I'm proud of myself for not looking at that list, therapy is working
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:06 (four years ago) link
it's your privilege that lets you stay insulated from best-of lists, some people don't have that luxury
― j., Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:08 (four years ago) link
hahaha
― sleeve, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:08 (four years ago) link
irl lol
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:09 (four years ago) link
understand the job of critics, but i hate it when they think / talk like their opinion is fact. hate it, hate it, hate it.
― alpine static,
Example?
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:09 (four years ago) link
Pitchfork's application of the Ludovico Technique was probably a bridge too far, but that's where we are now
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:10 (four years ago) link
lol j.
― pomenitul, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:10 (four years ago) link
xxp that cganz tweet from above ("i have lectured my charges...") seems like a relevant one
― flopsy bird (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:11 (four years ago) link
Arguments like this are stupid as shit and not worth engaging in, but it's particularly grating with Big Thief where (1) I discovered the band by accident, having no idea whatsoever who they were (no "hype" played into it) and (2) they have been my favorite contemporary band for the past couple of years. I love their music on a really deep level, and if they're not ROCK AND ROLL enough for you, fine, but honestly just fuck off. Don't tell other people what they feel.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:13 (four years ago) link
luv 2 be a twitter bluecheck w/no name or identifying details
― drunk on hot toddies (morrisp), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:14 (four years ago) link
yeah and on that note who is this person, am I supposed to know who they are?
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:15 (four years ago) link
The tweet is dumb, Big Thief barely warrants a takedown bc I mean whose oxygen are they really stealing, and anyway as someone who mostly comes away from Next Big Thing indie with a shrug, I took to this band immediately with the first album. Her voice never bothered me but I also have built up immunity after years of listening to Neil Young.
― omar little, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:16 (four years ago) link
everyone self selects their Twitter bubble so what seems like an overbearing national discourse on Big Thief is basically like 20k nerds and no one gives a shit
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:18 (four years ago) link
the tweeter in question is a music editor at the nyt
― flopsy bird (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:20 (four years ago) link
Also, "emperor's new clothes" is just a weird criticism to make of them in particular even if you don't like them? Emperor's new clothes makes me think of something more like, IDK, that absurd overwrought orchestral project that Jack White did, lots of bluster and not much substance. Big Thief's music is obviously carefully and lovingly crafted and extremely sincere whether it's your thing or not.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:21 (four years ago) link
make up your mind, is it gonna be 'to each his own' or 'fuck you if you say anything against this obvious gem'
― j., Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:37 (four years ago) link
the tweeter in question is a music editor at the nytoh boiee
― drunk on hot toddies (morrisp), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:40 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RXwe-v72rE
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:47 (four years ago) link
― j., Tuesday, October 15, 2019 9:37 AM (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
it's "don't even think of @-ing me"
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:51 (four years ago) link
as a critical posture it's both dismissive and defensive, two things i think criticism should strive not to be but ymmv
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:52 (four years ago) link
I am always more interested in critical writing that involves subjectivity and really digs into it that way, vs this sort of objectivity lording over how others are supposed to feel. There’s of course a middle ground, a vast one occupied by many. Idk i think there’s a bit more room for being generous towards music if you start to dig into your own reactions, maybe. But I think the ego of a decent number of writers means more personal opinions being passed off as fact, much more dismissiveness and contempt. Don’t @ me w/r/t this post.
― omar little, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 16:56 (four years ago) link
― j., Tuesday, October 15, 2019 11:37 AM (twenty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
I mean I'm really not saying it's an "obvious gem," I just don't think "emperor's new clothes" is really an apt criticism? I don't particularly like Lana Del Rey, but I don't think she is "emperor's new clothes." Like there is objectively *something* there.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:01 (four years ago) link
right i agree with you there, i'm not sure what the exact original formulation was but my interest is not in seeing the band as new-clothesey or as hype-driven epiphenomena of the criticism industry. someone itt put it better, i think, that they seem to be an instance of a more general phenomenon where actually musically respectable bands get caught in waves of overestimation by critics-fans because of their role in the impoverished indie rock milieu but rapidly subside in esteem—yet you would expect critics to be more reflective about this when praising bands like this.
― j., Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:05 (four years ago) link
you could also expect so-called critics to maybe explain why they don't like a piece of art rather than dropping a "this sucks and everyone who likes it is dumb" stink bomb and refusing to engage with anyone.
― flopsy bird (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:07 (four years ago) link
^^^^ this
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:09 (four years ago) link
it's called editing!!!!!!!!!
― j., Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:10 (four years ago) link
I can't get over this choad referring to "'my charges." It reminds me of a National Review editor yelling at interns for using soy milk instead of REAL FUCKING CREAM in his coffee.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:14 (four years ago) link
I mean, fwiw I've almost never enjoyed most of the NY Times' music criticism. Their house vibe seems to be very boring people trying to prove how fun they are through their appreciation of popular music.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:15 (four years ago) link
doesn't it imply a custodial relationship, like the ones whom she has been tasked with shaping into fine critical wordsmiths and journalistic pros
― j., Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:16 (four years ago) link
I've always been annoyed by the whole "don't @ me" thing anyway, but it's one thing tagged onto the end of an obviously jokey tweet, another thing at the end of a weird (and, I'd say, misguided) blanket dismissal of any piece of art from a critic for a national outlet.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:19 (four years ago) link
somehow i missed that this band switched drummers between masterpiece and capacity, previously i thought jason burger had developed a sudden restraint on the latter record lol. james krivchenia's quiet, understated, very in the pocket playing feels much more tied to the spirit of the band than the sick fills burger unleashes all over "real love" but i love those sick fills regardless
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:21 (four years ago) link
haha so how many other ppl thought they had honed their intuitive communication when really they just dumped their lunkhead caveman
― j., Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:24 (four years ago) link
i mean it's both tbh
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:25 (four years ago) link
anyway, i finally checked out two hands and it's unsurprisingly great. i think capacity is still my favorite of the three--they maybe hadn't turned into world-beaters yet, but the best songs on capacity still hit me the hardest (haley, mary, mythological beauty, great white shark).
everyone otm about how 'not' hits even harder in context of the record.
― flopsy bird (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:26 (four years ago) link
huh, I actually didn't realize that either, only I assumed Krivechnia had been the drummer on Masterpiece. I think that explains a big part of why I find that record more uneven as much as I like it. I always felt like the title track wasn't done the way it deserved to be due to that big rock splash it tries to make.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:26 (four years ago) link
i don't think it's necessarily all his playing. there are many great songs on there that don't feel secure in their arrangements, some of them drumless ("velvet ring"). weird to think "paul" points the way to the rest of their discography but it does
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:36 (four years ago) link
and "randy." good ol paul and randy, pointing the way
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:43 (four years ago) link
"Paul" is still one of my very favorite songs of theirs
― Simon H., Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:43 (four years ago) link
Handwringing over Big Thief like this is giving me flashbacks to Music Tumblr
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:46 (four years ago) link
if your guitarist is named buck, chances are he's pretty good, ex. big thief, blue öyster cult
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:46 (four years ago) link
the buckaroos
― mizzell, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:51 (four years ago) link
R.E.M.
― flopsy bird (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 17:51 (four years ago) link
10,000 Maniacs
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 18:04 (four years ago) link
i made a thread for masterpiece bc i heard the title track and "real love" and thought they were pretty tight and also at the time they were on saddle creek, who put out hop along's painted shut the year before. both bands felt special in a similar way. i'm def an unwitting victim of the pr machine
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, October 15, 2019 10:01 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
ha my old roommate was a super trad rock dude who had white stripes posters on our living room wall. He would play new rock sometimes & I mostly found it super boring. I got into the first Big Thief album bc it was the best thing he played to my ears -- was a little embarrassed for liking it at first bc it had some indie-pop perpetua vibes which has never been my aesthetic wheelhouse but her voice was distinct enough & there were some surprisingly good songs on it, esp for such a familiar aesthetic, and after a few times hearing it I started listening to it on my own
had no idea the band was going to broaden its sound like it did but it was such an organic discovery process for me its difficult to follow that tweet
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 18:20 (four years ago) link
i don't like what i have heard of the new album which is not a lot but i would never ever dare to say it is not good. that's a very patronising statement. it's more like my ears and eventually my brain do not seem to be made to appreciate it. but i liked large chunks of the album before.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:01 (four years ago) link
I feel the same as you, voodoo chili. Myself, what keeps me from full-bore adoring these most recent two albums are the Extremely Strong Lyrics that I was hearing on Capacity which are largely absent
― i could chug a keg of you (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:05 (four years ago) link
i do not perceive as much of a gap between the lyrics of capacity and the following two records as you do fgti, but i get where you're coming from. the songs on capacity feel like they all have this personal specificity and inwardly-searching quality, and together they end up touching on gender and power dynamics, family, presence and absence, scenes of horror and beauty lining up simultaneously without a sense of irony and more with a sense of this is just how things happen. ufof is much more mystical and outwardly-directed and about getting kissed by the flicker of a lake but songs like "from" and verses like "driving through the night / rings of crystal, crystal light / every gulp of the warm suburb air / betsy's auburn, auburn hair"... idk it's less specific but i'm still stunned and a little terrified. i do not have a grip on two hands lyrically at the moment; imo "shoulders" is a capacity-quality lyric but "shoulders" is as old as capacity is
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:27 (four years ago) link
in trying to make that post not horrible i ended up reading a lot of big thief lyrics and capacity's title track just has this perfect verse tucked away inside of it
Slipping away from the partyTotally vacantEveryone gone from their bodiesYou were outside kissing anotherShe was a friend of mineI was surprised to discoverI wrapped my arms around herShe was a beautiful figure
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:29 (four years ago) link
also really love "evelyn's kiss was oxygen / i leaned over to take it in" from "shark smile"
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:30 (four years ago) link
shit doesn't even rhyme right
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 15 October 2019 19:35 (four years ago) link