The intro here talks about how consumed everyone was with “authenticity” and detached irony in 1990s music. It’s 100% spot on and makes me reflect on how much of a complicated pain in the ass talking about music was then. I think such an approach to music was a smaller thread of a larger overall dynamic about fearing positivity and genuine feeling that in certain respects crippled my generation and in many ways continues to do so, both culturally and with respect to our larger lives.
One of the things I’ve worked on in the past few years – not always successfully, but dammit I try – is to try to experience things for what they are and to try to find joy in them first before looking for flaws and seeking to denigrate the experience. No, not everything is for me, but learning that it’s enough to simply say “eh, not my bag” and moving on rather than excoriating things and those who love them is profoundly liberating.
