Cecil laughs, but it's not at Anzu. It's a question he does have an answer for, actually, though whether he can deliver it in a useful form is a whole nother question.
"So, radio, right? For a long time, the music recordings that were popular was what was most played on the radio, and what was played on the radio was only what was most popular. A closed loop, a center-of-the-venn-diagram space with what was inoffensive to all and agreeable to most. And then greater access to music on the fringes became available with the advent of digital recordings and later streaming services. People could curate a truly personalized music library, one that didn't have to fit in among everyone else's tastes. One person might find a love for rock music with vocals drawn from Mongolian folk music. Another might deeply appreciate bardcore, which draws inspiration from truly archaic instrumentation to recontextualize modern lyrics. Without radio being the key determiner of the music that everyone is exposed to, tastes become more individualized."
This whole rant comes with gestures, in between Cecil dolloping latke batter into the frying pan, because he was absolutely serious about the spatula.
"Every person brought to this world has been removed from a cultural context that has told them, all their lives, what 'attractive' is. It's the common ground in the media and in culture: this is what you're supposed to aspire to look like. And while there's probably overlap across worlds, we don't have to spend the time contemplating that, when we finally have actual freedom to suss out what we are, as individuals, attracted to, instead."
no subject
"So, radio, right? For a long time, the music recordings that were popular was what was most played on the radio, and what was played on the radio was only what was most popular. A closed loop, a center-of-the-venn-diagram space with what was inoffensive to all and agreeable to most. And then greater access to music on the fringes became available with the advent of digital recordings and later streaming services. People could curate a truly personalized music library, one that didn't have to fit in among everyone else's tastes. One person might find a love for rock music with vocals drawn from Mongolian folk music. Another might deeply appreciate bardcore, which draws inspiration from truly archaic instrumentation to recontextualize modern lyrics. Without radio being the key determiner of the music that everyone is exposed to, tastes become more individualized."
This whole rant comes with gestures, in between Cecil dolloping latke batter into the frying pan, because he was absolutely serious about the spatula.
"Every person brought to this world has been removed from a cultural context that has told them, all their lives, what 'attractive' is. It's the common ground in the media and in culture: this is what you're supposed to aspire to look like. And while there's probably overlap across worlds, we don't have to spend the time contemplating that, when we finally have actual freedom to suss out what we are, as individuals, attracted to, instead."