At 01:34 PM 2/25/99 Neal Weiss wrote: > The year's most inexplicable musical fad... <snip> >Anyone notice the obvious irony here. This year's most inexplicable music fad >also can claim the Pazz & Job #1 record of the year. Correct me if I'm wrong, >but I think Mermaid Ave. up there in or near the top ten as well. A pretty >good year for an overrated genre. Not to pick on Neal, but if one reads the entire quote, it gives a better idea of the critics mindset. I don't think he was dismissing the entire genre. Jamie D. Lipton's quote: The year's most inexplicable musical fad was the vastly overrated genre of "Americana"� a/k/a "No Depression," "progressive country," "regressive country," "independent country," "insurgent country," "alternative country," "neo-traditional country," "garage country," "cow punk," "twangcore," "y'alternative," "grange." For every Lucinda there are 50 Freakwaters and for every Shaver there are 100 Backsliders. Long on sincerity and short on talent, these are sensitive, educated, well-meaning writers who genuinely lament the end of Route 66 consciousness and the blanding of America. Which is why no one, critics or peers, wants to dog them.
