St. Vincent - a.k.a. Annie Clark;

omg went to prison for a penny stock pump and dump, how incredibly Highland Park

if one were to 'consolidate the influences of their parents', would one then owe a lower emotional interest?

This oughtn't account for much as it's a personal feeling and you don't know me / can't get inside my head etc, and also I can be wrong and maybe regret it when reading this again in a few years' time... but I've realised I can't seem to be able to push play on a St Vincent album since forever, because my BS detector keeps suggesting to me she may really be a bit of an entitled prat, which is also how I basically came to feel about one of her role models i.e. Prince. With both of their musics, it all seems to scream, "Me, Me, Me" in my face; their PR demeanors, to go by this latest article on StV, also seem very alike. I had grown tired of her attention-getting shticks over the years - could be interviews, album cover photos, something in the live presentation - so much so that half a single interview would be enough to put me off having a listen to a new album of hers until the next one. "Contrived" is the operative word. Which all is to say that this latest thing hasn't really surprised me. Some work, too much work that stands in the way of my simple willing to have a listen in order to find out what she does - not who she is, or wants to project how she wants to be perceived.

I'd like to know if anyone is with me on this, or whether my intuition about Annie Clark is terribly off the mark.

If anything, the interviewer should be embarrassed for being ill prepared and awkward for the interview. Can't say I see a reason why the St. Vincent team would be so against this, at least nothing worth the bad press that comes with trying to have it killed.

but also that was a pretty poorly conducted and awkward interview, you have to have that sense when someone has "closed the door" on a certain line of questioning, you're not going to get what you want out of them and pursuing it further will just cause them to shut down

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, April 26, 2021 12:29 PM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I mean, probably why the "pursuing it further" happened close to the 30-minute mark

(also, don't most major artist PRs have a stated "don't ask questions about _____" policy going in? or is this just at the megacelebrity level?)

interviewer def. should have dropped it, dunno what she thought she was going to get. Also would it kill interviewers to ask directly about the music? fucking hell. so tired of this type of interview with musicians.

do not trust this writer

it wasn't just the dad stuff, this is just so clearly one where you just let it go

I guess last year’s riots brought abolition towards the mainstream, during the time you were making this record, which is partially about your father’s time in prison. How did that square with your thoughts on prison and the US carceral system?

Well I have plenty of thoughts on it, I’m not totally sure how it’s relevant to this.

Well I was wondering if you have a standpoint on it or if you’d rather just be ambiguous?

I have so many thoughts and opinions, I don’t presume that my thoughts and opinions are relevant on every subject though. I don’t have that much hubris.

a) much of the interview is, in fact, about the music; questions about inspiration for the music are still questions about the music, given that they're why it exists

b) it doesn't name the publication, for all you know it's more of a general-purpose outlet that isn't going to be interested in how many seconds an A sharp was held

c) so fucking tired of the "why don't they TaLk AbOuT tHe MuSiC?????" shit in general

let's get down to it -- why these notes? and why in this order?

(plus, for what it's worth, multiple advice-for-interviewing-musicians guides specifically advise to stay away from that kind of "let's talk about the music" question because too often it tends to result in a "well, we just played the song" non-answer)

b) it doesn't name the publication, for all you know it's more of a general-purpose outlet that isn't going to be interested in how many seconds an A sharp was held

this is definitely a binary with no middle ground

and the interview is definitely 0% about the music, with no middle ground

that was not my post or my claim

then I'm not sure why you're jumping down my throat over that

Thank you for sitting down with Food & Wine today. Let's start with the new album.

katherine - was not my intent to jump down your throat or seem aggressive, apologies

overall, i think the way music production has changed has changed the average musician's relationship to the nuts and bolts of making records. sure, in the 80s or something it was possible to just waltz in, cut a vocal and waltz out then let the pros take over, but i think almost any musician these days is doing some degree of self-production on their laptop, or making songs by sending mp3s to other members of the band or at the very least demos that would have been considered elaborate decades ago

i think this is especially true for newer artists who grew up with garageband, fruityloops, ableton etc etc

so i think "we just played it" happens less and less now, as fewer musicians work in traditional studio settings, going in for a month with a pro producer and leaving with a finished product

seems to me that they'd be happy to answer questions about that, or at least some of them

st. vincent in particular has been very thoughtful when talking about the nuts and bolts of her music, like in her guitar moves interview

but they do! "I love the sitar on this album especially on ‘Down’, the riff is so sick. How did you get to the sitar?", "I do hear a bit of (Candy Darling's) voice on the title track, I was wondering if you were kind of modeling your voice after her?", "Do you see this album as a movement, does it have a narrative?", "That’s just how I listened to this album, as a series of short stories. I was wondering how they interlink in your mind?", etc...

(also, I would bet money the '70s question was meant to segue into '70s influences on the album, of which there are many, given that it came toward the beginning, and then when st. vincent one-word-answered it the interviewer kind of had to rapidly regroup)

but the sitar question belied a lack of research and she didn’t even follow up when she was corrected about it being a specific type of guitar

anyway it’s off the internet now, so whatever

they must have got to her.

check the obits

I mean, people make mistakes or oversights in research; I know I have done it before. people are human, it happens. would be surprised if the sitar thing was what got this killed though

(plus sitar vs. electric sitar is such a small thing)

why the sitar?
it's not a sitar
sitar you sure?

Annie Clark must be in the pocket of Big Sitar.

this was Between Two Byrnes with St. Vincent

assuming the writer realized that posting it anyway did nothing but make her look untrustworthy and bad

Clark must have wanted the interview killed because she was not referred to as the King of Pop, per the terms.

sometimes a sitar is just a not really a sitar sitar

don't sitar them with the same brush

sure people make mistakes but if she had done more (or better) research she would have had more to fill out the time than questions about the same topic to which clark’s answers seemed like variations on “can we change the subject”

i get asking the ~hard questions~ about ~hot topics~ but at what point are you just not doing your job by taking different tacks in a short period of time

xp

and i mean it’s annie clark. she is a known gearhead. discussion of something george harrison played might segue more gracefully into the 70s angle this writer was so desperately looking for.

she never travels far without a little sitar

why the sitar?
it's not a sitar
(laughing) yes, well you played that sitar so damn good, they should throw you in jail
i was complimentary throughout the interview. I laughed at all of her jokes.

The Internet is forever

https://web.archive.org/web/20210426154208/https://www.emmamadden.com/post/st-vincent-told-me-to-kill-this-interview

It was a bad interview because a) the writer didn't seem fully prepped for it, and b) Annie Clark is a terrible interview subject who has never said a single interesting thing in any piece I've ever read about her. The ethics of posting the transcript after the publication caved to Clark's PR team and spiked the piece...eh, she'll probably never write for that outlet again, and it might have burned other bridges for her as well, since most editors these days are too dumb or overworked to think of creative write-around strategies, and therefore cower in fear of ever losing access. That's a hell of a professional hit to take for St fucking Vincent.

perhaps EM is hoping to play the "controversy" into a bigger deal

(plus sitar vs. electric sitar is such a small thing)

There's a pretty significant difference imo between a sitar (an acoustic instrument with movable frets and scalloped neck, played mostly with two left hand fingers on a primary and secondary playing string) and an electric guitar (with fixed frets and six playing strings, played with four fingers) that is adapted to emulate the sound of a sitar. Totally fair to mistake the sound of one for the other but I agree with Maura that if it was worth asking about the instrument in the first place, it was worth following up on when corrected. The fact that such a different instrument could be mistaken for the other is itself an interesting thing to go further with.

I earnestly love it when sund4r drops knowledge

perhaps EM is hoping to play the "controversy" into a bigger deal

I find this likely.

anyway time to bring back my favorite reddit post pic.twitter.com/T64f6Q6GKm

— the susan lucci of tribal council (@xtine_files) April 26, 2021

whatever else Annie Clark has a future describing album sleeves for Wikipedia.

I've told ev'ry little sitar

probably meant "discovered the wider discography of Kate Bush"?

Actually "scalloped neck" is more true of the veena, I think - the sitar's frets are raised and curved over the neck, which achieves a comparable effect.

Wow, wiki for the win;

Because the tone quality and playing technique differ significantly from that of the sitar, it is typically used in rock, jazz, and fusion styles. Notable early hit singles featuring electric sitar include Eric Burdon and the Animals' "Monterey", Joe South's "Games People Play", Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her" (played by Eddie Willis) and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered", B.J. Thomas' "Hooked on a Feeling" (played by Reggie Young), The Spinners' "It's a Shame", The Box Tops "Cry Like a Baby" as well as some sides by The Stylistics and The Delfonics.

Other recording artists who have featured the electric sitar include:

Elvis Presley " 1969 America Sound recording sessions" "Stranger In My Hometown", "You'll Think Of Me"

Steppenwolf ("Snowblind Friend", played by producer Richard Podolor)
Mandrake Memorial
Kronos Quartet
Genesis (in "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight")
Yes (in "Close To The Edge", "Siberian Khatru", "Tales From Topographic Oceans", "To Be Over", "Into The Lens") and their guitarist Steve Howe on his solo albums
Mike Oldfield used it on "Flying Start" (on Islands)
The Clash (in "Armagideon Time")
Todd Rundgren
Redbone ("Come and Get Your Love")
Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods ("Who Do You Think You Are?")
The Grass Roots "Glory Bound"
Guns N' Roses (in "Pretty Tied Up")
Lenny Kravitz ("It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" and "Again")
Robbie Dupree ("Steal Away")
Oasis
Dinosaur Jr. (in "The Wagon")
R.E.M.
Metallica (in "Wherever I May Roam")
Steely Dan (in "Do It Again")
Paul Young (in "Everytime You Go Away")
Tom Petty (in "Don't Come Around Here No More")
Dan Fogelberg (in "Nexus")
George Duke and Stanley Clarke in ("Sweet Baby")
Santana
Roy Wood
Eric Johnson
Mystical Sun
Pearl Jam (in "Who You Are")
Screaming Trees in "Halo of Ashes"
Redd Kross (in "Play My Song")
Alice in Chains (in "What the Hell Have I")
Ugly Kid Joe (in "Cats in the Cradle")
The All-American Rejects (in ''Night Drive'')
Torsten de Winkel
Flower Travellin' Band
Prince
The Cure
Manic Street Preachers (in "Tsunami" and "I'm Not Working")
Hiroshi Takano
Miyavi
Sugizo
hide
Clarence White
Ronnie Wood
Kaoru of Dir en grey
Pat Metheny (notably on "Last Train Home")
Sigh
Steve Vai (notably on "For the Love of God")
Rory Gallagher (in "Philby")
Mint Royale
Steve Miller
Eddie Van Halen (on "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" & "Primary")
Tony Hicks of The Hollies
Schizo Da Maddcap
Rob Mastrianni (Beatbox Guitar, Next Tribe).
Raagnagrok is a contemporary duo using electric sitar and electronic.
Khalil Balakrishna, when playing live for Miles Davis.

Although George Harrison is generally credited with introducing the sitar into popular music, he is not known to have played a bona fide electric version on any recording.

On his award-winning 1969 instrumental rendition of the Joe South tune "Games People Play" saxophonist King Curtis teamed with guitarist Duane Allman on the electric sitar (he also played slide guitar). This can be found on the Duane Allman album An Anthology.

The 1971 album Somethin' Else recorded by Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass prominently featured an electric sitar, a first for the country music industry. The instrument provided accompaniment on such songs as "Snowbird", "Rose Garden", "Are You from Dixie?" and others.

On ABBA’s 1979 recording of "I Have A Dream" the refrain is played on an electric sitar. However the recording for the 2008 movie version of "Mamma Mia" featured a real bouzouki.[5]

The 1992 album Bloody Kisses by Type O Negative used an electric sitar in the song "Can't Lose You" played by Paul Bento from the band Carnivore.

Glass Hammer guitarist Kamran Alan Shikoh performed electric sitar in the band's song from 2009 to his departure in 2018.

In 2010, MGMT released their album Congratulations, where the electric sitar was played on many tracks by lead singer and guitarist Andrew VanWyngarden.

Blues musician Buddy Guy played, among other guitars, a Coral electric sitar in shows on his 2010 tour.

The 2014 album Black Messiah by American neo-soul singer D'Angelo and backing band The Vanguard, features use of the electric sitar on tracks such as "Another Life" and "The Charade".

The 2015 song "Multi-Love" by Unknown Mortal Orchestra makes use of the electric sitar.