OK, is this the worst piece of music writing ever?

it's kind of funny bc pentatonic scale is abt as close to a universal musical language as we have
but it's arrant madness to think "we all" were taught wtf a pentatonic scale is in school. I was in fucking BAND (alto sax) for most of grade school and high school and no one ever told us that, prob because there are no pianos in band.

he didn't say we were all taught what a pentatonic scale was, he said we all learned those notes

i was only taught what pentatonic was in a backhand way, because the music composed with it was apparently either primitive or pop

man that Casablancas article is horrible

i was only taught what pentatonic was in a backhand way

you mean backfingered way

Guitarists tend to know what a pentatonic scale is because it's the easiest way to solo over most rock songs. Others probably have no particular reason to learn it if they're not studying seriously.

in my elementary school music class we learned about it when we played with xylophones

What's so bad about that last article? I only had time to read the first few paragraphs.

lots of hype on the Voidz, I know they are opening for Fear and TSOL at a pizza place in the OC at the end of the month

Man up, it's only the bland old pentatonic scale, not something genuinely exotic like a Hungarian Minor, for instance. Plus, HC Jr. is not only about the melody and harmony but also that rhythmic element you guys love so much: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD3iaURppQw&feature=youtu.be

"For most people living in the world, circa 1920, music was embedded into their life, not chosen as a lifestyle accessory. But gradually, over the next several decades, music’s value as a pathway of personal definition came to the forefront of our culture. Sometimes the shift was barely perceptible, but in retrospect we can gauge its profound impact. For example, people in rural America didn’t choose country music during the early decades of the 20th century, but were literally born into its ethos; yet by the ’70s, country music had evolved into a lifestyle choice, a posture adopted by millions who never roped a steer or herded cattle, but still wanted to affiliate themselves with the values espoused by the songs."

Ah, remember the good old days when you'd rope your own steer!

lol most old country singers were singers because they were lazy and didn't want to work! which is smart if you ask me

america, with its rich history of being born into things

I think maybe it was Peter Guralnick who pointed out (to me, anyway), that country music came to prominence precisely when Americans were LEAVING the countryside in droves.

the guy who wrote that's brother was head of the NEA and fairly conservative

Finally something that makes sense.

the annoying thing about this article is that it actually does make baby steps toward knowing what it's talking about -- citing editorial changes in publications, attempting to tie it to mass cultural changes (which is usually bunk but at least dude's trying) -- and then pins it all on the critics again, as if the reason "gossip and fluff" dominate the music press is just that their critics aren't smart enough

i assume we (the audience) are just getting what we pay for at this point

the examples it cites are weird too -- I guess "dressing like a robot" is supposed to be a reference to Daft Punk, but _Random Access Memories_ had loads of people talking about the music! (the album all but strongarmed you into it but still.) are his idea of the "leading music periodicals" US Weekly or something? or maybe he's just reading the news blurbs and nothing else?

Statement about country music is a great oversimplification but not completely wrong. For the story of someone who was pretty much born into that world, read Charlie Louvin's book. For the more complex picture, read Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity, by Richard A. Peterson.

Know people have a beef with the Gioia brother, but thought Ted's jazz website was very good and his books all have something to recommend. Also like Dana's speculative fiction website, plus he is a big fan of ILB favorite Tom Disch.

Sure, I'm willing to entertain for a second the gross generalization, but what sort of imaginary is being invoked for a time when music wasn't a "lifestyle" choice?

Seriously, reminds me of:

Fry: Now for some good old 20th century tv, ah TV: Do you remember a time when chocolate chip cookies came fresh from the oven? Pepperidge Farm remembers. Fry: ah those were the days TV: Do you remember a time when women couldn't vote and certain folk weren't allowed on golf courses? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

I don't know how much of the popular Country music in the 70s was about ropin' steers, but then in the 20s people really did have fiddle contests with the devil

The sports commentary comparison is deeply flawed. Part of the reason sports commentators talk about this stuff is because they've got so much time to fill not because they're necessarily shining exemplars of criticism. Hours and hours worth, every single day.

If it was my/your job to commentate on an entire Cure gig every day and do several hours worth of pre amble and post-gig analysis on top of that, we'd probably start padding with a lot of technical talk as well.

"Lovely use of triplets by Porl Thompson there - if that isn't pentatonic I don't know what is. And I don't know about you Bob but that's got to be the longest version of A Forest I've heard since The Head On The Door tour. 37 minutes long by my reckoning. I'm looking forward to some paradiddles from Lol Tolhurst later..."

When I see an article about the state of music criticism open with a screengrab from Almost Famous I make sure to sit up and pay attention.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/0860ecc1906405fc8587f5ca7630202c/tumblr_n2nk3dbVzW1qzbo9ao1_500.jpg

i think we can all agree on this

When I see an article about the state of music criticism open with a screengrab from Almost Famous I make sure to sit up and pay attention.

― What is wrong with songs? Absolutely nothing. Songs are great. (DL), Tuesday, March 18, 2014 6:56 PM

we really need to push for new rock critic stock photos

http://cdn.stereogum.com/img/derogatis.jpg

I feel like enough time has passed since his laudable interview about R Kelly that it's OK to make fun of DeRo again.

the gioia essay seems like the stupidest possible take on a v interesting subject

looks like the internet happened to our favorite tumblr:

http://alltherecords.tumblr.com/post/80062534211/brb

A lot of the criticism of this blog is that it plays up this idea that women’s voices are marginal or less important, but for all that has been written, no one has made any effort to reach out to me for comment, or even to ask me a question. One article got my name wrong throughout. It’s clear that critics are more interested in making me a symbol of some harmful stereotype than understanding what this is, or who I am. Talking to me might make that difficult. It might humanize me.

I’m not trying to be someone I’m not. I couldn’t write this blog if I didn’t know who I was and what I like. Unfortunately for my critics what I like often isn’t all that gender transgressive. But that’s not bad or something that I should be ashamed of.

The same holds true for Alex, with whom I’d happily do a blog where he has to read a pile of my favorite children’s books, or go to 10 of my favorite ballets, or go to soul cycle with me for a month and write about it - parts of my life of which he is completely culturally ignorant. The reason we did this project instead of any of those is because of the two of us I’m cooler and more adventurous.

So, if this blog has put me in the category of women with controversial ideas and opinions, then I will happily join it. It’s not my responsibility to compromise who I am in the name of subverting gender stereotypes. And it’s not fair to say that every project that involves a man and a woman should have it’s main focus be gender. I just wanted to comment on the music. I wanted to write in a style I enjoyed, I wanted to learn something new, and I wanted to do something creative with the guy that I love. “Let’s lie on the living room floor and listen to records together!” I have the best marriage ever.

poor girl

I've only just seen the Gioia article/discussion, so sorry if I'm retreading old points, or if everyone's bored of it. But I agree with ogmor, and it's actually something I've wondered about a fair bit myself.

Problems with the article:
* how the hell is he only just noticing the social aspect of music journalism NOW?
* writing off the social and tribe-forming aspects of music is just stupid.
* agree with someone upthread who said "totally shreds" is actually quite a specific musical statement, and discounting this shows the author isn't up on his musical knowledge, which goes against his entire point.
* overly-technical journalism is, quite frankly, boring.
* overly-technical playing is often even more so.

I was going to write a point-by-point "things I agree with" column too, but actually, despite agreeing with the idea that the music should be talked about in music journalism, I don't see a vast lack of this in the publications I read, so agreeing with it seems to miss the point. What I *have* had problems with, though, is that some journalists don't just elide technical aspects, but get them wrong - I can't cite right now, but things I've noticed in the past include mistakenly calling things waltzes when they're in the wrong time signature, or misusing terms like melisma. I think if you're going to be a music journalist, you should actually be able to do more than go "this feels like a samba", when it isn't one. Or calling things "krauty" - I'd like to see more effort go into explaining connections like this, because it rapidly becomes meaningless.

xxp: arrrrrgh fuck off if this blog has put me in the category of women with controversial ideas and opinions - no, no it really hasn't.

is it me or is the idea of certain kinds of music being "gender transgressive" a bit clumsy?

AC/DC isn't gender transgressive?

The reason we did this project instead of any of those is because of the two of us I’m cooler and more adventurous.

C'mon

Portlandia sketches continue to write themselves.

At this point, there is nothing that this woman could say in defence of herself or her actions that you lot would not tear into shreds. I am judging you lot, not her, at this point.

lol ok dude

or lady or whoever

like that post wasn't a classic cartman-on-maury self defense!

screw you guys, i'm going home, i mean to scotland

at this point

Judging ilxors wow that's different, real game changer

I'm getting kinda sick of female music writers or fans whose entire hatred of her and her schtick, when pressed more than half a centimetre boils down to "why does she get an audience and a book deal and I don't".

If your response to that is anything along the lines of "the publishing world is sexist and rewards certain tropes" fine and fair enough. If your response is to throw even more shit at a woman who is likely getting enough shit from the internet for just Doing Stuff In Public While Female, then I have no time for you.

i'm sorry, are we not allowed to say that her tone is feeding the sexist-publishing-world beast? because it absolutely is. writing is a performance, like it or not.

evvvvverything

not really sure why BEING AGAINST OPPRESSION OF THE CAR-COMMERCIAL-READY TWEE is such a popular argument among the defenders of this site. time and time again i've said that my big 'problem' is how this site's tone reinforces stereotypes of How Women Should Relate To Music and marginalizes those who fall outside of that category—a phenomenon that happens with all *sorts* of content that goes viral, because the "share" or "like" button is linked more to the lizardy part of the brain than any other.

and how that stereotype-reinforcing tone is, consciously or un, made for maximum sharing.

I repeat: I have had my "tone" (regardless of what my intended tone actually was) criticised by people with axes to grind and worldviews to reinforce far too many times to ever call out a specific woman's "tone". I'm not playing that game. I've been at the receiving end of it too many times.

No matter what "tone" a Woman Doing Stuff In Public takes, it will never be *right* for someone. There is no win here.