Cynicism masquerading as Criticism: Today's Fennesz Review in Pitchfork

But I'll test your theory when I review the new Asmus Tietchens on Mille Plateaux and try to bring up the Beach Boys.

Think this cover art will back me up?

http://www.forcedexposure.com/images/RITOR27.JPEG

That comment was spurred by the comments of Gareth, Simon Reynolds & a few other people late last year after Endless Summer came out, pointing out how “leading” the title & cover art were, & thought that was a pretty interesting idea. I asked Fennesz about it when I interviewed him for Pitchfork, asking him to come up with some alternate titles for the album, & his answer was kind of funny. I mentioned the Beach Boys in my Endless Summer review last year as well, so I’m not saying I am immune to those forces. I think the marketing & presentation of records is fun, myself.

Anyway, I am interested to know more specifically what you’re talking about.

shit, i posted this 3 weeks ago and noone bothered to respond... i guess the new Touch comp is failure of small label indie marketing? (granted i don't blame anyone for not responding, the first 3 paragraphs or so dissapeared when i posted).

and i don't think of the beach boys when the phrase "endless summer" is mentioned... i'm instead reminded of a CLASSIC soundtrack to the 1966 bruce brown film by THE SANDELLS. I'd argue that the Fennesz title track "endless summer" borrows fairly heavily from the 2-chord strum of the sandell's "theme from endless summer"...

please bear in mind that i would never attempt to judge the quality of fennesz's music based on the cover art or title eitha... reductionists! listen to the music!

(I also think he was doing sort of the same thing on Plays.)

Isn't it patently obvious?

Me either -- actually, I think the Beach Boys might well have come up in reviews for Endless Summer, just in reference to "(Don't Talk) Put Your Head on My Shoulder" -- an odd coincidence that he should ref one of their comp titles. But was it a coincidence? Forget cynicism, I'd have been curious as a listener knowing he'd already covered the Beach Boys once.

beach boys greatest hits comp = endless summer

but the film and the soundtrack are the obv. archetypes.

oh and as hstencil's agent: hstencil is from louisville kentucky, yet he's lived in upstate NY, NYC, chicago, and now NYC again (astoria)... he's currently on vacation in portland oregon hunting a rare breed of woman who was last seen wearing a cat suit. he may also try to familiarize himself with the paper dolphins of the sewage universe all the while paying homage to george harrison's place of death controversy. he just got a brand new playfriend and he is a fabulous dancer. watch out.

anyway, what's wrong with judging music by its cover art or title, per se?

that doesn't answer the question!

*ducks*

What I did disagree with was what I read (and gee, isn't that an interpretation that I'm free to make, just as Mark is free to his own interpretations? or do I not count 'cause I lived in Chicago for four years [interjection: fuck you nabisco]) and its tone conveyed. That is, that Fennesz (and by extension MEGO) are only doing what they do so certain boring and close-minded (and not very astute critics) can make easy, sloppy connections in reviews they write about their music. HELL, that's what the FIRST PARAGRAPH in the review was about (i.e. had NOTHING to do with the Field Recordings disc, but was all about some supposed "perception" of Endless Summer in somebody's make-believe "indie-rock [or is that glitch?] marketplace."). I'm sorry, but I say fuck that. Fennesz has been making music (hey, some of it even is about a "concept!" how nutty! where is Hotel Paral.ell anyway?) for a while, and he deserves a little more credit than to just someone who references the Beach Boys so dorks can feel safe buying his records and placing them next to the Beachwood Sparks in their collections. Give me a fucking break.

(It's also funny that, despite what I wrote up top, and in this post, I'm not NEARLY as caustic or cynical or shitty in my writing as a few people that responded to this post ['ello, jess!], but yet because I express an opinion I'm somehow "wrong." Fuck you people if you can't tolerate dissenting opionions.)

...is what the offending paragraph is saying too, unless i'm mistaken

(it is?)

'absolutely gorgeous Jon Wozencroft photography and design'
(paying attention to the record's body rather than just its soul = good)

'may technically be a c: drive disk cleanup, but...'
(writer sees records as digital data but doesn't have a problem with that)

'affirms Fennesz's status among the most gifted artists'
(post-post-structuralist idea about primacy of artist, his vision = humanist)

'the sucking sound of container lids being pried open'
(evocative description of actual music)

A cynical review, to me, would look more like Paul Cooper's review of 'Plugs Plus' by DAT Politics, which spent three long paragraphs talking about the mating habits of flatworms because 'if you're a fan of DAT Politics you're going to be as lonely as a flatworm', then informed us that the main instrument used on the record was 'the butt-trumpet'.

Anyway, you're seriously shoving words in Mark's mouth. He didn't say that they're "only doing what they do so certain boring and close-minded critics can make easy, sloppy connections." He said, in plain English and without any implications of sarcasm, that they made a great success of offering people a "conceptual cue" to think about the music. I don't understand how this is untrue or why it has to be considered pejorative: I read it as either a statement of fact or as a compliment.