Dining Soundtracks Vol. 1 - "(Untz) (Untz) (Untz) The Trendy Restaurant"

Right now, the thought of having to write extensively on any of the bands from the previous post makes the back of my eyeballs sting, so I'm postponing it for a day or two.

Very briefly, I would like to discuss one of the many intersections of music and food - music at restaurants.

I have studied the restaurant experience practically for virtually all my life and academically for much less, but haven't ever gotten a consensus or "answer" to how people like their music in restaurants.

Talking to one restaurateur in San Diego, he said that the most important thing is that diners feel the music, without really hearing it. This is obviously done with an emphasis on low-end frequencies and music sans vocals. You know the stuff. It sets the mood the same way a back-lit bar does - generically and somewhat effectively. Acid jazz, trip-hop, whatever. Zero 7 are the undisputed kings or queens of this vibe. Morcheeba would be a prince or princess. As certainly as you expect to hear elevator music while shopping or in an, um, elevator, you can expect to walk into a trendy hotel or restaurant and hear that hip, electronic music. See also, The Bird and The Bee, The Blow, Hot Chip, Mates of State, Postal Service, Sneaker Pimps, A Tribe Called Quest. These guys all gnereally keep the bpms up high enough to bring energy to a joint with out being outspoken enough to dominate the experience. Hence the "feel and not hear" phenomenon.

It's certainly prevalent. It's certainly not innovative. But it works pretty well. If you're gonna do something trite, you might as well make it agreeable and most importantly, put it in the background. Music is divisive. While I make fun of a band like Maroon 5 at every opportunity, as I said before they are pretty bland and inoffensive. And when you want the food and conversation to be the stars of the show, the lowest common denominator is a pretty good choice. Could you imagine if you were sitting down to a $75 per person meal and were subjected to T-Pain, Def Leppard, or Nirvana? If the restaurant got it right, it would probably be one of the best experiences of your life. If the restaurant gets it wrong, it probably ruins the meal. And what are the odds of nailing it for any given person? 5%? 10%?

Dining is often as much about your company as it is about the food. While atmosphere (music) is important, I would say playing to loud music in a restaurant is in an unwise gamble in almost all instances. And this is coming from someone who hates people and loves music.

Even if you exist in a market that is deep enough to embrace a weird combination like Punk and Sushi, or New Wave and French food, do you really think that people would want to experience the combination more than once. I have never been with anyone who intimated that they wanted the music turned up in a restaurant. Which leads me to believe that perhaps the McCool music playing in high-end, high-energy restaurants, doesn't just appeal to people from a preferential standpoint, but perhaps from a more base, psychological standpoint. Someone should do more research on the subject (Not it!).