Artist: Belle and Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are one of those bands I'd heard a lot about but never listened to. You know what else I've never listened to? OK Computer by Radiohead. Or damn near 70 percent of Pitchfork's top 10 records of the 2000s. Does that make me unqualified to write about music? Perhaps it does. One of my co-workers thinks you need to be well versed in "the canon," a not-quite-clearly defined list of records (culled from the big four of rock writing: Rolling Stone, Spin, Pitchfork, New Music Express) that every rock writer need listen to in order to know what the hell they're writing about. You know, records like Sgt. Pepper, Exile on Main Street, Nevermind, Pet Sounds, Never Mind the Bollocks, etc. In other words, are you qualified to write about pop music if you've never listened to Pet Sounds?
