Myopic goof? Oh, snap! That J. Bottum just got served!

My take? Well, I found the first half of the article pretty compelling, largely because I'm more easily bothered by crappy pop music that I can't escape. I can't visit a movie theatre without bringing along an ipod to drown out the treacle foisted on the pre-screening captive audience.

Yes, he was a little selective in his choice of lyrics, Mike, but aren't compelling lyrics in music more the exception than the rule? While we could probably point out countless examples on the good and bad side of the equation, wouldn't you concede that really good lyrics in music are more of a rarity than the norm?

Agree w/ you both that ultimately I didn't think he proved his thesis that music is a secondary art. It's decadent? Irony is expressed? Shocking! So is most contemporary visual art, film, and literature. His conclusions are weak but I did enjoy some of the tangents, particularly the passage describing the 8-year old alternating between different versions of 'Ob-la-di Ob-la-da'.

As for your 30 emusic track suggestions, Brian, I notice that My Morning Jacket's last two discs are now finally available on emusic. Given our discussion on Friday and Derek's glowing reviews of same, which seem to become more pronounced with every listen, or at least every beer, I'd say they're a solid use of your downloads. I'm still not quite over the fact that I failed to use my last 20 downloads before they refreshed yesterday, thus costing me at least three to five jazz albums, or 3/4 of an Apples in Stereo disc. Arrgh!