LISTEN TO ME!!!

Some of you out there are strictly anti-commercial music wise, wouldn't know a non-mainstream band if they shoved a vinyl in yer face and left you wondering why that CD was so big and thinking that black CDs are pretty cool and wondering why it hasn't caught on, whilst others couldn't give a f**k as long as they liked it... Well, that last one pretty much sums me up, but some mainstream bands are just leaning a *little* too much to the 'In it for the money' stage. (ie Sex Pistols last tour, or Korn's last album) I like most types of music, from Black Metal to Rap, Punk to Industrial etc. I don't care if they're earning £5,000,000 a minute to £5,000 a year, if I like them I'll listen to them, although I do tend to shy away from completely popular bands, like Nirvana and GreenDay, not because the music's sh*te, but because EVERYONE listens to it. I prefer music that target a particular group of people, like some punk friends of mine have dyed hair/mohawks etc., metallers have shag long hair and wear combats, dox etc. Bit stereotypical, I know, but people who listen to Nirvana and Green Day, who are meant to be Grunge and Punk, are just average ppl, who probably enjoy listening to feckin Oasis and watch TnaG to catch up on missed Irish revision in between mourning Kurt Cobain and marvelling at Billy Joe's new hair colour. Even calling Green Day punk is a bit of an insult.

"Look Mommy! BJ wibbles his head from side to side and dyes his hair just like a real punk! Wow! Can we keep him?" The f**k?

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a die hard punk, I just like listening to the music. The reason I'm always complaining about fake punks is the fact that Punk is under going the 'MTV sponsored revival' as I read in some fanzine a while ago & now there's an influx of fakes who look at real punx (with mohawks and the like) in disgust and have only heard about the Pistols over the summer. What MTV does, as far as I'm concerned is not exactly introduce people to new music but force it down their throats, playing one track back to back 24hrs a day due to some contract they have with a record label. They systematically deny certain bands the privilage of air time because the style of music isn't popular, but as soon as it rises up the charts, they're on their fucking knees began for permission to show a video. NOFX is a good example of this; MTV couldn't be f**ked playing anything until 'Punk In Drublic' became popular. Tough luck for MTV. Corporate Cunts. Some people are very protective of their style of music or a particular band, and as soon as they become vaguely popular with the masses, they're suddenly a tad pissed off. Rightly so. I feel the same with Marilyn Manson. Two months ago, noone heard of them, HMV/Virgin never stocked anything by them, because they didn't have the same mass appeal as, say, NIN does. After months of looking for 'Portrait of an American Family', I eventually managed to pick it up in Freak Out (Which has a load of cool stuff... Pretty cheap too. ..) a year or two ago. Now that Antichrist Superstar is out (Which is ace, have a gander at the review) everyone is foaming at the mouth and cumming in their cax at the mere mention of them now. It's kinda upsetting to know that you've been a fan of a band, practically from the start, and now all of a sudden, Mr. Average is running around with a tour T-Shirt, Cap and f**kin Marilyn Manson boxers with novelty felt pentagrams. Bandwagon hopping wannabes. People have different ideas on what selling out actually is. For some, it's as soon as their name graces the shelves of HMV/Virgin. For others it's when they sign to a major label like SONY for ludicrous amounts of money. Others have the idea that it's when they release a track that becomes instantly popular and they base all other forthcoming tracks on that one, guaranteeing future chart success. My idea of selling out is when your talents are exploited by a label to their full capacity (for ludicrous amounts of money) before they reach zero, either through overuse of drugs or plain physical exaustion. From then on, all new material are just rehashes of old material that was popular. Bands who conform to this ideal lose respect by their existing fans, and fed to the bandwagonning public who'd listen to anything as long as most of their friends do. The bands that do this may lavish in luxury for the rest of their lives, but they are basically musical whores who did whatever the label told them to do for their next pay cheque. Bands like this indirectly make the underground stronger. Despite this, however, I'm still going to feature bands that I like/bought stuff from regardless. So f * k yis.