LA Weekly's Lists, "Hipster" as a Genre and Why Music Doesn't Need Negativity

For those of you unfamiliar with LA Weekly, it's kind of an alternative-internet-tabloid-blog concerned with LA. Simple enough, right? Well, what the website is more known for is their lists concerning The Top 20 Worst Bands of all Time, The Top 20 Whitest Musicians of all Time, or The Top 20 Musicians of all Time, in any Genre. And while these lists are obviously constructed with tongue in cheek - their grandiose best of all time, in any genre list has William Hung as its number one - the most recent list calls out a whole group of music admirers, "hipsters," polarizing the interwebz.

The Top 20 Worst Hipster Bands of all Time, a list detailing "hipsters" "lemming-like" ability to follow trends blindly, sees the ilk of bands like MGMT, Sleigh Bells, and TV on the Radio, all of which are primarily associated with the generalized branding of "hipster" -- I will continue to put that title in quotes because I still have no idea what it means or intends to mean -- all thrown under the flexfuel tourbus. It's not that I disagree that some bands can, or will be, labeled as "hipster" bands, but I can't help to think of how this affects music.

From 2004-2005, I experienced a shift in what I considered to be music. Good News for People Who Love Bad News, Franz Ferdinand, and Silent Alarm comprised what I consider to be the albums that took indie rock mainstream. These were the albums, accompanied by excellent singles, that opened everyone's eyes to a different brand of music not clouded by major label interference. "Indie" was the term coined, a term of endearment. Now, we have a "hipster" brand of music. "Hipster" is identified with trust fund babies, poor fashion taste, and fixed gear bicycles. It doesn't come off too nicely. Anything can now be dismissed as "hipster" and ignored. But what it so different about "Indie" and "Hipster?"

Here's where the surprising bands on the list come to play. Bright Eyes, The Black Keys, and Death Cab for Cutie are all bands who were well established before I ever heard the term "hipster" to identify a kind of music. Ben Westhoff, the list's editor, described the term as such:

On its surface hipsterdom seems to be an individuality-grab, but most of today's 20 and 30-something bands from Silver Lake and Williamsburg sound shockingly similar. They're all playing variations of retro garage and soul music -- or bringing glockenspiels and choirs on incestuous nationwide tours -- all the while clad in vintage garb likely infested with lice. We're not saying that they should be outlawed by, like, Congress or something. Just that they should be avoided. Here then, is our field guide to the worst offenders.

"Variations of retro garage and soul" seems like something a "hipster" would describe his band as, but how different and vague these references are makes it seem like a spontaneous, uninspired insult. I'm not saying the list isn't funny or entertaining, I just don't see the need for it.

Much like Spin's "Worst New Music" section, I can't seem to justify publishing such a negative attack on music. I might say something along the lines of "That band suck," but I would never go through the process of insulting someone's art, then broadcasting it. I understand the irony of publishing this piece - it's not lost on me - but it doesn't take an editor years of practice and performing to put out a shitty list. And to Spin, assign a letter grade or a badge of honor, don't admonish and brand.

What the Early Stream of Centipede Hz Means

It's not the biggest of surprises the enigmatic Animal Collective chose to stream their newest album, Centipede Hz, nearly two weeks before its release date, using an internet "radio station." Frank Ocean did the same exact thing, although Ocean chose to just go ahead and release his proper debut, in its entirety, for digital downloads. Animal Collective's Geologist spoke with Spin on why the band is streaming the record, saying, "It's not like we're totally trying to beat the clock. It's a way of being like 'Can we beat the clock, but not just beat the clock for beating the clock's sake? But do it in a way that feels like it has been lost. Recapture that a little bit.'" He went on to express that it doesn't matter if people see the early release as a marketing ploy because, at a certain point, you can't control what people think. This feels like something a band such as Animal Collective has always known, being as mercurial as they are.

Obviously the early stream will have an effect on how the album is received. Stereogum has been hosting a comment party on the stream and, most importantly, the critics that will soon review the release get an extra two weeks with it, something that the band can only benefit from. Animal Collective have a dense veil around their music, one that can seem strange and alien to most listeners. But the internet has allowed the band to prosper. The more avant-garde music reviewers are found on the internet, those who have praised the band since its earlier releases. Although Entertainment Weekly did name 2009's Merriweather Post Pavilion as its best of the year, now every critic, small and large publication, will have a chance to let the music absorb and digest. The band is using the same exact tool that has allowed them to pull off such a stunt and have it ring in such a large echo chamber.

There are definitive drawbacks to allowing the public in so early, as the internet never fails to prove. Although Geologist tried to avoid any and all publicity stunt accusations, he couldn't foresee how the public would receive fan's reactions to other band's, Grizzly Bear's twitter account attests; seems convoluted, but it's a much less complicated story. Grizzly Bear, a band that competed with Merriweather in 2009 with the critically lauded Veckatimest, tweeted this, saying it didn't have a radio station to stream their new album Shields, set for a release almost two weeks from AnCo's. What seemed like an obvious joke was misinterpreted, a thousand times over, by the internet's most avid music fans as a shot at Animal Collective's early stream. Grizzly Bear then followed up the witch hunt with this and this, thus defusing anything that might happen to be interesting. Hey, music beefs have always been interesting, back when they would result in shootings or tragedies; turmoil will always drive a fiercer competition, sometimes spilling over into actual violence. I obviously don't condone or endorse any deaths, I'm strictly speaking from an entertainment point of view.

It seems like Animal Collective accomplished what they, and everyone on the internet, wanted: more time with an exciting release. Maybe all the major publications, like Entertainment Weekly, just needed to get to know the band's music a little more before they fully committed. I know I will certainly have fun tripping out to Centipede Hz while watching Abby Portner's visuals.

So, the only thing left for you to decide is what you think about the release. You can stream it here. And feel free to comment below what you think.