Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

I had an internet discussion with friends a few weeks ago and was shocked to find out that one of them was a Pink Floyd fan. Either I never noticed or ignored it because he never really seemed like the type. Of course, there is nothing wrong with liking Floyd, but it got me thinking about what I want in music since prog always reminds me of hanging out with stoners and listening to Dark Side of the Moon for the thousandth time.  At his suggestion, I attempted to listen to Pink Floyd's Division Bell . I made it through, but I was awfully bored. I enjoyed parts of it, but my mind strayed, and I wanted to listen to something pithier and more straightforward. I know it is an unpopular opinion to rip on bands like Floyd in some circles, but they just don't do much for me. (Of course, other groups make a sport of it.) Nor does much radio classic rock because it lacks the hooks and melodies that I like. I'm not saying I don't listen to longer songs or other genres because I l...

"If you're not mad at the world, you don't have what it takes. The world lacks for warriors. You have to prepare yourself accordingly." - Sun Ra Sun Ra's 1982 song "Nuclear War" is an epic seven-minute meditation on the state of violence in our world. I first heard Yo La Tengo's first version on WFMU's Beware of the Blog . It was an interesting choice for the New Jersey trio, even with their penchant for strange covers, in a particularly languid arrangement, but Sun Ra's original blew me away once I tracked it down and let it simmer for a while. Sun Ra's bold anti-nuclear war sentiment coupled with swearing and funkiness that would do Funkadelic justice make this one of the strangest pleas for peace. The track adds to the Sun Ra legend because apparently he thought it could be a successful single. In an Allmusic review of the Nuclear War album, Al Campbell writes that Sun Ra was" so sure the funky dance track was a hit, he immed...