What's the best bit of music writing you've read this year?

DIEEEEEEEEE

-- DMB (DM...), July 15th, 2003 11:13 PM.

Or "It wouldn't be wildly inappropriate to identify American Life as an early 21st-century update of Love's Forever Changes, effecting as it does a similarly eerie ambivalence with its fusion of mind-altering sonics and mellow acoustics." UNCUT JUST COMPARED AMERICAN LIFE TO FOREVER FUCKING CHANGES!!! Grrr. Twats! Twats!

(I have just realised that the opposite of an arsehole is a mouth. Oh well, I like the phrase.)

I can't think of anything to link to which I've really, really loved this year. I've been happy with the things I've written (tATu, Colleen, Alasdair Roberts, Barbara Morgenstern) and I really like Spizzazzz (still) and Tim Finney's Coloma article. Apart from that, the absence of FT or any spine of magazines is noticable felt. (Frank Kogan's Contortions article was great too, though.)

once

I'm getting quite fond of hipsters these days. I blame ARE Weapons. And antitheses are good! I like reading a blog where I think "well he'd disagree with me a lot but at least he wouldn't think I'm a cunt."

Now the relaunch is all sorted out I can hopefully get on with writing some of the things I've been trying to goad myself into.

Spizzazzz is just a real, real joy.

I look forward to reading Tom Ewing again.

Maybe I can get around to writing for FT again eventually if I'm welcome / I can write better than I have in the past.

Yanc3y on Mono in City Pages:
http://citypages.com/databank/24/1172/article11268.asp

Matthew Wilder on Madonna in CP:
http://www.citypages.com/databank/24/1174/article11297.asp

Joe Gross on Malkmus in the Village Voice:
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0313/gross.php

Sasha on The New Pornographers in Slate:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2083366/

I think what I enjoyed lots was j0hn's thread abt R kelly's remix single and why it was so great. that was a lot of fun for me as i posted a bit on that but I enjoyed his reasoning in the early part of the thread and made my appreciation of the song increase 100 fold (I think when i first heard it I ddin't like it and then it turned to yes I like it to now I love this).

As far as interviews: as I only read the wire the most I've enjoyed was the interviews with Mauricio Kagel and Alan Silva.

Chuck's take on the Stripes was also very, very good.

From there, it's tough to say -- criticism in general sucks now. Between the Blenderizing of the industry and the sheer volume of music crimping the time for style, tis not a good time for serious criticism.

But a couple others I've enjoyed:
Phil Freeman on Metallica for the Cleveland Scene:
http://www.clevescene.com/issues/2003-05-28/music.html/1/index.html

Joe Gross' little one on the Drive-By Truckers/Kings of Leon for Spin.

Then, and I'm not shy or non-shameless about this at all, there've been some really nice ones my writers for the Phoenix New Times have completed. We have the best alt-weekly reviews section in the country (not counting the Voice, which is a Bible). Demos:

Joy Hepp on Fiction Plane: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2003-03-27/recordings2.html/1/index.html

Mikael Wood on that terrible Madonna record (He likes it!! And makes a good case!!):
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2003-05-08/moltenwax.html/1/index.html

Piotr Orlov on Madlib:
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2003-08-07/moltenwax2.html/1/index.html

O'C on Cat Power:
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2003-02-20/moltenwax2.html/1/index.html

I like J0hn's posts.

blogs are an utter waste of time right now. i find most of them (especially spizzazzz which has taken the whole faux-naif thing out the otherside until I'm not actually convinced it's not real-naif...which I guess in context is some sort of achievement. but not one i really want to subject myself to on a daily basis. e crunk is the only one who can pull it off because he occasionally allows a sliver of his adult voice to come through.)

i don't think anything i've published this year has been particularly great either, mind you.

i have really high hope for the FT re-launch. and nylpm is hopping again, nominally, but still a little too dry as compared with the old days.

(i'm trying to be tactful and not say which)

Summer Madness is
My favorite Kool & the
Gang song Julio

if I can vote for stuff I edited: http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0330/music-animal.php -- Rod Smith on the Animal Collective inna A.A. Milne stylee.

this. cuz it made me laugh:

http://www.randomhouse.ca/hazlitt/blog/rock-and-roll-so-boring-its-making-kurt-vile-seem-interesting

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/28/old-musicians-kids-the-who-roger-daltrey-one-direction-generation

*applauds*

Stupid rubbish.

coming from the board's resident lily allen racism apologist

Should be on either the "Guardian is worse than it used to be" thread or the "shit that looks like an onion article but isn't" thread.

Glad you enjoyed it though.

what is "stupid" or "rubbish" about it

It's stupid, insipid, reactionary garbage. Haven't you fucking read the thing?

Title of this thread mentions "music" writing. hint hint.

"it's stupid" is not really an adequate reply to "why is it stupid?", are you even able to articulate your kneejerk prejudices

more like Roger PALTRY

etc

Its a bit of a circular straw man

eg

Why do old musicians always think the kids have lost their way?

They dont think this! only the ones the Guardian decide to give unwarranted coverage to

Roger Daltrey’s none too pleased with the Roger Daltreys of 2014, who, he feels he must point out, are not like Roger Daltrey at all, and are more like Roger PALTRY, if you know what Roger Daltrey means. (He means “get off my lawn”.)

*applauds*

She thinks punk happened in 1974.

yeah I'm not really seeing what's terrifically notable about this, beyond it espousing a worldview you presumably agree with

Liked St Vincent ref though. Show's she's down with what the 12 year olds this article is addressed to are listening to - along with Whitney Houston, Pulp and Grunge!!! Golly.

She thinks punk happened in 1974.

― everything, Wednesday, October 29, 2014 9:07 AM

She's totally right there. Punk *DID* start in 1974:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramones

Too bad she never mentioned them. That would have been something at least.

I kind of hate that quippy, ironic style of writing, but I'm probably on the wrong side of history wrt to that. the basic point that being a grumpy old man complaining that pop music is not as good as it used to be is inherently embarrassing is sound though? not sure about extending that point into 'progress is inherently progressive', whig interpretation of history etc

This is an interesting counterpoint. http://www.theonion.com/articles/pathetic-washedup-rock-star-on-fifth-decade-of-doi,37299/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=LinkPreview:1:Default

*applauds*

Broadly speaking, I do agree with Lindy and Lex - old rock stars moaning that young people aren't making good/revolutionary/political/groundbreaking/whatever music is sad and dull and predictable, and I kind of agree with the recent Robert Wyatt quote about pop music being the music of the people and socialism and yada yada. That said, I've personally got pretty much no interest in pop music right now, in terms of what's in the charts. But neither, it seems, do 'the kids', or people would buy more music and be more interested in the charts, and Caribou got a top 10 album the other week, ffs. Also there's that Spanish research project about how music just is getting louder and more samey (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/26/us-science-music-idUSBRE86P0R820120726) so maybe Daltrey sort of has a point, although I don't think he's meaning it quite like that.

Its true and yet the truisms are so obvious, worth 50p and certainly none of anybody's time. You'd just re-quote what Daltrey said, point and laugh. I stopped reading a few sentences after that.

What would that "comment is free" section do without the Mail Online? Half of the time most of the writers are like "this is on Mail Online, isn't this terrible, and here are obvious reasons why". Must do better etc.

Michael Jackson’s entire solo career, Radiohead, Pulp, Bjork, Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, St Vincent, Prince, for God’s sake! Prince!

are not "movements"

everyone otm, this is the easiest thing in the world to argue, how is she not doing a better job

Uh, in what universe was Roger Daltrey ever a "heart-throb"? Stopped reading there and then.

haha

Its a bit of a circular straw man

eg

Why do old musicians always think the kids have lost their way?

They dont think this! only the ones the Guardian decide to give unwarranted coverage to

― anvil, Wednesday, 29 October 2014 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

tbf they had a very nice interview w/Robert Wyatt where he talks about all sorts of music, including oh yes! the popular hits of today and isn't negative about it.

She seems to have missed the crucial point that Daltrey was talking about youth movements, not whether or not there were still any good records being made.

Most importantly, I’d posit, if we’re talking about movements with paradigm-shifting social value, there’s also ALL OF HIP-HOP.

It feels obvious to me that the circumstances that allowed earlier youth movements to flourish in a distinctive way - a real generation gap, fierce tribal identity, tight-knit local scenes, mainstream pushback, sudden availability of affordable instruments, etc — have changed.

Daltrey's exact quote was "There are no movements at the moment: we had mod and then there was punk, but it’s so hard to start a movement now. Unless it’s Isis." Maybe mod and punk are the only two movements he's heard of but I doubt it.

AK47s might be also hard to get hold of. In this country anyway.

god if only teenagers would continue to band together in easily commodifiable gangs

"There are no youth movements in the world today" is a question easily countered with "Let me introduce you to a thing called Tumblr".

Now you might not like the youth movements that exist there, or disagree with the format of their propagation and sharing, but the idea that there are none is basically "I have no idea what technology youths are using to share their experiences and tribal allegiances."

As if they are less commodifiable now!

There are plenty of possible counterblasts to Daltrey's complaint:

1. Society is less conservative, divided and hostile to young people than it was when youth movements were oppositional, which is better overall.
2. Youth tribes are inherently not very open-minded so it's better now that artists naturally draw on a range of genres and create hybrids that used to be off-limits.
3. Gay, black and female artists all have a much bigger platform now than when most youth movements were overwhelmingly straight, white and male.
4. How can new youth movements arise if older people like Daltrey refuse to get out of the way?
5. Like Branwell says, there are plenty of youth tribes out there, and fandom is huge, but they don't take the form of explosive new music scenes because music isn't as central to identity and group formation as it used to be.

Just saying LOL, doesn't this old geezer realise that things are constantly improving? misses the point imo

gon' need to dust off my sarcasm tags

I'll dust off my sarcasm sensors and we'll be golden

there's some answer in here that relates to the "youthing" of modern society as a whole i guess but nobody needs to read what a grumpy 45 year-old dude has to say about that

It's true though. For 30 years or so music had such convenient enemies - outraged parents, censorious radio stations, opportunistic politicians - that it was easy to seem dangerous and subversive. 50s rock'n'rollers, 70s punks and 80s rappers all had villains to fight. It's hard when you have PMs, presidents and newspaper editors who all grew up on this stuff. As my eight-year-old said the other day when we were discussing music, "It's not my fault I was born too late."

I love it when people judge 'all music nowadays' solely by what they watch on TV on Saturday nights.

so sick of orchestral cover versions

I think it's a mistake to suggest that 'youth' are always, exclusively committed to the NOW and EXCITING - some of the most culturally conservative ppl I meet are teenagers - or that there isn't significant female disdain for One Direction (and 'reality' shows), also.

the point wasn't about whether there are women that dislike 1D, the point was that there audience is predominantly female therefore they are not serious music, a timeworn trope you can still see trampling about in the wild most days

their audience, even

I suppose from Daltrey's perspective (from that awful quote) he would say he was changing the world, shaking up the order of things. "Tumblr" is never going to do as an answer even though that is probably wrong (I suppose you are sharing experiences and are made concious to experiences other than your own? I don't know) because it seems a lot more quieter, i.e. not on TV, unlike Isis.

Man protests not enough protest music while protesting from mansion about teenager belt not tight, newspaper gives coverage to man, poster contributes to thread due to irritation with project that wont go right and needs outlet for frustration

xp Quieter is the key. You couldn't ignore punk, you can ignore Tumblr. That doesn't make one less culturally "important" and significant in teenagers' lives than the other but it makes it less visible to old dudes.

So the problem is how the 'change' is going to manifest itself through tumblr? There are no answers to that; and that is old dude's problem, not exactly ours.

(I don't trust Daltrey's version of events anyway. There were changes but they were inevitable in a society that had gone through wars, and when you look about you now all you tend to see is what didn't change, partly because many of his crowd strangled it.)

How did Mod change the world again? I'm having a Daltreyesque senior moment.

I don't know. I can barely change the board descriptions.

I assume he is talking about the 60s: the decade that changed everything AND you could watch it on TV, like Isis. xp

Poor Mod(erator), too trusting of quiet technologies.

It's easy to ignore "Tumblr" as a thing. It's also easy to ignore "Facebook" and "Twitter" and "Social media" in general, as things.

But, partly because things like Tumblr are safe from the prying parental eyes of "old dudes that don't get it" means, I think, that expressions of identity there are likely to be safer and freer - and resultantly, perhaps more genuine?

And also, while it is possible to ignore "Tumblr" as a thing, I think it's increasingly impossible to ignore the effects of social media - like Tumblr - on political discourse. Be that social justice, UK Uncut, the Arab Spring or Gamergate. His ISIS quip is just him being a cnut, but he's really kind of displaying his ignorance of how people use tools whose existence he's blissfully unaware of.

people used to listen to music. now they just listen to computers

70 year old man in not understanding or appreciating the modern world shocker.

there's some answer in here that relates to the "youthing" of modern society as a whole i guess but nobody needs to read what a grumpy 45 year-old dude has to say about that

― The Falun Gong Show (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 29 October 2014 11:44 (1 hour ago) Permalink

I was thinking recently that a key change is that we no longer necessarily conceive of the adult in culture as a parent. This has contributed more than anything else to the "youthing of modern society", and also the disintegration of strong generational divides w/r/t "the kids".

"kidult"

Here we are with the world in the state it is in, and we’ve got Roger Daltrey. Where are the authority figures with any real sense of outrage and purpose? There are no parents at the moment: we had Lee De Forest and then there was Mary Whitehouse, but it’s so hard to start a fight now.

Is Tumblr really a youth movement? Strikes me more as a platform rather than a specific movement. And surely blogging about counter-culture, social justice etc is more in line with the 25-45 y/o demographic? Not that young people don't blog, but a bunch of kids sitting behind their laptops doesn't really feel like an active 'shaking-up' of society (assuming that's what Daltrey is banging on about in his quote which has now been reduced and extrapolated way beyond what he probably meant to say in the first place).

It's true that the generational gap has been bridged a fair bit and now parents are happy to pay for tattoos on their kids' 18th birthdays while middle-managers listening to black metal isn't anything particularly strange. But surely there is a common enemy out there still? I figure that really it's because rebellion was turned into money a long time ago and now the idea of rebellion is greeted with derision. One of the main criticisms of the ongoing Brand saga is that his message is an empty recap of sixties counter-culture or 6th form politics - Che Guevara t-shirt wearing nonsense which proved ultimately impotent in the long run. People 'who march' are seen as timewasters and nuisances - exercisers of pointlessness. Counter-cultures are assimilated by the corporate mainstream until they make little sense at all. But is that really true? IF there had been no rock'n'roll counter-culture in the 60s, 70s and 80s, would all these doors be open; would the generational gap still be so narrow? Is it possible that *gasp* both sides of the youth vs adult cultural war won?

people used to listen to music. now they just listen to computers

― Shepard Toney Album (dog latin)

^^ sung in the voice of Don Henley

Is Tumblr really a youth movement? Strikes me more as a platform rather than a specific movement.

It is a platform that is FULL of youth movements, or rather, of youths performing identity and tribal aspects of identity in a way that I think even a (20-something version of Daltry) would recognise as movements.

And it slants *young*. Like, I get really freaked out too many times, when I mutually follow someone because of some mutual interest, and then in one of their posts, they start talking about "exams" and I think "college" but then another post reveals, no, they're in high school. That freaks me out a bit because I feel like *I'm* encroaching on their territory, like, I do believe that young people deserve a safe space away from their parents in which to form their identity.

It's also a good reminder that although for many people, the "generational gap" has been bridged, and blah blah parents paying for tattoos and listening to black metal together, that there are still many, many issues that young people face that are *not* bridged yet - e.g. young people being thrown out of family homes for being gay or being trans etc. It's a very blunt reminder that "there is no generation gap" is a highly privileged position to be able to take.

Capitalism is doing its damndest to bridge the generation gap but it's not there yet.

xpost I agree - the gap is narrower in many aspects that well, parents aren't worried their children are going to become satanists because they listen to Kiss or what have you, but there's still a lot to be fighting for and standing up to. Maybe the main difference is that this isn't being reflected in music so much as it is on Tumblr, social media etc?

Perhaps the question isn't whether 'youth culture'/'counter culture' exists, but whether music is still the most valid platform for this to centre around? Music in the 20th century always seemed so central to so many forms of rebellion, it could almost be seen as the platform and catalyser of so many counter-cultural movements. Where would the Rastafari movement be without music for example? It probably wouldn't exist beyond a small hilltop community. And the number of people who were inspired by scenes like punk, riot grrrl, hip hop as a force for change. These are undeniable. But does music do this any more? Do people congregate around a music scene in order to evoke political and social change in the same way they did?

Music didn't seem central to rebellion, or youth culture, in the 20th century; it seemed central to some youth cultures between 1956 and... I dunno, pick a date. 2002. 2008. 1999. A period of about 50 years. Now there's other stuff that young people are into 9there always was, but there might be more now, as driven by technology). Snapchat. Tumblr. Computer games. Whatever.

there's some answer in here that relates to the "youthing" of modern society as a whole i guess but nobody needs to read what a grumpy 45 year-old dude has to say about that

― The Falun Gong Show (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 29 October 2014 11:44 (1 hour ago) Permalink

I was thinking recently that a key change is that we no longer necessarily conceive of the adult in culture as a parent. This has contributed more than anything else to the "youthing of modern society", and also the disintegration of strong generational divides w/r/t "the kids".

― Tim F, Wednesday, October 29, 2014 12:57 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think there are a lot of ways in which social expectations have changed that have lessened the sense of tribal allegiance based on age esp wrt culture. the 60s&70s sorts are myopic if they don't realize that they themselves (with their apparently life-long expertise on adolescence) are what's different in the landscape. lots of those teenhood values are more universalized, being ~a teenager~ doesn't have so much cultural import

Rereading a Raymond Carver story this a.m. I noticed a 61-year-old character referred to as "an old man."

it all leads back to normcore

i mean, if you frame it in the terms in my last post, that's kind of where the journalist's argument falls a bit flat and daltrey's argument starts to make more sense. How exactly did Amy Winehouse, Pulp, Prince and St Vincent (much as I enjoy these) inspire movements in the societal or youth-culture sense on the scale of mod or punk? By comparison, Mod culture was a genuine movement - it excited working class teenagers and frightened authority figures. It catalysed and civil unrest. And while you might get a soundsystem playing dance music or dancehall at a protest, this acts more like background music for the action rather than the central reasoning behind it. it's very likely that computer games and blogging platforms have taken over from music; and for good reason - but daltrey isn't really talking about blogs and computer games, is he? he's talking about music as a force for cultural and societal change.

Music didn't seem central to rebellion, or youth culture, in the 20th century; it seemed central to some youth cultures between 1956 and... I dunno, pick a date. 2002. 2008. 1999. A period of about 50 years. Now there's other stuff that young people are into 9there always was, but there might be more now, as driven by technology). Snapchat. Tumblr. Computer games. Whatever.

― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, October 29, 2014 2:24 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

music as counter culture didn't begin in 1956.

he's talking about music as a force for cultural and societal change.

two words: Mackluh. More.

xpost but you're right, not all music in C20 = rebellion, which is the important thing to consider. One Direction are not a rebellious or counter-cultural band as far as I know, which is why Daltrey's argument seems so ridiculous and cloud-shouting on first read. That said, I find it harder and harder to think of an act that really is attempting to shake things up in the ways outlined upthread.

then again, I don't pay that much attention to pop and youth music, so i could be wrong. I know Macklemore is totally ridiculous, but I'm sure there are loads of pop and country icons currently singing about social issues in a more constructive way.

were 'punk' and 'mod' really more culturally influential than 'edm' or 'any other genre of music'? these things are all 'noise that annoys yr parents' + 'fashion', right? was punk really 'more' than that? is lady gaga really 'less' than that?

Punk yes, mod no.

punk was a bunch of white ppl slumming it

history of rock and roll in 9 words

except not really

hardly anybody saw those early punk shows but everybody who did wanked on and on and on and on and on about it

so Tom is correct in the kinda sense that Punk ruined popular music writing forever

'gen x vastly overstates the "importance" of punk rock' is not a challop it is a challtruth

hey i'm agreeing with you but without the iffy race/class bits

xpost to sleepingbag
It's a good point, and yes it's easy to boil down punk into 'noise that annoys', but I'd say there was reasoning behind punk (at least for a while) that accompanied and spurred along alternative political ideas for quite a few years after; and that would manifest itself later through things like Crass, riot grrrl movement etc and onto the left/anarchist/feminist movements. compare that to EDM which seems to be more about getting a load of brat middle-class kids drunk in a stadium. Not saying all punk was political or that it wasn't beyond marketing or corporatism, but I feel as though there's a difference. Same with Mod - it was a banner disenchanted working class kids grouped behind. It incited physical rebellion in the form of the seaside clashes - aimless as they were. But I don't see how EDM even comes close to the kind of anti-establishment ethic of those earlier movements.

challop = "challtruth" though iirc? it means "yes, very good, everybody knows that, congratulations on blowing so many minds"

that's one of the 2 definitions of challop, the useful one

(xxp) You don't know much, if anything, about Mods, do you?

your display name, dear god wins

yeah soz I've been meaning to change

no, it's all approval

Daltrey has proudly and repeatedly stated that he's never, ever used a computer. If someone mentioned Tumblr to him, he wouldn't know what you're talking about.

(also, he never trashed a hotel room; he always went to sleep right after shows)

(xxp) You don't know much, if anything, about Mods, do you?

― ... and a Martin Parr photo essay (Tom D.), Wednesday, October 29, 2014 3:11 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I wasn't alive in the sixties, if that's what you mean, but I've read up on a lot of what apparently and allegedly went on at the time. Obv, it's all stuff seen through the eyes of the day's media - Mods'n'rockers exhibitions in Margate displaying newspaper stories on hysterical par with the London riots, interviews with mods and rockers etc... So I know a wee bit, but no, I have no first hand experience of the mod movement.

Daltrey has proudly and repeatedly stated that he's never, ever used a computer

shame townshend didn't try this defense

All these things, of course, are blown out of proportion; old fuckers talking about their youth as if it was big and important, when in fact it was probably just a media constructed excuse for weasely little oiks to kick some bins over. But it's just as easy to look back on any youth movement as an adult and go 'well that's just a load of empty sloganeering and meaningless gestures; how did that change society?' as it is to disparage today's pop music as being 'worthless'.

If Daltrey doesn't use a computer at all in 2014 then how the fuck does he have any idea wtf is going on with youth culture? stfu old luddite.

he watches X Factor. that's all it is now these days isn't it? it's all Simon Cowell and Bros and all that

You're way off the mark if you think bros are into X Factor.

doglatin, why are you wasting time arguing with someone who thinks punk was nbd? It's depressing and ignorant to downplay the real significance of certain movements. Better to champion the significance of ones that don't get as much attention.

doglatin, why are you wasting time arguing with someone who thinks punk was nbd?

bored at work TBH.

Funny that mod was once an anti-retro movement. Continually trying to keep with the moment instead of looking at an ideal(ised) past.
&there hasn't been a single unifying youth movement since punk has there? Seemed to be something of a result of punk the amount of differing youth movements from then on, at least initially.

feel like one of the main legacies of punk is that the amount of subgroups that formed as a result of it, and more often than not violently hated each other, made plain that a "unifying youth movement" is all but impossible in practice