Just an observation, and a pretty facile one at that:

There are lots of things that distinguish the U.S. from Europe (wooden telephone poles, widespread obesity, "Everybody Loves Raymond") but one of the things that always strikes me is the music scene. I'm not talking about pop music, which is more or less dominated by R&B and hip hop on both continents, but rather the slew of lesser-known artists that make up the creative stew known once oh-so long ago as "alternative music."

In Europe the majority of the stuff you come across on that level is electronic, inspired by dub and trip-hop. In the U.S., on the other hand, every friggin' new band sounds like The Fall and/or Gang of Four.

I think this is a good thing, by the way: When I was in college I used to lament the fact that "they don't make bands like Gang of Four anymore." And now they're churning the shit out.

By the way, I think there's a lot to be said for this Wikipedia passage:

In the United States and other countries like Australia, electronica (and the other attendant dance music genres) remains popular, although largely underground, while in Europe, and in particular the UK, it has arguably become the dominant form of popular music.