Yo yo! I'm a cowboy now

In the mid-1990s a couple of Russian-born conceptual artists polled listeners for what the most unappealing kinds of music were. They then created a piece embodying all of them. For example, people hate songs about holidays, choirs, and kids singing.

The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition. The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer (the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most unwanted ensembles). An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans, and "elevator" music, and a children's choir sings jingles and holiday songs. The most unwanted subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commercials and elevator music. Therefore, it can be shown that if there is no covariance--someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator music as someone who despises the organ, for example--fewer than 200 individuals of the world's total population would enjoy this piece.

Click here for "The Most Unwanted Song" More information about the project here. Maybe I'm utterly mired in post-modern ironic appreciation of the kitsch and campy, or perhaps I just like soundclash... ...I think parts of it are quite good. Granted there are some squeaky bits that are annoying but if it was a choice between "The Most Unwanted Song" and anything by Robbie Williams, there's no contest.