― Jim M (jmcgaw), Thursday, 16 January 2003 14:20 (10 years ago) Permalink
― bham, Thursday, 16 January 2003 14:34 (10 years ago) Permalink
― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 16 January 2003 14:38 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Jesse Fox, Thursday, 16 January 2003 15:55 (10 years ago) Permalink
― die9o (dhadis), Thursday, 16 January 2003 16:13 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Hunter (Hunter), Friday, 17 January 2003 02:59 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 17 January 2003 03:10 (10 years ago) Permalink
Greil's wary of Lucinda because she thinks she's a folk superhero. Lucinda, however, is right.
― B.Rad (Brad), Friday, 17 January 2003 03:15 (10 years ago) Permalink
yeah what's this about, i've read some of what he's said about her and it was surprisingly nasty, kinda moved beyond snark and into the personal.
― omar little, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 00:53 (10 months ago) Permalink
It happens on occasion. He said rather nasty things about Anita Baker and the kinds of fans he thinks she draws.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:02 (10 months ago) Permalink
I'm forever a Marcus fan, but his objects of scorn--or at least the degree of scorn--can sometimes be a mystery. He positively despised the Spin Doctors because of a lyric in "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," something that, while I'm not defending it, seemed so tepid in the context of a pop song. I think his animus towards Williams and Baker are related...I couldn't stand Baker, either, so sometimes I'm with him.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:07 (10 months ago) Permalink
anita baker? jeez
― some dude, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:08 (10 months ago) Permalink
I think Anita Baker is ridiculous. Any time you hear somebody bringing back this kind of genteel, effete black music--the same number the Pointer Sisters pulled in the early '70s when they gave concerts with "Black Tie Recommended" printed on the tickets--it's an incident in class politics that has nothing to do with music.
― (REAL NAME) (m coleman), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:14 (10 months ago) Permalink
― omar little, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:18 (10 months ago) Permalink
glad to see greil marcus policing the class distinctions among african americans
― buzza, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:21 (10 months ago) Permalink
My interview. I'd been writing for less than a year--I was so nervous. (Interviewed Chuck for the same piece.) I laugh now, because with so many things I could have got him talking about, I can't believe I wasted time asking him what he thought about Anita Baker--may just as well have asked him about Doctor & the Medics.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:21 (10 months ago) Permalink
I won't wade into his rationale, but I think he's absolutely right that Anita Baker's music is dreary (he uses other words).
― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:23 (10 months ago) Permalink
I don't mind his opinion. It shocked me that a critic so attuned to nuance could have missed how the terms of his contempt underscored his privilege. Even in 1987 or whatever -- when he didn't review much black music, period -- it was tin-eared.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:27 (10 months ago) Permalink
did he engage Nelson George's ideas at all?
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:28 (10 months ago) Permalink
his nastiest disses in one interview i read seemed to skew heavily female tbh
― omar little, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:29 (10 months ago) Permalink
We didn't know what privilege was in 1987--we were too busy arguing about George Michael. (More seriously, he was one of the critics who made fun of Graceland along those lines, so I don't think that's something he was oblivious to.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:31 (10 months ago) Permalink
marcus does not always hate wisely: he recently did a huge, sprawling interview with simon reynolds, the comic highlight of which was this:
SR: You don't think much of The Ramones, right?
GM: No, fuck postmodernism!
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:33 (10 months ago) Permalink
I was delighted when I realized not too long ago that my university library still had mid eighties Artforums in bound volumes; spent a couple hours reading the columns he didn't include in In the Fascist Bathroom.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:41 (10 months ago) Permalink
3) Lucinda Williams, “World Without Tears” (Lost Highway)
The first song, the modestly titled “Fruits of My Labors,” begins with a shimmering, subtle progression played on a Leslie guitar. Then comes a slurred, dragging, unbelievably affected voice to tell you how deeply its owner feels: so deeply barely a single word is actually formed. Every little touch — brushes on the snare, say — is mixed up high, to let you know how carefully everything has been done. There is irony in “American Dream”: Despite the title, the song is about how bad things (poverty, drug addiction — because of Vietnam — and black lung) take place in America. But the singer will press on. “Bay swee bay ‘f’s alla same,” Williams promises, “tay th’ glore en day ov’ the fame.” Not due til April, but why wait? It’s not getting any better.
― (REAL NAME) (m coleman), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:44 (10 months ago) Permalink
i recently tracked down -- through ILL -- a huge bound copy of a magazine called 'politicks' that ran for about 12 issues in 1978. i was looking for walter karp articles -- virtually every issue has a piece by him -- but there were some great marcus pieces i'd never seen reprinted before, one on the deaths of chaplin and howard hawks and another equally terrific review of 'the battle of chile.'
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:44 (10 months ago) Permalink
I wish there was a collected dismissals of Lucinda Williams in one volume. Greil seems to relish the chance to put here down. Like this one:
Lucinda Williams, "Love That Mystic Hammering" (New York Times Book Review, June 13) "I sure don't pretend to be no intellectual," says the adored tribute-album contributor in her piece on Bob Dylan lyrics. Her father was a college professor, but she spent her childhood out by the barn eating dirt, which is why her own songs ring so true today.
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:45 (10 months ago) Permalink
TS: greil marcus mocking lucinda williams for being pretentious VS greil marcus condescending to anita baker wrt racial politics
― (REAL NAME) (m coleman), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:48 (10 months ago) Permalink
His Voice "Real Life"s in the mid-'80s were my favourite writing by him ever. He was still listening closely to the radio, so he'd write about the Mekons and Eddie Money side-by-side. By the Artforum "Real Life"s, the Eddie Moneys of the world are mostly gone. He's certainly entitled to turn his attention elsewhere, we all do the same, but the column lost something for me.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:49 (10 months ago) Permalink
Greil Marcus has a pavlovian negative reaction to Lucinda Williams (“As great an emotional fraud as Destiny’s Child — wins the prize over them as the most mannered singer in pop music because she’s been fooling people with it longer”)
― buzza, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:49 (10 months ago) Permalink
He can certainly be a bit harsh sometimes. I recall one Sleater-Kinney writeup where he was absolutely brutal toward Carrie Brownstein, basically saying she couldn't carry Corin Tucker's musical jockstrap . And that was for a band he liked
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:50 (10 months ago) Permalink
ON Aimee Mann
"Up there with Lucinda Williams, but a much more obnoxious whiner than Alanis Morissette--I mean, there's a difference between making a horrible hit record based on an irritating emotion and basing your whole life on it. The sense of entitlement, of condescension, comes off of her in waves. Given that a whole movie was based on her wisdom, though--who can forget every character, dead or alive, mouthing along to, "Wise Up," I think, in Magnolia? And then, lo and behold, everybody did wise up. Gosh."
― buzza, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:52 (10 months ago) Permalink
Time has proven Marcus right about Williams tbh
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:52 (10 months ago) Permalink
On her last single her singing was mannered and unbearable. I still love a couple of her albums.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:53 (10 months ago) Permalink
I remember the Aimee Mann thing...I love the "Wise Up" sequence (in the minority, I know). I'm going to guess the song was tailored to the movie, not the other way around.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:55 (10 months ago) Permalink
i'm not sure what's inherently fraudulent about LW tbh or at least moreso than others he may oft praise. critics are interesting *steeples fingers* sometimes.
― omar little, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:56 (10 months ago) Permalink
in that chicken-egg argument, i'm not sure aimee mann is "at fault" in either case.
― omar little, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 01:57 (10 months ago) Permalink
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 02:04 (10 months ago) Permalink
Fruits of My Labor was one of the songs on the mix I made for my wedding. It's one of the only *romantic* songs that I actually find romantic. Yet another reason for me to say: fuck greil marcus and his corny schtick.
― click here if you want to load them all (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 03:48 (10 months ago) Permalink
i lol'd
― Mordy, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 04:06 (10 months ago) Permalink
Not only did he like them, he named them the Best Band In America when Time magazine came calling back in 2001.
I saw him speak at a museum a few years ago, and in the Q & A portion of his presentation, he mentioned his current faves were the New Pornographers. I don't really follow his writing anymore, so I wonder if he ever let it be known that "Dan Bejar can fuck right off then" or something equally clever.
― Don't Feel Like Santana, But Oye Como Va To Them (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 04:12 (10 months ago) Permalink
tbf marcus was a huge corin tucker fan pre-sleater-kinney.
― balls, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 04:15 (10 months ago) Permalink
seems like if you take the terms of Marcus' argument seriously, there's an easy solution: Baker and Williams can just each perform each other's music: problem solved!*
*yes, this means I think he has a dumb-ass argument
― theStalePrince, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 04:25 (10 months ago) Permalink
the title track of "Essence" was where LW began to lose me: all that overheaded production and raunchy diction--most unintentionally comic song about fucking in music history?
― theStalePrince, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 04:26 (10 months ago) Permalink
What Marcus said about The Roches was ridiculous, something like they were this "local" act of interest solely to Greenwich Village, who never should have even gotten a record contract. (As if Greil Marcus is some kind of industry sharpie or something). Not like they had this incredibly lucrative career but they did end up with loyal fans who would fill venues around the country to watch them well into the next decade. He's just so hateful when he talks about almost anybody who is openly middle class without pretending to be the revolution.
― Vic Perry, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 04:45 (10 months ago) Permalink
On "Wise Up": the scene was tailored around he song. I heard her perform it live in 1996..
― to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 05:28 (10 months ago) Permalink
marcus is such a profoundly weird writer that i kind of don't blame ppl for being completely put off by him -- he pretty much quit paying attention to the vast majority of popular music after, like, 1991, and has since pursued his own oddball assortment of interests to the exclusion of anything else. when he has popped his head out to comment on something it's often felt ludicrous, like when he picked an eminem single and raved that it was as worldshaking (etc etc) as 'like a rolling stone,' though it appeared to be the first hip-hop single he'd even noticed since 'mind playing tricks on me.' his book on the doors, oddly, felt like his freshest work in years: a band he'd barely written about before, and a band almost no one has ever written about in an interesting way. but somehow he managed to listen to them with new ears and write about things in their music that no one else -- to my knowledge -- ever has.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 05:43 (10 months ago) Permalink
a band almost no one has ever written about in an interesting way
I don't agree with this.
― timellison, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 05:46 (10 months ago) Permalink
I thought it was genuinely surprising he tackled the Doors--I had thought he didn't care much for them outside their debut. Alledgedly Marcus kept Richard Meltzer out of Stranded because, "He'd only pick a Doors album."
― Don't Feel Like Santana, But Oye Como Va To Them (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 05:51 (10 months ago) Permalink
lol "Robert" Meltzer:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/l-a-woman-19710527
― timellison, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 05:54 (10 months ago) Permalink
meltzer is not my idea of someone who writes about anything in an interesting way but i fully accept that i'm in the minority on that one.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 06:05 (10 months ago) Permalink
DIY Fallacy vs. NPR Middlebrow
― tylerw, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 15:57 (10 months ago) Permalink
generally when it comes to me and nuevo roots music, the faker the better. i enjoy gillian welch as a goth band. her live show had the exact same look -- i mean, down to the rug on the floor -- as her record cover. i can see how that would make a certain kind of person going all soylent-green-is-people but i was really into it.
― du. duplass. duplass mich. (goole), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:00 (10 months ago) Permalink
What's the big thrill--getting to see them bite their lip when they come?
Jesus, xgau
― Get wolves (DL), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:00 (10 months ago) Permalink
lol that line is hilarious and terrible. marcus should excuse himself from any mention of authenticity in music -- the dude has written multiple books about bob freaking dylan.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:02 (10 months ago) Permalink
but didn't Zimmerman eat dirt down on the farm?
― President Keyes, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:04 (10 months ago) Permalink
also: david rawlings took a turn at the mic, and he was like "i'm gonna do a song [ancient bluegrass guy] taught me the other day, hope i remember the words." it was... big rock candy mountain! so much for everybody studying their harry smith like the talmud and all that
― du. duplass. duplass mich. (goole), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:04 (10 months ago) Permalink
it's funny that he loathes gillian welch so much -- "elvis presley blues" is basically a greil marcus essay in song form.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:04 (10 months ago) Permalink
xp That was my first thought. Any Dylan stan should know to keep "authenticity" at arm's length.
― Get wolves (DL), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:07 (10 months ago) Permalink
She looked a lot like her, was crying a little and writing a letter that started like "well, here I go - paper to pen..."
this is as perfect as spotting Leonard Cohen in a cafe, wearing a beret and mumbling, "Well, here we are, another glass of absinthe..."
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:14 (10 months ago) Permalink
tbf xgau goes (ridiculously) below the belt for both genders
Not a Moment Too Soon [Curb, 1994]McGraw draws his phony drawl so tight he sounds like a singing penis--one of those guys who can make his prepuce mime the Pledge of Allegiance when his boner is right. He got interested in country when he heard about farmer's daughters, and learned everything he knows about Choctaws and Chippewas from Chief Nokahoma. Still hasn't outearned his daddy, though. C+
― da croupier, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:14 (10 months ago) Permalink
lord, what
― du. duplass. duplass mich. (goole), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:15 (10 months ago) Permalink
or this infamous one:
Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone [Startime International, 2002]
Just what we always wanted--Jonathan Fire*Eater grows up. Put some DreamWorks money into a studio, that was mature. Realized Radiohead was the greatest band in the world, brainy. Stopped playing so fast, hoo boy. And most important, switched vocalists from Nick Cave imitator to Rufus Wainwright imitator. Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth, and not only that, Cave has more literary ability. New York scene or (hint hint) no New York scene, DreamWorks isn't buying. C+
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:15 (10 months ago) Permalink
I'm a sucker for baseball references in music reviews, though
xpost
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:16 (10 months ago) Permalink
That is unbelievably unpleasant
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:17 (10 months ago) Permalink
I get what he's doing with the Wainwright line – making fun of homophobia – but eek.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:17 (10 months ago) Permalink
one of those guys who can make his prepuce mime the Pledge of Allegiance when his boner is rightlol, one of those guys
― tylerw, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:18 (10 months ago) Permalink
Robert Christgau's Tropic Of C+
― da croupier, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:19 (10 months ago) Permalink
yeah, strikes me as a boomer liberal white man problem. "what? i'm down."
― du. duplass. duplass mich. (goole), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:19 (10 months ago) Permalink
one of those guys who can make his prepuce mime the Pledge of Allegiance when his boner is right
I think this was in Robert Altman's original script for Magic Mike
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:24 (10 months ago) Permalink
"Some people, well, if they like Anita Baker, well, then, fuck you." He rises from the table. He points an angry finger at the imaginary enemy. "Fuck you." His face reddens. "Period."
― omar little, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 16:30 (10 months ago) Permalink
"...signaling the return to Del Shannon from whence the Doors' mysterioso-hood was largely derived to begin with"
Always liked the "signaling" aspect of this - like he was always monitoring "moves" and micro-trends. He also beats Lester by quite a few years in noting this one:
"And since heaviness has been kicked in the ass of late all the kickers owe it to themselves to sit down with this one. There isn't one serious cut on the entire album."
― timellison, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 17:11 (10 months ago) Permalink
that said I borrowed his doors book from the library and enjoyed it more than anything he's written in years. insightful on the 60s/revivalism. made me listen to the doors w/fresh ears. also it's short― (REAL NAME) (m coleman), Tuesday, July 10, 2012 3:21 PM (2 hours ago)
― (REAL NAME) (m coleman), Tuesday, July 10, 2012 3:21 PM (2 hours ago)
yeah i basically just wanted him to write about ANYTHING other than his pet obsessions -- no more pere ubu, bob dylan, bill clinton, 'lost highway,' philip roth, etc etc. and yes, the chapter on '60s revivalism was one of the best things he's ever done.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 18:09 (10 months ago) Permalink
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, July 10, 2012 12:17 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark
o really
― some dude, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 18:41 (10 months ago) Permalink
xgau was an early fan of Wainwright.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 18:44 (10 months ago) Permalink
besides Rufus is a tit man
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 July 2012 18:45 (10 months ago) Permalink
so was i, but if i made a crack like that i wouldn't expect someone to mount the daniel tosh defense on my behalf
― some dude, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 18:48 (10 months ago) Permalink
the first two sentences of the Aimee Mann review are pretty inexcusable, but the rest has her absofuckinglootly dead to rights. in the category of "dullest safe artist who your friends who don't care much about music play at parties" she is some kind of all-time winner.....or maybe my sense of her ubiquity comes from living a decade around and in Boston?
― theStalePrince, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 18:53 (10 months ago) Permalink
xgau never sounds dorkier than when he talks about sex
― da croupier, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 19:19 (10 months ago) Permalink
it's like if buddy love still had the nutty professor's vocabulary
a guy on livejournal did the most amazing aimee mann takedown years ago, man i wish i could remember that
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 10 July 2012 19:22 (10 months ago) Permalink
I'm on the list for her show tomorrow. I'll ask her to talk shit about Marcus for a nominal fee.
― Everything You Like Sucks, Wednesday, 11 July 2012 04:19 (10 months ago) Permalink
nom that fee
― is capybara gay? (Ówen P.), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 04:21 (10 months ago) Permalink
Enough to pre-game?
― Everything You Like Sucks, Wednesday, 11 July 2012 04:33 (10 months ago) Permalink
Oh, and she had no idea who he is. Your move, Marcus.
― Everything You Like Sucks, Thursday, 2 August 2012 17:55 (9 months ago) Permalink
i once asked corin tucker if she had ever read marcus. she said she hadn't.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, 2 August 2012 22:13 (9 months ago) Permalink
Found a cheap used copy of this yesterday, something I've been looking for for a while:
I always remembered the back-of-the-book poll on the best American films between 1968-77 (the book came out in '79, hence the odd time frame). Here's Marcus's list:
1. The Godfather, Part II2. The Godfather3. Thieves Like Us4. The Man Who Would Be King5. Across 110th Street6. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman7. McCabe and Mrs. Miller8. Spend It All9. Mean Streets10. Chinatown
Mostly standard stuff, but #5, 6, and 8 are offbeat. I had to look up Spend It All--it's a Les Blank documentary on Cajun country.
(One anachronistic note from the poll. Twenty-one people voted--mostly well-known American critics, plus Truffaut--and Paul Mazursky's Blume in Love received four votes. It's almost completely forgotten today.)
― clemenza, Monday, 15 October 2012 23:27 (7 months ago) Permalink
did he include any comments on any of them? two altmans is interesting considering how much he hated 'nashville.'
marcus talks about 'across 110th street' in his sly stone chapter in mystery train -- have always meant to track it down.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 15 October 2012 23:42 (7 months ago) Permalink
a while back i checked out a big bound volume of a late '70s magazine called 'politicks' through ILL. it featured a couple of excellent articles by marcus i've never seen anywhere else -- a review of 'the battle of chile,' and a moving piece on the deaths of charlie chaplin and howard hawks that managed to slip in a hilariously OTT attack on 'close encounters.'
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 15 October 2012 23:45 (7 months ago) Permalink
No, no commentary. That was also my reaction to his list when I first saw it, the disconnect between the two Altmans and how much he's criticized Nashville. I watched 110th Street because of his list a number of years ago; remember it as being pretty good, and loved it when the title song turned up in Jackie Brown. Here's a clip from Spend It All:
― clemenza, Monday, 15 October 2012 23:54 (7 months ago) Permalink
I can see where a film like that might make a major impression on him if he was in the midst of writing Mystery Train.
― clemenza, Monday, 15 October 2012 23:57 (7 months ago) Permalink
McCabe and Mrs Miller and Thieves Like Us nothing much like Nashville so not much contradiction there IMO.
110th St is a very good movie. Not in my top ten for the decade but not an embarrassing choice at all.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 00:03 (7 months ago) Permalink
They are very different, it's true--you could put MASH, The Long Goodbye, California Split, and Nashville on one side of the ledger, and McCabe and Thieves Like Us (much more elliptical and atmospheric) on the other. But he's so negative about Nashville, almost like he thinks Altman's a con artist (if I'm remembering correctly), that I thought it might be hard for him to look past that with any Altman film. Apparently not.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 00:09 (7 months ago) Permalink
Yeah but M&M and TLU came first so I guess he only thought Altman a con artist post-1975. Before that he was a genius hah.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 00:24 (7 months ago) Permalink
Would be innerested in hearing his reasons for hating Nashville (though I think I can guess).
― this is the dream of avril and chad (jer.fairall), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 00:49 (7 months ago) Permalink
The piece to track down would seem to be "Ragtime and Nashville: Failure-of-America Fad," Village Voice (August 4, 1975). Not sure if I've ever read that, but elsewhere he's written about how much he despises the music in Nashville, and what he perceives to be the film's condescension.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 00:55 (7 months ago) Permalink
across 110th is streaming on netflix, keep meaning to actually watch it, can't read the title w/o that song popping in my head. i know alot of ppl who love altman but hate nashville cuz they think the movie's portrayal of country music is smug and clueless.
― balls, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 00:57 (7 months ago) Permalink
lol xpost
With Lucinda Williams, it's her patronization. With EMF, it's just that they're really annoying.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 00:58 (7 months ago) Permalink
the nashville/ragtime piece is collected in 'the dustbin of history.' pretty much agree with him on nashville, like lots of other altman tho.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 05:48 (7 months ago) Permalink
That's where I would have read it then--I'll look at that tonight. I mentioned on another thread that I finally bought a vinyl copy of the soundtrack this past weekend.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 11:31 (7 months ago) Permalink