pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

The O'Rourke albums Powell includes are, in fact, the only ones I've heard. I like all of them, but I've never had much interest in checking out his other stuff (besides Gastr del Sol, which is what got me into him in the first place). I suspect that there are would-be O'Rourke fans with interests and sensibilities similar to mine, so a primer explicitly restricted to his Drag City output makes sense to me.

I do see fgti's point that it inadvertently reduces his career to those five albums ... but if it's written for people who haven't heard a lick of O'Rourke, are those not good places to start?

Eureka is kind of a perfect pitchfork album. but do pitchfork readers still care about van dyke parks? the world moves so quickly now...

i've never heard a jim o'rourke album or an album that he was a big part of that i needed to keep. he's done a lot for sure, and worked with lots of people i like, but his stuff always feels like exercise to me. the trying on of hats. talented in his way, for sure!

in fact, my primer would be a list of recordings by people he has played or worked with. there are borbetomagus and voice crack albums that are way more essential to hear then any o'rourke record. same goes for haino, ambarchi, faust, tony conrad, uh, it's a long list. brice-glace and gastr del sol were "avant garde" within the context of chicago indie rock of that time, but in the wider and wilder world of weirdness, they are pretty low on the totem pole.

Those yearly Haino/Ambarchi/O'Rourke live recs are some of the best things any one of them have been involved with, imho, and O'Rourke's solo alb on Mego - I'm Happy and I'm Singing - is as at least as good as any of the Drag City albs

i actually see a lot of his activity as boosterism for other people and he probably does bring attention to other people who i admire more ( kinda like thurston does) and this is always a good thing. if only one indie jim o'rourke fan buys a hafler trio or christoph heemann record....the world will be a better place. or loren connors. or zeena parkins.

at the end of the day, weasel walter is a more compelling figure to me in the world of prolific and hyperactive 20th and 21st century american composition.

Yeah, was just going to post that a better Primer would also include some of the things he's reissued, like Plux Quba or the stuff on Dexter's Cigar.

That Nuno Canavarro album "Plux Quba" on Moikai is an all time top 10 or so for me, so yeah

Whoops yeah as said, sry

the o'rourke (via sonic youth) gateway into improv etc was definitely a big one for me in my late teens, yeah. he's also a much more appealing ~character~ (which is presumably useful for this kind of primer) as this roving polymath doing electroacoustic albums one day and indie pop ones the next than as just some dude who released a few nice indie-ish albums a while back

i actually see a lot of his activity as boosterism for other people and he probably does bring attention to other people who i admire more ( kinda like thurston does) and this is always a good thing. if only one indie jim o'rourke fan buys a hafler trio or christoph heemann record....the world will be a better place. or loren connors. or zeena parkins.

― scott seward,

if only one scott seward could crawl out of their asshole....the world will be a better place.

I want to make a comment/retort here but I keep circling back to the idea of a group of people sharing an asshole and shuddering

i was just hoping for a gif

you sure about that?

well... I don't want spread cheeks if that's what you mean

this sure took a turn

And coughed

You need to find another doctor.

human centipitchfork

pinch forks's bum (#3438465

http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/9634-boss-status-speedy-ortiz-make-power-moves/

I feel like in 2015 we can concede that it's not interesting or unusual for someone who plays "indie rock" to enjoy hip-hop music.

Hip-hop has been mainstream popular for over 30 years. It's not interesting or unusual for anyone to enjoy it.

the resilient, outspoken, and autonomous attitude of rap

full quote is "the resilient, outspoken, and autonomous attitude of rap at this point," which I guess is in sharp contrast to the focus on codependency and meekness that has defined the rap music before this point.

almost startling to read "the 26-year-old poetry MFA holder" as a neutral descriptor

x-post--

And though the 26-year-old poetry MFA holder grew up enamored of the songwriting of Elliott Smith and Fiona Apple, her psychic compass can’t help but pull towards the resilient, outspoken, and autonomous attitude of rap at this point.

I think the writer's use of "at this point" here is to compare what Dupuis "grew up" with and what she is listening to now, not rap then and rap now. In a NY Times interview she also talked about listening to rap (as well as Pavement and Aaliyah) but as I recall the interviewer did not add any special descriptive terms to describe her listening-- it was just "hey what are you listening to?". Pretty standard question to ask any musician, even if its generic.

yeah, you're right, classic dangling modifier situation

I've written that phrase many times in student essays.

Does anyone actually listen to Speedy Ortiz or do they only exist in retweet form?

Glass houses, dude

?

oh you made a "who cares" dig despite knowing your friends like this band, so i did the usual call out of irony, don't sweat it no harm meant

I think the four or five music media professionals I know that like this band don't count as "anyone" except in the most literal sense of the word

i know maura is a fan; she is a very literal someone by my estimation (and yrs of course)

Damn that's cold

Xpost

v much in character whiney

I didn't know indie rock band Speedy Ortiz had such evil power.

when I say "anyone" assume that I mean mean "anyone outside of our small insular circle jerk of music writers, former music writers and aspiring music writers, i.e. the number of people on the planet earth who would read a thinkpiece on "poptimism," i.e., totaling in the four if not three digits, i.e., not a significant part of the music-listening audience by any estimation"

which is why i could have posted "does anyone listen to whiney or does he just exist in RT form," but i felt that sounded less "check yourself" and more "fuck you" than i wanted

i'd think we want more critics would talk about groups they like without a large audience. i don't need everyone's two cents on music everyone's hearing.

We definitely need more and more written through articles on every derivative 90s throwback band from Philadelphia and Boston, good call

:(

happy 2 contribute

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

would you respect them if i said they toured with malkmus?

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4e2yXplc74

see these are people they're cheering

I guess it is possible in this current click-driven media world that Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, the NY Times, and NPR would choose to highlight this indie-rock band even though no "real people" listen to them, or go to their gigs, but who knows. Its fine not to like them, but that's a different thing than pretending that the indie-rock crowd that does like them does not exist

write articles about Thaylobleu instead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijf1iqsPlJw

or in addition, if you've got the bandwidth

basically, I want ppl to write about Thaylobleu