang Like a Star

Eek - it's almost December! Before I give my ears entirely over to Christmas music, here are 10 of the tracks they've enjoyed this month...

1. Eugene - Sufjan Stevens

(from Carrie & Lowell)

Carrie & Lowell may not be as emotive as I'd hoped, but its constituent tracks - including this pretty ode to holidays in Oregon - are never less than lovely.