Show Balancing music hype with mere noise tine Ann rowers rovers Los Angeles Times Tapes n n Tapes Beirut TV on the Radio Cold War Kids Lupe Fiasco Lily Allen Grizzly Bear Stevens The Knife Clipse Destroyer The Hold Steady Joanna Newsom These were by a certain measure the most important new musicians of 2006 Heard half of them If youre you're a casual or even moderately engaged pop fan possibly not your ears are busy busy- with commercial radio and music television If you involved in the music industry you know the names and might have heard some music But if youre you're one of those people creating that rare and present ever-present commodity buzz you not only know these artists you might have touted one as the only band that matters In 1979 the Clash's record label Epic coined that phrase to describe England's brainiest punks to American Americal record buyers Similar excitement nt has greeted the greats of pop including the Beatles Aretha Franklin Bruce Tupac Shakur and Kurt Cobain When these stars touched down the world hummed with excitement Today its it's hard to know when buzz is more than just noise In an age of accelerated connection the buzz around every art form has intensified but nowhere as much as in music The growing ease of music- music making and distribution resulted in releases that's in the US U.S. alone last year Downloadable music multiplies that number like bunnies in spring And pops pop's historical embrace of novelty and amateurism means that few heavy gates stop the flow The only criterion for buzz today often seems like buzz itself To me buzz was always about something really great is happening dont don't you want to check it out said Jay Babcock editor of the Los Angeles Angeles- based magazine Arthur different rent than what I hear now which is this is going to be big dont don't you want to check it out That kind of industry think has degraded the experience |