Blue Lines Revisited

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-22)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:45:18 +0000

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-22):

perpetua: There should be a law requiring all cultural products...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:16:41 +0000

There should be a law requiring all cultural products to be marked with a sticker clearly indicating that the contents are “nothing like Napoleon Dynamite.” Unless, that is, the dvd/book/album/whatever actually is like Napoleon Dynamite, and you can take the absence of the sticker as a warning.

That said, just once I’d like my authenticity cooked.

kingdrake1: sherry: bmichael: Lady Gaga“Bad...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:07:34 +0000

kingdrake1:

sherry:

bmichael:

Lady Gaga
“Bad Romance”
(breakupsong)

This song is awesome.

my goal for the next month is to develop a pole dancing routine set to this song. That, and to make the perfect chicken pot pie.

This is so much better than the singles off of her last album … what happened?

She started sampling hoover rave!

Decade's End II: This Time It's Serious

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:09:00 +0000

Decade's End II: This Time It's Serious:

Frank Kogan is writing a decade-end essay and wants to know what ideas are floating around out there. Go help!

The thread already contains this - really terrific - point by girlboymusic:

The arc of pop music is long, but it bends toward weirdness. We started the decade with relatively neat ‘n’ clean stuff from ‘NSync and Britney and the like. And then we had this movement toward messiness — Avril and Ashlee and their rebellion against “cookie cutter” pop, Pink and Christina making grabs for credibility/authenticity/etc. with their confessional rock and assless chaps, Britney working with the sonically out-there Neptunes. ‘NSync randomly teamed up with rappers and then split so Justin could get all staccato with Timbaland and JC Chasez could release stuff like “Some Girls (Dance with Women).” B’Day happened. Missy Elliott was in there somewhere. Fall Out Boy and their long-titled ilk became the new teen pop. It became all about the clever, the quotably bizarre — a line you could put on your Twitter, stuff you could reblog. See: Black-Eyed Peas, The. See also: Racist, Das. And even now, on its last legs, the decade just keeps pushing toward the aggressively unique, the aggressively personal. Lily Allen. Katy Perry. Britney’s last two albums have been thinly veiled references to how fucked up she is. Rihanna’s latest is a not-at-all veiled reference to how her boyfriend beat her up before the Grammys. Lady fucking GaGa.

"When asked about the similarity, Mr. Young said the Postal Service was never a model yet he..."

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:29:00 +0000

“

When asked about the similarity, Mr. Young said the Postal Service was never a model yet he considered the comparisons an honor.

But he also wasn’t too shy to note that he has profited from the other band’s recent absence. “They released a record in 2003, and that was it,” he said. “There was really nothing to compare it to until some one else came along and wrote the next chapter. Maybe that’s this record. Maybe that’s this band.”

”

- Seriously, fuck this Owl City guy in the ear. “Wrote the next chapter”? More like “photocopied someone else’s notes for the exam.” (via maura)

It’s not as if this is a rare strategy though! I mean, it worked for Coldplay - and how many MBV (Not MBV) records have there been in the last 15 years?

Puzzlements Of 09 #1

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:20:02 +0000

How come I find FAT Machine (bar the amazingly terrible “Kiss w/A Fist”) endearing and Bat For Lashes irritating? Even though BFL has more and better ideas?

"Where you used to have quotes from the NME in adverts, now you can have actual people’s..."

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:33:11 +0000

““Where you used to have quotes from the NME in adverts, now you can have actual people’s opinion of a product!””

- digital rep from Warner Music at the 140 Characters conference in London.

Or: "Get off my lawn, I'm trying to have a Multi-Family Garage Sale."

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:26:37 +0000

maura:

Maybe this is another thing about the appeal of this particular music to people who write online — it’s in some ways a reflection? People on all sides are trying to muddle through their creative impulses with tools that allow for instant publishing/dissemination, and by extension the impulse to get something out overtakes the impulse to make something “right” in whatever abstract sense.

I think that’s very likely it. (talking about “chillwave”). “Perfect is the enemy of done” and all that - a big current in internet thought.

"The little inconsistencies in musicians’ performances aren’t just glitches, though: They’re exactly..."

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:29:00 +0000

“The little inconsistencies in musicians’ performances aren’t just glitches, though: They’re exactly what we respond to as listeners — the part that feels like “style,” or even like “rock.” The exciting part of guitar-bass-drum-voice music is the alchemy of specific musicians playing with each other, and the way those musicians’ idiosyncratic senses of timing and articulation and emphasis relate to each other.”

- The Death Of Mistakes Means The Death Of Rock - Monitor Mix Blog : NPR (via desnoise)

This is the same argument Joe Carducci used to use about why dance music sucked - I am actually pretty sympathetic to it (in Wolk’s articulation, not Carducci’s), more than you might expect given my tastes. But I wonder if it explains my tastes to some extent: I suspect it’s part of why I like a lot of old rock and not a lot of new rock (though the stuff I DO enjoy, like Fall Out Boy, is doubtless guilty of TONS of this kind of sin - but I don’t relate to it as “a band making music together” at all). Luckily, there’s a lot more out there than rock for me to enjoy so I don’t feel the loss as keenly.

Roundtable Discussion: The Role Of The Record Label

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:12:00 +0000

Roundtable Discussion: The Role Of The Record Label:

perpetua:

Carrie Brownstein leads a discussion with label heads from Matador, Merge, Sub Pop, Kill Rock Stars, Jagaguwar, and Saddle Creek. There’s a lot of interesting stuff mixed in with stuff you’ve heard a dozen times before, but the thing that interested me most — almost certainly because I have some involvement in it — is the discussion of how much power Pitchfork has in driving the success of some records. It’s a complicated thing. While Best New Music can really get people going, it only seems to work when the audience is already going to be interested. There are plenty of highly rated records on Pfork that the audience just seems to shrug off entirely. Also, as a person who puts a great deal of effort into writing for the site, it’s disheartening whenever people talk about how grades below a mid-7 are ignored entirely, in part because I know that’s true of so many readers. Internally, however, grades in the 6 and 7 range are considered to be positive scores!

5-7 pointers are also a lot harder to write. You’re either dealing with a strong but flawed record, which means you need to be convincing about its strengths and its flaws, or you’re dealing with a mediocre or generic record, in which case it’s just a pestilence to write about interestingly.

And yes, people don’t read them, but I don’t really care about that. The structure of web audiences mean that 90% of the audience of ANYTHING aren’t reading it, or they’re skimming it, or they stop a quarter of the way through, or whatever. That’s the devil’s bargain that comes with such a huge potential readership.

What I do is try to put something in every review I write that I think is actually an interesting point or idea whether or not you care about the band or are ever going to hear the record. I don’t always manage it but that’s the idea. Probably it says something awful about the times in which we live that I have to think of ideas as ‘easter eggs’ like this, but oh well!

Nixonland Notes

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:17:00 +0000

Finished Rick Perlstein’s Nixonland yesterday - a romp of a book, 700 pages of politics and swearing in which, to be honest, very little of “the 60s” comes out well. I don’t really know if Perlstein’s central “Nixonland” metaphor stands up - in fact I don’t really even think I can summarise it that well: that Nixon’s populist politics of flattering people’s resentment created a new kind of division in America, maybe? It works as a way to frame a very entertaining book but as analysis - not so sure. I wasn’t convinced that this was something Nixon created rather than just something he was particularly good at.

But the book isn’t just about Nixon - it’s also a second story, about Nixon’s enemies - first the Democrat political machines, and then the New Left that looked to supplant them. Perlstein is a rare kind of historian in that he’s fiercely opinionated without actually coming across as partisan - if he’s on anyone’s side in this electoral narrative, it’s the much-abused voter’s. The political figures in Nixonland he treats with contempt, but it’s a shaded contempt: disgust (giving way to horrified laughter) at Nixon’s chicanery, boiling frustration at the nihilism and naivety of his opponents.

Two relevant lessons stand out. The first is that early adopters are cultural catnip but political poison. If you’re on one side of a big social change it can be incredibly difficult to empathise with people who are on the other side of it, and incredibly easy to underestimate their numbers or clout. So you downplay those numbers, and dismiss people as “not getting it”, because the change is inevitable, right? And this leads to the second lesson, which is that a strong narrative is the most powerful force in politics (or business or anything) but only as long as you don’t take it for granted. A strong narrative is like a winning novel proposal: a terrific first chapter and a powerful concept, but the risk is that the concept is so good you think the book will write itself, and surprise surprise it doesn’t, and the detail kills you.

The Pop World Cup 2010

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:59:37 +0000

The Pop World Cup 2010:

We’re looking for people to play in the 2010 Pop World Cup. Competitive new music discovery! What could be finer? Sign up on Freaky Trigger at the link above.

Murdoch: Google is mortal

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:10:39 +0000

Murdoch: Google is mortal:

Everyone’s missed the clever part of Rupert Murdoch’s broadside against Google last week. Murdoch said he’d block Google from spidering his websites’ content, and may use litigation against public broadcasters such as the BBC, who use material spawned in his papers. The conventional wisdom from web gurus was that he was off his rocker, and his comments were the last gasp of a Luddite. And that shows you what the conventional wisdom of web pundits is worth.

What Murdoch has done is say the unspeakable. He’s offered a roadmap for taming Google - and a re-ordering of everything we take for granted about the web today. He can’t do so alone, which is why his real audience included media and entertainment executives who lack the courage to think such heresies. But he invited the prospect that without its expensively-produced material, Google stops being the omnivorous destroyer of their livelihoods they suppose it is today. And this, in turn, means Google’s own investment decisions today may be horribly misplaced.

Good - or at the very least interesting - analysis of Murdoch’s paywall strategy from The Register.

Ned Raggett on the end of Idolator

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:32:00 +0000

Ned Raggett on the end of Idolator:

At the same time, especially with regard to Stylus and Plan B and now Idolator, one finds a slow limiting of a burst of spirit that had had a good decade-long run, of balancing out the passion of writing and thoughtful debate via the vehicle of music — and quite often the subjects under discussion reached far beyond the notes heard and the lyrics comprehended — with an appreciation for the here and now, that engaged with music that was six seconds old as much as it was six decades, and sought to do so beyond the realm of simple yeas or nays or presumptions of one particular style of music ruling over all else.

Ned waxes elegiac over the passing of a critical era. It’s a gloomy way of framing it: I think there’s something in it, though. What I think happened is that a bunch of people who were fans of, or had been inspired by, print music writing in the 90s decided to have a pop at seeing how the stuff they’d been inspired by might work on the web. The source materials were stuff like (variously) Melody Maker, Sassy, The Wire, Village Voice, Smash Hits…

…and the answer, ultimately, was no, it mostly didn’t work, or at least not commercially. The “burst of spirit” you’re talking about was a transitional thing, I think. Stylus, I would say, is WAY more fondly remembered now than it was admired when it was going. Plan B is the same. Freaky Trigger’s relevance rested on NYLPM and was pretty much wiped out when MP3 blogs came along. ILX is splendid and wide-ranging and way better than it was a few years ago, but the barriers to entry are pretty daunting.

Idolator was good because it was being done by somebody who loved music, and who believed in music writing as something inclusive and intelligent and questioning, but who was also commercially aware and web-experienced enough to know that just ‘writing well about music’ wouldn’t necessarily mean much on its own. If Maura couldn’t make that site’s numbers work - and I do mean “if”: I have no idea if that was or wasn’t why they parted ways - I don’t know who could.

The two “transitional phase” sites that really have succeeded on their own terms are Pitchfork in the US (always a weird exception to anything, and I’m not even sure Ryan WAS inspired by any particular publication or type of writing) and Popjustice in the UK, which has managed to actually be a Smash Hits for its era. Of course, neither are as generalist as Idolator or Stylus. That particular dream is pretty much gone. But not, I’d guess, for individual listeners, who’ll pick their critical sources from a huge range of partisan voices which they can blend as their feed-reading leisure.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-15)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:12:11 +0000

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-15):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

Word Of The Year FITE

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:19:16 +0000

Word Of The Year FITE:

Without further ado, the 2009 Word of the Year is: unfriend.

unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.

As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.”

There is some controversy over this on Twitter, where a lot of people feel it should be “defriend” or “de-friend”.

Which is it - UNfriend or DEfriend?

treblekicker: Hollow Earth: First Sighting I for one am really...

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:05:18 +0000

treblekicker:

Hollow Earth: First Sighting

I for one am really looking forward to the 90s revival, not least as I want to know WHAT gets revived.

It’s been going for YEARS! Baggy and madchester clubs from a few years ago, Bangface catering for the ‘ardkore retro crowd since, what, 05 or so, tracks like Livin’ Joy’s “Dreamer” massive floorfillers at pop clubs, some indie discos I don’t think ever stopped playing Britpop. It’s the late 90s revival you need to be watching out for now I suspect :)

Albums Crowdsourcing Phase II

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:30:48 +0000

As ever, I am having a massive year-end albums catch up panic. I put out the call on Twitter for suggestions and got a lot (thank you all very much!). Obviously, the time to even consider any of these between now and the end of the year is limited. So now I turn to you lot: which are good? which are terrible? If I had to acquire only 4 or 5 which should they be? Tell me about these records!

(ones with * I have already in my “to check out” pile)

A Fine Frenzy, Amerie*, A-Trak (Fabriclive), Au Revoir Simone, Between The Buried And Me, Bibio, Black Meteoric Star, Blaq Poet, Blue Roses, Brad Paisley, Buddy and Julie Miller, Dam-Funk, Death, Demi Lovato, Division Day, Eleni Mandell, Fever Ray*, Freddie Gibbs, Geeneus, Gucci Mane (Burrrprint), Harlem Shakes, Invisible System, Jack Penate, Jarvis Cocker, Jeremy Jay, Junior Boys, Justin Townes Earle, K’Naan*, Lacrosse, Let’s Wrestle, Little Dragon, Maxwell*, Marco Polo & Torae, Meg & Dia, Me’Shell Ndegocello, Miranda Lambert, Moby, Nellie McKay, New Boyz, Nicolay, Olenka and the Autumn Lovers, Omar S (Fabric mix), Pill, POS, Phosphorescent, Rihanna*, Ryan Leslie, Shackleton, Slow Club, Soap & Skin, Soundtrack Of Our Lives, St Vincent, The Juan Maclean, The Very Best*, Tune-Yards, UGK, Wye Oak, YACHT

And - why not - what would your top album of 2009 be if you were making your list right now?

My Taste By Genre, 2009

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:12:50 +0000

Have just submitted my tracks of 09 list to Pitchfork. I’m not allowed to say what’s on it, or at any rate I’m not going to because the specific tracks (down at the lower end of the top 50 in particular) involve a certain amount of tacticality based on who the list’s for etc.

But I’ve broken it down based by genre because it interests me (and probably nobodt else) to see which broad styles of music had a ‘good year’ in my eyes.

British Urban Stuff* 12
Pop** 9
Hip-hop*** 7
Indie 6
R’n’B 6
Dance music basically**** 4
Dancehall 3
Americana 2
Miscellaneous***** 1

*cheaty category spanning everything from “post-dubstep” to Dizzee Rascal’s full-on pop direction. “Garage diaspora” seems a better way of describing it at this stage than “Hardcore continuum”. Basically loads of the London music I heard this year was amazing and I’m certainly no expert.

**weak year, this includes some fairly marginal cases.

***mostly lower end of the list, no particular song broke through as anthem or earworm, my highest-placed thing was a jerk track.

****house, balearic, bangin’ remixes of non-bangin’ songs.

*****an odd instrumental thing.

Here's THE GAME: Grab the book nearest you. Right now. • Turn to page 56. • Find the fifth sentence. • Reblog these instructions & post that sentence • Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST book.

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:24:35 +0000

aceterrier:

cureforbedbugs:

fireengines:

haguenite:

thedisgruntledgradstudent:

hurricane-k:

himandher:

robotlove:

captainkirk:

tumblingnoodle:

taylortallegra:

angelcondom:

lottieeeee:

elharrington:itskelseyyo:phoebejeebies:thisisdiamond:babywhalesforsale:drawingtheline:
vibinbby:mr—smith:haileyyy:precarious-peace:raineyday:without-words:
livetolove1234:sabinasblog:

“Well, Harry… time for us to be off,” said Dumbledore at last, standing up and straightening his long black cloak.

“Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore’s orders.”

“She had quite a lot of sex appeal, too, if you really want to know.”

“In either case, the end result is one fearsome monster.”

“Or is this all nonsense?”

“Yes. It has often led him to be liberal and generous, -to give his money freely, to display hospitality, to assist his tenants, and relieve the poor.”

“The crest on the paper was a number of souls gathered round a mountain, with a little arch of text underneath.”

La mano che scrive sembra staccarsi dal corpo e si prolunga in liberta’ assai lungi dal cervello, che, anch’esso in qualche modo staccato dal corpo e divenuto aero, guarda dall’alto, con una terrible lucidita’, le frasi inattese che escono dalla penna.

[The hand that writes seems to disconnect itself from the body and to prolong itself so far from the head, that the head, too, in some way disconnected from teh body e changed into an airplane, looks down from above, with a terrible clarity; phrases unexpected emerge from the pen.]

“You feel any stinging spots?”

“I am Horus.”

An American Dilemma, the monumental study of the Negro and American democracy that was sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation, was the combined product of Myrdal, director of the project and principal author of the book, played much the same role that the chairman of the board of directors does in a large corporation.

Graceland’s staff take the notion of the mansion’s upstairs as sanctuary quite seriously (supposedly, the actor Nicolas Cage, who was married to Lisa Marie for three months in 2002, is the only non-family member to have ventured upstairs since Elvis’s death; if one believes rumors, even President Clinton was denied a visit).

That’s what he had done with Alger Hiss.