Hype

There was once a time when it was easy to identify the best band in the world, if not in absolute terms then at least the band which would win such a vote from the general public. The Beatles are the obvious example, with Elvis perhaps as a forerunner and maybe Led Zeppelin later, although my knowledge of musical history is not wonderful. Now, however, I'm not sure. Q magazine yesterday awarded the title of 'best band in the world today' to Arctic Monkeys, a slightly silly notion considering the limited global appeal of simplistic (if good) Sheffield indie-rock. Oh dear, I've fallen into the trap of thinking I know everything...but wait! That was the point. I know I'm not necessarily the one person who is "right" about good and bad music, but it's fun to think I am and to align myself with particular bands and movements. Radiohead, for instance, are tentatively (or sometimes bluntly) put forward by various journalists as the best band in the world today, with little hint of irony, and although I'm sure there is no "best band", it's fun to pretend there is. It's fun to believe the hype, because if you don't, Wednesday October 10th is just another day, while for hype-believers, it's the day that the best band in the world release a much-anticipated album. No, that was some lacklustre hype. Try this.
We live in an exciting time. Classical music, folk music, jazz, rock, rap, techno...they've all left their mark, but each of these is either dead or fading. It's been years, perhaps decades since a sustained period of innovation in music, but that shouldn't be cause for mourning; instead, think of this as the calm before the storm, the lull you use to paddle out your surfboard before the big waves come. Radiohead, the one band with the power to combine everything that has come before into something truly beautiful, are releasing a new album. Radiohead, the band who created Britain's best ever album (OK Computer, according to a Channel 4 poll, and I like Channel 4 viewers). Radiohead, the band who are, according to the BBC, "regarded by some music critics as the world's best rock band". Radiohead. Radiohead. Radiohead. This may be the greatest album of all time.
Now that's hype, and though it may be half exaggerated and half plain wrong, that's what is going through my head because when I listen to it, I want to believe I'm listening to something momentous. Like the England football fan I am, I believe hype is good.