OK, is this the worst piece of music writing ever?

No body no crime

Will that turn all the Swifties into prison abolitionists or will they want more people in prison in order to facilitate their discovery of the Swift?

Afraid it may make aspiring writers consider murder as a way into The New Yorker.

I thought it was good

Ha I thought it was an intentional joke on Niko’s end tbh

― Snoopy is a cat, who lives in a cage (flamboyant goon tie included)

yeah seriously this is just how a lot of queer people _talk_ haha

you wanna talk about capitalization that nearly gave me a heart attack, how about this:

If news breaks today that whatever madlib of an elder rockstar is transphobic

jesus christ stratis if you hadn't said "rockstar" in there...

it's interesting because i do come at it from a different angle than stratis... i don't want to have a _voice_, i want a world that neither needs or wants my voice on trans issues, because there _is_ no "trans debate", because anybody who is transphobic is a bigot and is treated accordingly. that's a completely unrealistic expectation but fuck it, i'm a trans woman, "realistic expectations" haven't really done much for me

i also want people to pay me for existing, because existing is hard and i deserve to get paid way more for it than i am now

actually let me amend that, i definitely want a world that wants my voice on trans issues, i just think the major trans issue of the day should be "just how hot are trans people? very hot or extremely hot?" (the answer, of course, is "why not both?")

do people think that Swift in prison piece is bad? i think it's really good.

I thought it was good, for sure

your feelings on it probably vary depending on your tolerance for taytay's cultural ubiquity

Good first line.

This is what your 9th Grade English teacher means when she says "give your essay a strong opener." https://t.co/NSwu33OC5J

— Rohita Kadambi (@RohitaKadambi) September 4, 2023

Tory boy who claims to love Aphex Twin "reviews" his recent gig. Several paras of banal reminiscences and scene setting, one clueless one about the performance itself that can be summarised as "it's just a bunch of noise".

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-50-quid-hour-and-a-bit-troll-aphex-twin-at-field-day-reviewed/

How has he never managed to hear any post-1994 Aphex before? Oh, because he's literally only heard SAW1 and never bothered to check out anything else by this artist he "loves".

I'm hardly an Aphex expert, but I know there's more to him than SAW1. The one time I saw him live, he was supported by The Bug and Wolf Eyes. Nuff said.

A reactionary review in the fascist Spectator is a recommendation of course. The full set has been posted on Youtube and it's fantastic: loads of acid, chopped up Amen breaks, and a brutal Come To Daddy.

The singer for Fat White Family has written one of those "you just can't say/do anything anymore" pieces for Unherd, a reactionary website masquerading as a "free thought zone" or whatthefuckever. People are just too timid and easily offended these days, he says, like so very many aging "punk" frontmen before him.

https://unherd.com/2023/09/punks-spirit-is-broken/

those of you who know me, mark my words: if I ever meet Jann Wenner, and it's not outside the realm of possibility, weirder things have happened in my life, I'm gonna punch him in the mouth for the shit he says in his NYT interview here.

Q: I think it’s fair to say that the average reader assumes that what shows up in the publication is basically what was said. But you’re saying, actually the subjects go over the transcripts. And, for example, you got pilloried for reviewing Mick Jagger’s “Goddess in the Doorway,” giving it five stars, when the critical consensus on that album was that it was kind of a dud. The broader question is, when it comes to interviews with the people that you admire, who are also your friends, are you shading into something that’s a little more like fan service, or a kind of branding, than objective journalism?

A: Look, nothing was ever substantively changed from the original interviews. These are all minor changes that really get to accuracy and readability and all that stuff. Secondly, these were not meant to be confrontational interviews. They were always meant to be cooperative interviews.

Q:But there aren’t two kinds of interviews.

A: Yes, there are. The kind of interview I wanted to do was to elicit real thinking, not to confront or challenge or get somebody defensive. But let’s go to the underlying thing: Did my too-cozy relationships alter our coverage?

Q: That’s right.

That was something.

I have no idea when the last time I was this angry about a music-related piece anywhere. just such fucking bullshit, and such a giant shining indicator -- as if one were needed, but still -- of how much was lost, obscured, hidden, diminished, obviated by guys like this determining who did or didn't get the lead review, the front cover, the news item.

Insofar as the women, just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.

Oh, stop it. You’re telling me Joni Mitchell is not articulate enough on an intellectual level?

Hold on a second.

I’ll let you rephrase that.

All right, thank you. It’s not that they’re not creative geniuses. It’s not that they’re inarticulate, although, go have a deep conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Please, be my guest. You know, Joni was not a philosopher of rock ’n’ roll. She didn’t, in my mind, meet that test. Not by her work, not by other interviews she did. The people I interviewed were the kind of philosophers of rock.

Of Black artists — you know, Stevie Wonder, genius, right? I suppose when you use a word as broad as “masters,” the fault is using that word. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn’t articulate at that level.

Oh, stop it. You’re telling me Joni Mitchell is not articulate enough on an intellectual level?

Hold on a second.

I’ll let you rephrase that.

A: All right, thank you. It’s not that they’re not creative geniuses. It’s not that they’re inarticulate, although, go have a deep conversation with Grace Slick or Janis Joplin. Please, be my guest. You know, Joni was not a philosopher of rock ’n’ roll. She didn’t, in my mind, meet that test. Not by her work, not by other interviews she did. The people I interviewed were the kind of philosophers of rock.

Of Black artists — you know, Stevie Wonder, genius, right? I suppose when you use a word as broad as “masters,” the fault is using that word. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn’t articulate at that level.

Q: How do you know if you didn’t give them a chance?

A: Because I read interviews with them. I listen to their music. I mean, look at what Pete Townshend was writing about, or Jagger, or any of them. They were deep things about a particular generation, a particular spirit and a particular attitude about rock ’n’ roll. Not that the others weren’t, but these were the ones that could really articulate it.

I can't be rational about how fucked up this is, it enrages me.

lol xp

Fat White Family are absolute garbage and I'm glad Unperson has included that piece in here. The inanity of its arguments aside, it's a terribly written piece. Lots of strained overwriting to show how clever and righteous he is.

I cant read the article. Can anyone paste it for me please?

You know, just for public relations sake, maybe I should have gone and found one Black and one woman artist to include here that didn’t measure up to that same historical standard, just to avert this kind of criticism.

(the jann wenner thing, not the gobshite from fat shite family)

Would love to hear Grace Slick's retort about this guy.

Also this Wenner thing is appalling. Thinking Pete Townsend or Mick Jagger are deeper writers than the authors of What's Going On or There's No Place Like America Today...

I cant imagine anybody saying Curtis Mayfield was inarticulate. Until now.

he is so fucking stupid that it is astounding that everyone in a position to know consistently attested to his incisive editing ability.

Dude's really talking like there's nothing they could have done differently with the UVA story

As we all know now, if somebody really wants to hoax you, there’s very little you can do about it. Except have the kind of hypervigilance that would mean you could probably publish nothing.

And of course the money quote about the 5 star review for Goddess in the Doorway:

“I confess: I probably went too far. So what? I’m entitled.”

if somebody really wants to hoax you, there’s very little you can do about it.

just iconically dumb

Sounds like a guy who's real fun on coke.

it was also often said that he was uncomfortable around black folks…like Touré, the first black RS staffer, scared him…TOURE!no question that he among much of the staff also considered black music of the time pandering show biz crap, compared to the oracular musing of Jagger, Dylan, Boss, Townshend, etc

What didn’t the rock ’n’ roll generation do? I mean, it didn’t get everything done. But I have no fundamental, deep criticisms. Is there something that you think we didn’t get right?

^ possibly the most boomer thing anyone's ever said

fitting that he ends up arguing against one of his Rock Philosopher Kings

"We didn't blow it"

They didn't do ALL the drugs, and thus left some over for the next generation

the wrong kind of eyes

He could talk to all the 14 year olds the rock stars had sex with but they probably aren't that articulate

I mistakenly thought that the interview was old. Y’know, like from his self-loathing and closeted years, making unto straight white guitar heroes some sort of unattainable ideal. That might have almost made some sense. But … Jesus. Hope this turns into a pod ep of Bad Gays

those of you who know me, mark my words: if I ever meet Jann Wenner, and it's not outside the realm of possibility, weirder things have happened in my life, I'm gonna punch him in the mouth for the shit he says in his NYT interview here.🕸

I never knew how much I needed a wenner episode of bad gays

it's like he went out of his way to confirm all of the worst rumours about him

I haven't read that sticky fingers book but apparently he didn't learn a thing from that experience

sounds like he hasn't learned a thing since 1972

he's turned into Glenn Frey

i could barely read that interview after reading the segment posted here upthread.

lord, what a cumquat

the part where he says maybe he should have included "one Black and one woman artist to include here that didn’t measure up to that same historical standard, just to avert this kind of criticism." the fucking nerve

for whatever reason i can only hear that bit about 'philosophers of rock' in longmont potion castle's voice

lol