the awl piece was the first thing of his i've read that i was actually able to get through from beginning to end and it's decently constructed, but his "point" in re cool bands of yore regaining their coolness or still being cool or whatever is shoot-me-in-the-face trite bullshit.
― call all destroyer, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:07 (thirteen years ago) link
^ trigger-happy
― glengarry glen "ross from friends" (s1ocki), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:09 (thirteen years ago) link
We're really lowering the bar here: writer with nothing interesting to say builds up to his nothing interesting in a nicely paced way. I've read worse writers but they're not pretending to offer ingenuous "wisdom".
― Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:22 (thirteen years ago) link
Nor do they make their name with a website passing judgement on other, usually better writers.
― Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:23 (thirteen years ago) link
*shoots self in face*
― glengarry glen "ross from friends" (s1ocki), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:23 (thirteen years ago) link
congrats on generating interest in a terrible writer, guys
― bang (HI DERE), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:25 (thirteen years ago) link
haha wow i always assumed that prr was an elaborate and not very funny joke..??! his writing hurts my head like a hundred dogs.
― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:27 (thirteen years ago) link
this guy is a horrible writer
― Mr. Que, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:29 (thirteen years ago) link
But he is interestingly terrible. If you can't write properly, consciously making yourself the post-Pitchfork Forrest Gump ("indie rock's like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get"), and getting lots of attention out of it, is at least a novel solution.
― Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:32 (thirteen years ago) link
did u ever read the one about how he used to be really fat before he got into music? it was really good!
― glengarry glen "ross from friends" (s1ocki), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:32 (thirteen years ago) link
the saddest part about that post is that he's too young to know he'll probably get fat again once he's old and jaded. u_u
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:37 (thirteen years ago) link
just can't take the breathless no punctuation style it's grating and annoying and it just doesn't click with me if i want long endless sentences i'll pick up some thomas bernhard and not some dork-o with a music blog
― Mr. Que, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:37 (thirteen years ago) link
he does use punctuation is the thing...?
more than u do tbh
― glengarry glen "ross from friends" (s1ocki), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:38 (thirteen years ago) link
well maybe he does, sometimes, cool, thanks slocks
― Mr. Que, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:39 (thirteen years ago) link
.
― glengarry glen "ross from friends" (s1ocki), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:39 (thirteen years ago) link
;)
― Mr. Que, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:40 (thirteen years ago) link
lol guess what day it is
http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/
*moment of silence*
― glengarry glen "ross from friends" (s1ocki), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:41 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/images/QuestionMarkNormaSMALL.jpg
4 u
― Mr. Que, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:42 (thirteen years ago) link
i can't tell if that's a couple of pounds of uncooked sausage, a tumor, or a french bread pizza.
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:44 (thirteen years ago) link
sometimes you really have to stare at a goofy internet photo for a long time to penetrate the veil of mystery
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:45 (thirteen years ago) link
it's a meat loaf shaped like a question mark, strongo.
― Mr. Que, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:48 (thirteen years ago) link
DUH
I think his thing is not punctuating at the ends of paragraphs, but he does it elsewhere.
― jaymc, Friday, 24 September 2010 15:49 (thirteen years ago) link
He's good and thoughtful in a diaristic sense but this is not the kind of stuff I would want to read in a magazine proper! It's too personal.
― The Rich Man's 8-Track (u s steel), Friday, 24 September 2010 15:59 (thirteen years ago) link
And too internetty, and secretly assumes certain knowledge on your part to get what he's doing. And yeah, I think some of it is problematic if you read about music to really get information about music. But if you want to talk about magazines proper, I mean ... the more you get toward normal general-audience readers/listeners, the more people totally go for being narrative, or first-person, or "personal." E.g., Chuck Klosterman writing personal essays that happened to be about music a lot of the time -- and if you gave a bunch of young people a "name one music critic" survey, he'd probably come out on top. Not saying I get much out of his music essays, but "personal" and "narrative" are SO not sticking points for the vast majority of potential readers, you know?
― oɔsıqɐu (nabisco), Friday, 24 September 2010 18:25 (thirteen years ago) link
can I point out that if you gave a bunch of young people a "name one music critic" survey, you'd probably get Gene Shallit as top answer?
― Monkeys? Um, no. (HI DERE), Friday, 24 September 2010 18:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Shalit's rap reviews are hot
"There's only one word for Gucci Mane: burriliant! When life gave him lemons, he made 'Lemonade!' No matter what 'state' you live in, I 'appeal' to you to buy this album!"
― oɔsıqɐu (nabisco), Friday, 24 September 2010 18:56 (thirteen years ago) link
just wait until the inevitable book deal
― markers, Friday, 24 September 2010 19:15 (thirteen years ago) link
when I sang with the BSO, we would periodically see Shalit out around town in the Berkshires wearing a child's sailor hat
― Monkeys? Um, no. (HI DERE), Friday, 24 September 2010 19:19 (thirteen years ago) link
I apologize for making a Custosy Shalit/rap joke that neglected to work in BIG PUN
― oɔsıqɐu (nabisco), Friday, 24 September 2010 19:28 (thirteen years ago) link
shalit's earned the right to wear whatever piece of childrens apparel he wishes
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Friday, 24 September 2010 19:29 (thirteen years ago) link
not according to megan's law
― da croupier, Friday, 24 September 2010 20:11 (thirteen years ago) link
I mean, look, on some level I would have really preferred not to think he's a good writer, you know?
^^
Really, he's my favorite music writer working today. And his shit absolutely needs to get into next year's Da Capo Best Music Writing series. Nabisco's right, his essays use a really great personal narrative structure that runs through his work, and it's fantastic. I find that a lot of music crit runs together into one big formless uninteresting mass, but this guy has a VOICE. And not many people do. I like writers whose personal style I can recognize, follow, understand, and I like being able to reconcile the crit with the writer, and see the two as a piece. I can do that with (to name Pfork writers in conjunction with PFF talk) Breihan, Tim F, Jess, Mark R, Ewing, Drake, nabisco, Mike McG, Scott P. And much as I'm sure several of them would resent seeing their name next to the PRR fella, I'd put him in the same league at this point. He's as good as any Pfork writer working today. And that's incredible.
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Saturday, 25 September 2010 02:16 (thirteen years ago) link
(to name Pfork writers in conjunction with PFF PRR talk)
Correction ^
And that's incredible.
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, September 24, 2010 9:16 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark
putting this in my CV
― if you can put a ceiling fan in your van (deej), Saturday, 25 September 2010 02:32 (thirteen years ago) link
dog no offense but i recommend reading more
― if you can put a ceiling fan in your van (deej), Saturday, 25 September 2010 02:33 (thirteen years ago) link
how could he possibly take that offensively
― glengarry glen "ross from friends" (s1ocki), Saturday, 25 September 2010 02:35 (thirteen years ago) link
well there are a million condescending things going on beneath the surface
― if you can put a ceiling fan in your van (deej), Saturday, 25 September 2010 02:36 (thirteen years ago) link
i mean look as the dude who will unapologetically brag abt 'discovering' ringtone cru classics i have no shame bigging up myself but just .... LOL
http://www.eminem.net/stan/images/eminem_stan_06.jpg
― kellspolaris (k3vin k.), Saturday, 25 September 2010 02:53 (thirteen years ago) link
hahha
― high efficiency unit (J0rdan S.), Saturday, 25 September 2010 03:15 (thirteen years ago) link
so this is probably aggressively mean but basically the ilxor stamp of approval means either PRR dude is going to blow up far beyond his talent or he's about to be forgotten by everyone everywhere (placing money on option #2 because at the end of the day dude SUCKS and really there is nothing to be gained by advancing this infantile bullshit beyond sinking the average level of discourse about anything in this country further down the toilet)
― Monkeys? Um, no. (HI DERE), Saturday, 25 September 2010 03:47 (thirteen years ago) link
(of course this means that dude is about to be enshrined as a great American writer because quite honestly most of the US just wants to elevate someone they can feel superior to)
i remain totally baffled by any praise of this guy but there is no point in discussing it afaict
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 25 September 2010 03:51 (thirteen years ago) link
ha yeah
at this point all I want to do is drink until I forget PRR exists
― Monkeys? Um, no. (HI DERE), Saturday, 25 September 2010 03:52 (thirteen years ago) link
loooooool
― markers, Saturday, 25 September 2010 03:52 (thirteen years ago) link
that's basically what i'm doing right now
― call all destroyer, Saturday, 25 September 2010 03:52 (thirteen years ago) link
would be worried if you had written "drink so that I forget PRR exists"
― markers, Saturday, 25 September 2010 03:53 (thirteen years ago) link
So wait, if you write on a blackberry it automatically capitalizes the first letter of a paragraph? This makes total sense because even my shitty ancient bottom-of-the-line Nokia does that!
Dude writes a whole lot, so you have to give him credit for that. But i dont think it's really anything great or mindblowing. I would kinda like to see a Pitchfork Reviews Reviews Reviews site.
― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 25 September 2010 03:59 (thirteen years ago) link