― tricky disco, Thursday, 22 April 2004 14:37 (twenty years ago) link
― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 22 April 2004 14:44 (twenty years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 22 April 2004 14:46 (twenty years ago) link
Like the albums, his honorable mention album picks are listed in order of preference.
― slb, Thursday, 22 April 2004 14:57 (twenty years ago) link
― frankE, Thursday, 22 April 2004 15:00 (twenty years ago) link
And Jim DeRo's band Vortis shows up in Xgau's Choice Cuts this week.
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 22 April 2004 15:00 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 22 April 2004 15:02 (twenty years ago) link
Then I would suggest he should have reversed the two comments that precede the listed songs. Unless, of course, the effect of their juxtaposition would have been irredeemably compromised by such a reversal.
― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Thursday, 22 April 2004 15:03 (twenty years ago) link
You should read his book of essays, Dadaismus!
Seriously, I've always thought Xgau was fine just so long as you didn't take his opinion as gospel. I read his 70s and 80s Consumer Guides from high school on — whether you agree with him or not, his take is one of a kind.
― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 22 April 2004 15:15 (twenty years ago) link
I AM NOT AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!
― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Thursday, 22 April 2004 15:17 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 22 April 2004 15:26 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 April 2004 16:13 (twenty years ago) link
I'm not a great fan of this approach, but it does seem defensible from a logical standpoint, as long as you understand his verbal shorthand -- of course, I think it's adequately demonstrated here that not everybody does, which suggests some kind of failure.
― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Thursday, 22 April 2004 17:16 (twenty years ago) link
Anthony Miccio in Being a Different Person than Christgau Shocka.(The Courtney Love album is very good, by the way; esp. the single. And I don't hear what Bob hears in it, either -- I also completely forget what *Tonight's the Night* was about -- but I still think that was the best-written review in this month's Consumer Guide. Especially the punchline about the world owing Courtney a living.)
PS: I've never been all that big a Bon Jovi fan. PSS: The Blondie review made me laugh.
― chuck "hair metal" eddy, Thursday, 22 April 2004 17:44 (twenty years ago) link
- Some predictable moron with his head up his ass
― chuck, Thursday, 22 April 2004 17:47 (twenty years ago) link
That was one of Momus's finest moments.
― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Thursday, 22 April 2004 17:48 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 22 April 2004 17:50 (twenty years ago) link
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 22 April 2004 17:53 (twenty years ago) link
i found that i had no way at all to infer this from the limited information offered in the review
― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:15 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:16 (twenty years ago) link
Isn't it sort of assumed that the honorable mentions are records the reader is already aware of? Would someone honestly feel inclined to purchase a record based upon the tone of a single sentence or phrase. I always read it as a way for him to deny responsibility if someone bought what they feel to be a shitty album. But really it's like "oh you like the Strokes well the new record basically repeats the first one. sorry, well you know it alright, i guess."
― danh, Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:18 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:20 (twenty years ago) link
wilful obscurity as test of readership savvy is a rhetorical deadend imho
― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:25 (twenty years ago) link
Just when our number's upYou smashed the loving cupIt spills out everywhereIt simply isn't fairWe light up fire fliesWe kissed on New Years NightWe changed the centuryAll those romantic thingsWe changed the light to lowIt made our spirits glowIf it were up to meI'd never let you goSo If By ChanceYou Should agreeOhh tonightWe keep it RealToinghtWe put an End to the EndAnd just go on and on We wrote our name in lightsMade music every nightHeatwaves and rhapsodyBurn In my memoryWe changed the light to lowIt made our spirits glowIf it were up to meI'd never let you goSo If By ChanceYou Should agreeOhh tonightWe keep it RealToinghtWe put an End to the EndAnd just go on and on ToinghtWe put an End to the EndAnd just go on and on Tonight We PutAn End to the Endand just go on and on and on and on and on and on and on To the End the End the EndWe try to put the End to End to EndEnd the End End to the End the End the End End To End End To End
(Fade out...)Oh, did I mention that I wish the Pope had a bigger dick?
― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:25 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:26 (twenty years ago) link
I used to get sick with solitudeI was always better in the multitudeBut now I like it up here all alone in my ivory towerHi-ho at the end of my ropeI watch it all through a telescopeI think I'd have a better chance to see the popeI get so bored with his shtick and his mini-minute dick
― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:27 (twenty years ago) link
― frankE, Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:28 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:30 (twenty years ago) link
xpost
― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:30 (twenty years ago) link
Hilarity.
― frankE, Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:30 (twenty years ago) link
― frankE, Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:31 (twenty years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:31 (twenty years ago) link
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:34 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:34 (twenty years ago) link
i mean i understand this is one way christgau deals with limited space allotment, and to his credit he certainly has formed an identifiable and oft-praised style of out this contingencies. but as i've noted before, on other threads, he often writes so elliptically that the meaning is lost on a great portion of the audience, and unlike chuck i'm not so quick to suggest this is a function of laziness or stupidity on the part of the voice readership. it is the author's primary duty, especially in a newspaper, to communicate ideas to his audience, and if there's a great failure to do so it's unbecoming to blame the audience (especially when the problematic ellipsis can be so easily pointed out). sort of like rock stars whining about rock critics, in fact.
― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:35 (twenty years ago) link
Then again, if the ambiguity is entertaining enough, it will get people talking. Nice trick, that.
The Pope is hung like a rhino.
― Evanston Wade (EWW), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:39 (twenty years ago) link
what else could it possibly refer to except that having listened to the album, xgau has concluded that blondie wish the pop had a bigger dick? my assumption was that there's a lyric somewhere on the album that leads him to believe that. but maybe something else made him say that -- something on the cd cover, something about the way she sings, who knows. i don't need to know right this second which it is. what does it matter? if i'm intrigued enough, i'll explore further. if i'm not, i'll move on to the next album and the next sentence.
― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:40 (twenty years ago) link
― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:43 (twenty years ago) link
I don't hate Christgau's writing, or his style, but even as an occasional defender, I have to say that I find the format unclear (obviously, since I've been reading them wrong).
― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:46 (twenty years ago) link
― dave q, Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:47 (twenty years ago) link
― Hurlothrumbo (hurlothrumbo), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:49 (twenty years ago) link
― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:50 (twenty years ago) link
Seconded.
― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:52 (twenty years ago) link
― BanjoMania (Brilhante), Thursday, 22 April 2004 18:59 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 22 April 2004 19:00 (twenty years ago) link
― Evanston Wade (EWW), Thursday, 22 April 2004 19:03 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 22 April 2004 19:04 (twenty years ago) link
― BanjoMania (Brilhante), Thursday, 22 April 2004 19:04 (twenty years ago) link
That blurb actually persuaded me to give Cale a try fourteen years ago.
― Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 May 2010 21:46 (thirteen years ago) link
The implication that "Sister Ray" is somehow unfamiliar to Cale, I guess, or am I misreading it? I just now realized that maybe Christgau meant someone played it to him and he went "OH MY GOODNESS I HAVE FORGOTTEN HOW TO ROCK OUT, I WILL RESUME FORTHWITH," but the phrasing "thought the world of it" makes it sound like it's something new to him.
― a black white asian pine ghost who is fake (Telephone thing), Saturday, 15 May 2010 21:50 (thirteen years ago) link
It means "This album is so wild that it reminds Cale of what his last few albums weren't."
― Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 May 2010 21:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah.
― kornrulez6969, Sunday, 16 May 2010 01:25 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah - "it sounds like Cale has been reminded of what he's good at & in a way that makes doing it feel new & fresh to him," only put more cleverly
― in which we apologize for sobering up (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Sunday, 16 May 2010 02:28 (thirteen years ago) link
maybe too cleverly
― do you ever feel like some people are CHICKEN shit nowadays (some dude), Sunday, 16 May 2010 02:48 (thirteen years ago) link
Christgau clearly not a supporter of the old writing adage that anytime you're particularly proud of a turn of phrase, you should immediately chop it out and rewrite.
― Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Sunday, 16 May 2010 03:04 (thirteen years ago) link
it means Manzanera rules
― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Sunday, 16 May 2010 03:28 (thirteen years ago) link
this adage has good intentions but is kinda bullshit imo
― in which we apologize for sobering up (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Sunday, 16 May 2010 03:56 (thirteen years ago) link
like, it's applicable to people whose ability to write is in question, maybe - I hope to fuck that all the writers I like publish as many turns of phrase that they're proud of as they can get published during their lifetimes
― in which we apologize for sobering up (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Sunday, 16 May 2010 03:58 (thirteen years ago) link
Lost in Space [SuperEgo, 2002]I've never understood this ice queen thing myself. What's the big thrill--getting to see them bite their lip when they come?
― abanana, Sunday, 16 May 2010 03:58 (thirteen years ago) link
i guess my only problem with this review is that it (maybe) implies fear is better than paris 1919 which i don't buy altho i love fear
― velko, Sunday, 16 May 2010 07:20 (thirteen years ago) link
― in which we apologize for sobering up (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Saturday, May 15, 2010 11:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
fair enough, but choosing a snappy one liner (or an inscrutably tangled one) over a plainer truth or insight all the time gets a little exhausting when the guy's reviews are frequently only one line long.
― some dude, Sunday, 16 May 2010 09:12 (thirteen years ago) link
but how many people would read him if he spoke in plain and clear english
― retarded candle burning at both ends (dyao), Sunday, 16 May 2010 10:11 (thirteen years ago) link
uh, wrote
Setting aside the plain fact that nobody reads music criticism, period, I do actually think Christgau is a "critics' critic"; his primary audience is his peers. (Which I think is true of all music critics, but even more so in his case. Even people like me, who find his writing little more than a collection of linguistic/rhetorical tap-dancing, reflexive praise for heroes of long standing, and blind spots, still feel the need to pay attention.) I have no idea what the traffic numbers on his Consumer Guide pages are, though MSN's clearly inflating them through click-for-the-next-review trickery. But I suspect that far more people read Jon Pareles or Nate Chinen or Ben Ratliff at the New York Times, each of whom writes far less gnomically than Christgau.
― Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Sunday, 16 May 2010 14:51 (thirteen years ago) link
he invented twitter.
― _▂▅▇█▓▒░◕‿‿◕░▒▓█▇▅▂_ (Steve Shasta), Sunday, 16 May 2010 14:54 (thirteen years ago) link
see what I told you about heavy rock crit? ;-)
― NUDE. MAYNE. (s1ocki), Sunday, 16 May 2010 17:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Also linked on the year-end polls 2013 thread. Wasn't sure which Christgau thread to post it on
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/The-Consensus-Has-Consequences/ba-p/12189 his essay
http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Rock-Roll/The-2013-Dean-s-List/ba-p/12191
85 albums but no singles
Here's some of the albums
1. Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City (XL)2. The Uncluded: Hokey Fright (Rhymesayers)3. The Julie Ruin: Run Fast (TJR)4. Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel: Hey Hey It's...the Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel Band (self-released)5. Live from Festival au Desert Timbuktu (Clermont Music)6. Lady Gaga: Artpop (Streamline/Interscope)7. Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (Deluxe Edition) (Aftermath)8. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba: Jama Ko (Out Here)9. Gogol Bordello: Pura Vida Conspiracy (ATO)10. The Knife: Shaking the Habitual (Mute)11. Parkay Quarts: Tally All the Things That You Broke (What's Your Rupture?)12. Rilo Kiley: RKives (Little Record Company)13. Rachid Taha: Zoom (Wrasse)14. Deerhunter: Monomania (4AD)15. Kate Nash: Girl Talk (Have 10P)
― curmudgeon, Friday, 24 January 2014 17:37 (ten years ago) link
Anybody interested in this has probably already seen it, but if not, Christgau's 10 favourite movies:
Chinatown - Roman PolanskiA Hard Day’s Night - Richard LesterJackie Brown - Quentin TarantinoJules and Jim - Francois TruffautThe Last Detail - Hal AshbyMake Way for Tomorrow - Leo McCareyNothing but a Man - Michael RoemerOne-Eyed Jacks - Marlon BrandoRoma - Alfonso CuaronWhere Is the Friend’s Home? - Abbas Kiarostami
― clemenza, Wednesday, 19 February 2020 03:52 (four years ago) link
Bill James announced he was giving up his online site today, so readers have been posting well wishes all day. In my comment, I mentioned the reader-question forums that Christgau and Marcus include on their sites, both of which came much later than James's "Hey Bill" feature. Another reader posted this after my comment:
I went to the same elementary school as R. Christgau, a few years behind, and he evidently had been so remarkable that some of the teachers would sometimes reference him, probably to both the pride and chagrin of his little sister who was in those classes of mine.
(My response to him: "Trying to imagine Christgau in grade school...The only kid ever who, at the end of the day, graded the teacher: 'Loved the math lesson, my attention started to wander during science, but overall, you're making progress from two months ago: B+.'")
― clemenza, Saturday, 10 June 2023 18:19 (ten months ago) link