i think Pitchfork's key demo of "twentysomethings who won't laugh out loud at the idea that Perfect Pussy is an intriguing and interesting band" could stand to learn a little something about John Fahey, yes.
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, January 28, 2014 12:05 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Can't believe I'm saying this, but I think you're underestimating Pitchfork a bit here. A daily (or close enough) reader of Pitchfork is likely aware of the Tompkins Square label, recent Basho reissues, Glenn Jones, etc; the idea that such a person would be ignorant of Fahey - arguably the architect of this entire scene - seems unlikely, no?
look i listen to this shit and any one of these things would have, given the right choice of time in my life, been completely nothing to me
fahey primers are perennially useful, just like coltrane primers and early-postpunk primers, because there are always new people for the old things
― j., Tuesday, 28 January 2014 19:21 (ten years ago) link
is there any conversation more tedious than arguing over exactly who constitutes the readership of pitchfork???
― Mordy , Tuesday, 28 January 2014 19:31 (ten years ago) link
Who are the "hipsters" anyway?
― tɹi.ʃɪp (Treeship), Tuesday, 28 January 2014 19:47 (ten years ago) link
I heard the average Pitchfork reader can't read!
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 28 January 2014 19:51 (ten years ago) link
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/d0/d064a11cb6ba53bf23783c69d06d5012f97ba15c15a8f5df2a73f120136006a2.jpg
that's what the numbers are for
― wk, Tuesday, 28 January 2014 22:14 (ten years ago) link
who hips the hipsters (to john fahey)
― i want to say one word to you, just one word:buzzfeed (difficult listening hour), Tuesday, 28 January 2014 22:16 (ten years ago) link
who hips the hipsters
― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 28 January 2014 22:18 (ten years ago) link
just gonna post this everywhere cuz it's hilarious and awesome
http://skotrok.blogspot.com/2014/01/i-listened-to-all-of-pitchforks-top-100.html
― OPERAION (Matt P), Tuesday, 28 January 2014 22:21 (ten years ago) link
i made that joke upthread xp
― i want to say one word to you, just one word:buzzfeed (difficult listening hour), Tuesday, 28 January 2014 22:22 (ten years ago) link
ah fuck
― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 28 January 2014 22:25 (ten years ago) link
xpost Loved that guy's (s)troll through Fork's 2013. Pretty funny.
"Did I learn anything after listening to all these songs? Well, I learned that rap music is awesome and that college kids listen to a lot of music that nobody is going to remember a year from now. Haha, just kidding. I didn't learn that. I already KNEW that.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 28 January 2014 23:47 (ten years ago) link
so that's what he's been doing!
― a man with legs made of sausages - that's not real! (seandalai), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 00:36 (ten years ago) link
love JD for refusing to give the term american primitive any endorsement. i guess the only problem w/ the JF primer is that pf didn't know to ask me to write it. i think that wld be v stressful tho... the only other JF primer i recall was the one on the wire, which was by david keenan but all i really recall was the neat artwork they'd commissioned.
i think in general 'primers' are bad ways of introducing ppl to things, it's always awkward to squish in the details, it ends up being a massive stream of meaningless titles and descriptions that immediately blur into one. i'm pretty sure i found about JF through pf reviews of the likes of cul de sac, gastr del sol &c. the first thing i can i remember reading properly on JF was the byron coley interview (which i read on perfect sound forever which was a bit of a treasure trove), which opens w/ a discussion of pauline theology & all sorts of shit which was infinitely more intoxicating & illustrative to my young self than the strained tone of an overview. otoh i also remember a pf review that i think opened with the line "John Fahey was a lover." which made me feel v bad inside
― ogmor, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 02:03 (ten years ago) link
it's a kind of reductive view but imo primers should answer the questions "what kind of music did the artist make during his/her career?" and "where should I start?"
― a man with legs made of sausages - that's not real! (seandalai), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 02:23 (ten years ago) link
i prefer genre primers to individual artists and p4k has done a few nice ones - http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/6007-africa-100-the-indestructible-beat/ was good and also i really liked http://pitchfork.com/features/underscore/8822-quiet-storm-tk-tk-tk/
― Mordy , Wednesday, 29 January 2014 02:27 (ten years ago) link
primers are so fucking evil in principle
― balls, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 02:39 (ten years ago) link
the strange grey-area they occupy between wikipedia article & trying to give someone a glimpse at an avenue they want to pursue tends to lead to some pretty weird little stand out sentences & facts that i suspect will lead to some tragic partial recollections in the future cf. "oh yeah... the guy who influenced sufjan stevens"
― ogmor, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 02:47 (ten years ago) link
e.g.
yeah, i mean i can understand the utility (and god knows things like the spin record guide etc turned me on to things) but i kinda hate that weird mix of canon and curriculum they work w/, the way they codify 'here is precisely how to approach this artist'.
― balls, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 02:54 (ten years ago) link
yeah for example usually every single primer in the av club in their "where not to begin" section will have something egregiously incorrect imo.
― christmas candy bar (al leong), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 02:57 (ten years ago) link
I think we'd all be better off discussing why so many PF interviews are so bloody SHORT.
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 04:32 (ten years ago) link
i do feel like i've been seeing more and more reviews there where i get to the end of the 4th paragraph and go "that's it? i thought we were just getting started"
― some dude, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 05:52 (ten years ago) link
I think that primers like this are pretty helpful for people. I checked out so many bands because of obsessively reading the blue Trouser Press record guide.
― DonkeyTeeth, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 07:19 (ten years ago) link
Al, I wrote a splice piece about this very issue. Ran today.
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 13:01 (ten years ago) link
http://splicetoday.com/digital/get-your-act-together-pitchfork
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 13:05 (ten years ago) link
TOO FAR
― some dude, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 13:06 (ten years ago) link
Haha I don't even know how to read that
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 13:09 (ten years ago) link
I'm not a Future Islands fan but that piece was what really tipped the scales for me, like WTF three questions?
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 13:10 (ten years ago) link
i dunno i just think the difference between griping about that kind of thing on a message board and writing an actual article about it is pretty significant
― some dude, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 13:23 (ten years ago) link
I mean, I just am a guy who digs long interviews and expect a certain approach. If something bothers me I tend to write an article about it, if I'm able.
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 13:50 (ten years ago) link
Not hating, just saying to P4K "don't think we don't notice this"
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 13:52 (ten years ago) link
Considering the low barrier to entry to be a Pitchfork writer, I really have no idea why you'd write a thinkpiece on this as opposed to just writing some long interviews for pitchfork and be the change you want to see.
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:18 (ten years ago) link
Can I rewind this thread a bit and ask who is Jon Fahey
― 龜, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:19 (ten years ago) link
Sufjan Steven's father
― I got the glares, the mutterings, the snarls (President Keyes), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:20 (ten years ago) link
Got it. So he is from the Midwest and plays a guitar??
― 龜, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:22 (ten years ago) link
http://eil.com/images/main/John+Fahey+-+Sea+Changes+%26+Coelacanths%3A+A+Young+Persons+Guide+To+John+Fah+-+4+LP+SET-399757.jpg
― PSY talks The Nut Job (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:27 (ten years ago) link
Yes. Maryland is in the Midwest
― you are kind, I am (waterface), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:27 (ten years ago) link
Considering the low barrier to entry to be a Pitchfork writer,I really have no idea why you'd write a thinkpiece on this as opposed to just writing some long interviews for pitchfork and be the change you want to see.
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, January 29, 2014 9:18 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
RC does state in his piece - in the first sentence - that he's applied to write for Pitchfork many times. You didn't see that part?
For all the bashing (deserved or otherwise) re: low barrier for entry, I'd argue that the caliber of writing on Pitchfork is generally a cut above some of the other shit we make fun of around here (AV Club, etc). Which is why when someone really, really stinks, it's glaring.
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:27 (ten years ago) link
I'm speaking about reviews, of course. I don't read the features or interviews regularly enough to comment too much on that, but I really have liked The Out Door and Show No Mercy, among others.
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:29 (ten years ago) link
If your first name is Sam or Brandon it's pretty easy to write for P4k
― 龜, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:31 (ten years ago) link
Ah, well I see Raymond's byline plenty, he's got lots of places he can do long interviews iirc
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:34 (ten years ago) link
Three questions and three answers do not in any way constitute an interview, in any sense, unless you're working for a glossy teen magazine or generating margin content for GQ
or creating content you want people to actually read in this post-Neil Postman kinda world. Hey, I don't like it any more than you do! Also, this piece could have been much longer.
Just razzing ya. Enjoyed this.
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:40 (ten years ago) link
Ha! Good times
― Beatrix Kiddo (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 14:46 (ten years ago) link
maryland's in the big ten now waterface!
― balls, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 15:23 (ten years ago) link
skot's review of the pitchfork top 100 tracks was great
― Zen Dawson (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 21:04 (ten years ago) link
link?
― Spottie, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 21:05 (ten years ago) link
whiney is there really a band called perfect pussy?
― Lamp, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 21:05 (ten years ago) link
yepthey are ok too
― Zen Dawson (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 21:06 (ten years ago) link
Spottie, here you are:
― Evan, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 21:08 (ten years ago) link