October 2011
21 posts
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“[Slim] Gaillard stands as jazz’s premier comedian-eccentric, the hepcat as...”
– Robert Christgau, reviewing the Slim Gaillard compilation Laughing in Rhythm: The Best of the Verve Years in 1994. “He was so fond of the suffix ‘rooney’ … that when introduced to Mickey Rooney he asked what his last name was”—that, my friends, is some funny shit....
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WatchKristen Wiig impersonating Björk on Saturday Night Live in 2009. Seth Meyers interviews her about Iceland’s economic downturn. She explains how “right now Iceland gets all of its revenue from three sources: fishing, dragons, and screaming.” There’s even a pie chart.
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“The Romantic notion of the autonomous transcendent artwork entailed a...”
– Musicologist Richard Taruskin, in the introduction to his essay collection Text and Act, p. 10. This is a mere tidbit of his larger, damning criticism of the current state of musicology, and of the related performance-practice movement. Trust me, he’s just getting warmed up here. My second...
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“In the interest of bad vibes I have agreed to appear on a panel discussing...”
– Robert Christgau, reporting on Giorgio Gomelski’s “Zu Concert,” which was announced as a 12-hour “manifestival” of “progressive music” from Europe and America. Village Voice, Oct. 23, 1978. Every day is a battle; how we still love the war.
Sleater-Kinney, “You’re No Rock...
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“Seth Rogen is a great American artist. He can think whatever he wants about...”
– Robert Christgau, in a comment on his Expert Witness blog at MSN.com. He was responding to Ryan Maffei’s remark that “the only truly objectionable part of Knocked Up… is when Seth Rogen says that Steely Dan can gargle his balls.” I suppose this could be considered...
“Any punk angst was long gone from the song [“Eric’s...”
– Rob Sheffield, in his essay “Fading Fading Celebrating,” which concerns the sad news of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon’s separation, and the likelihood that the band Sonic Youth will breakup. Published online at Rolling Stone.
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Vote in the First EW Jazz Poll!
I am hosting the first ever Jazz Poll for the online community active at Robert Christgau’s Expert Witness blog. The rules and parameters for this poll are available here, and the poll closes Oct. 30. This first poll concerns the best jazz albums recorded in the 1960s. If anyone wishes to vote—and I hope you do!—please be sure to read the rules carefully and submit your ballot to...
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Teddy Pendergrass, “Close the Door”...
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“Yet despite these black marks, Is This It was a decade-defining record that set...”
– Taylor Clark, making an article-length and factually-incorrect assessment of the Strokes’ debut album ten years on, in Slate. He continues how “at the time, remember, bands such as (brace yourself) Limp Bizkit, Staind, Slipknot, and Linkin Park—along with a heavy dose of Creed—absolutely...
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Music fans work hard →
My brother-in-law just alerted me to Music Think Tank, a site where music insiders write about recent industry experiences and concerns. Last week, there was a post by Leena Sowambur, who worked for Sony in 2005 and was responsible for the launch of a new Take That website to promote the act’s upcoming reunion tour. At that time, many fans of the group interacted online at the Take That...
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“Rarely has the pomo practice of trashing history while you honor it reached such...”
– Robert Christgau, reviewing Red Hot + Blue, on p. 271 of his Christgau Consumer Guide: Albums of the ’90s. This tribute album, which features c.1990 pop performers re-interpreting Cole Porter songs, relates to my previous post concerning aesthetics and Maria Schneider. “Trashing history...
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“I don’t believe there’s a dime’s worth of difference between...”
– Merle Haggard, a few months before the 2008 presidential election, venting somewhat humorously about what’s wrong with America. From Jason Fine’s “The Fighter,” published in Rolling Stone, October 1, 2009; reprinted in Best Music Writing 2010, edited by Ann Powers and Daphne...
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“Well, my whole reason for doing music —it’s expression. It’s...”
– Maria Schneider to Eugene Holley, Jr., interview reprinted in Best Music Writing 2010, edited by Ann Powers and Daphne Carr, p. 191. To which my knee jerks, and I respond, “Hey, what’s so wrong with cool sounding music?” Academically, I can defend this response by directing readers...
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“I need to take my pants off as soon as I get home. I didn’t used to have...”
– Tina Fey, writing about turning 40, on p. 265 of her book Bossypants. Also, on p. 171, “If you want to see a great pilot, watch the first episode of Cheers.” Truer words have never been spoken. Watch it now. It’s available streaming from Netflix. No excuses!
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R.E.M. 1981 "Cassette Set" demo →
The Power of Independent Trucking blog has posted a gorgeous transfer of a super-rare R.E.M. demo recorded with Mitch Easter at his Drive-In studios on April 15, 1981. According to the blog, R.E.M. recorded overdubs in May, and the recordings were then mixed by Easter and Johnny Hibbert to make up the original “Radio Free Europe” b/w “Sitting Still” Hib-Tone 7”...
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Raising Hope guest starring Roger Miller
My wife and I started watching Raising Hope this weekend (Netflix now has it available for streaming). You don’t need me to tell you it’s funny, but I will: it’s funny. The creator is Greg Garcia, best known for My Name Is Earl, and like that show, this one’s scripts are airtight, each ending with some kind of moral or lesson. Martha Plimpton is wonderful here, just as she...
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Passive voice is fine, good writing is even better →
At this Chronicle of Higher Education blog, a linguistics professor posted a defense of passive voice, and a larger criticism of the grammatical rule that passive voice is always incorrect. To support his argument, he quotes several corrections a friend and colleague had given him concerning a piece of writing that uses passive voice, and the professor demonstrates how active-voice revisions of...
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Zooey Deschanel's mixtape of "happy songs" →
“Happiness songs are, like, my area,” Deschanel told Jada Yuan for a recent New York magazine profile. Three months later, she handed the author a CD mixtape, which is linked via this post’s title, and by individual track below.
Deschanel’s husband, Ben Gibbard (aka Death Cab for Cutie), explained how he was “immediately taken when we first met that she had this just, like,...
