Shame Train Steams Ahead
Excerpt from U-Wire.
http://www.uwire.com/Article.aspx?id=783646
Let me start by laying down the one obvious ground rule: As much as I hate to admit it in a squabble over music, “good” is whatever you decide it is, and it’s completely subjective to taste. That’s exactly why I don’t believe in guilty pleasures.
I like Fleetwood Mac, for instance, but I don’t feel the least bit guilty about it—if I did, then I wouldn’t truly like them. If you’re into music that most think is bad, revel in that fact; it will help you form unique tastes that aren’t manufactured by music merit factories like Pitchfork, Billboard or that friend of yours who’s always talking about music.
When no one likes something I like, it only strengthens my convictions that I’m right and that others just don’t get it. For example, no one really likes the Vines anymore, and this makes my belief that they’re a bang-up psychedelic/garage/pop band seem all the more relevant and infallible.