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

I actually didn't mean to be disparaging with that "NPR Yuppie" thing earlier. I listen to NPR all the time and could probably be described as an NPR Yuppie myself. I just was trying to use shorthand for a demographic much desired by the publishing industry, due to a variety of reasons. Honestly, this book seems less like a book about twee and more a book about "things educated urban yuppies are really into."

xp on the last one, @BB

"white college-educated democrats over the median income" takes too long to type out

yeah, I'm probably a NPR yuppie by most metrics. that's why it's so easy to recognize the insidious trends creeping around the edges, we can smell variations in our own.

I was aware of the existence of something called the NPR, which was the radio equivalent of PBS, but the idea that there is this "NPR tweefuX0r yuppie" demographic that needs servicing with all this weird shit you guys discuss... I call shenanigans.

― conspicuous unconsumption (Branwell Bell), Wednesday, March 26, 2014 2:18 PM

in my city several years ago the local/regional npr affiliate (a lot of this runs on affiliates, ours is a large one which exports a lot of programming across the country, very successful and influential etc.) opened up another spot on the dial that caters DIRECTLY to this demographic by playing a curated mix of indie music (as opposed to straight classical, which another station does, or say a mix of jazz and/or world musics, which many similar stations do).

they are a thing in the u.s. what is particularly aggravating about them as a thing is that, all small-d or big-d democratic affinities aside, the association with public radio amounts to staking a claim to be part of / represent 'the best of what has been' said/thought/made/etc despite how patently narcissistic and nonrepresentative this demographic's tastes, fads, appropriations etc. are

terry gross is a shitty interviewer

*uncomfortable glare from terry gross*

you guys need to be more accepting, i must imply

is there anyone else doing long radio-format interviews with subjects of that tier other than terry gross in the us?

hugh hewitt

lol

lol im a Bobby Fischer Yappie wannabe Hyppie

On the Ham Radio of Sir-Mix_Alot with Hugh Jackman, I am crzzzkkhghh sitting in for Terry Gross, over

so wait we're actually arguing about whether or not NPR is some obscure entity only known about and discussed on ILX?

opened up another spot on the dial that caters DIRECTLY to this demographic by playing a curated mix of indie music (as opposed to straight classical, which another station does, or say a mix of jazz and/or world musics, which many similar stations do).

i'm telling jeremy messersmith what you said

no, one person is

ha fair enough

no, that it's only discussed by americans and that britishes don't mention their radio stations on mixed-country threads

terry gross is underrated as an interviewer. bottom line, she gets people to talk, a lot.

ilx's hatred for things that are "npr" is just as funny an example of the narcissism of small differences as its hate for pitchfork used to be

it's funny but it's JUSTIFIED

s1ocki otm

the complete absence of mention of any bands from the period when twee was a (completely valid) small p political stance such as Tallulah Gosh and the Pastels etc

You do know the difference between a sales blurb (pitched at a US audience) and an actual full-length book, right? If Spitz ignores those bands in the text you'd have a point but only an idiot would include micro-selling UK indie bands in a thumbnail summary rather than Girls, Arcade Fire and Wes Anderson. It feels a little petty to complain about omissions before you've read the book.

it's easier to criticize things that you actually engage with

I had this argument with my mom a lot as a kid, when I would be so critical of things. "Hey, if I don't care about something, I never talk about it!"

it's fun to imagine this putatively horrible article you are all talking about from the comments you're making.

DL: I disagree completely I'm afraid. Even if you're only taking commercial factors into consideration, I still make you completely wrong. For example, I've commissioned features on both bands in the last 12 months and they were both read by a very substantial amount of people. And presumably if a lot more credence was given to where this 'movement' actually came from then perhaps there wouldn't be loads of people shaking their heads at the idea of this book before it's even appeared. And we're looking at potential customers here - I've got to say that finding space to mention 'really awesome yummy pickles' but not The Pastels (a fairly well known band when it comes down to it) then they've lost me as a reader and presumably a lot of other people as well.

But yeah, if it's just some crass cash in on beige Hyundai couple and interesting pickles lifestyle shit designed to rake in cash - then fair play to them for not being idiots.

Given a few moments to catch my breath, I'd like to downgrade my completely to slightly.

Doran's points make a lot more sense to me than the usual ILX static about "NPR and artisanal pickles" or whatever. Like setting out to write a book about a genre and not actually mentioning the originators of the genre is a completely valid complaint. I do understand it's a populist book aimed at an American audience, but it does advertise a fundamental lack of depth not to mention where the thing comes from and what it was invented for.

I agree with s1ocki.

In fairness to the people bringing up NPR, the blurb does mention This American Life.

this american life is not on npr

it was on PRI, but they have parted ways, and have not announced their new distributor.

It's not distributed by NPR, but certainly is played by a rather large proportion of NPR affiliates.

npr is a feeling, slocki

I mean technically it's a product of Chicago Public Media, which is Chicago's NPR member organization, but this is getting down into the weeds of public radio production/distribution.

♫ Non-profits your new boyfriend's too stupid to know about ♫

Yeah, c'mon, This American Life is absolutely played on NPR stations.

For non-US folks, NPR indie is definitely a thing here. Growing up in the US, NPR was the radio station my grandparents would listen to for lite classical and soothing talk radio. In other words, it was the middlebrow radio station. So for most US folks on here, I think the fact that they've shifted toward bland indie pop is quite notable as it is a glaring indicator of where US middlebrow culture is today.

Don't know if that helps explain some of the comments above, but suffice it to say that NPR is widely broadcast across the country and is not the invention of ilxor fever dreams.

I don't know, Moodles, you say NPR, but you might mean PRI or American Public Media, which are obviously super-distinct and full of their own unique cultural signifiers.

yeah shift of a lot of npr stations from classical to kcrw indie is some tragic shit

NPR is absolutely symbolic of a certain upper-middle-class aesthetic and weaksauce political liberalism.

I think most media-savvy Americans would get that NPR is associated with a sort of "effete latte liberal" stereotype.

npr is just shorthand for public sponsored radio right? like, i don't know if WHYY = NPR but i call it npr when talking to ppl about what i heard during my commute

I don't know, Moodles, you say NPR, but you might mean PRI or American Public Media, which are obviously super-distinct and full of their own unique cultural signifiers.

^ i'm replying to this. like if u listen to terry gross, ira glass, the bbc, morning edition, all things considered, car talk, whatever - you're listening to npr i don't care what your station calls itself

xxp: how about just "liberal" without all the qualifiers?

like, what other liberals are left after NPR listeners?

Xpost

I have never heard of PRI until right now and have no idea what the distinction is between it and NPR. Maybe This American Life is broadcast on radio stations that also broadcast NPR?!?

like, what other liberals are left after NPR listeners?

teamsters???

like, what other liberals are left after NPR listeners?

― how's life, Wednesday, March 26, 2014 9:28 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

sad but true question

I think there's a spectrum of left people who do at least some NPR listening, but the archetype is sort of the social-issues-only liberal. You know, for gay rights, "against racism," thinks charter schools are pretty alright, doesn't consider class politics much.

I think PRI and the like are content makers who sell programs to individual NPR stations.

@Mordy and Moodles xpost, Sorry, my post was an unsuccessful attempt to be funny after the assertion upthread that "this american life is not on npr." Looking back, what I posted looked sincere and ridiculous.