This is the thread where we communicate solely through Pitchfork pull-quotes

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I might add that I'm not religious in the slightest, but think it would take an almost total lack of sprit not to be moved by this stuff.

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 16:02 (twenty years ago)

Concentrated assault begins to crumble upon prolonged exposure to the sunlight.

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 16:06 (twenty years ago)

Damn, maybe this is how it's supposed to work!

― Chex Dwarf (sanskrit), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 16:18 (twenty years ago)

The operative word here is Slint, precisely because of how telling-- and dare I say, how inexhaustibly fun-- the game of rock-and-roll connect-the-dots becomes when Slint and post-Slint splinter bands are its playthings. Yet even I, who at the slight downward turn of a mid-90s volume knob, haphazardly cry out "Slint! Slint!" as if the band invented dynamics, can hardly forge half-baked synapses between Spiderland and Walford's effort (though moments on "Solar System", "New York City" and, I guess, "Klark Kent" might have a chance with more time).

― bb (bbrz), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 16:24 (twenty years ago)

as a pitchfork avoider i can't add to this thread.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 16:27 (twenty years ago)

i don't mean to pressure you into the embrace

― katie, a princess (katie, a princess), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 16:30 (twenty years ago)

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/3513/pitchforkagain2nh.jpg

― Cunga (Cunga), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 16:31 (twenty years ago)

So, while we reflect on how little we've accomplished in our young lives, you can amuse yourselves by reading the itinerary for the remainder of Kanye West's "Touch the Sky" world tour,

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 16:40 (twenty years ago)

Hardly a lifer, I jumped ship after Lou Barlow's foil Eric Gaffney quit in 1994 before the release of 1994's Bakesale.

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 16:41 (twenty years ago)

A long sigh about living among chavs.

― Eppy (Eppy), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:00 (twenty years ago)

Gosh, I really miss my big fucking houses and Harvard-Westlake proms and "animal-style" slabs of cowshit-- the world's most overrated sandwiches in the world's most overrated city.

― Tiki Theater Xymposium (Bent Over at the Arclight), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:21 (twenty years ago)

(oh, I guess maybe I should give credit to the writer of that one - Nick Sylvester)

― Tiki Theater Xymposium (Bent Over at the Arclight), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:22 (twenty years ago)

I just had the weirdest revelation: Dave Gahan is Jewish. I've been listening to Depeche Mode for about 13 years now, alternating between fandom and bemusement, and the thought had never occured to me.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:23 (twenty years ago)

I find myself eleven years older and probably not much wiser (thanks, college-era chemical recreation!), bemoaning the end of another scene

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:31 (twenty years ago)

The butterscotch lamps along the walls of the tight city square bled upward into the cobalt sky, which seemed as strikingly artificial and perfect as a wizard's cap.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:31 (twenty years ago)

This, mind you, is a major breakthrough for me-- sort of like the time I realized that the average goth spends more time in front of the mirror than the average cheerleader.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:31 (twenty years ago)

Last March, I had the opportunity to interview Chicago uber-producer Jim O'Rourke at his place of residence. I snatched it up. While I wasn't nuts about his latest release, Eureka, I was a fan of his other albums, his production techniques, and his collaborations with David Grubbs as Gastr Del Sol. That I finally had the chance to meet and talk with O'Rourke seemed a great honor.

The interview went smoothly enough. We talked about his fascination with Japanese artist Mimiyo Tomozawa (whose actually- pretty- gross artwork adorned the cover of Eureka), Portuguese artist Nuno Canavarro, O'Rourke's work on the then- forthcoming Stereolab, Superchunk and Aluminum Group LPs, among other things. Later, O'Rourke asked what I thought of Eureka. I told him I thought it was pretty good, which I did, for the most part. (The album had its share of great tracks along with its share of mediocrity.) We moved on.

Later that day, Jim logged onto Pitchfork to read what I'd said about Eureka. If you'll recall (and if you don't, the review is in the archive), the review was about how I was disappointed in the album because I knew that O'Rourke was capable of better things. In fact, I went out of my way to say that the album had some genuinely awesome moments. Sadly, Jim took the review very personally, and is apparently unwilling to discuss the issue any further, as he no longer responds to my e-mails.

What a sad shock it is to meet someone you have a tremendous respect for and realize that they're not exactly the person you hoped they might be. Of course, now I come at Jim O'Rourke's albums from a different perspective-- I still respect him as one of the great musicians of late '90s, but I have very little respect for him as a person.

That said, Halfway to a Threeway succeeds where Eureka failed. (Maybe Jim actually took my advice.) Threeway trims away the saccharine Bacharach stylings and aimless experimentalism flaunted by Eureka, opting instead for beautifully arranged orchestral pop and lighter- than- air percussion. The opening track, "Fuzzy Sun," does bear more than just a passing resemblence to Eureka's standout track "Ghost Ship in a Storm," grabbing a bar or two from that track's melody, but O'Rourke works enough magic in to make the song its own hummable entity.

It's followed by the summery instrumental "Not Sport, Martial Art," whose intertwining guitars and muted horns recall a less artsy Tortoise, and reflects O'Rourke's work on Sam Prekop's solo debut. But the EP concludes with what is arguably some of Jim's best material to date-- "The Workplace" is a musically autumnal ode to an office enviroment with playful lyrics ("Women look good here/ With their suits on/ It suits them"), and the gorgeous meloncholy title track, a gently- strummed acoustic ballad that beats even Archer Prewitt's stellar "I'll Be Waiting" at its own game.

Listening to Halfway to a Threeway reminds me what a complete shame it is that Jim O'Rourke's kneejerk reaction to my review of Eureka should spoil what comraderie we might have had when crossing paths at local venues. It won't ruin my appreciation for the bulk of his catalog.

-Ryan Schreiber

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:32 (twenty years ago)

So often, what passes for slow-core could as easily be termed "snore-core."

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:33 (twenty years ago)

All's to say, he was no saint, nor a pariah of pop.

― Eppy (Eppy), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:36 (twenty years ago)

The financial fallout of the latter had Momus soliciting wealthy fans for old-fashioned patronage (he sold them "song portraits" at $1000 a pop) and generally upping productivity-- the fleurs of which we are picking to this day. Oskar Tennis Champion, his unlistenable new album, suggests the launch of a different fund drive: Pay Momus to Zip It.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:44 (twenty years ago)

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 17:45 (twenty years ago)

"It's okay for somebody to be into both Throbbing Gristle and Belle and Sebastian," Voxtrot's Ramesh Srivastava writes on his blog, "and I'm pretty sure that's a good thing."

― Cee Bee, Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:24 (twenty years ago)

The Passion of the Christ isn't just about homoerotic s&m.

― Harrison Barr (Petar), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:26 (twenty years ago)

"I had never even seen a shooting star before. 25 years of rotations, passes through comets' paths, and travel, and to my memory I had never witnessed burning debris scratch across the night sky. Radiohead were hunched over their instruments. Thom Yorke slowly beat on a grand piano, singing, eyes closed, into his microphone like he was trying to kiss around a big nose. Colin Greenwood tapped patiently on a double bass, waiting for his cue. White pearls of arena light swam over their faces. A lazy disco light spilled artificial constellations inside the aluminum cove of the makeshift stage. The metal skeleton of the stage ate one end of Florence's Piazza Santa Croce, on the steps of the Santa Croce Cathedral. Michelangelo's bones and cobblestone laid beneath. I stared entranced, soaking in Radiohead's new material, chiseling each sound into the best functioning parts of my brain which would be the only sound system for the material for months."

― geeta (geeta), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:32 (twenty years ago)

hahahhahaha that still makes me crack up, all these years later!

― geeta (geeta), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:33 (twenty years ago)

Yeah that is kind of amazing/awful.

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:36 (twenty years ago)

my favorite part is "singing, eyes closed, into his microphone like he was trying to kiss around a big nose"!

― geeta (geeta), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:39 (twenty years ago)

His hipster-baiting, sincerity and modest fame guaranteed a few nasty reviews, sure. Still, Folds challenged cred-consciousness before crying "rockist!" was OTM.

yes, it's real.

― jinx hijinks (sanskrit), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:39 (twenty years ago)

"I never drank Mountain Dew after midnight again."

― marc h. (marc h.), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:41 (twenty years ago)

"Michelangelo's bones and cobblestone laid beneath."

― Chris Bergen (Cee Bee), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:54 (twenty years ago)

Chris Cornell getting fired from Guitar World:

Chris Cornell: I like throwing my voice and breaking guitars.

Chris Cornell giving tips on how to play hide-and-seek:

Chris Cornell: Hide in the hours before sunrise.

Christ Cornell wondering whether this will all go away:

Chris Cornell: I've got a feeling this will all go away.

Places Chris Cornell will drink you:

Chris Cornell: I will drink you in my honey.

Chris Cornell's favorite mathematical functions:

Chris Cornell: Multiply and divide.

Drown him fast?

Chris Cornell: Drown me slowly.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 18:58 (twenty years ago)

"Everything sounds so condescending."

― earinfections (Nick Twisp), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 20:08 (twenty years ago)

When they do, though, the results are stunning enough to render the entire IDM landscape sterile-- which is why they continue to push these buttons.

― latebloomer: someone's been drinking my youth! (latebloomer), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 21:09 (twenty years ago)

xpost - funny! (and i often feel that way)

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 21:14 (twenty years ago)

The butterscotch lamps along the walls of the tight city square bled upward into the cobalt sky, which seemed as strikingly artificial and perfect as a wizard's cap.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 23:00 (twenty years ago)

There's something really refreshing about stumbling across a great band that's trembling on the cusp without any sort of press campaign or other built-in mythology-- you actually get to hear the music with your own ears.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Tuesday, 4 April 2006 23:01 (twenty years ago)

Why not give a listen to: Pillow Logics new disc, Treason to Live, a wiry concept album that gives new meaning to the phrase, "Now, I've seen everything!" Ostensibly about a young girl who loses her shoes in a cockfight she mistakenly attends during Thanksgiving 1959, it's really about the universal themes of loss, angst, candy and damp clothing. Taking its cue from the early commercial work of Deloite and Hughey and filtering it through the "I cut myself shaving" piousness of Throm Tillson, Pillow Logic re-works early sock hop chop flop and allows people like me to enjoy enjoying it. RATING: Two T-Shirts and a cup of jizz.

― M. Biondi (M. Biondi), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 02:11 (twenty years ago)

pitchfork much better/worse than i thought.

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 03:30 (twenty years ago)

you're not really selling pitchfork to me at all.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 08:03 (twenty years ago)

In about five years, being brown is going to be as hip as Kangol hats. Now, you might be saying, "East Asian? Cool? C'mon now... what about the heavily- accented kid on 'That 70's Show?' He's funny, sure, but how could that guy ever become cool?" Believe it, whitey. And it won't be one of those Madonna- type situations where some princess goes to the east and finds their spiritual side. There's going to be some heavy- duty brown- centric shit coming through the pipeline.

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!! (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 08:30 (twenty years ago)

esteban, pls don't make stuff up, k?

― Wrinklepaws (Wrinklepaws), Thursday, 6 April 2006 00:19 (twenty years ago)

I wish I was making it up :-(

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/singh_talvin/ok.shtml

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!! (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Thursday, 6 April 2006 00:57 (twenty years ago)

to be fair, that review was written by a south asian--i imagine he's poking fun at himself with that one.

― geeta (geeta), Thursday, 6 April 2006 01:00 (twenty years ago)

But isn't this thread for taking quotes out-of-context for LOL value?

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!! (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Thursday, 6 April 2006 01:39 (twenty years ago)

Imagine a stoned-but-bookish, seductive Muppet.

― sixteen sergeants, Thursday, 6 April 2006 14:35 (twenty years ago)

See, Esteban, that's your problem: you think everything is just so goddamn funny.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 6 April 2006 14:45 (twenty years ago)

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