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I think if any of us walked into a gas station in rural Arkansas on a Friday night, we'd be considered "hipsters" to normal people.

I strive to be "hep" more than "hip".

Having a passion for music is a good thing, even if your taste is bad. It's best whent he worst music gets the most exposure relative to music I consider 'better.' Shellac is more fun at The Last Show or ATP than they would be at Reading or Austin City Limits, god forbid.

...ranxerox

I tend to agree, that at least the "worst music" is the stuff thats mainstream.
Since shellac's style of music is such, it won't be mainstream. I personally am drawn to bands with unique personalities and beliefs that thier music reflects. Shellac is one of them. It's difficult for me to like a band with a huge following; my ego just doesn't allow it. I shouldn't complain about "scensters" because they are just adapting to a superficial subculture. All humans do it. I just dislike people who can't be themselves, "Scensters" tend to use that scene to hide thier true identities. But that is thier true selves right? No, everyone is always adapting to some set of beliefs about something; I guess there's no escape.

Oops, Unchained is on Fair Warning, sorry...

I've got to go vote not crap now.

God, this thread is so Wednesday.

Champion Rabbit wrote:

sparky wrote:It's a type of trouser isn't it?

http://shopping.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ss_hip ... users.html


I am actually quite happy to label certain annoying sorts as 'hipsters'. There're plenty of them in London and they do talk loudly too much (for example over Slint shows).

But what is a 'hipster'?

Is this correct?

5. hipster
people in thier teens to 20s who generally listen to indie rock, hang out in coffee shops, shop at the thrift store and talk about things like books, music, films and art.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.p ... ipster&r=f

Because that sounds like me, apart from the thrift store and the fact that I'm 32. And the fact that I can't hang-out much since I have a family.

I don't get it.

This anti-hipster jag is akin to what went on in punk rock once it had generated a little momentum. A hierarchical pecking order developed, and anyone who'd gotten into punk, say, a month or two after you had was deemed a "weekend punk" or a "poser." Really, it seems that "hipsters" are people unfortunate enough to like the stuff you used to like after you've moved on to something else. Or someone young and gullible enough to like things you scoff at but would most likely lap up like chocolate milk if you were 22.

Don't get me wrong: At 38, I'm not immune to feeling a certain amount of jealous enmity for the young and beautiful, and there's plenty of music out there that I find wholly abhorrent. But surely young people who dig The Strokes are no dumber than I was for liking The Cars. Personally, I'd rather listen to The Strokes any day of the week. Few bands have aged less gracefully than The Cars.

To dis someone for being a hipster would seem to require that one assumes oneself to be "hipper" than the person in question--or, worse, totally beyond issues of being hip or not. This is a conundrum, folks, and a damning one.

That said, here are a few bands that a lot of independent music fans seem to like for reasons that entirely elude me:

Iron & Wine
Kings of Leon
Sonic Youth
Bright Eyes
The Pixies

Ok but i've also noticed something, hipsters fall into the category of photographers, painters, or dancers; at least here in Chicago. I was at one of the largest "scenster" parties here in chicago last night, and almost everyone came from some art fest also here in the city. Most of these guys and gals, ages 19-30, had the most expensive haircuts I've ever seen. This doesn't make them bad, but it seems like if you're an artist or think you're one and live in the downtown area, you have to express you're artistic talents by dressing a certain way. Now instead of dressing uniquely or doing somethin really different, most just fall into this "hipster" style.

As for teenagers who dress like this, I really can't even put down because at one time it was punk rock, now it's jsut a different label. I dressed like a fool when I was 16 too but when you're 35 and spending rediculous amounts of money on expensive haircuts and clothing to fit into this scene, I think you may want to rethink your life. Who am I though, I'm not hip.

I should add:

I only overhear hipsters, I don't KNOW any.

Further:

I am continually baffled by the 'tastes' or interpretations of people who have my experience, my temperment, and what I feel safe in saying is an approximate equivalency in musical knowledge. See the above very astute comments by Jim Bob Ralph, including the obvious but no less right-fucking-on association of The Strokes with The Cars. His admission of an affinity for the Cars is admirable. He then loses me wholly by suggesting that the Pixies somehow belong on a list (of any imaginable sort) with Iron & Wine. There is no accounting for.

Additionally:

I usually assume that I am 'in the wrong' about musics or subcultures for which I have no taste or respect. I am also in the wrong when I insult people for their tastes or cultural associations, whether lambasting ardent fans of Kasabian or waifish proponents of graffiti art or Quentin Tarrantino. I do not mind being wrong.

Lastly:

At 38 I do not get out enough to have meaningful opinions about the people who support art or popular cultural forms that are new. When I do go out and see music I spend all of my time hermetically sealed in my own enjoyment of what I find interesting or engaged in goofy, unimportant yap with other friends from 'my' scene.