Tragically unhip

We're not especially cool under any circumstances, but all the more so (or less so?) now that we're parents-to-be and living in a land where Bryan Adams and Phil Collins constitute a significant percentage of radio airplay. So every now and then, just to see what the kids are listening to these days, I'll walk over to Media Markt to see if there's anything worth listening to. (You can bring almost any CD to listening stations, which I have to say is a highly effective sales tool that should be replicated by any music store worth its salt. But I digress.) So a couple of weeks ago I stopped in and found myself listening to what turned out to be a greatest-hits collection by a group called Massive Attack. I had heard of them before but being unhip didn't know anything about them...actually, with a name like that I guess I figured they were a metal band, but couldn't have been more wrong. Instead it sounded a bit like a mix of Moby, Everything But the Girl, maybe a little bit of Texas, with even a dash of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon thrown in. I'm probably not doing it justice, but with the headphones on it sounded like it would kick some serious ass on the iPod (which I have since confirmed), so I splurged and bought it. Anyway, I brought it home and was playing it when Gretchen walked in and the following conversation ensued:

G: What is this?
ME: They're called Massive Attack. Evidently it's "trip hop".
G: Trip hop? What's that?
ME: Ummmm--I think it's a genre?
G: Huh...

Now I'm living in fear that she's going to ask me the difference between house and trance music and I'm going to have to admit how little I really know about pop culture.