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

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That Jewel album debuted at #2 and went gold, which isn't really "failing"

Dana Jel Pey (DJP), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 18:51 (three years ago) link

still, isn't a Jewel going gold a downgrade?

microsloth fig stimulator (Sufjan Grafton), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 18:55 (three years ago) link

two weeks pass...

....I don't know if I can bear to read the actual interview, but this aggressive press management a la Chance is not at all surprising

intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Monday, 26 April 2021 15:45 (two years ago) link

it's kinda hard to understand why she wanted it killed so badly. did she think that just not answering when asked about her views on prison abolition etc. was a bad look? but i don't think she really handled that badly. being all 'i don't want to get into politics' is a much better look than offering up some very poorly thought out political view. otherwise she just comes across the same way she usually does (a little annoying) with it seeming a bit weird how uninterested she is about talking about her dad when that was a big part of the PR for this album etc. but like not any worse than usual or anything

ufo, Monday, 26 April 2021 15:52 (two years ago) link

yeah, i don't get why she would want it pulled, what an ultimately innocuous interview

self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Monday, 26 April 2021 15:55 (two years ago) link

I thought I had done a not-so-good job the night before. I ended the call thinking I hadn’t asked the right questions. St. Vincent and I didn’t feel like a good match in conversation

Agreed.

peace, man, Monday, 26 April 2021 15:55 (two years ago) link

maybe she should just stop doing press since it seems to make her miserable

call all destroyer, Monday, 26 April 2021 15:57 (two years ago) link

I like her answer about Greta Garbo, i mean for a standard pre-album release phone interview there's some good stuff in here!

piscesx, Monday, 26 April 2021 16:15 (two years ago) link

I get the feeling that she and her publicists have read the room on the backstory of her father getting out of prison, realized that didn't land well, and now regret it.

akm, Monday, 26 April 2021 16:27 (two years ago) link

as good a guess as any

intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:28 (two years ago) link

really shitty of st. vincent, not terribly surprised

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, 26 April 2021 16:29 (two years ago) link

I get the feeling that she and her publicists have read the room on the backstory of her father getting out of prison, realized that didn't land well, and now regret it.

― akm, Monday, April 26, 2021 11:27 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

i hadn't thought of that but i bet this is totally what happened

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:30 (two years ago) link

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

Joe Bombin (milo z), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:33 (two years ago) link

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

devil sticks in trench coat (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:33 (two years ago) link

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.

Max Florian, Monday, 26 April 2021 16:34 (two years ago) link

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.

soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:35 (two years ago) link

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

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:41 (two years ago) link

(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?)

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:43 (two years ago) link

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.

akm, Monday, 26 April 2021 16:44 (two years ago) link

do not trust this writer

maura, Monday, 26 April 2021 16:46 (two years ago) link

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.

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:47 (two years ago) link

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

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:48 (two years ago) link

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

devil sticks in trench coat (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:48 (two years ago) link

(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)

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:51 (two years ago) link

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

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:52 (two years ago) link

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

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:53 (two years ago) link

that was not my post or my claim

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:55 (two years ago) link

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

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 16:57 (two years ago) link

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

devil sticks in trench coat (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:00 (two years ago) link

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

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:00 (two years ago) link

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

the mai tai quinn (voodoo chili), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:03 (two years ago) link

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...

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:03 (two years ago) link

(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)

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:05 (two years ago) link

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

maura, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:19 (two years ago) link

anyway it’s off the internet now, so whatever

maura, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:21 (two years ago) link

they must have got to her.

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:22 (two years ago) link

check the obits

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:23 (two years ago) link

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

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:27 (two years ago) link

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

like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:28 (two years ago) link

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

devil sticks in trench coat (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:29 (two years ago) link

Annie Clark must be in the pocket of Big Sitar.

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:29 (two years ago) link

this was Between Two Byrnes with St. Vincent

devil sticks in trench coat (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:30 (two years ago) link

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

akm, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:31 (two years ago) link

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

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:31 (two years ago) link

sometimes a sitar is just a not really a sitar sitar

buzza, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:35 (two years ago) link

don't sitar them with the same brush

devil sticks in trench coat (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 26 April 2021 17:37 (two years ago) link

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

maura, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:37 (two years ago) link

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.

maura, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:38 (two years ago) link

she never travels far without a little sitar

Western® with Bacon Flavor, Monday, 26 April 2021 17:38 (two years ago) link


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