EMP Pop Conference 2007: Ready for more?

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Hi ILM,

The schedule for this year's conference is up for your perusal. Lots of folks from here will be going. Enjoy!

http://www.emplive.org/education/index.asp?categoryID=26

Best,

Eric

― Eric Weisbard, Monday, 26 February 2007 19:51 (eighteen years ago)

I have lots of vacation days to use up by June, which makes me think I should maybe go to this.

― jaymc, Monday, 26 February 2007 19:51 (eighteen years ago)

As well you should.

Live link

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 26 February 2007 19:53 (eighteen years ago)

Looks like huge amounts of fun, wish I could be there -- maybe next year. I recommend Cedars in the U District for good Indian food.

― Mark Rich@rdson, Monday, 26 February 2007 20:10 (eighteen years ago)

I will be attending as a spectator and popcorn muncher. I hope to see some of y'all there.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 26 February 2007 20:23 (eighteen years ago)

Oooh!

― jaymc, Monday, 26 February 2007 20:23 (eighteen years ago)

Don't worry, you will.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 26 February 2007 20:24 (eighteen years ago)

My first time in Seattle too! Fun!

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 26 February 2007 20:31 (eighteen years ago)

i am not going. i hope someone will fall down drunk in the punch bowl for me.

― strongohulkington, Monday, 26 February 2007 20:38 (eighteen years ago)

this year looks fucking KILLER.

i anticipate lots of trying to bounce around from panel to panel, with zany mishaps ensuing of course, and much thai food consumed, and more vivace coffee drunk, and i'd say i can't wait but i still have a lot to do on my own presentation first...

― Mike McGooney-gal, Monday, 26 February 2007 22:09 (eighteen years ago)

See, Mike, I anticipate the same way as you, but without having to worry about a presentation (a good/bad thing but probably good in the end!).

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 26 February 2007 22:14 (eighteen years ago)

Not ANOTHER one!!

― Mr. Snrub, Monday, 26 February 2007 23:13 (eighteen years ago)

Here, I will be.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 00:11 (eighteen years ago)

damn...

i'll try

― kraemlin, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 08:04 (eighteen years ago)

Randall Roberts, “The Birth of the Snark: Creem Magazine’s “Rock & Roll News” section, 1971-1976.”

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 14:11 (eighteen years ago)

That one and many others look good. I'd love to hear the Ned Sublette New Orleans one. But alas, I don't think I can make it out there.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 14:12 (eighteen years ago)

i live out there.

― kraemlin, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 22:55 (eighteen years ago)

Well then.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 22:55 (eighteen years ago)

hi Ned Raggett.

and thank you.

:RYAN:

― kraemlin, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 23:02 (eighteen years ago)

yeah registerrred.

― kraemlin, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 23:06 (eighteen years ago)

Flights are surprisingly inexpensive. I must decide this week

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 23:09 (eighteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

I WOULD HAVE BEERZ WITH ALL THIS ILXORS

― scott seward, Thursday, 22 March 2007 15:20 (eighteen years ago)

You're bringing the whole family I trust.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 22 March 2007 15:21 (eighteen years ago)

I tried to, but Mom and Dad are fixing their bathroom.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 22 March 2007 15:41 (eighteen years ago)

i should send my mom in my place

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 22 March 2007 15:42 (eighteen years ago)

JUST MARIA D

― scott seward, Thursday, 22 March 2007 15:52 (eighteen years ago)

Roxor!

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 22 March 2007 15:57 (eighteen years ago)

i never go anywhere...it will be an experiment in terror...

― scott seward, Thursday, 22 March 2007 15:58 (eighteen years ago)

oh, also, i wanted to know who else would be there. besides ned. not that ned isn't enough. oh he is.

― scott seward, Thursday, 22 March 2007 16:21 (eighteen years ago)

I'll be there!

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 22 March 2007 16:23 (eighteen years ago)

I, as stated upthread, will stoop to letting you unworthy peons befoul my graceful presence.

― The Reverend, Monday, 26 March 2007 06:21 (eighteen years ago)

I'll be the judge of that!

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 26 March 2007 06:25 (eighteen years ago)

Bah! I've already felt your taint.

― The Reverend, Monday, 26 March 2007 06:38 (eighteen years ago)

(On second thought, that sounds very wrong.)

― The Reverend, Monday, 26 March 2007 06:39 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

this is coming up and i am STILL looking forward to it. which is just plain weird cuz i rarely look forward to things and i HATE to travel. this is also the first time ever that maria and i have both been away from the kids. so that will be weird. i have no idea what to expect. i have also never spoken in public before.

and, hey, i will get to meet geeta, right!? duuuuuude!

― scott seward, Friday, 13 April 2007 14:50 (eighteen years ago)

Should we start a Seattle FAP thread?

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 13 April 2007 15:03 (eighteen years ago)

Heeeeeey.

― Eppy, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:54 (eighteen years ago)

This IS the Seattle FAP thread, Alfred.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 13 April 2007 16:56 (eighteen years ago)

Awesome. This is the time when I let everyone know that it's my first time in Seattle. I'll need...orientation.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:38 (eighteen years ago)

Is that your phrase.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:40 (eighteen years ago)

I'll still be in Seattle for this! I'm taking Thursday and Friday off. Yes! We live down by the airport - anybody needing a ride into town - get in touch, we might be able to help out.

― Jaq, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:48 (eighteen years ago)

I arrive Thursday and leave Monday morning. Good times.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 13 April 2007 17:57 (eighteen years ago)

I'll be coming up on Thursday with Mike M. and crew, and also leaving on Monday morning or so -- there should definitely be a final Sunday night send-off or something, though trust me, you will be VERY tired by the end of the conference itself.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 13 April 2007 18:03 (eighteen years ago)

we are going to seattle kinda early cuz we are gonna hang out a bit with maria's brother who lives nearby. he runs a children's health clinic in seattle.

― scott seward, Friday, 13 April 2007 18:04 (eighteen years ago)

I forgot - I asked for Monday off too, as a recuperation day :) Last year was too fun.

― Jaq, Friday, 13 April 2007 18:08 (eighteen years ago)

Wise, that! It's part of the reason I'm taking the extra time on either end in Portland, makes more of a vacation out of it!

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 13 April 2007 18:10 (eighteen years ago)

We all know there's only really one reason to be there:

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/3742/nedhotfv2.png

― The Reverend, Friday, 13 April 2007 18:14 (eighteen years ago)

lol

― strongohulkington, Friday, 13 April 2007 18:20 (eighteen years ago)

If only I were that stunning.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 13 April 2007 18:20 (eighteen years ago)

My long plane flight will have to do. I may bring Henry James' Princess Cassimassima to help with sleep.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 13 April 2007 18:20 (eighteen years ago)

Looking forward to meeting Scott and Alfred. Woo hoo!

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 13 April 2007 23:35 (eighteen years ago)

And Rodney's coming?

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Friday, 13 April 2007 23:36 (eighteen years ago)

Umm, yes I live in the vicinity, but who are you?

― The Reverend, Saturday, 14 April 2007 00:56 (eighteen years ago)

Rickey.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Saturday, 14 April 2007 03:03 (eighteen years ago)

We both like Stevie Wonder.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Saturday, 14 April 2007 03:03 (eighteen years ago)

I'll be more psyched about the conference once my piece is closer to being done!

I did hear of this benefit show Fri. evening for Seattle-based Ong Ong 'zine, which is published by two of the nicest/ knowledgablest local record store clerks:

****************************
Ong Ong Help Help!: Friday, April 20 8:00 pm/ Gallery 1412 [1412 18th Ave E (18th Ave. and Union St.)] all ages/ $10 (but if you really really really can't do that much, we'll talk)

With: [Removed Illegal Link]/ [Removed Illegal Link]/ [Removed Illegal Link]/ The Slide Rule – personal video players (featuring Stefan Gruber, Davey
Oil, Tyler Gillies, and Todd Gillies)

― Mike McGooney-gal, Saturday, 14 April 2007 03:34 (eighteen years ago)

Ack on links. These are the people playing that thing OK.

Lucky Dragons -- http://www.hawksandsparrows.org/
Eats Tapes -- www.eatstapes.com
Powdered Wigs -- http://www.myspace.com/powderedwigs
The Slide Rule – personal video players (featuring Stefan Gruber, Davey
Oil, Tyler Gillies, and Todd Gillies)

― Mike McGooney-gal, Saturday, 14 April 2007 03:35 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, alright, looking forward to meeting you, Rickey! Sorry if I came off a bit brusque.

― The Reverend, Saturday, 14 April 2007 03:46 (eighteen years ago)

You folks can't have such a good time that you do not remember the presentations and panels well enough to post here about them afterwards, for those of us who can not make it!

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 14 April 2007 14:58 (eighteen years ago)

Rodney, not a problem. I had no idea you were near here!

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Sunday, 15 April 2007 01:35 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, are you a Seattlite? I was under the impression you were traveling here.

― The Reverend, Sunday, 15 April 2007 02:01 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, I'm in Seattle. Capitol Hill.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Sunday, 15 April 2007 06:08 (eighteen years ago)

neato. thanks for mentioning the ong ong show mike. and i am lucy (zine editor/show booker/long time ilm skulker). one side note is that powdered wigs is david from extreme animals/paper rad. and another is that the space is very small. so if you dig it, i'd show up early. may your conference be most merry!

― Valerie, Sunday, 15 April 2007 06:15 (eighteen years ago)

x-post: EMP -- bringing Seattlites together!

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 15 April 2007 06:16 (eighteen years ago)

Cool beans.

― The Reverend, Sunday, 15 April 2007 07:14 (eighteen years ago)

Meanwhile, confirming that Earth is indeed playing an in-store at Easy Street at 7 pm on Saturday. Last panels end at 6 pm though maybe there's a reception after that, the schedule doesn't immediately say.

I've just looked through all the panels once again, meanwhile, and my head is spinning. I am literally going to have to hop from panel to panel during each block in order to catch even half of what seems of interest, and I've already had to chalk up several things I'll unavoidably miss.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 17:04 (eighteen years ago)

I guess it hasn't been mentioned that it's free this year? Pretty cool.

― musically, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 17:19 (eighteen years ago)

Earth's wikipedia page makes them sound not to my liking, but good enough for a get-together, I guess.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 18:03 (eighteen years ago)

Anybody interested in some kind of karaoke get-together Saturday night? (Anybody want to acquire a banquet license so we don't have a repeat of last year's disaster?)

― Douglas, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 18:51 (eighteen years ago)

hey douglas -- this might be a bit out of the way, and it does get crowded, but the best karaoke bar i've ever been to anywhere is seattle's bush gardens -- went there like the first year i think with simon r. and sasha, maybe? i forget, but yeah that's my two cents.

http://search.cityguide.aol.com/seattle/bars/bush-garden-restaurant/v-111451889/print

― Mike McGooney-gal, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 19:25 (eighteen years ago)

There's going to be a party at my house on Saturday if anyone's interested in coming, btw. Details at the conference itself.

― Matos W.K., Tuesday, 17 April 2007 19:32 (eighteen years ago)

I need to fit some sightseeing into my schedule too.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 19:38 (eighteen years ago)

I will see you all at my presentation--and Matos's house.

― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 22:31 (eighteen years ago)

AT HIS HOUSE, AT HIS HOUSE. (I am all up for this party.)

I guess it hasn't been mentioned that it's free this year? Pretty cool.

Really? Nice.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 00:50 (eighteen years ago)

How big is Matos' house? Like this:

http://www.petersburgproperties.com/photos/waterfront_home.jpg

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 01:12 (eighteen years ago)

I will definitely be there Saturday, and probably Thursday, too. I'm pretty sure Friday is out, but we'll see.

― The Reverend, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 05:25 (eighteen years ago)

i almost never ever post here, but i talked with hisham mayet from the sublime frequencies label today, and they're gonna be having a discussion of their collections/travels/etc. at the henry art museum on thursday at 7. i'm pretty sure this conflicts with the lethem keynote, but i think i'm probably going to forgo it, and thought maybe others might be interested.

― mike powell, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 08:03 (eighteen years ago)

I'm coming in this evening at about 5:30 Pacific, though I'm going to try and make a mad taxi dash from Airport-hotel-Safeco Field since the Twins are in town for a 7:00 pm game and I haven't seen a game in a non-Metrodome stadium in over ten years. Failing that, I'll probably go record shopping.

― nate p., Wednesday, 18 April 2007 15:12 (eighteen years ago)

Right now Mike M. and his crew (and me!) are planning to be there mid-afternoon tomorrow in time for the 5 pm reception, so we'll catch folks there...

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 15:15 (eighteen years ago)

I'll be there at noon; will probably attend the Lethem lecture.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 15:31 (eighteen years ago)

So far, I still get to leave this pit of despair tomorrow morning, arriving back in Seattle around noon. Looking forward to the reception and the rest of the weekend.

― Jaq, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 15:56 (eighteen years ago)

yeah the thing at the henry is def. at the exact same time as the lethem lecture -- i'll def. be at the lethem thing instead.

more on the sub. freq. event here:
http://www.henryart.org/programs.htm#thisweeksspecial

― Mike McGooney-gal, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 23:37 (eighteen years ago)

I guess I'll be there for the 5 PM reception, then.

― The Reverend, Thursday, 19 April 2007 02:34 (eighteen years ago)

I just realized how arrogant my last post reads. See you there wherever I see you!

― Pete Scholtes, Thursday, 19 April 2007 03:02 (eighteen years ago)

Opening night great, reception wonderful, Lethem speech v. cool, q&a session afterwards...interesting. Especially the Kurt Cobain question.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 20 April 2007 05:57 (eighteen years ago)

Ned, for a person w/o a cell phone even, you are awfully quick with the technology :)

― Jaq, Friday, 20 April 2007 06:14 (eighteen years ago)

I wanna know if the Cobain guy is going to ask that question at every panel. I thought it must be Richard Lee (Seattle's infamous "Kurt Cobain was murdered" guy), but apparently not.

― AKA Mr. Jaq, Friday, 20 April 2007 06:18 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, I see: Jaq/Mr. Jaq with a "Q". Yes, I have seen you two around.

― The Reverend, Friday, 20 April 2007 08:41 (eighteen years ago)

Ned, you were mad wrong for trying to blame the Cobain question on me!

― The Reverend, Friday, 20 April 2007 08:42 (eighteen years ago)

I blame others for the suggestion first! (I am shameless.)

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 20 April 2007 13:51 (eighteen years ago)

So does the "continental breakfast" consist of "Bloody Marys at the Revolution Bar"?

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 20 April 2007 14:22 (eighteen years ago)

such a good time! really glad i came. so nice to meet everyone. ned, michael, rodney, alfred, jaq, mr.jaq, nate, senor donut bitch, dave stelfox, sheesh, so many people.

such a fun dinner tonight with geeta, simon, mark.s, cosmo lee, and others. tomorrow i destroy matos manor!!!!!

― scott seward, Saturday, 21 April 2007 07:43 (eighteen years ago)

Hey I thought you said you were meeting up with family! That said I do not begrudge you another meal with those good folks. :-) A bunch of us ended up doing dinner, then record shopping, then karaoke! That was...a tale.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 21 April 2007 07:58 (eighteen years ago)

the karaoke was really fun for about two and a quarter hours. then the entire Greek system of greater Washington showed up. ah well, should've figured that would happen at Ozzie's. still, a very good day. Jesse Fuchs's presentation on videogames and music was one of the very best I've seen at any EMP, and Douglas Wolk on Clydie King was nearly as good. looking forward to tomorrow.

― Matos W.K., Saturday, 21 April 2007 08:34 (eighteen years ago)

Two and a quarter hours? So that's how long I spent in Easy Street after you all left for Ozzie's.

And then when I went to Ozzie's and you were gone, naturally I went back to Easy Street.

― Nick Minichino, Saturday, 21 April 2007 09:43 (eighteen years ago)

matos texted me last night about karaoke and i made the u_u face

except in real life

― strongohulkington, Saturday, 21 April 2007 14:45 (eighteen years ago)

snippy reports from the conference here (i'm guessing the ilm regulars will have a diferent take)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2003674612_popcon1.html?syndication=rss

― gershy, Sunday, 22 April 2007 04:36 (eighteen years ago)

i'm guessing the ilm regulars will have a diferent take

That puts it fucking mildly.

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 22 April 2007 08:38 (eighteen years ago)

don't listen to ned. he's drunk!

― scott seward, Sunday, 22 April 2007 08:54 (eighteen years ago)

everyone i met and spent time with this weekend rules so much. what a great bunch of people.

― scott seward, Sunday, 22 April 2007 09:02 (eighteen years ago)

Yay to that!

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 22 April 2007 13:56 (eighteen years ago)

This conference ruled. I wish I'd had greater stamina to take in more of the talks. It was amazing to meet all y'all in person.

― Maria :D, Sunday, 22 April 2007 14:57 (eighteen years ago)

I take it that no one made it to continental breakfast this morning.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 22 April 2007 16:25 (eighteen years ago)

not me. still recovering from matosfest. but then i have a cold too. will be there for the last thing at 11 though.

― scott seward, Sunday, 22 April 2007 16:29 (eighteen years ago)

Same here.

Matos, thanks for the party. I danced too much. My hips hurt.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, 22 April 2007 16:31 (eighteen years ago)

pics plz

― Tim Ellison, Sunday, 22 April 2007 18:45 (eighteen years ago)

So what were your favorite panels/papers?

― Mark Rich@rdson, Sunday, 22 April 2007 19:17 (eighteen years ago)

the panel I moderated yesterday was good all over, but I was especially into Maura's freestyle talk and the Brian Goedde and Elena Passarello one. Brian interviewed Iowan hip-hop kids and Elena, an actor, read the edited transcripts-cum-monologues. riveting and funny and touching.

― Matos W.K., Sunday, 22 April 2007 20:38 (eighteen years ago)

http://seattle.metblogs.com/archives/2007/04/saturday_agenda_10.phtml Some photos with this Sat. April 21st blog posting about a few panels by someone named Josh

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 22 April 2007 21:16 (eighteen years ago)

Scott, how did I manage not to meet you and Maria at Matos' house? Sigh.

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Monday, 23 April 2007 00:17 (eighteen years ago)

Good god, Rickey, all you had to do is ask me. I think I introduced everyone to everyone else twice over.

So what were your favorite panels/papers?

Quite a few. I'll say more with coherence. Ending discussion was very cool too, chimed in briefly myself.

Didn't really make the continental breakfast but showed up towards the end. We were taking it easy...

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 23 April 2007 00:27 (eighteen years ago)

xpost
what do you look like?

― Maria :D, Monday, 23 April 2007 00:29 (eighteen years ago)

I'm still here with Mike Powell, sorta taking it easy. I'd like to go home though.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 23 April 2007 02:28 (eighteen years ago)

really wished I had stayed longer -- ended up w/dinner date in OR, so I missed just about everything >>>:(

but what little i saw was fun!

― Dominique, Monday, 23 April 2007 03:00 (eighteen years ago)

plus I met Ned!

― Dominique, Monday, 23 April 2007 03:01 (eighteen years ago)

i missed your presentation, dominique. and you!

and you too rickey!

i thought i would get a chance to meet everyone i wanted to meet.

missed d.wolk too!!!

maybe next year.

i mostly spent my time this weekend talking to that ex-nme ex-melody maker tag-team of mark s. and simon r. and it was my pleasure to do so as they are both lovely people.

and the lovely ned of course. ned you r a whirlwind!!! :)))))

― scott seward, Monday, 23 April 2007 03:13 (eighteen years ago)

:-D Well, it's just me. :-) But thanks!

Alfred, where the heck were ya? We just got back from an amazing Vietnamese meal.

I'm about ready to collapse but more thoughts tomorrow, hopefully. But it was really enjoyable and intense, the whole weekend.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 23 April 2007 05:06 (eighteen years ago)

Exhaustion verging on collapse, Ned (did a walking tour of Belltown, Downtown, and a few parts beyond). I don't think I could have strung together a single coherent sentence tonight, let alone about rockcrit.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 23 April 2007 05:20 (eighteen years ago)

Alfred, I figured you'd just curl up somewhere quiet in the Elliott Bay basement, surrounded by books until morning. Have safe journeys home everyone!

― Jaq, Monday, 23 April 2007 05:25 (eighteen years ago)

Wow, Seattle Times dude doesn't get anything, does he?

Great to meet Scott and Maria, and to see everyone else again.

I feel like I missed more this year than last even though I attended more panels -- lots and lots of double or triple-bookings, hard choices of which panel to make this year.

Enjoyed presentations by Peter Doyle, Erik Davis, Ned Sublette and RJ Smith the most. And the dude who did the minstrelsy and Hawaiian music thing was pretty righteous too.

― Mike McGooney-gal, Monday, 23 April 2007 06:38 (eighteen years ago)

I missed Doyle, Davis & Smith, and am sorry I missed them, because all are superb speakers. But yeah, the triple-booking made me miss a LOT this year. (I do owe Erik for his great phrase "waspafarian," though, I added that to the paper I did.)

No, Times guy does not get anything at all.

― Matos W.K., Monday, 23 April 2007 07:07 (eighteen years ago)

Sounds like everything went well; wish I could've been there. (I woke up this morning in Omaha and am somehow miraculously at my desk in Chicago right now.)

If anyone has papers that they're now posting online somewhere, I'd love to read them.

― jaymc, Monday, 23 April 2007 18:08 (eighteen years ago)

I am particularly curious about Christgau's paper, anyone hear that?

― Mark Rich@rdson, Monday, 23 April 2007 19:06 (eighteen years ago)

I missed X-Gau, double-booking vs. the Wu-Tang panel, etc.

I only really caught Thursday's and Saturday's events, having been otherwise occupied Friday and being way too out of it yesterday (long night, long story). But there were still a lot of highlights, though. I really liked the Lethem's opening speech, the Wu stuff, Henry Chalfant's Bronx film, Maura's freestyle presentation, and Jeff Chang's paper on Boogaloo. The aforementioned Iowan hiphop presentation is my favorite. (I am in luv with Elena, btw. She is a wonderful woman.)

It was great meeting you Scott, Maria, Alfred, Rickey, Jaq/Mr. Jaq, Michael, Nick, Eric, (and anyone forgotten) and always glad to see the few faces I already knew!

― The Reverend, Monday, 23 April 2007 20:44 (eighteen years ago)

But...though.

Yikes, I'm still recovering from that long night.

― The Reverend, Monday, 23 April 2007 20:54 (eighteen years ago)

Was Maura rapping or something?

― Mark Rich@rdson, Monday, 23 April 2007 20:59 (eighteen years ago)

Here are my notes from Christgau. As they are for my own reference they are semi-incoherent. But feel free to ask.

Anthony Michio’s plot to throw the poll to Hinder. Ego trip guys almost did it. Consensus is theoretical. Josh Clover: Pazz & Jop: “ideological bastion of retrograde values and tokenism.” Christgau on '06: “It’ll be better than nothing…and I could go to Puerto Rico.” Most boycotters Christgau’s (aka elder) peers? Indie rock: “solipsistic prog, sinful cynicism.” ad for Dennis Lin’s job: “we’re not looking for a film scholar or historian.” On Blum: “I read his whole book because I thought he was going to be my boss.” Under-30s didn’t include Decemberists in top 25: “That’s a surprise—and a cautionary one, if I were a Decemberist.” “Not that alt-rock has abandoned legible songs…” Maybe it’s asking too much to expect put-upon” youths to reflect on mortality like Dylan. “Maybe they’ll catch on in their 30s—like I did with country.” Two types of people: people who maintain ongoing lists throughout the year vs. people who can’t remember what came out before September. Residual vs. emergent culture (Raymond Williams) Clover: but what about dominant? Don’t the residuals pretend toward dominance (which enrages the emergent)? “The blogging fools.”

― Nick Minichino, Monday, 23 April 2007 21:14 (eighteen years ago)

Was Maura rapping or something?

: D

Only in the old sense of the word.

― The Reverend, Monday, 23 April 2007 21:34 (eighteen years ago)

Favorite song discovered through EMP conference = Ray Berretto's "Together"

― The Reverend, Monday, 23 April 2007 22:08 (eighteen years ago)

other people i was happy to meet: dylan hicks, andy beta, maura (did i say maura already? and i feel bad that i missed her freestyle thing. i'll bet it was hottt)

people i didn't introduce myself to cuz i didn't feel like it even though i probably would have had things to talk to them about: xgau, greil marcus, joshua clover, david grubbs.

― scott seward, Monday, 23 April 2007 22:21 (eighteen years ago)

Rodney, did you hear that in the boogaloo, etc., panel? I deeply regret missing that one, especially after hearing my friend Jill rave about it. I just downloaded Barretto's Hard Hands album from eMusic last week after seeing it mentioned on another thread here. Off to look for "Together" now . . .

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Monday, 23 April 2007 22:30 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, the boogaloo presentation. (And my correction, it was Oliver Wang, not Jeff Chang.) It was all I could do not to raise up out of my seat and start dancing wildly.

― The Reverend, Monday, 23 April 2007 22:43 (eighteen years ago)

(And our freakish vulcan mindmeld continues apace.)

― The Reverend, Monday, 23 April 2007 22:49 (eighteen years ago)

hi ilm,

does anyone who went to the techno panel remember what maurizio and code 6 tracks geeta dayal played? i am trying to track down some of the new to me things i heard over the weekend, and my shitty notees aren't helping too much. more people should have been like maura johnston and handed out awesome mix cds!

― rmd, Monday, 23 April 2007 22:51 (eighteen years ago)

“The blogging fools.”

I've got lots of love for Xgau - and I'm honored by the shoutout - but when his Pazz'n'Jop ballot features as many A-list perennials as it did this year, I dunno if he should go around calling people names. Sonic Youth, Bob Dylan, Ornette, Ghostface, NEW YORK DOLLS AT NUMBER ONE - dude doesn't sound like he challenged his own assumptions much this year either.

(and it's Miccio, btw)

― da croupier, Monday, 23 April 2007 22:57 (eighteen years ago)

last year, rather.

― da croupier, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:06 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, yeah, obvs. it would be two c's. Thanks for the correction.

― Nick Minichino, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:09 (eighteen years ago)

Haha no prob! When I heard about it I was hoping he pronounced it correctly, so I was glad to see your typo.

― da croupier, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:13 (eighteen years ago)

"more people should have been like maura johnston and handed out awesome mix cds!"

i was totally gonna do this. but it was just too last minute an idea. i regret it a little. but not much. i should have told maura when i saw her that i got a great e-mail last week from 80's freestyle vocalist princesa.

― scott seward, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:20 (eighteen years ago)

I thought about making a collage of Marley posters but backed out. I also considered bringing up a Frisbee and hacky sack and putting a red "banned" (circle w/slash) in front of them, and eating a weed brownie, both ideas I rejected as well.

― Matos W.K., Monday, 23 April 2007 23:28 (eighteen years ago)

matos, thanks again for the swell party. i just had such a perfect/good time all around. we just got back today and i already miss seattle a little. i dig that place. everyone i met was so nice and cool.

― scott seward, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:36 (eighteen years ago)

if i can get chuck to go next year, i'll go again. even just to hang out.

― scott seward, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:38 (eighteen years ago)

jesus christ, i am so out of the loop that i had no idea any of this was happening!! this is the first time i've noticed this thread. wtf. i only live a few blocks from emp too. oh well.

― Lingbert, Monday, 23 April 2007 23:46 (eighteen years ago)

Dang....as a big Too Much Joy fan, it would've been cool to go see Tim Quirk. I wish I knew about this sooner.

― eeyore19, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 00:15 (eighteen years ago)

Dude, Lingbert. How in the WORLD could you have missed this?

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 00:31 (eighteen years ago)

I wrote a bit about the Lethem keynote (it was condensed some in the editing) and sprinkled a few highlights here: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2007/04/jonathan_lethem_argues_with_music_geeks.html#more

(the headline isn't very accurate, though, Lethem didn't really argue with anyone)

― Matos W.K., Tuesday, 24 April 2007 01:12 (eighteen years ago)

I've been working a lot, but still. I guess I need to start like paying attention to the outside world.

― Lingbert, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 01:52 (eighteen years ago)

Scott Seward, I'm listening to Ulver RIGHT NOW.

― Jaq, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 02:00 (eighteen years ago)

THE POWER OF SKOT

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 02:04 (eighteen years ago)

"For the Love of God" has bits that remind me of the Beach Boys, only, you know, slow and threatening and unpleasant.

― AKA Mr. Jaq, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 02:09 (eighteen years ago)

Oh yeah! Matos, great Party!

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 02:10 (eighteen years ago)

Yes, if I didn't say it earlier, DAMN great party. I also liked Rodney's comment along the lines of "Only Ned can do the Ned dance." (I have no idea what the Ned dance is.)

He's been posting a bit more upthread but I want to say that Nick Minichino is a true dude, and I know a lot of people thought similarly. I seriously think he was everywhere at once with his laptop and that great mop of hair of his -- he hit the ground running hanging out with a bunch of us on Thursday night (eventually crashing over at Donut B.'s place, where I was staying) and took it from there!

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 02:29 (eighteen years ago)

So reflections on the conference itself, writing with a very tattered and torn booklet for guidance:

* Overall, just another great experience in general -- the choreography required to get everything together and make it all work is clearly involved, so a salute to everyone for their work. There were some cogent points addressed in the wrapping-up session on a few subjects, like moderators not enforcing time limits and general concerns about the amount of simultaneously scheduled panels, so it would be wrong to say everything was crystalline, but I'd say it seemed the general feeling was extremely positive all around. The large number of folks at the concluding session probably bears that out, seeing how tired most of us were (I'm still not 100% yet, far from it -- glad I'm not working again until Wednesday).

* I did like Jonathan Lethem's opening address very much, though that opening question controversy as such (linked in Matos's blog entry a few posts back) did make everything off-kilter. But I saw him around during the weekend a few times and he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as anyone else!

* Some presentations I saw were certainly more gripping or entertaining than others but the ones I'll rate include, in order of when they were scheduled rather than in any kind of rank (though I admit more than a few friends are included!):

Robert Fink's "Soul Power, 1971" (in the vein of his previous presentations, I gather, with a detailed analysis of James Brown's song in variant versions as well as its relation of Black Power politics and performance of same)
Rob Wallace's "The Drumset is a Time Machine" (probably the best historical study in miniature I caught at the conference, detailing the construction of the drumset as such from a wide variety of worldwide instruments in an American context)
Mark Sinker's "'...b-but does it pass the test of SPACE?'" (by his own admission a bit of a ramble but it was cool regardless in terms of phrasing issues and ideas, not to mention the Meltzer reading!)
Michael Barthel's "It Doesn't Matter Which You Heard: The Curious Cultural Journey of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'" (two words: Sad Montage)
Mike McGonigal's "Voyager Song: 'Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground'" (a fine take on the Blind Willie Johnson song and its historical context, many good song selections played and points gently illustrated in his deft way)
Anthony Miller's "Songs for Tania: or the Ballad(s) of Patty Hearst" (really enjoyable study on Hearst as musical/cultural figure then and in later years)
Dave Stelfox and Erin MacLeod's "'Screwing Up the World,' Hip-hop Slows Down and Makes Do in Houston, Texas" (a continuing trade-off presentation between the two, from the curiosity of walking rather than driving in Houston to the work of de Certeau)
Daphne Carr's "Selling Sad: How Hot Topic Made the Mall (Safe For the) Miserable" (very funny and very informative history of the company, its practices and how it is perceived)
Michaelangelo Matos's "A Matter of Trustafarians: Behind the Bob Marley Poster on the Dorm Room Wall" (I claim some personal bias as I helped a tiny amount with getting people to answer his survey questions; that said, an incisive take on stereotypes and assumptions with his sharp humor well to the fore)
Dominique Leone's "What You Hear Is Never What They Heard, and What You Get Is Never What They Had" (the best semi-extemporaneous presentation I saw, including studies of various bulletin board reactions to the new LCD Soundsystem album and how they function in different ways -- ILX being one of them)
Camara Dia Holloway's "The Colored Tints of Optic White: Jazz in Good Night and Good Luck" (intriguing study of the function of Dianna Reeves's character in the film as Greek chorus but also as a springboard for discussions of George Clooney's intent as director and maintainer of memory -- a lot packed in, but very enjoyable)
Douglas Wolk's "The Woman in the Back: Clydie King in the Shadow of Classic Rock" (just a whirlwind of a presentation, someone else can better sum it up than me, I think)
Leonard Pierce's "Like Your Neighborhood Spider-Man: Comics, Hip-Hop and the Nexus of Cool" (warm, appreciative study of the RZA as geeky comic nerd, but with good deft observations on the functions of comic heroes of a certain time, namely 70s Marvel, for him and the Wu-Tang while growing up)
Nate Patrin's "Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Soul I Learned in Shaolin" (well done and well-edited presentation and study of how classic Southern soul sides in particular inform RZA's production work -- great historical context, solid quotes, fine work in general)

...okay, stopping here for now, we're stepping out for dinner, but part two of this list later!

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 02:56 (eighteen years ago)

The Clydie King presentation was just marvelous. I'm very taken with the notion of all these Zeligs out there.

Loved Maura's freestyle thing; wish I'd known about it earlier as I could have contributed in some small way.

More thoughts anon.

(I've only just got home after a cartoonishly delayed flight from Seattle to Chicago).

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 03:25 (eighteen years ago)

i feel bad that i missed so much good stuff. in my defense, i had a pretty bad chest/bronchial/cold thing the whole time i was there (still do) and i was popping sudafed like crazy just so i could be almost human. the beer helped too! unfortunately, getting out of bed for early stuff was kind of impossible. and sometimes i just had to go outside and sit down. and i STILL had a great time!

― scott seward, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 03:32 (eighteen years ago)

Scott, you were awesome! I had no idea you were sick.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 03:34 (eighteen years ago)

i didn't know erin was doing something!!

― s1ocki, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 03:59 (eighteen years ago)

The Ned Dance is a thing of great beauty, kind of in the way certain artists make collages out of garbage.

There wasn't really anything weird about that first Lethem question. It was just the result of a cross-cultural miscommunication. I'd never consciously thought of it before, but the word "clown" does carry a very negative connotation among Af-Ams. It's basically conflated with the word "minstrel". When a black person thinks of a clown, the image is usually that of a corked-up archetypal sambo, and thus to call someone a clown is basically to accuse them of being a buffoon or, worse, an Uncle Tom. The first guy other than Lethem who replied to the question really hit the nail on the head in a way that really made much more sense than Lethem's hemming and hawing. So, yeah, the question made things a bit awkward, but I totally understand where the guy who asked it was coming from. What I find particularly interesting, though, is his lack of offense at Calloway being branded with that tag.

Ah, race is so fucking fun.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 04:53 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, the Calloway thing was really weird; I was thrown by that. Lethem seemed kind of thrown too. the guy who answered after Lethem was Christgau, fyi.

― Matos W.K., Tuesday, 24 April 2007 05:35 (eighteen years ago)

Oh. Well, Christgau OTM, then.

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 05:38 (eighteen years ago)

The Ned Dance is a thing of great beauty, kind of in the way certain artists make collages out of garbage.

:-D

Continuing along:

Tim Quirk's "Good News for Yo La Tengo: In the Future, Everyone Will Be a Music Geek" (detailed, very interesting overview of the numbers when it comes to what bands where are getting the most downloads/listens via services like Rhapsody, where Quirk works, and how many bands have a far more compelling traction there than might be guessed)
Maura's "The Season Came To An End: Freestyle Brings Loneliness To a Crowded Dance Floor" (as Alfred and others indicate, really great, a fine combination of informed personal reflection and broader overview for an ill-documented scene-as-such -- also, best sound clip use of the conference, in that after reading the lyrics of Stevie B's "Spring Love" and then playing the representative clip, the illustration of sad lyrics vs. peppy music was so perfect, and the song itself so great, that it inspired dancing and a round of applause...and this was the *opening* of the talk!)
Brian Moon's "The Record Store Revolution: Capitol Records and Retail Marketing, 1945-1955" (Brian's a cool guy but his presentation was a touch dry style-wise; this said it was also an illuminating and very interesting study of how the 'record store' as we know it came to be, moving from a full-service to a self-service model, in combination with marketing work done at Capitol during that time)
Mairead Case's "Karen Dalton: Roving Jewel" (came in a bit late but I enjoyed what I heard, a biographical study done with a strong, enjoyable style on the part of the presenter that shows off both subject and speaker to good effect)
Greil Marcus's "Time, Place and Manner: The Rod Stewart Moment" (I admit I'm just not really much of a Rod Stewart fan in any guise but the appreciation of the first three solo records, singling out a specific musical moment in particular, was enjoyable, as was the dry wit)
Tom Kipp's "The Secret History of Montana Postpunk: The Last Great 'Undiscovered' Scene in the History of Rock and Roll" (another great Kipp multimedia presentation, more of a serious piece than his legendarily hilarious past works but with humor and information in full effect)
Michael J. Kramer's "The Strange Career of Dave Rabbit: Soundscapes of Underground Military Rock Radio, from Vietnam to Iraq" (about what it says it is, focusing on a soldier who did said underground etc. broadcasts in Vietnam -- the snippets played from the one show that survived on tape were amazing)
Mike Daddino's "Right of the Dial: The National Review Contra (and Pro) Sixties Rock" (much personal bias -- I kinda suggested the original idea to Mike and helped with a slew of background research; anyway, great job and a slew of baffling-in-any-context quotes)
Kembrew McLeod's "The New Market Affair: Scouting the Hills of the Shenandoah For the Next Big Thing" (a personal take on the Jim Greer hoax piece in Spin during early nineties alternative's commercial heyday, via someone from said town -- hilarious, and nostalgic in a sweet way)
Carl Zimring's "Pastures of Plenty: Contextualizing Woody Guthrie Through the Lens of the Environment" (a wonderful, informative look at the environmental politics of the 1930s and how Guthrie's praise of dam projects as something to elevate America and the working man would be a very barbed legacy for the future)
Meghan Drury Askins's "Moths, Moons and Toothless Hound Dogs: Joanna Newsom's New Rural Aesthetic" (a very personal study -- as Askins noted at the start, she has known Newsom since preschool -- about Nevada City, the remote California community where Newsom grew up and how it has influenced her work in a variety of ways)
Scott Seward's "Of Wolves and Vibrancy: A Brief Exploration of the Marriage Made In Hell Between Folk Music, Dead Cultures, Myth and Highly Technical Modern Metal" (it's Scott, it rocked; more seriously, a very funny, very informative and very personal take on the man's love of metal, with his hospital work as a partial framing device and delivered with gentle elan -- like his ILX posts come to life!)
Erik Davis's "Freak Folk and the Analog Ethic" (an involving and acknowledgedly complicated take on the obsession/fascination with the analog approach among followers of said genre, along with a general discussion on the qualities of sound and acoustic space)
Tom Smucker's "Why the Four Seasons Did Not And Could Not Have a Story Until 2005" (uses Frankie Valli et al as a bit of a starting point for a larger meditation on American cultural intersections in the 1960s and afterward; some interesting conceits that never got out of hand, a good balance -- plus the Dylan cover that was briefly played was kinda mind-blowing in its weirdness)
Carlo Rotella's "Within Limits: On the Greatness of Magic Slim" (a loving and appreciative take on Magic Slim's utterly unsurprising but perfectly of-the-form take on Chicago electric blues and why it has an importance equal to that of more highly regarded contemporaries, specifically as a dedicated maintainance of the style)
Nicole Hammond and Benjamin Tausig's "Soundspaces and Culture" (came in halfway but it seemed to be an interesting combination dialogue on the nature of space, sound and psychic atmosphere in various New York contexts, from apartments with animals kept in them to South African restaurants)

* Meanwhile, presentations I wish I could have seen but was unable to (strictly speaking I would love to see them all but you choose your battles etc):

Daudi Abe's "6 N the Mornin: California Hip Hop Music 1987-1992"
Patricia Jeehyun Ahn's "Scoring Orange County: Audiovisual Pleasures in TV's Regional Dramas"
Randall Roberts' "Birth of the Snark: Creem Magazine's 'Rock and Roll News' Section, 1971-1976"
Simon Reynolds's "Just 4 U London: Place and Race in British Dance Culture From Rave to Grime"
Geeta Dayal's "Examining European Fandom of the Detroit, Chicago and New York Dance Music Mythos"
David Grubbs's "Sound Art is An Argument"
Erica Easley's "ReDressing Rock History: Rock T-Shirts and the (re)Creation of Rock Mythology"
Adam Gusnow's "Documentary Fakelore: Unmasking the Travel Channel's Secrets of the Delta Blues" (I caught the very end of this but it sounds like it was a really passionate rip against a terrible production)
Peter Doyle's "The Psychogeography of Sydney's Sonic Sublime"
Wendy Fonarow's "The Participant Framework of the Indie Gig: The Three Zones and Contemporary Change"
Jesse Fuchs's "Kick, Punch, It's All In the Mind: The First Decade of Musical Videogames" (EASILY the most-talked about presentation that I didn't attend; everyone who did go said it was mindblowingly great)
Robert Christgau's "The First (Or Last) Pazz & Jop Lecture": Has the True Critics' Poll Become a Museum Piece?" (I have to admit this is for one reason only -- to hear him talking about Miccio and the Hinder plot)
Holly George-Warren's "Yodeling Our Way Out of the Kitchen: How Cowgirl Songs Transformed the Role of C&W Women"
Yuval Taylor's "'Pretty Good': Bad Vibes And American Rock Culture, 1970-1972"
Franklin Bruno's "'Wouldn't It Be Milchedich?': Parody and the Dialectics of Dialect"
Eric Hung and JessAnn Smith's "Waking Stereotypes From Early 20th-Century America: New Music For Silent Films That Featured Characters of Chinese Descent"
Mike Powell's "The Pyongyang Hit Parade"
Brian Goedde, Austin Bunn and Elena Passarello's "Urban Music in the Teenage Heartland"
Michael Drewett's "Retro Protest or What?: Resurrecting Censored Anti-Apartheid Protest Music in a Democratic Era"
Ned Sublette's "Rock the City With Their Congo Dances: The African Layers of Colonial New Orleans"
RJ Smith's "City Slang: The Art of Detroit and Detroit in the Art of Destroy All Monsters"
Oliver Wang's "We Like It Like That: The Black and Brown Sound of Boogaloo"
Jeff Chang's "1969-1973: The Birth of the Bronx Break"
J. D. Considine's "A Brief History of Compound Time"

Okay, part three here in a sec...

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 05:42 (eighteen years ago)

* I attended two of the lunchtime sessions -- most of the Ellen Willis tribute (had to grab a bit of lunch first), which was a varied and very moving celebration of her life and work, and the concluding "The Future Of Thinking About Music For a Living" discussion, ie we all sat in a room and a number of folks commented/vented/pondered re: said future. It built up to an interesting point of tension when Amy Phillips, I think quite rightly (and I hope I am paraphrasing correctly), pointed out that for her and Pitchfork News as a whole music journalist life in the full-on Internet age, with immediate worldwide pressure from readers wanting to know right-that-second now, means getting on stories and engaging with them first and fast, and that anyone who didn't would be inevitably left behind. This raised hackles among a slew of people but also praise from others -- I recall Oliver Wang was hoping that said type of readers would want to grow and read different kinds of pieces in the future, while Douglas W., in a brilliantly succint comment I wish I could quote accurately, nailed down the importance of a music writer as now being part of a conversation, not a one-way communication.

* It struck me more than last year that wandering around EMP from venue to venue while 'regular folks' were checking out the exhibits and playing instruments and so forth seems an amusingly artificial distinction. Maybe we should also be spending some time just spinning or rocking out or the like!

* On the social front, the parties, the get-togethers, the lunches and dinners, etc. etc. etc. The Matos party was the key event, no doubt.

There's also some general thoughts for the future I and others have but that can wait for now...

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 05:56 (eighteen years ago)

Christgau's talk and Amy's comment had the most pronounced effect on me; on the plane ride I was trying to consider their implications. Straddling the line between dinosaur-dom and denizen of the modern age is a bit unsettling.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 11:12 (eighteen years ago)

I read that as "dinosaur-Dom" and was imagining a T.Rex wearing a scarf.

― jaymc, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 13:17 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.shaviro.com/Blog/ April 21 posting by Steven Shaviro on the Wu-Tang panel and his presentation

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 14:27 (eighteen years ago)

Had a great time at the conference once again. Three quick on-panel highlights for me:

*Franklin Bruno's talk about four '50s-era parodies of "My Fair Lady" (inc. a Canadian one in which the Higgins-type wants to teach the Doolittle-type how to sound and act Canadian, but can't, because there's no such thing as Canadianness other than an anxiety over there being no such thing as Canadianness...)

*What I saw of Mairead Case on Karen Dalton (just in terms of pure sentence construction, she's just about my favorite writer I saw)

*Joshua Clover on songs associated with 1989 that weren't actually from 1989--yes, the guy invented "critical karaoke," but I'm still amazed by his ability to talk about a song for the exact length of the song

Was also actually kind of glad to have been disputed on a few aspects of my Clydie King talk; like I said, I'd rather open a conversation than make a pronouncement. (And I did make mix CDs to give out too!)

― Douglas, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 14:41 (eighteen years ago)

Regarding Amy Phillips comment (and I was not there, so correct me if I am worng), aren't alot of those news blurbs that Pitchfork posts "first and fast" just re-written press releases? So Arcade Fire fans want to know their tour schedule right now, big deal.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:10 (eighteen years ago)

"wrong." I was trying to type too fast! Ha.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:11 (eighteen years ago)

Did people not play the instruments? During lunch on Saturday I went into one of the rooms and played guitar really loud for 10 minutes, it was awesome. I wish there was a room like that everywhere I went.

What was Amy's comment on Christgau's talk?

― Eppy, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:31 (eighteen years ago)

The comment was separate from Christgau's presentation -- she was speaking at the concluding session on Sunday. (Christgau was there for a bit at said session but had to leave early to catch his plane.)

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:37 (eighteen years ago)

i thought Amy's WAKE UP, OLD PEOPLE! speech was funny. Would have been funnier if Xgau had still been in the room. Simon didn't seem bothered by the name-check. i do want to evolve and become a wild animal. way too late for some in that room.

― scott seward, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:43 (eighteen years ago)

aren't alot of those news blurbs that Pitchfork posts "first and fast" just re-written press releases?

Yes, basically what Peggy Hill does for the Arlen Bystander.

― Nicole, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:48 (eighteen years ago)

I have tried eating grass; didn't work.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:52 (eighteen years ago)

i also enjoyed ned's impassioned defense of his work for AMG!

you know what i took to heart? ann's points about people expanding their horizons. seeking out unlikely venues. i think that's what i'm gonna do in the future. more and more, i realize that i'm most comfortable writing longer 3000/4000 word pieces and i have to look beyond music mags/sites/etc in order to see them published. they still make little magazines, don't they? (yes, they do. and i was really happy when i appeared in one years ago. they look nice on the bookshelf.)

― scott seward, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 15:56 (eighteen years ago)

Email me, scott. I may have the venue for you.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:00 (eighteen years ago)

Hey, it was cool meeting everyone out there. I'd honestly never even heard of this board until I heard people talking about it out there, and lo, here you all are.

Anyhow, cheers on a swell week and cheers on my first less-than-swell ILM post.

― chris.steffen, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:17 (eighteen years ago)

x-post -- You should e-mail all of us, Alfred! I would say that, true. (Agreed on Ann's points, I've been very slack on that front.)

And heya Chris, glad to see you on board! I'm surprised I hadn't mentioned this place to you before.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:18 (eighteen years ago)

i also enjoyed ned's impassioned defense of his work for AMG!

christ he does this every year. have some dignity, ned!!

― strongohulkington, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:18 (eighteen years ago)

x-post -- You should e-mail all of us, Alfred!

I'm serious. Come one, come all!

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:23 (eighteen years ago)

i also enjoyed ned's impassioned defense of his work for AMG!

Well, I'd been wanting to say something on that front but had forgotten to contact Eric in advance of the session, but he was kind enough to call on me at a certain point, and after Tim Quirk, Jody Rosen and Ann had all raised things I wanted to address. I just wanted to note that the place of the short review thrives and has value (as does the place of the short review writer, as opposed to the more widely known/long pieces/books written/'collected works' figure, which I was trying to illustrate with the Simon mention in how he inspired my writing but how I took a different path in the end) -- there were a couple of more contentious ideas I would have added but there wasn't time, and the responses from Joshua and Douglas were good.

christ he does this every year. have some dignity, ned!!

Did I do something like that last year? I honestly can't remember! Maybe I did!

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:24 (eighteen years ago)

Amy has an interview with almost 60 Patti Smith on Pitchfork today.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 16:35 (eighteen years ago)

i never post here, so hey; hey to those i met this weekend. speaking of little magazines, scott said he sometimes reads the one i work for. yay!

my brain and patience had sorta reached saturation by the middle of that crit-summit, so i had to walk out. but i'm curious if anyone challenged amy on her assertion, or brought up the fact that pitchfork, with all due respect, sorta helped create the LIGHTNING FAST KNOWLEDGE!! climate. i.e. that the idea of 'responding to what the kids want' is sort of a flaw in logic or misattribution of cause.

― mike powell, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:13 (eighteen years ago)

Tue: 04-24-07: 11:30 AM CDT
Long Blondes Plot North American Tour at Last

― da croupier, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:21 (eighteen years ago)

Dark city streets, subway tunnels, and dimly lit apartments are all evoked in Interpol's music, so the snowy mountains and expanse of sky that appear on the front page of the band's website behind a cryptic message-- "07.10.07"-- seem an odd choice.

Could this signify a departure for the NYC boys on their third album and Capitol debut, which presumably comes out July 10, which is indeed a Tuesday? Does that landscape signal a turn in a more Sigur Rós-ian direction? Hmm, would that be a good or a bad thing?

Thanks to several readers for the tip. Catch Interpol soon at a Canadian venue and/or a European festival near you.

― da croupier, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:24 (eighteen years ago)

it was great to meet you, mike! and, yes, your mag is very cool indeed!

― scott seward, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:26 (eighteen years ago)

pitchfork, with all due respect, sorta helped create the LIGHTNING FAST KNOWLEDGE!! climate. i.e. that the idea of 'responding to what the kids want' is sort of a flaw in logic or misattribution of cause.

Mike: Pitchfork was actually quite slow in coming around to this. We only began operating with a news staff and a CMS, which allows much more flexibility and speed in what we can publish, last year. We were behind the times! And two of our four sections-- reviews, features-- are still very much modeled after "old media."

― scottpl, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:29 (eighteen years ago)

well, that's what i thought was interesting. i mean, i'm definitely familiar with pitchfork over the years (as a general arc) and it just seems like everything has accellerated tremendously there.

question being, then, is: was the accelleration really in response to a demand or is there a sense that FAST is sort of a philosophical choice now? i'm not nudging, i just thought it was interesting that amy's position was so, "if you're gonna survive in this hyperfast music world, you've gotta feed the pit," kinda thing--when the fact is, most young people who read stuff on the internet (i'm 24) have been reading pitchfork when it was more a horse-and-cart thing.

― mike powell, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:33 (eighteen years ago)

on the other hand, 137-year-old ryan schrieber does stay young by feasting on the blood of mp3 bloggers and potential interns

― strongohulkington, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:33 (eighteen years ago)

I think once you start "feeding the pit", it's hard to stop, and any attempt to do so makes you look like you're giving up to some extent. Some of my presentation was on the way time scales are messed up once you accept the vast amount of music there is to hear, and go with the flow (per se) of what's available. Pitchfork's organization is hardly to blame for any acceleration in the way internet people read/process music, but like a lot of music sites, imo the thinking behind what's published probably has contributed to must-hear-all-now attitudes -- mine included. It's a daily site; often we write about records/tracks months before they're released -- again, like just about every site that covers new music. There is a reason a lot of people call Pitchfork a blog; obv, it isn't, but when everything starts moving so quickly, maybe it's harder to make fine distinctions.

― Dominique, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:44 (eighteen years ago)

Well, we still publish record reviews around the time of their release, not months before. And to a certain percentage of our audience that means we're hopelessly behind.

The news and forkcast sections are sort of the 24-hour news half of the coin and the features and reviews are us clinging to the hope and belief that people still want to actually read about music.

Mike's horse/cart thing, I dunno. I wrote this at first and probably wisely didn't post it, but what the hell:

aren't alot of those news blurbs that Pitchfork posts "first and fast" just re-written press releases? So Arcade Fire fans want to know their tour schedule right now, big deal.

Some are, some aren't. Lots of what Amy and her staff do is ensuring that they get this info first and that they turn it around quickly when they have it. Which is part of her point: The need to just consume and keep up is the primary vehicle behind how certain readers consume music and talk about it. P4k news also covers shows, conducts artist interviews (e.g. there will be two published today), chases down rumors, breaks some news. We post official news and things that have been sourced, etc.,-- Amy runs her section like any news organization would, and although I'm far beyond the point where I expect a certain percentage of the music-loving world to give us anything other than knee-jerk sneers, the section today vs. a year ago is massive improvement, and quite a bit of it is down to Amy.

All that aside...what Amy does or how well it's done has almost nothing to do with her point (alas, I was not there but in enough conversations w/her lamenting the state of and future of music journalism and what that means for our company I understand her concerns because they are also mine): In short, that to an emerging generation of kids, music criticism is 24-hour news and leaks and mp3s and ratings and getting to things first. It's not about digesting music and it's not having meaningful conversations about it or reading someone else's ideas about it. Indeed, it's barely having conversations about it all. The democratization of music crit-- on mssg boards, mp3 blogs, etc.-- seems to not be resulting in ppl sharing more ideas with one another, but falling over another just to plant flags. And now many (specifically indie) fans seem actively suspicious of anyone who talks at length about music.

P4k's very act of printing longform reviews** and attempting to share ideas about music is, quite oddly, resented and seen to many as us cramming our opinions down someone's throat or inherently self-indulgent because ppl don't look to music writers for ideas, merely for suggestions on what to download. It's resented and kicked against because music crit is, to many of them, seemingly merely used as a tipsheet and now they can just 'listen to an mp3 and make up their own mind.'

And I fear that with mp3s giving people v. little tangible to grasp onto (no album art, liner notes, photos-- no product), the internet eliminating the need to hunt for info or sounds about/from an artist (let alone make choices about who to literally invest in), the rise of DVDs and video games as products that kids cherish, collect, and participate in w/o other distractions, and music almost exclusively something you do while you're doing something else (a background/lifestyle item) that there is little myth-making or magic in pop music these days, and as a result fewer ideas and conversations and arguments. In short, the future of writing about music, or whatever Amy's panel was called, is pretty grim because the future of getting people to invest their thoughts in music seems grim, too.

(at the risk of drawing the ire of, well, everyone, the Consumer Guide is basically the grandfather of new music crit-- two sentences and a rating, esp. when one considers that all ppl now want out of those sentences is a general idea of what it sounds like, not insight or elegant sentences, as Christgau obv. delivers.)

** Put it another way: P4k and its peers and contemporaries could be the first and last eZines. If the future of music crit is online, then the old print mag format-- followed by P4k, Stylus, Dusted, Drowned in Sound, CMG, etc.-- is almost N/A. Maybe I'm off but I can't recall a new eZine starting in the past few years. It's all blogs, and lately all that means is posting music or videos. The energy and ideas that departed the Voice, for example, seem to primarily have gone to writing for retail (eMusic), MTV Urge, or writing about single tracks (the very good PTW). I don't blame anyone-- you'd be foolish to start an eZine now-- but what does that say about sustaining lengthy word counts, which was the very thing the internet and the first wave of blogs got right, let alone expressing and communicating ideas?

sorry to go on with half-formed complaints and thoughts, you caught me on a bad day, ILx!

― scottpl, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:50 (eighteen years ago)

(the horse/car thing, by the way, wasn't an insult so much as it was just to say that there was a time when pitchfork was just a "slower" place than it is now--just want to be clear on that.)

― mike powell, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 17:58 (eighteen years ago)

Scott, some of your comments dovetail with Whitney Pastorek's insightful piece last week about the [Removed Illegal Link]

― jaymc, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:00 (eighteen years ago)

Let's try that again:

the state of cultural criticism in a comment board world

― jaymc, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:03 (eighteen years ago)

Um, what generation DIDN'T find rockcrit indulgent and simply prefer a tipsheet? Technology has increased the immediacy of gossipnewsetal, but these are pretty standard arguments about what "real people" (or "the new generation," or whatever you're defensively catering to) want vs. what rockcrits offer.

I'm not even sure what the argument here is other than "LOOK we have to feed the beast or we won't be successful" which isn't exactly a new concept. Creem writers bitching about People, etc.

(Btw, I prefer Amy's section and the forkcast to the longer reviews too. I go to Pfork for "what to download" and am grateful that star ratings - take note, Paper Thin Walls - and other dickery is gradually being removed)

― da croupier, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:04 (eighteen years ago)

i think Pitchfork does what it does very well. anyone crying about Pitchfork is truly searching for something to cry about and they should probably just EVOLVE. haha, but, seriously... they should.

i was a little confused by amy's speech, cuz it seemed to be directed more toward the idea of good future business models - actually the model she seemed to be describing just sounded like the model of a daily newspaper - than the future of writing about music. not that the two aren't entwined... but whatever. it livened things up. and i dig her.

oh, also, anyone who knows alfred well, e-mail him and ask about "the go-betweens anecdote". he may tell it too you if you are lucky. maybe not.

― scott seward, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:05 (eighteen years ago)

xpost to myself, above: It also makes me wonder how much of ILM's alleged decline has to do with this burgeoning mentality (esp. among college-age kids discovering the board), as opposed to the board simply encompassing more and more voices period than it did five years ago.

― jaymc, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:07 (eighteen years ago)

Favorites: Fuchs, McLeod, Matos, Carr, Bruno, and Seward

Best extracurricular event--Douglas singing "Bad Babysitter" at karaoke

I skipped EMP on Sunday--there's already an ongoing discussion on the future of music criticism happening in my apartment--and went to the library instead. Wow, fluorescent yellow escalators.

― lindseykai, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:11 (eighteen years ago)

yes, the library was incredible! did you sit on the plus-sign chairs? i thought they were wooden from far away.

― maura, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:40 (eighteen years ago)

It also makes me wonder how much of ILM's alleged decline has to do with this burgeoning mentality (esp. among college-age kids discovering the board), as opposed to the board simply encompassing more and more voices period than it did five years ago

They're kinda the same thing, no?

And now many (specifically indie) fans seem actively suspicious of anyone who talks at length about music.

Really? Hm. I haven't seen this, frankly. I'm probably not looking in the right places. "Democratization of music crit" seems inevitable, and is probably as old as...democracy itself?

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:42 (eighteen years ago)

The thing about everyone visibly bridling at Amy's comment (as Mark Sinker put it)... well, there are a lot of things about it. One of them is that all she's saying is that music criticism is becoming just like virtually every other part of every other newspaper/magazine that deals with news -- you have to write fast under deadline and get the scoop.

News reporting is fast and furious. Is it so strange that music writing become that?

As Mark pointed out, there's plenty of levels to swim at within that dynamic field when your writing is at the nexus of time/length/timeliness/timelessness.

What mostly matters is not some value judgement about high or low culture and "these kids" but

JUST WRITE REALLY FUCKING WELL (you know you can!) AND YOU'LL BE FINE NO MATTER WHAT THE INDUSTRY DOES

― Maria :D, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:50 (eighteen years ago)

Maura's "The Season Came To An End: Freestyle Brings Loneliness To a Crowded Dance Floor" (as Alfred and others indicate, really great, a fine combination of informed personal reflection and broader overview for an ill-documented scene-as-such -- also, best sound clip use of the conference, in that after reading the lyrics of Stevie B's "Spring Love" and then playing the representative clip, the illustration of sad lyrics vs. peppy music was so perfect, and the song itself so great, that it inspired dancing and a round of applause...and this was the *opening* of the talk!)

Damn! Transcript? More info? Anyone???

― Tantrum The Cat, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:51 (eighteen years ago)

JUST WRITE REALLY FUCKING WELL (you know you can!) AND YOU'LL BE FINE NO MATTER WHAT THE INDUSTRY DOES

thank you, Maria! That's what I was coming to.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:54 (eighteen years ago)

News reporting is fast and furious. Is it so strange that music writing become that?

i don't think it's wrong to say "kind of." i mean, there's also the distinction between reviews/features/"criticism" (which we tend to think of as atemporal, as long as you pay attention to release dates), and news, which is inherently supposed to be timely. (as an aside, the guy who did the presentation on the creem news section said that the only reason their news was snarky is because their pub schedule didn't permit them to report it as fast as other mags, so they had to make it appealing.)

i dunno, i think that there's an ever-focusing middle ground, like blog entries, where we're getting a hybrid of undercooked criticism, a flag as to a song's existience, and usually, the song itself. it's just really weird to me, but i guess, hey, welcome to the modern world or whatever.

― mike powell, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 18:56 (eighteen years ago)

xpost
I have to run. Just quickly, though. My favorite presentations in no particular order: Scott Seward, Eric Davis, Devon Powers, the music computer game guy's, the Cosmo/Geeta/Simon triumvarate, the country/soul one -- oh fuck it, I loved it all, really. I missed so many of the presentations, unfortunately.

Devon Powers is stunningly beautiful. Yow! What a pretty lady. I found her really smart and insightful - she had a cool meta-take on music writing.

― Maria :D, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 19:04 (eighteen years ago)

I think my hubby should consider doing stand up. He was so funny! I had read his piece beforehand and thought it was funny, but his delivery made it ten times funnier.

― Maria :D, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 19:07 (eighteen years ago)

I'm still a little unclear on what Amy actually said. Was it a "more web content, old-media folks" kinda thing?

― Eppy, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 20:28 (eighteen years ago)

If only they had podcasted the whole conference

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 20:31 (eighteen years ago)

Her basic point wasn't 'this is how it should be,' but 'this is how kids want it,' meaning immediately - she said kids want stuff as quickly as possible, so that need is there to be met by whoever chooses to. It was when she got into the business about doing it 'as quickly as possible' that the rabble started. I was talking to her about it afterwards, and she reiterated that she wasn't saying it was the only way or the best way, but it's what there is a demand for.

― chris.steffen, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 20:34 (eighteen years ago)

I just wanted to point out that TOM FUCKING SMUCKER DANCED TO DISCO IN MY LIVING ROOM. this means that nearly all my dreams have come true. srsly, Smucker's essay on disco in the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock was life-changing, the first piece of serious disco writing I ever read, and still one of my favorites. such a tremendous honor.

― Matos W.K., Tuesday, 24 April 2007 23:00 (eighteen years ago)

My favorite part of the party may have been watching the congregation of younger types genuflect before Christgau. You'd think Jesus was delivering a new parable.

― chris.steffen, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 23:17 (eighteen years ago)

You were there too, mon ami!

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 23:23 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, I don't deny that I took my place in the throng for a bit. But it really seemed to be an all night spectacle.

― chris.steffen, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 23:30 (eighteen years ago)

I have to mention Nate Petrin's Wu-Tang presentation: scholarly, serious, scary -- amazing. The only thing I wanted to do when I got back was listen to "Can It All Be So Simple."

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 23:44 (eighteen years ago)

(Btw, I prefer Amy's section and the forkcast to the longer reviews too. I go to Pfork for "what to download" and am grateful that star ratings - take note, Paper Thin Walls - and other dickery is gradually being removed)

"dickery" meaning "thought." thanks for your stunning insight, Da Croupier

― Matos W.K., Tuesday, 24 April 2007 23:48 (eighteen years ago)

"thinking gives you wrinkles" etc.

― Matos W.K., Tuesday, 24 April 2007 23:48 (eighteen years ago)

disliking star ratings and pitchfork reviews =! hating "thought." but i bet both are flattered!

― da croupier, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 00:09 (eighteen years ago)

I thought the party line was "hating pitchfork reviews = epitome of taste (unless you know the reviewer in which case the review is an exception to the rule)"...?

― HI DERE, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

haha I jumped to a conclusion on ILM for the FIRST TIME EVER

― Matos W.K., Wednesday, 25 April 2007 00:18 (eighteen years ago)

(Full disclosure: I am not criticising anyone, I'm describing how I view Pitchfork.)

― HI DERE, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 00:22 (eighteen years ago)

btw, Andy Beta posted his paper: http://andybetablog.blogspot.com/2007/04/bemp.html

― Matos W.K., Wednesday, 25 April 2007 00:22 (eighteen years ago)

Best extracurricular event--Douglas singing "Bad Babysitter" at karaoke

I am sorrowed to have missed this. His "Natural Woman" was a kick, though Matos's unholy triumvirate of X-Ray Spex' "Germfree Adolescents," Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" and Grand Funk's "We're An American Band" is my highlight.

yes, the library was incredible!

I love the library; I usually chill there when I'm visiting Seattle and have flown in midday and need to wait for everyone to get off work.

I think my hubby should consider doing stand up. He was so funny!

He was! There are a lot of great humorists among the presenters and they did their reputations proud (I'd also include Matos and Kipp for a start).

oh, also, anyone who knows alfred well, e-mail him and ask about "the go-betweens anecdote"

I believe I was there for that. (I was genuflecting for a bit.)

Matos's glee re: Smucker dancing makes me happy.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 00:44 (eighteen years ago)

man, I have written far too many words-- especially off-topic ones-- in this thread already, but after finally ending my work day I now see that I should have at least read over that rant/response before posting. I think every one of those sentences has a word repeated in it!

In any event...maybe next year. I remain extremely envious of those who are able to go to EMP.

― scottpl, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 02:33 (eighteen years ago)

i. thx to eric and everyone for organising everything and inviting me
ii. thx to excellent panel xx devon, randall and michael
iii. x0x to everyone i hung with x0x
iv. apols to ppl i didn't get to talk to so much :(
v. RAMBLING!!¡? heavens i kill u now ;-)
vi. standard of papers pretty high comp.other conferecnes i've been at
vii. UR ALL GHEY

― mark s, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 13:36 (eighteen years ago)

So did Pitchfork assign anyone to cover the conference?

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 13:59 (eighteen years ago)

dave marsh

― mark s, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 14:01 (eighteen years ago)

I remain extremely envious of those who are able to go to EMP.

Cosign that. Also, I remain extremely envious of those who can concentrate on one thing for more than about five minutes at a time.

― Dimension 5ive, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 14:02 (eighteen years ago)

i feel like i missed spring break

― strongohulkington, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 14:03 (eighteen years ago)

a very fat and pasty spring break

― strongohulkington, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 14:03 (eighteen years ago)

"I had to stay ~~in the dorm~~home, I had ~~a paper~~to go to work and take the kids to soccer and baseball practice."

― Dimension 5ive, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 14:09 (eighteen years ago)

I remain extremely envious of those who can concentrate on one thing for more than about five minutes at a time.

YES

― HI DERE, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 14:20 (eighteen years ago)

De-lurkifying to say thanks (and to Matos, too; all that was missing from yr house was a keymaster in a chicken costume). Also: if anybody wants to write something, uh, analytical about Karen Dalton, I'm happy to share contacts and transcripts.

My favorite moment was Mike yoink-quoting celestial ice cream trucks -- and I did the Patti Smith interview at P4k; the credit's since been changed.

― Mairead, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 17:42 (eighteen years ago)

I wish the EMP pop conference would come over to my house for beers tonight after Lost.

― Maria :D, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 20:21 (eighteen years ago)

OK, and who's going to be the one next years whose presentation is called "Use of music as clue-dropper and plot-mover in the hit TV series Lost"?

― Maria :D, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 20:23 (eighteen years ago)

year

― Maria :D, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 20:24 (eighteen years ago)

lame request -- if anyone's using del.icio.us and bookmarking this year's emp papers, can you tag them "emp2007"? i want to read whatever's online, since i didn't attend this year. thanks!

― theoreticalgirl, Wednesday, 25 April 2007 23:27 (eighteen years ago)

In some prior years The NY Times covered the event, but alas I've seen very little coverage of it in newspapers or online in blogs. Maybe those who were there will eventually post about it.

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 26 April 2007 03:50 (eighteen years ago)

I'm with theoreticalgirl, any directions to papers posted online would warrant a hug from da hoos.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 26 April 2007 03:55 (eighteen years ago)

/uncreepy

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 26 April 2007 03:58 (eighteen years ago)

haha the seattle weekly wrote it up

they hate me

― mark s, Thursday, 26 April 2007 10:05 (eighteen years ago)

Yea, only Seattle coverage. As no big name indie-rockers did presentations you don't get "first and fast" website coverage, and old-school media likely no longer wants to pay to send writers to hear other writers talk (as the NY Times did in the past) and figure their mainstream readers do not care. Oh well. I want to read a bunch of papers and especially want to hear more about Ned Sublette's presentation on New Orleans--all I heard about was his criticism of the current administration.

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 26 April 2007 13:25 (eighteen years ago)

They are New Times bozos, Mark.

― Nicole, Thursday, 26 April 2007 13:53 (eighteen years ago)

ok well yeah, i'm not entirely sure why i'm supposed to be apologising for quoting other writers and commenting on them in a panel on music-writing but i guess the fact she totally missed the point of my paper IS somewhat my fault -- the biggest larf i got on the day was when i sed i'd asked a key question on ilx once and response was "the usual bafflement"

note to self: work out what talking about AND CLEARLY TELL PPL WHAT IT IS WHEN YOU DISCOVER IT

― mark s, Thursday, 26 April 2007 13:57 (eighteen years ago)

was it maria:D who sed thst ann powers had the gift of larfing at her own jokes on VH1? i am of course too fastidious for such crowd-pleasing shtick bah

― mark s, Thursday, 26 April 2007 14:00 (eighteen years ago)

My notes on Ned Sublette's:

As with bumper sticker: “If you aren’t completely appalled, then you haven’t been paying attention.” “If losing an American city…the canary in the coalmine of climate change, as well as [social inequity], under an ultra-reactionary government, doesn’t radicalize you and get you off your ass, what does it take?” Stripping away drums (=culture=history) capital of slavery and of sex slavery. "On Sabbath evening the African slaves meet on the green by the swamp and rock the city with their Congo dances." --letter written in New Orleans. 1819 Roy Brown “Good Rockin Tonight.” LA 18th state in 1812. Previously isolated; then a hub of communications. NOLA wanted to be a French town but the French didn’t want it. 3 colonizations: French, Spanish, Anglo-American (colony of Virginia pre-statehood). 3 languages, 3 slave regimes, 3 black populations. Spanish=”Congo period.” Increasingly cosmopolitan African population in NOLA. French project by Canadians. Thomas Jefferson, one of the great villains of American history, if you look at it from a black perspective. HAITIAN REVOLUTION. Earl Palmer (NOLA rock drummer) stowed away on a fruit barge to Havana (the music! The music!) 1962 embargo of Cuba was also an embargo of NOLA & destroyed the cities’ link. NOLA is the point of intersection between Cuban importation and US slave-raising. Black experience in NOLA: 1. French, 2. Spanish (re-Africanization). NOLA ruled by Cuba. Large population of free people of color. Slaves could attend dances, own property and businesses (and other slaves), and buy freedom guaranteed (only in Cuba and NOLA). First mention of tango: the beat of reggaeton, of the second line, etc. 3. American, 4. ultra-reactionary ex-plantation owners (10K French-speaking refugees fleeing Cuba after fleeing what would be Haiti) 1/3 each, [white, free people of color (mostly female), and slaves] allowed to keep their slaves by act of Congress (because the slave trade was prohibited January 1, 1808). SC brought in 40K Africans for resale, undercutting the VA & MD markets, hence the 1808 prohibition. Clandestine privateering business (Laffittes) importing slaves illegally from ships bound for Cuba.

Note that my 1-4 list was enumerating what Sublette said was five stages so obvs I missed one.

― Nick Minichino, Thursday, 26 April 2007 14:42 (eighteen years ago)

Nick coming through again! (And please send me those notes, sir.)

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 26 April 2007 17:13 (eighteen years ago)

was it maria:D who sed thst ann powers had the gift of larfing at her own jokes on VH1?

i think simon said that

― Maria :D, Thursday, 26 April 2007 23:19 (eighteen years ago)

Nick, thanks much for those Ned Sublette notes.

― curmudgeon, Friday, 27 April 2007 03:21 (eighteen years ago)

i dig this person's take on things:

http://musicology.typepad.com/dialm/2007/04/nerdcore.html

― scott seward, Friday, 27 April 2007 13:03 (eighteen years ago)

SR's take on the conference. To meet your daily requirement of meta, he quotes liberally from this thread. he says nice things about my thing too, which is nice, but i'm posting this cuz i think it's a good wrap-up:

http://blissout.blogspot.com/

i'm tempted to dust off my blog and write something about the whole thing as well. i'm afraid my blog won't recognize me though.

― scott seward, Saturday, 28 April 2007 16:39 (eighteen years ago)

I think Ulver's sales might have doubled from your presentation alone.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 28 April 2007 16:56 (eighteen years ago)

ha! we can only hope.

― scott seward, Saturday, 28 April 2007 17:05 (eighteen years ago)

wow, so i go to sign in to my blog and apparently google owns my blog now! who knew? i thought i paid attention to these things. it really HAS been a while.

― scott seward, Saturday, 28 April 2007 17:06 (eighteen years ago)

I saw this via google:

http://invisibleoranges.com/2007/04/emp-pop-conference-2007.html

Invisible Oranges blog April 23rd posting. The guy also posts metal mp3s

I've been to wonderful places - most recently, the EMP Pop Conference in Seattle. What a strange experience. A convention of rock critics, an abundance of dudes with glasses, a celebration of unbelievable music geekdom.

I met great people, though, and took in some interesting presentations. One of my favorite talks was by Decibel's Scott Seward, who delivered a powerful, poignant meditation on folk metal. He and his wife make mixtapes together - unbearably cute.

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 28 April 2007 17:22 (eighteen years ago)

That's Cosmo Lee's blog! he is a very groovy dude. It was great to meet him. It's funny, cuz i really don't read blogs that much, but i HAVE enjoyed his in the past. it's great. So, it was nice to tell the one person whose blog I read that I enjoy it!

― scott seward, Saturday, 28 April 2007 17:26 (eighteen years ago)

Here's Ali Marcus' mix of criticism and praise on his blog re EMP:

http://alimarcus.wordpress.com/2007/04/23/emp-pop-conference-16-end-bits/

April 23, 2007
EMP Pop Conference #16 - End Bits

One thing that I continually find entertaning is the feedback loop at the conference, presenters quoting writers to help support their point, and those writers are literally sitting in the audience listening to their own words spoken back to them. This kind of validation (or cancellation?) is a kind of black hole, a weird moment in time when the reasoning behind an argument starts to sound circular. For some reason the fact that the original writer is in the room listening sort of serves to render the intellectual capacity of the argument null and void. Like anything that is circular, you have to wonder whether it’s useful to end up where you started. Of course it can be. And of course it can’t be.

Also.

There seemed to be an exceptional amount of political commentaries built into the arguments I saw. The theme of the conference, “Waking Up From History,” propelled many writers to arrive at the concusion that we should actually wake up TO history, to learn from history, and to draw conclusions between the cultural sphere that our work covers and the political sphere of which we are citizens.

Some examples:

-Robert Bennett on the Jazz Diplomacy program and the things we should learn from it.
-Scott Nelson’s timely mention of “abortive gun policies” in the paper about John Henry’s exhumation - I’m not sure how he managed to reference the VA. Tech shootings in that conversation but at the time it made perfect sense.
-Brendan Greaves’ talk of Terry Allen’s border politics and the ways in which the Texas/Mexico border is treated by the government versus the inhabitants.
-There was also an entire panel about New Orleans, as well as a smattering of other related papers throughout the weekend, all of which contained a fervent expression of the power of music and solidarity and the essential character of the city.

In general, as there seems to be in more and more things these days, there was a real sense of urgency that was more palpable than in previous conferences. It may have been the effect of the theme, but in general people’s research was very much rooted in the grim realities of life and music’s ability to help maintain and even create hope where all seems quite hopeless.

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 28 April 2007 17:32 (eighteen years ago)

That's Cosmo Lee's blog!

Ah cool -- he was with Donut B. and I and others for the Earth show.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 28 April 2007 17:33 (eighteen years ago)

oh, and Cosmo named his blog after the famous Decibel Magazine invisible oranges story. okay, it's not really famous, but it was awfully funny...

― scott seward, Saturday, 28 April 2007 17:49 (eighteen years ago)

Ali marcus has a bunch of postings about the conference:

[url][Removed Illegal Link]

excerpt from: April 23, 2007
EMP Pop Conference #8 - John Henry

In a different panel later in the day, Scott Nelson walked us through the process by which he tracked down the sequence of events in the real John Henry’s life to city records and signed contracts to buried bones in the Virginia clay. Literally de-mythologizing the hero of the song, Nelson brilliantly unveiled a mystery, revealing a narrative that is just as much a part of American history as the legend.

It turns out, John Henry was a prisioner at the Virginia Penitentiary. Along with hundreds of other convicts, he was leased out to the railroad companies to build the tunnels, work that men would not volunteer for due to the incredibly high risk of death (Nelson says that in 1866 the highest export from the state of California was Chinese bones, the dead men who came to America to work in the tunnels). Anyways, Nelson found records of a steam-engine drill at Lewis Tunnel, across the WV border but near the Big Bend Tunnel of the “John Henry” ballad. He found contracts that fined the railroads In a different panel later in the day, Scott Nelson walked us through the process by which he tracked down the sequence of events in the real John Henry’s life to city records and signed contracts to buried bones in the Virginia clay. Literally de-mythologizing the hero of the song, Nelson brilliantly unveiled a mystery, revealing a narrative that is just as much a part of American history as the legend.

It turns out, John Henry was a prisioner at the Virginia Penitentiary. Along with hundreds of other convicts, he was leased out to the railroad companies to build the tunnels, work that men would not volunteer for due to the incredibly high risk of death (Nelson says that in 1866 the highest export from the state of California was Chinese bones, the dead men who came to America to work in the tunnels). Anyways, Nelson found records of a steam-engine drill at Lewis Tunnel, across the WV border but near the Big Bend Tunnel of the “John Henry” ballad. He found contracts that fined the railroads $100 for every man not returned to the Penitentiary, which explains the hundred of skeletons found buried in mass graves, Henry’s presumably among them.00 for every man not returned to the Penitentiary, which explains the hundred of skeletons found buried in mass graves, Henry’s presumably among them.

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 28 April 2007 18:03 (eighteen years ago)

http://alimarcus.wordpress.com/2007/04/page/2/

― curmudgeon, Saturday, 28 April 2007 18:04 (eighteen years ago)

Simon's blog post did an excellent job of articulating my queasiness after that last panel.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 28 April 2007 20:17 (eighteen years ago)

http://wishiwerethere.typepad.com/pgwp/

More blogging about Amy Phillips comments

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 29 April 2007 04:35 (eighteen years ago)

See the April 26th posting

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 29 April 2007 04:37 (eighteen years ago)

photos on flcker

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 29 April 2007 18:11 (eighteen years ago)

whoa. I've finally caught up (one hour link following, reading)

--> http://www.shaviro.com/Blog/ April 21 posting by Steven Shaviro on the Wu-Tang panel and his presentation
This was awesome and OTM. I don't think it could be described any better. I've tried discussing similar thoughts with my Wu-Tang friends but I'm not sure they think about the characteristics of the members this much. (Except for U-God--he seems so out of place in Wu-Tang ("Black Shampoo") and we're always trying to nail down exactly why.) But this was muy refrescando!. I want to read the other Wu-Tang related presentations--please?

scottpl's response to Amy Talk/Pitchfork "is THE PIT" is interesting too and unfortunatley seems accurate. I've never had a conversation with anyone on the intricacies of the Stax horn section or the relevance of mall-punk today and perhaps that's a good thing: 1. Is it really that important to talk about? 2. I'm probably not smart enough to carry a conversation on such matters. Nonetheless while I'm always looking for interesting and well written incite on even the lamest elements of music/culture(?) the discussion of ideas where it still occurs (ILM?, Stylus features, Pitchfork) seems like a dying art. And yes!, the "longform review" being percieved as pretension/snarkiness seems so commonplace among some of my friends and ILM (maybe?) that it must be really frustrating for people who really want to give even a little bit of a shit about all these aspects of popular music/culture.

Anyway, I'd like to see this thing one year. Congrats to the presenters.

― earinfections, Monday, 30 April 2007 04:47 (eighteen years ago)

"Black Shampoo" is awesome and totally Wu-Tang! It's not a far step from there to some of Masta Killa and Ghost's stuff at all.

Best part is when Meth is like "Fuck these hoes" and U-God is all like "Naw, naw chillllllllllll......." (I may be imagining this, I haven't listened to "Forever" in quite a spell)

I've never had a conversation with anyone on the intricacies of the Stax horn section or the relevance of mall-punk today

I'd love to have these convos. Start threads on them!

― The Reverend, Monday, 30 April 2007 05:04 (eighteen years ago)

Simon Reynolds made my week when he called me lovely on the interweb.

― Maria :D, Monday, 30 April 2007 13:13 (eighteen years ago)

On the localism discussion...

http://www.zoilus.com/documents/in_depth/2007/001032.php

― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 30 April 2007 15:21 (eighteen years ago)

I missed so much. Including Wayne Marshall's presentation...

http://wayneandwax.com/?p=128

I met him at Matos's, but then missed him DJing at... a gambling speakeasy????

http://wayneandwax.com/?p=130

"I met up with Filastine at about 1am on Saturday night, post-Matos’s-post-conference party, and he took me to an all-night underground speakeasy type of thing, complete with cabaret and craps tables. It was something else. Lots of kids dressed to the nines, pretending it was the 20s, wading through warehouse puddles in their finery. The proprietors asked me to DJ, and lucky enough I still had my laptop with me."

― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 30 April 2007 19:22 (eighteen years ago)

Holy fuck!

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 30 April 2007 19:23 (eighteen years ago)

I mean seriously, that's ten papers right there.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 30 April 2007 19:23 (eighteen years ago)

so if anyone wants to read my paper, just e-mail me. i've got a final version all sorted out. i think. if i send it to you don't put it on the internet or anything, cuz i'm gonna give it to someone to print. i mean, i don't know why you would...
anyway, in case anyone is interested. i'm still gonna write up some late thoughts on the whole thing for my blog, but haven't finished, um, reflecting. hey, i'm a slowpoke, sue me.

― scott seward, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 23:41 (eighteen years ago)

Pete, I seem to have missed you. You did that great article on the Minneapolis reggaeton scene, correct?

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 1 May 2007 23:53 (eighteen years ago)

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