Today, a particularly surly man came into the store, and I, The Security Chicken, who witnessed a certain exchange between this man and one of our humble employees, wish to comment on it. After putting on a classic hip hop record,
Critical Beatdown by the Ultramagnetic MC's, our humble employee went about his business, tending to the store and reading about music on the internet.
Upon the record beginning,
Mr. Surly Customer was heard to say, "You can turn this off whenever you want."
Confused by the sudden hostility, the employee replied, "What's that?"
"This is the kind of music is the lowest common denominator," the customer said, as if his opinion had been asked for.
Ignoring the fact that this was a rash judgment after 30 seconds of a song, the employee countered, "Not everyone feels that way."
And finally, showing the depths of his ignorance, the customer finally said, "Well those who don't are the lowest common denominator as well."
Now,
Decatur CD is not a judgmental establishment, but this guy is a jerk. Reason being, you can't simply write off an entire genre of music without seriously trying it out first. If someone walked into a room and said, "Rock 'n' roll is awful," they would be viewed as foolish, a curmudgeon or possibly both. Why shouldn't this apply to any other type of music, be it folk, electronica, bossa nova, country, jazz, new age, hip hop, etc.?
Additionally, to walk into a record store (where all music can and should be embraced) with this kind of attitude, and then to leave while shaking your head is truly asinine. Maybe this viewpoint is the kind that has gotten our country into the state it is in today. Closed-mindedness will get us nowhere. Get rid of it.
I will now step off of my soapbox and return you to your regularly scheduled blog. Thank you for your time, and please leave your thoughts in the comments.
"Music for the moon-shiner in us all," that's how Rising Appalachia describes its particular blend of old-timey goodness. And at 2pm tomorrow (July 1), you can hear it for yourself when the band plays an in-store performance at Decatur CD. Their record is great, and we play it all the time, so be sure not to miss out on the only Appalachian band we've ever heard of that holds DJ Shadow and Nina Simone in equal esteem. Check out a few songs on the band's MySpace page:
