Strampop

Well, it's finally happened. We've been struck off the list.

No idea what I'm talking about? I'm not really surprised.

Il-magistrat, Chalee (from Chalee's Soapbox) and myself have been working hard over the past five days to ingrain a new word onto wikipedia. This new word, it must be said, is not something we came up with on the spur of the moment. It is not the product of infantile musings, the brain-child of students whiling away the time on some deserted quadrangle. We've come to feel that the word has an actual usage; more astutely, that its usage has a need for the word. This word is 'Strampop'.

I will endeavour to explain.

Magistrat and myself have identified a niche in the alternative rock genre. This genre, truth be told, is, by its nature, an umbrella term. It harbours under its coverage such impressive nuggets as indie rock, Riot Grrrl, Shoegazing and Twee pop. It, nor any other umbrella for that matter, does not have a term to define the music we propose to categorise. The music scene is, in this respect, lacking. What term covers music that is inherently strange, that incorporates weird chord progressions and makes use of eerie noises? Which nym (be it an anto-, pseudo- or syno-) defines not only the output, but also the process of attaining the end product, which is strange song? We feel that it is strampop.

However, the introduction of Strampop, its definition and further explanation, while necessary, will have to wait. Matters are pressing.

I said we'd uploaded an article to Wikipedia. Well, it's been marked for deletion. Arguements have been volleyed for and against deletion, queries raised about its authenticity, and offence levelled at members of the discussion. Finally, in one fell swoop, the Wikiadministrator, embodiment of all wikinerds, everywhere, pressed his little button. Strampop has been erased from wikispace.

Here is the Article for Deletion, with the preceeding discussion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Strampop

The matter has even reached the eyes of Toni Sant, Maltese blog-idol, and he's put a mention of it on his blog, read by many, imitable by none.

To be fair, strampop is a neologism. It goes against all that wikipedia stands for. Yet these five days, while seemingly fruitless, are far from futile. We've had a cause, and we've had excitement for it. This has spread to other people in the form of coercement, word of mouth, email and, of course, frantic editing on the wikitalk page (not to mention shameless sockpuppeteering tactics, earning the Article for Deletion page a sockpuppet award). This means that there are a handful of people scattered around the world who have a seedling of an idea of what strampop is. It has taken up their time, they've tried to research it, and in suggesting it's deletion they have, inadvertently, come to terms with its definition.

Hopefully, should they pull themselves away from their computer for long enough to listen to the radio and catch a song by the Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Television, Pink Floyd or even, in about 20 years, Noise Pollution, they'll recall thoughts of Strampop, and pass a comment to the person standing next to them.

Wouldn't you?