★ The Weeknd ★ What You Need ★

im confused abt this idea that somehow bcuz indie is music that evolved out of critics, that means that non-indie listeners have no use for well-written and thoughtful music criticism. if u guys know of any such venues that dont hold indie central to their aesthetic worldview and actually have a readership of some kind & pay on time, plz let me know

like my take is we should be cognizent of this stuff bcuz the audience might not exist because they're not being written to, no that their not being written to because that audience doesnt care about well-written critcism

blargh poorly written.

my take is we should be cognizant of this stuff because fans of xyz might not read music writing because they dont see people writing to them, rather than because they have no interest in well-written music crit

i just look at whatever numerical score pfork gave something, check to see if there's a free mp3 download, then move on to the next review.

i realize the 'well-written' thing sounds pompous (& prob lol considering how my last posts) but i just mean that the aim of the crit is towards, like, 'serious critical writing' -- not trying to make any value statements abt the quality of my writing -- there are prob some R&B message board posts out there w/ more insight i dont doubt

wow i tried to read this whole thing while streaming the album, i really did.

this music is v. boring, forks "baby dreams" comment otm.

btw wicked games and gaudy side of town have a few things in common to my ears.

at this point I have no desire to hear the entire mixtape but the two-three songs I played off of Youtube were nice, plus I am always going to be pro-sampling of bands/songs I like

(& prob lol considering how my last posts)

lol wtf is wrong am i stroking or something

what you need is the only good track

i don't know if i need it but i would like to know, what is the good track? /abbottandcostello

some dude if "the morning" happens to be one of the songs by The Weeknd you didn't get around to listening to on youtube, i'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it

I think there have been a lot of interesting questions about taste asked in this thread that unfortunately have been steamrolled under all this 'pitchfork controls my life: yes or no?' bs.

heh i think the cheesy guitar noodling is my fav part of this song and the "make that money rain" line makes me think of andy k comparing "knock your boots off" to bezerker xpost

heh i think the cheesy guitar noodling is my fav part of this song

otm

I think there have been a lot of interesting questions about taste asked in this thread that unfortunately have been steamrolled under all this 'pitchfork controls my life: yes or no?' bs.

― Tim F, Wednesday, March 30, 2011 8:11 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yah true sorry for contributing to this

im not rlly sure what term to use to describe this phenomenon of value systems so end up using 'pfork' or 'indie' which just confusing things further

the "make that money rain" line makes me think of andy k comparing "knock your boots off" to bezerker

lol fair enough

use the language of the oppressor: 'altbros'

feels like this thread has become alternating calls of "if you want good R&B you're just stubbornly looking in the wrong place despite the right places being right out in the open" and "if you want good R&B criticism you're just stubbornly looking in the wrong place despite the right places being right out in the open"

you are crazy

::blows kiss::

why doesn't music critics ever just want to chill

i chill all the time bro

describing someone who disagrees w/ you as stressed & not chill is a timeless tactic i suppose

tbf you're ilx presence is decidedly unchill

ha was gonna say

your**********

what about his ********?

tbf you're ilx presence is decidedly unchill

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, March 30, 2011 9:47 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

itt?

a little. mine too admittedly.

I think gr8080 was using a slightly different type of "chill".

NB. it should hardly be surprising to anyone that a new album steeped in modern R&B signifiers but feted by the indie-rock crowd would incite fairly values-loaded reactions (which we've seen in both the pro and con camps) as opposed to say, yo, this Loggins & Messina album I found at the op shop.

Maybe in 20 years time when the equivalent of balearic/beardo is old and forgotten noble failure attempts at indie-R&B everyone will be able to chill more wholeheartedly.

i'm just playin' dudes

while Lamp remains the most OTM poster itt, i've read about 95% of this thread and actually enjoyed most of your nerdy chin-stroking from the sidelines

oh shit did i just win the superiority contest

i am curious as to why ppl think this was the band that divided R&B ilxors rather than, like, destroyer or gayngs or other R&B friendly indie artists that seemed only to rile lex previously

http://www.theawl.com/2011/03/you-say-hipster-rb-i-say-nappy-headed-pop-either-way-its-offensive

destroyer is R&B friendly? i had no idea

dirty projectors thing kinda riled people up too iirc

destroyer is R&B friendly? i had no idea

― some dude, Wednesday, March 30, 2011 10:08 PM (57 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

well, goons liked it, lex hated it

i dont remember a debate about the dirty projjys but i thought that big song of theirs was fun enough, i guessed tho that the rest of their music was prob not in that league

that link of max's, ugh

lol I thought the Dirty Projectors fracas was mostly me (because I kind of ignored them when everyone cared and only weighed in when they made the 2009 top 10, also I am horribly self-involved)

goons like destroyer? i don't remember that either.

I think there have been a lot of interesting questions about taste asked in this thread that unfortunately have been steamrolled under all this 'pitchfork controls my life: yes or no?' bs.

how often do you conflate the two concerns tho even just itt? like i feel like part of the problem is ppl who cant divorce how the music is received by listeners w/ how its written abt by critics

w/e this thread is making me crazy you ppl will nvr learn & u just dont know how...

Here's a proposal—how about we call it "nappy-headed pop"?

Here's a proposal-DIE IN A FIRE

http://www.theawl.com/2011/03/you-say-hipster-rb-i-say-nappy-headed-pop-either-way-its-offensive

― max, Wednesday, March 30, 2011 6:06 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest

i'd never heard the drake interlude he mentions in that piece but omarion probably didn't do himself any favors w/ the whole gay thing by re-working "friendly skies" with drake

that article did remind me of the several pieces about new R&B singer Santogold that floated around early on

how often do you conflate the two concerns tho even just itt? like i feel like part of the problem is ppl who cant divorce how the music is received by listeners w/ how its written abt by critics

There's increasingly no great distinction though. Message boards are indicative of that. Even youtube comments. Most people are narrativising their taste in some form.

Anyway I don't know which posts of mine you're thinking of here. I'm pretty sure the only references I've made to pitchfork in this thread have been to say that this is not about pitchfork, and moreover that the kind of "biases" we're talking about here aren't unique to indie but run in all directions.

you know the frattier version of this same phenomenon is like Mike Posner, who ALSO recorded his demo in his home (er, dorm room @ Duke). Like the real narrative of this whole thing is "ppl who are into R&B now doing the home recording stuff that indie ppl (and the critics who write about them) used to think was their sovereign territory (even though Gary Wilson exists).

Here's a proposal—how about we call it "nappy-headed pop"?

Here's a proposal-DIE IN A FIRE

― whelping at his sandpapery best (DJP), Wednesday, March 30, 2011 12:12 PM (43 minutes ago) Bookmark

ha i think you maybe posted this before finishing that article?