A Paler Shade of White---Sasha Frere-Jones Podcast and New Yorker article Criticizing Indie Rock for Failing to Incorporate African-American Influences

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And to take the bait: since when were rhythym sections a designator of race?

Neil S, Thursday, 11 September 2008 20:47 (seventeen years ago)

I just used the "Suggest Ban" button.

The Referee (The Reverend), Thursday, 11 September 2008 20:52 (seventeen years ago)

that mr. diamond post is great

cool app (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 11 September 2008 20:53 (seventeen years ago)

whoops! in regards to my wl/wh dub post, 'not hear'='hear'

Drugs A. Money, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:18 (seventeen years ago)

Hi Geir, the influence does exist, but we don't have to buy it wholesale, it happened as a complex process, and it does not imply any obligations or debts. The way some people put it, it sounds as if black musicians are supposed to get 40 acres and a mule as reparation, and that of course puts the whole debate under a politicized, bitter perspective.

I dislike these "Elvis simply took black rhythms and styles blah blah blah" faulty generalizations. That's oversimplifying a complex and politically charged equation. I'm also puzzled that black influence is often equated simply with "rhythm", i.e, with some tribal pusating undercurrent to make people shake, rattle and roll. When Johnny Marr does that counterpoint thing in "This Charming Man", for instance, that's an african influence as well to a certain extent, but again, it's complex, because there's also a strong european contrapuntal tradition and so on.

Plus, I encourage people to express their dislikes a little more openly, and this is a subterranean discomfort that must be let out in the open: many people who like stuff like train,Garth Brooks or martial industrial bands loathe black music of any kind, particularly contemporary styles. So let's not rush anyone into being force-fed anything and respect all kinds of perceptions and worldviews.

BTW, I use black because 1)"african-american" it's a PC cop out which I reject and 2) to include other important traditions such as african-brazilian, afrocuban etc. So, 'till things are brighter, I'm the man uses the word "black".

Vision, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:21 (seventeen years ago)

lol

Patrick Leahy, (D)-VT (deej), Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:26 (seventeen years ago)

I didn't miss this place.

Alex in SF, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:28 (seventeen years ago)

The way some people put it, it sounds as if black musicians are supposed to get 40 acres and a mule as reparation, and that of course puts the whole debate under a politicized, bitter perspective.

Dude...

Neil S, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:28 (seventeen years ago)

Hi Geir, the influence does exist, but we don't have to buy it wholesale

I would say about 50 per cent of each. The Beatles got the mix between "black" and "white" elements just about right from around 1965 onwards.

Geir Hongro, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:44 (seventeen years ago)

(Otherwise, I'd much rather give them 40 acres and a mule - imperialism is a factor that shouldn't be ignored. But in music it may)

Geir Hongro, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:45 (seventeen years ago)

...

omar little, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:48 (seventeen years ago)

jesus

M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:50 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.allglittergraphics.com/miss_you/glitter_graphics/miss_you_graphics_12.gif

omar little, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:50 (seventeen years ago)

This time I hit "Confirm".

The Referee (The Reverend), Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:55 (seventeen years ago)

hahaha

Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 11 September 2008 21:59 (seventeen years ago)

oh hey, ilm is back

you don't make friends with salad (Jordan), Thursday, 11 September 2008 22:13 (seventeen years ago)

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j244/egyptianlover661/itunes5.jpg

Patrick Leahy, (D)-VT (deej), Thursday, 11 September 2008 22:43 (seventeen years ago)

http://img11.nnm.ru/imagez/gallery/3/f/c/3/5/3fc353a0c2df7974bf61aeaa7a124670_full.jpg

Vision, Friday, 12 September 2008 00:04 (seventeen years ago)

five months pass...

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/rupert_christiansen/blog/2009/02/24/has_rock_music_got_a_cultural_diversity_problem

meme economist (special guest stars mark bronson), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 11:38 (seventeen years ago)

Nice comment from Jimmy Tarbuck there.

Bernard Braden Misreads Stephen Leacock (Marcello Carlin), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 11:45 (seventeen years ago)

I think that's Peter Sissons

Queueing For Latchstrings (Tom D.), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 11:47 (seventeen years ago)

Oh hold on, he was at school with Jimmy Tarbuck too!

Queueing For Latchstrings (Tom D.), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 11:48 (seventeen years ago)

It may well be failed London Mayoral candidate Steven Norris.

Bernard Braden Misreads Stephen Leacock (Marcello Carlin), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 11:49 (seventeen years ago)

most black music concerts almost always have a much larger spectrum of people from diff races than any rock show ive been to, even ones where the bands have black/non white members (bloc party, tvotr, cornershop etc etc).

Yellow Carded (titchyschneiderMk2), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 11:50 (seventeen years ago)

one year passes...

from http://www.thedaily.com/about

For six years, Sasha Frere-Jones has been a staff writer and pop-music critic for The New Yorker, where he continues to write. He is expanding his 2007 essay "A Paler Shade of White" into a book for Farrar, Straus & Giroux. [...]

markers, Friday, 4 February 2011 02:27 (fifteen years ago)

this is the first time i've heard that news

markers, Friday, 4 February 2011 02:28 (fifteen years ago)

god i forgot about this clusterfuck

basedketball (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 4 February 2011 02:46 (fifteen years ago)

Ha, this is the thread where Geir told me to shut the fuck up!

The Reverend, Friday, 4 February 2011 02:57 (fifteen years ago)

Oh brilliance.

The Reverend, Friday, 4 February 2011 02:57 (fifteen years ago)

Really, one of my proudest ILM moments.

The Reverend, Friday, 4 February 2011 02:58 (fifteen years ago)

were u talking greasy about genesis?

basedketball (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 4 February 2011 03:15 (fifteen years ago)

Iirc, Ethan had been quoting things from a white supremacist message board and then Geir posted something that looked like a quote from a white supremacist message board and then I asked Geir if it was a quote from a white supremacist message board and then he told me to shut the fuck up.

The Reverend, Friday, 4 February 2011 03:18 (fifteen years ago)

Iirc, Ethan had been quoting things from a white supremacist message board

haha aw man...the good ol' daze :)

basedketball (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 4 February 2011 03:19 (fifteen years ago)

you keep up with ethan? i hope that dude is good, miss him on the board still

basedketball (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 4 February 2011 03:20 (fifteen years ago)

Not really, he occasionally pops up on fb, but that's it. Seems like he's doing alright tho.

The Reverend, Friday, 4 February 2011 03:24 (fifteen years ago)

I am totally psyched for this to be a book, honestly no way it can disappoint

da croupier, Friday, 4 February 2011 03:24 (fifteen years ago)

lol good attitude

hercudeez and nuts affair (some dude), Friday, 4 February 2011 03:27 (fifteen years ago)

I am totally psyched for this to be a book, honestly no way it can disappoint

are your expectations really that low

Tim F, Friday, 4 February 2011 03:48 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.sashafrerejones.com/2009/11/best_of_2010_1.html

curmudgeon, Friday, 4 February 2011 17:16 (fifteen years ago)

ethan never responded to my fb request ;_;

bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Friday, 4 February 2011 17:20 (fifteen years ago)

also smh, that article is less relevant than ever now

bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Friday, 4 February 2011 17:22 (fifteen years ago)

Arcade Fire made his best-of list for 2010, so how will that fit into his premise (whatever it is at this point).

curmudgeon, Friday, 4 February 2011 17:24 (fifteen years ago)

2007:There’s no point in faulting Arcade Fire for what it doesn’t do; what’s missing from the band’s musical DNA is missing from dozens of other popular and accomplished rock bands’ as well—most of them less entertaining than Arcade Fire

curmudgeon, Friday, 4 February 2011 17:26 (fifteen years ago)

]I asked Geir if it was a quote from a white supremacist message board and then he told me to shut the fuck up.
Wow, I didn't catch that the first time around. Can't believe Geir actually told someone to STFU. He's always so unnervingly polite.

Jazzbo, Friday, 4 February 2011 17:36 (fifteen years ago)

nah the "you're a nazi/racist" accusations REALLY set him off.

bien-pensant vibe (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 4 February 2011 17:40 (fifteen years ago)

the curious case of the racist who didn't want to be thought of as racist

bien-pensant vibe (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 4 February 2011 17:41 (fifteen years ago)

ILM has always been preoccupied with this topic. It is what ILM was based on, the entire "black" music is superior to "white" music is the entire foundament of what ILM was originally meant to be.

― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 4:36 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark

board description?

symsymsym, Friday, 4 February 2011 18:39 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

So I just noticed on the New Yorker's contributors page this week that SF-J's book about "identity and popular music" is now being referred to as a memoir? (Has that always been the case?)

Sax Blatterday (jaymc), Tuesday, 18 December 2012 18:55 (thirteen years ago)

It's actually a viral marketing campaign for Ui albums, I hear

mh, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 19:04 (thirteen years ago)

Ha, this is the thread where Geir told me to shut the fuck up!

― The Reverend, Thursday, February 3, 2011 6:57 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Really, one of my proudest ILM moments.

― The Reverend, Thursday, February 3, 2011 6:58 PM Bookmark

The Reverend, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 19:07 (thirteen years ago)


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