i worry sometimes that i like a style or genre generically, without having the refinement and/or education to be able to really discern good from bad within a context. kinda like when it comes to beer, i love IPAs, but i'm unsure whether i could really tell a good one from a bad one. honestly, though i've tried many many IPAs, i cant think of one i really don't like.

similarly, the above concert vid: is it a stellar performance from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, or a middle-of-the-road one? i can't tell, though i'm enjoying it. i frankly don't know enough to be able to call it, like i can with Frank Zappa or Bill Laswell or someone like that. with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, i know i like the style of what he does, but i'd be hard pressed to name another qawwali artist that wasn't related to him, so clearly i don't know enough. in fact, a live cd i have of him, which is one of my favorites of his performances, was reviewed on amazon as being a relatively lackluster performance, not really worthy of note.

luckily, in cases like these, my catholic guilt is there to swing in and make me nervous. "is it racist that i just like it without assessing its quality?" "do i like it just because of what it is, and not how good it is?"

sigh.

anyway. i like this concert. maybe you will too?