Music matters - but not that much...

I would say sorry for the grandiloquent title to this post except that, in truth, I'm not.
It has been a Bank Holiday (3-day) weekend here in the UK and I have spent quite a bit of time catching up on the music - listening to it and reading about it - that has been gathering in various piles for some weeks now.
Much, indeed most, of what I have read and heard has cheered me up. I read a review of 'My Paper Made Men' and it was slated. It should have been so too - not because it is bad but simply because why was NME magazine reviewing it anyway? This goes against my policy of not buying and reviewing things I know I won't like. I am however quite prepared to experiment by acquiring new things so it annoys me that NME often seems to believe that no-one over the age of 18 is actually able to buy or read it. It fortunately contains much more worthwhile content - if it did not I would hardly pay good money for it as it would then fail my own criterion.

Music, like any other aspect of culture, thrives on diversity but also requires respect and tolerance of other's tastes in equal measure. The tragic tale of the murder of Sophie Lancaster shows what happens when it doesn't.
If you have ever been out wearing a t-shirt by one of your favourite bands - but are thinking "this only happens to other people" - or anything else like that you should think about it again.

That is my rant and it is not only stroppy teenagers who can throw their iPod out of the pram!