I was at a dinner party a few days ago in a posh bit of London. Just after pudding, the conversation looked like it was heading towards the economy and Coalition cuts. Anxious to avoid an infra dig showdown (it was a diverse group), our host skilfully steered the conversation to music, an area in which I imagine she thought there would be only gentle aesthetic disagreement. And, for a while, the table was engrossed in amusing celebrity tittle-tattle and a bit of mild snobbery.