I like Casey Kasem a lot; he seems like a good guy, and obviously had a great voice and a talent for using it. But that Slate piece envisioned him a poptimist warrior-analyst who fought the good fight against rockism for years.
― intheblanks, Monday, June 23, 2014 12:10 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Meanwhile, the actual good fight he fought has gone largely unremarked-upon in his obits: http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-17/entertainment/ca-36376_1_aladdin-lyrics-magic
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 23 June 2014 17:22 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, it was cool to learn about his activism for better Arab-American representation in the media, including quitting the Transformers cartoon.
― intheblanks, Monday, 23 June 2014 17:37 (nine years ago) link
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/07/amanda_petrusich_s_do_not_sell_at_any_price_reviewed_by_sarah_o_holla.html
"What's the Right Way For a Woman To Listen To (Or Write About) Music?"
― relentlessly pecking at peace (President Keyes), Sunday, 13 July 2014 14:59 (nine years ago) link
I haven't read her blog in any detail, but that seems like a fairly reasonable piece.
― odd proggy geezer (Moodles), Sunday, 13 July 2014 15:17 (nine years ago) link
presented here less as evidence of bad writing, more a continuation of earlier discussion itt. The contention that women music writers tried to "shout her down" seems over the top, treating a brief bout of criticism on Twitter like #cancelcolbert or something.
― relentlessly pecking at peace (President Keyes), Sunday, 13 July 2014 15:25 (nine years ago) link
a brief bout of criticism on Twitter
Don't forget 60-70* irate thinkpieces on all the expected sites.
*exaggeration for effect
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Sunday, 13 July 2014 15:37 (nine years ago) link
I forget what position I took on the blog when it first emerged but that book review is anything but a bad or disingenuous piece of writing. It resonated with me. I wish more "average" listeners felt comfortable engaging with all kinds of music and talking about their experiences. Art is about staging encounters between audience and object; there shouldn't be any qualifications involved
― Treeship, Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:19 (nine years ago) link
are average listeners really given any insight by an average listener telling them about their average experience
― j., Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:28 (nine years ago) link
Idk you'd have to ask them. Her blog has a lot of readers so there's clearly some appeal there
― Treeship, Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:30 (nine years ago) link
If there's one thing we need to fight for, it's not the right of average listeners to opine at length.
― La Lechera, Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:33 (nine years ago) link
uggh
― maura, Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:41 (nine years ago) link
i want to read more about naive people engaging in things like records or drinking expensive wine without context because i suspect their reactions cut more to the essential properties of the thing (this seminal record is blah, this expensive wine tastes the same as box wine) unaided by the heavy lifting of the culture around it, but the sense I got from her record blog was she was actually pretty well-informed about what sort of space each record was supposed to occupy.
― Philip Nunez, Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:43 (nine years ago) link
"Opine" isn't what she does though. The blog is a journal of her listening experience. I've only read a few entries, but they're well written and probably relatable for people who feel intimidated by their local record shop. There are many levels on which one can engage with a work and she is candid about the lack of prior knowledge she brings to her listening. In an era when anyone can feign expertise using google, this is actually a cool thing to see.
― Treeship, Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:44 (nine years ago) link
sorry xp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS8oyl1gygs
― Don't Want To Know If Only You Were Lonely (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:45 (nine years ago) link
that's fine for a blog, treezy. but what about the 'column space' that goes to thing-of-the-moment nonprofessional noncritics like her from media outlets looking to get their content on the cheap?
― j., Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:53 (nine years ago) link
exactly -- that's what blogging is for and blog on, avg ppl
― La Lechera, Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:59 (nine years ago) link
I for one welcome more non-specialist, regular joe, shoot-from-the-gut opinions being bruited about on the internet, because I have been starved for such opinions both in real life and on the blogosphere, as they have been drowned out by the so-called 'experts.'
― Don't Want To Know If Only You Were Lonely (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 13 July 2014 18:59 (nine years ago) link
Gotta say, Tree Cool, going on a message board frequented by rock critics in various states of employ and declaring, "I wish more major outlets would replace informed opinions with glorified Amazon reviews by, oh, whatever dumbass they can find" is A+ trolling.
― am0n alb4rn (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, 13 July 2014 19:04 (nine years ago) link
hey that almost makes underemployment sound european and sexy
― j., Sunday, 13 July 2014 19:11 (nine years ago) link
I'd rather read your reviews than hers, Whiney, but the appeal of her blog is also obvious to me. She's a good writer and her posts aren't really comparable to Amazon reviews imo. I can't really do anything about the job market for writers and didn't say anything about who should and shouldn't be paid to write.
― Treeship, Sunday, 13 July 2014 19:16 (nine years ago) link
there is generally more/better writing on her blog than people give her credit for, probably because everyone stopped reading it after the outrage died down, "leave the writing to the REAL WRITERS" gatekeeping rarely sits well with me (column space/pay is a consideration but in a lot of cases I think it's deployed as an excuse) and in theory I love the idea of someone doing a project like this and gradually learning more about music and writing and confidence in one's own opinions, however:
- the review was mostly not about the book at all, and my main takeaway from it was "this book sounds fascinating and I want to read more about *it*"- the idea that something written by a woman, especially someone with as much of a resume as petrusich, is automatically a referendum on How Women Write About Music, sits even worse with me. put another way, I don't understand the mindset where you read/engage with a book like this and what you find most compelling/of interest for non-clickbait-chasing readers isn't "literally scuba diving to the bottom of a river to search for records" but "woman! writing!" or "my blog, let me tell you about it."
― katherine, Sunday, 13 July 2014 21:36 (nine years ago) link
yeah the article mainly made me aware of and curious about the book but the 'angle' of the piece seemed a little myopic
― some dude, Sunday, 13 July 2014 22:09 (nine years ago) link
the review was mostly not about the book at all, and my main takeaway from it was "this book sounds fascinating and I want to read more about *it*"
Also true of pretty much every book review ever published in The New Yorker, to be fair...
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Sunday, 13 July 2014 22:10 (nine years ago) link
there are ways of being 'not a REAL writer' and there are ways
― j., Sunday, 13 July 2014 22:18 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Y3mWDkB6o
― Don't Want To Know If Only You Were Lonely (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 13 July 2014 22:26 (nine years ago) link
According to wikipedia, the last song, “Spoon,” was Can’s only big hit. It was a hit single in Germany. Interesting, because it does not sound like a typical hit!
such good writing
― call all destroyer, Sunday, 13 July 2014 23:05 (nine years ago) link
boy that sure makes me want to check out can
― Neil Patrick Haggerty (get bent), Sunday, 13 July 2014 23:08 (nine years ago) link
If I want to read something amusing if relatively clueless, Chuck Klosterman already exists.
― Albiceleste Square Mall (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 13 July 2014 23:18 (nine years ago) link
lol i'm not sure i actually read that blog during the initial hub-bub. all in all it's some of most amateurish asinine garbage i've read in my life. all in all in all in all. all in all in all in all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0drC8qVMRk
― balls, Sunday, 13 July 2014 23:23 (nine years ago) link
the review was mostly not about the book at all, and my main takeaway from it was "this book sounds fascinating and I want to read more about *it*"Also true of pretty much every book review ever published in The New Yorker, to be fair...― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Sunday, July 13, 2014 5:10 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Sunday, July 13, 2014 5:10 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
most of those new yorker reviews just seem like the "reviewer" summarizing the book(s) and perhaps throwing in a few critical sentences so it passes as a review/critique. it almost seems like the design is to make actually reading the reviewed book(s) superfluous. IDGI.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Monday, 14 July 2014 05:01 (nine years ago) link
are you talking about the 'briefly noted' section? the new yorker for sure does thoughtful book essays.
― maura, Monday, 14 July 2014 15:26 (nine years ago) link
She's a good writer and her posts aren't really comparable to Amazon reviews imo.
Paris 1919:
Okay, we’re back to romance on side two with “Paris 1919.” This song has almost a musical feel to it
― famous instagram God (waterface), Monday, 14 July 2014 17:20 (nine years ago) link
I don't care if some idiot has a blog but praising the writing is a bridge too far
― Οὖτις, Monday, 14 July 2014 17:29 (nine years ago) link
Totally. Here's Trout Mask Replica
Looking at the picture of these hippies on the back cover though, and thinking about how the 1950’s were so straight and polished and then the world basically went crazy in the 60s, it makes you realize that you really can do whatever you want with music, and you should do it.
― famous instagram God (waterface), Monday, 14 July 2014 17:33 (nine years ago) link
gonna start "my wife's stupid science experiments" and make snide comments about what her bacterial slides look like
― some dude, Monday, 14 July 2014 17:49 (nine years ago) link
tmi
― am0n alb4rn (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 14 July 2014 17:51 (nine years ago) link
you really can do whatever you want with music writing
― famous instagram God (waterface), Monday, 14 July 2014 18:05 (nine years ago) link
this strain has kind of an... angular look
xpost
― Neil Sekada (Jon Lewis), Monday, 14 July 2014 18:05 (nine years ago) link
Here's Trout Mask ReplicaReplacing my copy of Stranded right now with that blog.
― I Need Andmoreagain (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 14 July 2014 18:09 (nine years ago) link
it's a long way to the top if you're gonna write a blog
― Neanderthal, Monday, 14 July 2014 19:35 (nine years ago) link
no, that's our whole complaint in this thread, that it's not long at all
― j., Monday, 14 July 2014 19:41 (nine years ago) link
lonnggg nightsimpossible oddskeepin my eye to the clickhoooole
― Neil Sekada (Jon Lewis), Monday, 14 July 2014 20:13 (nine years ago) link
Couple of local bands here did a gig where they covered McCartney's Ram in it's entirety. (I was there and it was fun). This review showed up in one of the local rags:
Sprïng and Synthcake took the stage to cover Ram, an album which has come to be recognized as an “archetypal indie-rock album.” With a few others dipping on stage occasionally, the sizable group possessed multidiscipline talent enough for a high fidelity capture of Ram’s features: numerous harmonies, keyboard stomping, silly vocalizations, brass instrumentation—the good stuff. The two bands were especially apt for the project given their psychedelic focuses. At risk of listing off the individuals on stage and their respective contributions, or overemphasizing any single person’s contributions, the set was extremely cohesive. Ram, for better or worse, was hated—and is adored—for being a light and fun album and the stage was rife with people who were having a good time. It’s great being able to share that.While it was an intimate event, when the main event had begun, numerous sans-baby-faced individuals had settled around the venue, undoubtedly there for the promise of Ram. As far as I could tell, they weren’t disappointed. It’s easy to feel like you’re on the outside looking in, but I think everyone at the Biltmore that night was in their element.
― everything, Wednesday, 16 July 2014 17:29 (nine years ago) link
"numerous [Comic] sans-baby-faced individuals"
― Star Gentle Uterus (DJP), Wednesday, 16 July 2014 17:37 (nine years ago) link
Surprised no one posted this from like two weeks ago: http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/07/07/concert-review-toronto-urban-roots-festival-sees-neutral-milk-hotel-july-talk-jeff-tweedy-turn-in-memorable-sets/
― Herbie Handcock (Murgatroid), Wednesday, 16 July 2014 17:40 (nine years ago) link
That deservedly attained cult status on Twitter and Facebook. I assumed I first came across it itt but maybe not.
― What is wrong with songs? Absolutely nothing. Songs are great. (DL), Wednesday, 16 July 2014 17:45 (nine years ago) link
I still think it's satirizing live reviews.
― Herbie Handcock (Murgatroid), Wednesday, 16 July 2014 17:48 (nine years ago) link
The first rule of the "worst piece of music writing ever" thread is that entries could be confused with satire.
― What is wrong with songs? Absolutely nothing. Songs are great. (DL), Wednesday, 16 July 2014 17:53 (nine years ago) link
But wow, Neutral Milk Hotel was mind-blowing. Lots of people have said they’re admirers but I didn’t know their stuff. The singer looked like he was on Duck Dynasty. Their music is sort of like Wilco, but dreamier.
LOL
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 16 July 2014 17:56 (nine years ago) link