Popular music (along with any art, commerce, politics, etc, etc) seems to be in a constant struggle between it's more conservative elements and the promises of a new and technological society. The argument is at least as old as the furor around "Dylan goes electric", and probably reached it's apotheosis during the grunge heyday when Vedder and Cobain (backed by Grampa Neil Young) were shouting from the roof tops that drum machines and studio trickery were soulless and not worthy of being called rock music.
It seems like the current version of this debate takes place between the increasingly collage and sample based electronica that has become more and more a staple of the Pitchfork scene, and this...it's almost diametrical opposite. If Grunge longed for the analog world of late 60's early, 70's metal...this stuff seems to pine for the days before amplification was even invented. A sort of O'Brother Where Art Thou chic. Of course the argument could easily be pushed back even further to state that the music is being "polluted" by the technology of recording. The only truly pure music would be entirely acoustic and performed live...like in the good old days. Hell, maybe we should push back and say musical instruments are themselves a corruption...nothing but acapella music. Viva Bobby McPharin!
But on the flip side, it's really hard to get a madrigal choir to fit in your ear buds...and trust me, I've tried.
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