document.write('Convinced that "trance has no soul," alternative rock is still trying to be Nirvana, and pop has been tired since around 1987, I started a journey to seek out any tenacious bastions of creative thought in contemporary music. This collection is part of what I\'ve found.');
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document.write('It\'s intriguing that the trip-hop subgenre of electronica, which quietly evolved out of the primordial soup of hip-hop, ambient, acid jazz, and electronic pop in the early 90s, has started to take root in the pop culture in a way in which few 10-year-old sensibilities ever have.  (Imagine someone in 1983 shouting, "I just found the coolest disco album!")');
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document.write('Scores of hypnotized reality-television devotees continue on command to stream to their local Wal-Mart on the release date of each new Britney Spears, NSync, or J-Lo album, but, lately, what was once a trickle of web searches has turned into a roar: "What\'s that song from the VW bug commercial?", "Nissan Altima ad song", "Song I heard playing at the Gap?" ');
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document.write('In a paradoxical twist of fate, recognizing that what\'s good is not always cool, and that what\'s cool is not always good, it was advertising firms, desperately trying to find a fresh hook into the Generation X aesthetic, who identified dozens of sleeper songs from 1996, whose outside-the-box beats, head-bobbing basslines, and soul-filled vocals could awaken the spirit of even the most jaded jean-clad consumer.');
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document.write('Loving the music in spite of themselves, they ask, "Who\'s that new band, Porta-something?" naively oblivious to the fact that Portishead has released no new tracks since 1997 (the rest of Bristol being nearly as quiet). Sensing that the ship may have finally come in, other new artists are starting to fill the cracks, but one can still only hope that this audio channel is indeed an exposition of coming attractions, as opposed to a museum collection of artistry most people were too busy smelling each others\' teen spirit to notice when it was alive and kicking.');