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February 17, 2003
File Under Alternative
Last week I had the good fortune to be hanging around downtown Toronto for a few hours by myself. I took a walk down Yonge Street and stopped in at the big HMV. It's a three-storey music store that takes great care in properly categorizing music (even to the point of inventing genres).
After perusing the Electronic music section (and picking up a St Germain album), I took a trip upstairs to the Rock & Pop floor. I noticed a Rock section, a Heavy Metal section, an Industrial/Gothic section, and an Alternative section.
I really started getting into music in high school, around 1992-1993, when "Alternative" music was getting big. Bands like Pearl Jam, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana helped make this new genre popular. I remember wondering at the time if the term "Alternative" would survive if these bands became part of popular culture or would they be eventually be considered pop music? Last week I found out. Pearl Jam et al is now under Pop/Rock, and truly alternative bands, like Mr Bungle and Sonic Youth now fill up the tiny Alternative section.
At least, that's the way it is in Toronto.