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

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.

and i repeat that i'm dismayed at how this site is read more widely than music writing by women who know their stuff and don't have to package their knowledge in a shiny happy domestic-life box, and how i'm thinking about why "women listen to music like THIS" ideal is propagated more than women just talking about music as people first. (it also is related to my dismayed thinking about whether or not my writing life would be easier if i wrote more on sites "for women," and why that is.)

like fine, let a thousand twee flowers bloom, but don't do so at the eradication of those buds that look like weeds at first glance

maybe it's more an issue of "style" or "voice" or some other writerly term, than "tone"

RELATED TOPICS: why are esquire and gq 'general interest' magazines, why did lilith fair not book worthy female instrumentalists, would an 'i listen to my wife's records' blog have had each entry accompanied by a cutesy photo with twee-life signifiers in the frame

I'm not even as outraged about this blog as a lot of writers (although that says more about me and my ability to be outraged this year, which is mostly deadened) but saying that the only reason female music writers have an issue with this blog is because they're jealous is... kind of crappy? (and also a bit... weird, given you mentioned people misreading women's tone/intentions.)

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.

but katherine that's just how women are, all tone-policing and jealous

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"

What your intended tone was is not really here or there. What matters is how it's perceived by others.

?

isn't the tone in line with the entire perspective of the project (the life) that all of this can be undertaken in an utterly noncommittal way?

i keep thinking about that ac/dc record. how a guy 'who just collects records' and has like half a dozen certain ratio records can have TWO ac/dc records just because of will oldham covering 'big balls' and can really know almost nothing about ac/dc (not as if they're not generally a constant presence in popular music culture for the last 40 years!) and hardly even have listened to the records (WHICH ARE GREAT).

it's not surprising that the husband works for NPR because THEIR LIFE IS NPR. their little corner of the apartment is ikeaed the fuck out, his hobby is to collect records, her new hobby is to write about her reactions to things on the internet, and the entire project takes the form of going one by one through a giant list of things and generating reactions to them, seriatim, with no logic to it other than the fact that these records in alphabetical order are the ones her husband happened to acquire.

I just feel like I have heard this song so many times at this point that I don’t feel any real emotions about it.

sometimes she has some, sometimes she doesn't. sometimes they're personal and sometimes they're banal. but they get written anyway because the point is to register the occurrence of 'feelings', opinions, etc. in response to the series of props for stimulating the occurrence of opinions, feelings, etc.

against that backdrop, why SHOULDN'T it grate that the voice she adopts resorts readily and regularly to these gendered 'o you boys and your silly record collections' poses and 'i just don't know about any of this' poses and 'poking fun at the pretensions of the pretentious' poses? because against that backdrop the entire point of every reaction to everything is to render it as anodyne as possible, so that the only way it could possibly have any effect is through the suggestion that by becoming more tasteful and sensible (in the way that the accumulation of culturalized junk prompts you to, not through anything in it but through its being curated, organized, listed—and by conforming with the blanded out requirement to assent within the bounds of polite disagreement about what culture is) things will just generally be improved in some vague way.

j OTM. Most revealing thing about this is their surprise that anyone is annoyed, because twee NPR lifestylers have no idea how irritating their shit can be.

To some

twee NPR lifestylers have no idea how irritating their shit can be

well given their disproportionate media representation as the apotheosis of what american youth should be, this isn't too surprising

j mainly otm.

but like where do you suggest i buy my new couch from because i'm lazy but i was thinking ikea because my current couch is from a place with "cheap" somewhere right in the name and the middle turned out to have cardboard and not springs and it just sort of fell in, so you know i was thinking of stepping it up. and you know i would like a couch, but not a couch that causes me to render things in an anodyne light.

It isn't that they bought the couch at Ikea; it's that their idea of home decor is as impersonal as a Hilton lobby.

I just read the Anthrax entry:

Look you guys, I’m really liking it. It’s oddly beautiful, but I feel like it’s really hard for girls to get to know this kind of music. I would NEVER want to see this band live, even though I’m really liking the music. It would be too violent and too dangerous, and that sucks. And yet I’m not blaming the people who feel the need to get “caught in a mosh,” upon hearing this. It’s probably exhilarating, but sitting on the couch listening to it is fun in a totally different way. Why does music have to be such a division of the sexes sometimes?

my idea of home decor is i would like to step it up and have a couch that has springs is that a statement

why should your home decor be personal.

i have piles of papers around. i suppose they are my personal papers unique to me.

On top of everything else: kinda loving the idea that they're going off to Scotland where the guy can apologize for liking AC/DC and everyone there will look at him like he's insane.