One thing that's changed, which I think has had an effect,

is the mentality of da yoof. Back in the day we were much more tribal, even if we switched tribes from time to time. I went through a 6 month heavy metal phase, for example, which I think a lot of boys do (puberty). However, we stuck to those tribes and treated it as more of a lifestyle. Your music went with your fashion, your politics and wider culture. Getting into the Fall and similar stuff made me look up literature, film and other things.

However now it's not the done thing to be exclusive. All points of view are equally valid, you can't criticise any opinion and you can like any and all music / fashion. This explains to me the recent critical acceptance of Bieber, for example. Laughably trite pop music would never have got the time of day from fashion-literate youth in our day but nowadays it's perfectly OK. Maybe this is why clothing fashion is so plain - have a look in somewhere like House of Fraser, their Criminal label: all drab, dark, plain trousers (not jeans), sensible jumpers and coats.

I'm not saying it's wrong or right either way. It's good to appreciate different musical genres and certainly I do that much more nowadays. However, the flip side is that there's no passion anymore for anything, which I find sad.

Posted By: APB, Dec 21, 15:40:39