Here's a joke: When is a bag not a bag? Give up? When it's a symbol for the shifting place of music in the pop cultural landscape. . . . I'm here all week, folks. Try the veal.

Music occupies a strange position in our world, both worshipped and, at the same time, tremendously undervalued. Our culture glorifies and sentimentalizes it in slogans such as Tower Records' "No Music, No Life," but mostly it is the background providing ambience to cultural and consumer lifestyles. The item that embodies this phenomenon most completely is the seemingly innocent indie tote bag.

It is a widely remarked-upon trend that people don't really spend money on music anymore, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that bands put increasing amounts of effort into the production of T-shirts and other nonmusical merchandise. The tote bag has a big advantage over the T-shirt in that it allows more versatility in how you dress — you can wear a shirt, dress, cardigan or whatever you want, and then simply slip the bag over your shoulder. It's easy to see why indie bands and labels would be so keen to produce them.