sometime i read christgau and am amazed...

poop on the plow

http://www.weeklyreader.com/readandwriting/content/binary/AB50249~Dancing-Bears-Posters.jpg

John Cougar Mellencamp: Scarecrow [Riva, 1985]
Having long wondered what gave this longtime Bowie stablemate the right to speak for the average guy, I've decided it's his talent, which is pretty damn average. That's okay, because the success ratio here, a nice average fifty-fifty or so, just goes to show you what sincerity, hard work, and modest ambitions can do. Mellencamp has half outgrown the fatalism that always underlined the predictability of his Stonesish bandmates, who've gotten tougher with age, an encouraging sign in rich musicians. I wish I knew (I wish he knew) exactly what "Justice and Independence '85" is trying to say. But I'll take "You've Got to Stand for Something" at face value. B+

Scareblown.

haha how dare he sing about America, he's got BRITISH MANAGEMENT!

the Bowie line always confused me, and excited me ("Ooh, Johnny Coug collaborated with Bowie!").

Man is that a terrible "review".

Bowie stablemate = poseur, or so i've always assumed.

Actually, from '82 to '87 xgau got Mellencamp right, and even stopped caring around the same time Coog stopped improving.

from '82 to '87 xgau got Mellencamp right

Alfred, you're just trying to bait me now, right?

ha - I bought Nothing Matters... at your recommendation a couple of years ago, and, well, sorry.

The double-disc comp released in '04 and my old copies of Scarecrow and The Lonesome Jubilee are all I need.

If anybody is interested on the truth on these matters:

What is John (Cougar) Mellancamp's best song?

wait, that review isn't bad at all! people are just picking on xgau now!

stablemate is a bit off, bowie and defries were history by the time defries discovered Johnny Cougar right?

what a disaster for john cougar mellencamp

This Is Bull [Paramount, 1971]
Speak for yourself, Ferdinand. D

were u really amazed when u read these?

OK googling says Bowie split w/ Defries in 75, the same year Cougar signed on to Mainman, and Cougar was dropped by DeFries right after his first record, so calling him a "longtime Bowie stablemate" in 1985 is wrong. Or I guess it could be intentional, a real rock crit kneeslapper.

No idea why this captivated my attention.

This Is Bull [Paramount, 1971]
Speak for yourself, Ferdinand. D

GREAT album!

fun fact: Bull was friends with Chaki's dad.

i think i put the hot Bull guitar jam on one of my hothead mixes.

fun fact: Bull was friends with Chaki's dad.

why am i not surprised?

Chaki's dad was in The Hook. One of my all-time fave guitar freakout bands.

ok that was perhaps a straw man. but on some threads you and matos seemed unwilling to brook ANY criticism of the dude. i admit that isn't the case on all threads.

Excuse me?

haha never mind

"threads"

really matos? i recall long stretches of threads where you and other folks spent much time essentially accusing critics of playa-hatin. am i thinking of somebody else? jess maybe?

"Playa-hatin"? Vomit.

Or are you using that the way I used to use "transcendent" or something?

I mean there are long stretches of threads where I basically say, "He means this, not that," which boils down to knowing his stuff well vs. not.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/99/pics/99pjenny1.jpg
These freaks are all player-haters. But you are player-participaters. I feel you! You know what I'm saying.

ok, i take it back then.

5:29

lolololololololol

6:28 - “Reality is the basis to Eminem’s work.” - Expert Bro

From his review of John Cale's Fear:
With Phil Manzanera flailing his axe like rocksy music was a thing of the future and Eno doing his best Baby Cortez imitation it sounds as if somebody just played "Sister Ray" for Cale and he thought the world of it.

wait what

What's unclear?

That blurb actually persuaded me to give Cale a try fourteen years ago.

The implication that "Sister Ray" is somehow unfamiliar to Cale, I guess, or am I misreading it? I just now realized that maybe Christgau meant someone played it to him and he went "OH MY GOODNESS I HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW TO ROCK OUT, I WILL RESUME FORTHWITH," but the phrasing "thought the world of it" makes it sound like it's something new to him.

It means "This album is so wild that it reminds Cale of what his last few albums weren't."

Yeah.

yeah - "it sounds like Cale has been reminded of what he's good at & in a way that makes doing it feel new & fresh to him," only put more cleverly

maybe too cleverly

Christgau clearly not a supporter of the old writing adage that anytime you're particularly proud of a turn of phrase, you should immediately chop it out and rewrite.

it means Manzanera rules

Christgau clearly not a supporter of the old writing adage that anytime you're particularly proud of a turn of phrase, you should immediately chop it out and rewrite.

this adage has good intentions but is kinda bullshit imo

like, it's applicable to people whose ability to write is in question, maybe - I hope to fuck that all the writers I like publish as many turns of phrase that they're proud of as they can get published during their lifetimes

Lost in Space [SuperEgo, 2002]
I've never understood this ice queen thing myself. What's the big thrill--getting to see them bite their lip when they come?

i guess my only problem with this review is that it (maybe) implies fear is better than paris 1919 which i don't buy altho i love fear

like, it's applicable to people whose ability to write is in question, maybe - I hope to fuck that all the writers I like publish as many turns of phrase that they're proud of as they can get published during their lifetimes

― in which we apologize for sobering up (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Saturday, May 15, 2010 11:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

fair enough, but choosing a snappy one liner (or an inscrutably tangled one) over a plainer truth or insight all the time gets a little exhausting when the guy's reviews are frequently only one line long.