(Again, this doesn't include you, United Kingdom. counterparts.īecause of my completely unproven and wildly speculative theory on the lack of angst in Europe, I'm skeptical of European bands. Europe has rock bands, of course, but they're not as inspired as their U.S. There is a Spanish paradise it's called San Sebastian.) Nor is there an Italian version, a Swiss version, or even a German version. They don't have as much to be mad about, so there is no Spanish Nirvana. And they don't have to worry about whether a meeting between the sole of a foot and a rusty nail is going to leave them bankrupt because of skyrocketing health care costs. They don't fill their stomachs with garbage. People in Europe work less than Americans do. Good art and, therefore, good music, is often born of suffering. They're consistently miserable.) There's only one problem that I can find with all this contentedness: With the obvious exception of the United Kingdom, and with a provisional exception given to the Scandinavian countries, European music - for lack of a better word - sucks. After several stops in the Old World, I've come to understand that Europeans are generally happier than Americans.
In Europe, they're not alone in their happiness. He shot back, "We'll leave that to you Americans. He picked up on the incredulity in my voice and answered, "Of course! What else would we listen to?"
I asked my teammate if what we were hearing was an accurate representation of what young Greeks listened to. It was not music I would have expected to have played for me by a fast-living 22-year-old Greek basketball player who was wearing $200 jeans. What poured forth was music I would have associated with 1950s-era Greek immigrants in Chicago - ones who were clinging desperately to their shared cultural heritage. He considered my request for a few seconds and then put in a CD.
Phoenix's, from left, Thomas Mars, Deck D'arcy and Laurent Brancowitz built songs that were made to go together on "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix." Teresa Lee/Getty Images On the way, I asked him to play some of his favorite music. A Greek teammate of mine once took me to a post-practice dinner in his tiny Audi.