Vinyl Notes

Last week a writer from NME magazine wrote a haterade-filled scathing post about why everyone is wrong about Lady Gaga.

Not only does the author expose himself as a luddite in his second paragraph by admitting that he doesn’t have a Twitter or Facebook profile, he also demonstrated an utter disdain for pop music. And nothing irritates me more than the attitude of superiority that certain indie music lovers assume.

So fine, he doesn’t like pop music, or Lady Gaga. But there is some serious hypocrisy in writing a “Top 10″ article — one of the internet’s most beloved formats — during the week leading up the the release of her new album. Oh, you tried to avoid her? Sure you did, that’s why you’re feeding into the frenzy with such obvious flame throwing traffic bait.

Now on to his criticism. The truth is that he is right in many of his criticisms. But if I hear or read one more person complaining about the spectacle of Gaga, I’ll scream. I mean, would you rather hear about her flashing her pooter as she exits her limo on the way to a club and stumbling out of said club hours later? Would we rather hear about her being strung out on drugs and going to jail?

There is none of that with Lady Gaga. The spectacle is about her art. She is her own canvas and the music is her muse. Beyond the outfits and the music, what else is there? Plain and simple: It’s none of our business.

When it comes to music, every music critic should know good and well, that great music and great pop music are not one in the same. Gaga makes pop music, and she’s really good at it. She is also a performance artist. Have you seen her perform? She gives herself fully to the music, she doesn’t lip-sync and she pours her soul out to the people who pay and come out to watch. If that ain’t what pop music, showmanship and entertainment is about, I don’t know what is.

So for all those hating music critics who say, “I tried to avoid writing about Lady Gaga, but she’s everywhere…” just remember that your giving in makes you a hypocrite who is capitalizing on the buzz to get traffic, just as much as Gaga is capitalizing on the outrageous to get attention.

Now I’m off to dance like mad to Lady Gaga’s new album, which I got yesterday for a steal.