Problem World

"Q: You’ve said that your band’s new album, ”Elephant,” is about the..."

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:43:00 -0500

“

Q: You’ve said that your band’s new album, ”Elephant,” is about the ”death of the sweetheart.” What does that mean?

JACK WHITE: The sweetheart, the gentleman — it’s the same thing. These ideas seem to be in decline, and I hate it. You look at your average teenager with the body piercings and the tattoos. You have white kids going around talking in ghetto accents because they think that makes them hard. It’s so cool to be hard. We’re against that.

MEG WHITE: The message everywhere is it’s O.K. not to care about anything. Everything can be judged, everything can be trashed.

So are you proposing that people embrace the values of a previous era?

JACK: No, I don’t want to be considered old-fashioned or a Luddite or conservative. But it’s sad to see young kids today — they’re sitting around listening to hip-hop or new metal, with a Sony PlayStation, a bong of marijuana. This is their life. It’s a whole culture. And the parenting is so relaxed about that.

In other words, kids need discipline. That sounds counter to the rock ‘n’ roll ideal.

”

- Jay-Z collaborator Jack White speaking to the New York Times in 2003. There were lots of internet shit-fits about this comment seven years ago, so it’s kind of funny how things have panned out here. I’m wondering how much Jack’s mindset has shifted since — or how much he wasn’t letting on back then.

maura: The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that Alex...

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:16:18 -0500

maura:

The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that Alex Chilton has passed away.

The short version

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:56:58 -0500

When writing about popular culture, do not be Andrew Breitbart.

"Well yeah, Kloserman himself doesn’t even live by these dictates anymore, given his increasingly..."

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:45:26 -0500

“

Well yeah, Kloserman himself doesn’t even live by these dictates anymore, given his increasingly bitter attitude toward the Internet. The main problem with his argument is the idea that “culture is just there.” It’s not! It’s something we shape and create, and that’s what I think we’re really arguing over. And I think that’s a legitimate thing to argue over, or even a rational one. Your preferred brand of culture being triumphant doesn’t merely mean that you “won,” it also means that more culture like yours will be produced, and the cultural values embedded therein will gain more approval and have more say in the wider culture. It’s especially weird to expect that critics shouldn’t take the direction of culture seriously. Who becomes a critic without thinking that significant numbers of people are wrong? Who would become a critic if no one became irrationally offended about the popularity of Nickelback?

The real problem here, I think, it a misunderstanding of politics. In the article, Klosterman uses as his primary example Gina Arnold’s claim about “how allegedly awesome it was that ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was on the radio, and how this was almost akin to America electing a new president.” Klosterman thinks this is stupid, and that we shouldn’t think about culture like we think about politics. But maybe we should. And to do that, we’d need to think about politics in a different way, too. We would have to be aware that people who don’t agree with us exist, but also that they are just another group like ours, and that there are many groups, and sometimes they happen to all come together around a shared issue/song, but that doesn’t mean they agree on everything. (“Smells Like Teen Spirit” got “elected” because it appealed to more than punk fans, reaching out to metal and hard rock fans too, which allowed its values to be spread to, say, me, by alerting me to the associated discussion around Nirvana and causing me to listen to the Pixies.) Tolerance in politics requires taking it precisely as seriously as it deserves: being aware that issues are important, but that they are never black and white, and that there are many competing perspectives. For the average person, politics is nowhere near as serious as we tend to think it is, and our influence on it is about as important as it is in culture.

But for people like Chuck Klosterman—and at least some of the people reading this right now, I’d wager—we are the pundits of culture, or at least of music. We are actually precisely the ones that need to not take Klosterman’s advice. Because our opinion does matter and can have an effect on the shape of culture in some small way, even if we generally can’t see that. Klosterman’s value-neutral approach to culture is only possible because he is, you know, a straight white dude. Those are the “neutral” values of culture. And if we want to change that, those people with louder voices need to not simply accept culture as it is.

”

- (via barthel)

Well, it’s always good (if sometimes confusing) to have a case against that I can see as tenable as the case for, though maybe my specific problem is the noise-to-signal ratio that starts getting out of whack when the attempted culture-shaping really gets rolling, i.e. what we get instead of “being aware that issues are important, but that they are never black and white, and that there are many competing perspectives”. To continue the political metaphor, it seems to me that too many music writers, possibly for brevity’s and/or attention’s sake, are pulling the equivalent of carrying signs reading “NO TO OBAMAHITLER SOCIALEST MEDACARE”. I’m talking about when things get to the point where all one has to even do to dismiss a person or a movement is to point out their interests on some “‘nuff said” business: stripping away all the background and nuance and problems and benefits of a cultural phenomenon and reducing the name of the thing itself (“indie”; “geek”; “wigger”) into a monolithic signifier that people can sweepingly dismiss without even bringing empathy into account. It’s not even like politics, where the stakes involve the well-being of an entire population and whether people get severely screwed over or not, and where it’s pretty clear that the dude grousing about “government takeovers” is a clear antecedent of the same people who threw rocks at equal-housing marchers 44 years ago. We’re literally talking about entertainment, as though a person’s MP3 or DVD or comics collection is a better judge of their identity and philosophy than the things they actually do in the outside world (or inside a voting booth).

And aside from a few fortunate corners, I don’t necessarily see people making a habit of deeply examining the root causes of their dislikes, maybe because they don’t have time or space or inclination, which means that we just get useless objections that shoot more for zing status than any actual engagement. It’s glib shorthand without any real depth, and when that starts dominating the discourse it only amplifies this feeling of embattled cultural alienation on both sides of the line that makes enjoying pop culture this weird exercise in constant defensiveness and aggression. Frankly, I don’t give a shit if you want your culture to win and someone else’s culture to lose unless you can give some real human insight into what the actual stakes are besides the joy of seeing a strawman’s button eyes getting pecked out.

terriblesounds: perpetua: Eugene is lucky! I’m disappointed...

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:49:00 -0500

terriblesounds:

perpetua:

Eugene is lucky! I’m disappointed that I’m missing Sad Girl, but hopefully I can catch them at the Pitchfork Festival in July.

I know! I can’t wait to see Middle-Aged Indie Band Reunites to Replenish Their Kids’ College Funds, Unnecessary Plaid, and Token Rapper!

Don’t forget the comedy tent, featuring Angry Scatological Bro, White Person With “Edgy” Racial Material, and Oh God No, They Have Acoustic Guitars.

(EDIT: obviously I’m thinking of a theoretical SXSW tent; the only comedy at Pfork Fest will be Beardo in Kangol Wandering Around in the VIP Trying to Convince You that Dam-Funk is the Best Artist on the Bill)

"Culture can’t be wrong. That doesn’t mean it’s always ‘right,’ nor does it mean you always have to..."

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:33:25 -0500

“

Culture can’t be wrong. That doesn’t mean it’s always ‘right,’ nor does it mean you always have to agree with it. But culture is never wrong. People can be wrong. Movements can be wrong. But culture—as a whole—cannot be wrong. Culture is just there. …

If you feel betrayed by culture, it’s not because you’re right and the universe is wrong; it’s only because you’re not like most other people. But this should make you happy, because—in all likelihood—you hate those other people anyway. …

Now, it’s quite possible you disagree with me on this issue. And if you do, I know what your argument is: You’re thinking, But I’m idealistic. This is what people who want to inflict their values on other people always think; they think that there is some kind of romantic, respectable aura that insulates the inflexible, and that their disappointment with culture proves that they’re trapped by their own intellect and good taste. Somehow they think their sense of betrayal gives them integrity. It does not. If you really have integrity—if you truly live by your ideals, and those ideals dictate how you engage with the world at large—you will never feel betrayed by culture. You will simply enjoy culture more. You won’t necessarily start watching syndicated episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, but you will find it interesting that certain people do. You won’t suddenly agree that Amelie was a more emotive movie than Friday Night Lights, but you won’t feel alienated and offended if every film critic you read tells you that it is. You will care, but you won’t care.

”

- Chuck Klosterman (via) (via thedependentclause)

I gotta say, I’ve got extremely mixed feelings about Klosterman, but this is a pretty astounding piece of writing about oppositional stances to (or in) pop culture. It’s also five years old and neither I nor most of the people I know, personally or casually, have apparently paid attention to its message at all. Not like it’s an easy credo to live by, but if I spent more time with things I sincerely enjoyed — of which there is zero shortage whatsoever — than I do worrying about the fact that people I’ve never met enjoy things I don’t, I probably wouldn’t be pissed off all the time.

(This is why sports are crucial: there’s no subjectivity in your rooting interests, and they can act as an essential release valve for “I hate that person for being a fan of the other side” sentiments that would otherwise be spent on perfectly good people who incidentally happen to like music/movies/comics you don’t.)

"Roll over, Woodstock. We won."

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:01:00 -0500

““Roll over, Woodstock. We won.””

- Iggy Pop, in his Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speech. (via Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts New Members - NYTimes.com)

Oh, Jim. Some days, in the current music climate, I’m not so sure about that.

xoxo, michaela

(via chainofknives)

Nobody likes hippies anymore. Nobody. I’m pretty sure “hippie” has long since become a synonym for “pussy” (thanks to South Park, punk rock and conserva-libertarian chic). And while I’d rather listen to Fun House a hundred times than Crosby, Stills & Nash once, I find something kind of weird and unfortunate about this that I can’t entirely put my finger on. Does aggro/”badass” tough-guy attitude have too much of a stranglehold on our idea of untouchable coolness?

"Sometimes there is no gulf wider than the one between the 12 and the 13 year old boy."

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:41:07 -0500

“Sometimes there is no gulf wider than the one between the 12 and the 13 year old boy.”

- Tom Ewing.

Nice write-up of the insipid 1987 single “Star Trekkin’” from Mr. Blue Lines Revisited, but I’m particularly attracted by the extra-nice lede.

(via screwrocknroll)

The last sentence ain’t too shabby, either.

"and so streamlined and well-designed is pitchfork that frat dudes can get into wolf parade (stop..."

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:32:13 -0500

“and so streamlined and well-designed is pitchfork that frat dudes can get into wolf parade (stop pretending it’s not irksome that millions of people you consider morons are fucking each other to the tune of YOUR SACRED MUSIC THAT DESERVES TO BE HEARD AT LEAST WITH SOME DECENT BASS RIGHT? BUT IT’S PLAYING OUT OF THEIR LAPTOP SPEAKERS because YOU KNOW IT IS IRKSOME because you’re a snob no matter how hard you try to convince other people you’re not, you are. honestly you don’t even go to shows at venues bigger than webster hall and even that’s way too big unless like your roommate is in the band. and even if someone were to ask you why you’re not seeing a band at terminal 5 whose current album you really like you could say it’s too expensive or they suck live but you could probably scrounge up $26.50 if you really needed to (and also seeing the band at death by audio would be a real treat) if you didn’t get the sense that everyone else at the Terminal 5 show was going to be breathing out of their mouths).”

- Pitchfork Reviews Reviews: pitchfork reviews reviews rationale

(via joecoscarelli)

Dear Pitchfork Reviews Reviews,

I know I cannot sway you from your course but can I just ask that you please be better at this than Ripfork? Please?

(via tomewing)

Parentheses inside parentheses inside parentheses! It’s like taking punctuation and sticking it between two mirrors. Bonus points for attempting to bleed aggravated comedy out of all-caps and endless run-on sentences.

Henry Rollins is the best.

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:25:40 -0600

Henry Rollins is the best.

Henry Rollins is the worst.

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:25:18 -0600

Henry Rollins is the worst.

"What started out as a simple idea for a podcast with a few interviews and a few music clips evolved..."

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:26:21 -0600

““What started out as a simple idea for a podcast with a few interviews and a few music clips evolved into a pseudo-documentary, before finally taking shape as a sort of critical mashup.””

- Scott Woods’ “In Search of Digital Love” podcast, a staggering piece of Steinski-crit that takes a sensory-overload look into the sonic and emotional structure of the Daft Punk classic. Involves Matos, Mackro & myself.

Blue Öyster Cult, “Screams” (from Blue Öyster Cult,...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:38:20 -0600

Blue Öyster Cult, “Screams” (from Blue Öyster Cult, 1972)

Shut up with your “more cowbell”; the grown-ups are talking.

rjwhite: Via Mr. Nate Patrin. Hobo Hitler is a dead ringer for...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:09:03 -0600

rjwhite:

Via Mr. Nate Patrin.

Hobo Hitler is a dead ringer for John Lydon with a few days’ growth.

The anti-geek/pro-hipster policy on display here is the exact...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:07:39 -0600

The anti-geek/pro-hipster policy on display here is the exact opposite of Internet culture 2010.

(via mothrapisces)

"A lot of people take the back seat out of their car and put a kind of cushion affair in the back so..."

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:45:55 -0600

““A lot of people take the back seat out of their car and put a kind of cushion affair in the back so just a bare eyebrow shows out of the back window and that’s cool, because you’re in your capsule.””

- David Lee Roth on lowrider culture, Spin May 1985.

4hero, “Sunspots” (from Parallel Universe, 1995) As...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:04:42 -0600

4hero, “Sunspots” (from Parallel Universe, 1995)

As an aside, this is what I’m hoping things’ll be like by the end of the week.

Comets on Fire, “The Antlers of the Midnight Sun”...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:46:34 -0600

Comets on Fire, “The Antlers of the Midnight Sun” (Live at the Echo, Los Angeles, 8/16/06)

This week begins in a way not unlike last one ended. (And aren’t these guys due for another album soon?)

mothrapisces: bathyscaphe: via img.photobucket.com BROOKDALE...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:58:15 -0600

mothrapisces:

bathyscaphe:

via img.photobucket.com

BROOKDALE CENTER!

Boris with Michio Kurihara, “Starship...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:04 -0600

Boris with Michio Kurihara, “Starship Narrator”

It’s gonna be one of those kinds of weekends.