cryptique

I didn't say it was easy. I also don't think it's a conscious decision that these artists make. And I suspect there are plenty of possible paths beyond the four that I identified. I was just providing some examples. "The cancer" comes in many forms on these message boards, including a variant that causes one to be abrupt and dismissive without offering anything of value.

My question was geared more toward the future. Is it possible that a huge, blindly loyal fanbase eventually leads to mediocrity? Hopefully not, but I'm fearful. I suppose it's all in how an artist responds to that loyalty. You can cater to it by continually releasing albums that sound just like your last album; you can try desperately to retain it by deliberately altering your sound in a vain attempt to avoid stagnation and seem edgy; or you can use it as a license to experiment and innovate. Or, you can just ignore it and make the music you feel like making. I think Wilco have mostly ig

I like this.

I understand your point, and I'm not sure I necessarily disagree with it, but don't you think this opens the door to justifying mediocrity?

High-pressure sales technique.

This reminds me of the track "Announcement" from Negativland's Escape From Noise album.

Just announced via their e-mail list: Spoon to play a New Year's Eve gig in Milwaukee at the Riverside Theatre. Public on-sale 10/23, but Spoon list members will get a pre-sale on the 19th (no further details on that yet, from what I can tell, except that pre-sale tickets will be surcharge-free). Opener is Jay Reatard. Wish I could go, but Milwaukee's further than I want to drive for a show in wintertime.

Touring is what pays the bills. They'll never shut it down completely.

This may have been posted before, but I had to track it down just to revel in its glory once again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbsnSVM1zM

Poor example, but I agree with your overall point.

Between the Beatles and Stones, the Beatles definitely win on total career quality, but that run of Stones albums from Beggars Banquet to Exile On Main St. can't be touched, by the Beatles or anyone. The Stones probably should have quit after that. Yeah, they put out a couple of great albums later on, but if they'd packed it in after Exile they would likely now rival the Beatles in status.

Fascinating.

I knew you'd say The Kinks, and they're the one band who I think gave the Fabs a run for their money, but I also don't think they ever topped them. The Who, though? Wow. I mean, they were a great band and all, but...

OK, I'll bite. Name one better band. The Rolling Stones get my nod at the very end of the decade, but from '63 to '67 or so, who was better?

In a word, yes. Take earplugs. Seriously. They may not be the absolute loudest band out there, but their amps definitely go to eleven.

He snipped it after Pam tore her veil. edit: what A-man said.

The episode definitely had some great stuff, but I feel this show slipping downward, and I fear that when people look back, this wedding episode will be seen as the moment when the show teetered on the precipice just prior to its swift descent. In the interest of full disclosure, I started losing my faith last season, so I'm probably conditioned to react cynically to a "major television event" such as this one. That said, there were a handful of laugh-out-loud moments last night, so I'll hold out some hope that they prove me wrong.

That's good stuff ... I need to drag that whole box set out soon and give it a few listens.

Let's just give Michael Phelps all the gold medals from the 2012 Olympics right now. I'm sure he'll live up to that potential when the time comes.

I'm not sure Obama himself had much to do with either. The rest of the world hated George Bush, but they also hate the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the draconian security gauntlet that foreigners have to undergo just to enter this country.

I'm surprised, but not too surprised. The rest of the world was so anxious to put the disastrous George W. Bush era behind them (even more than we Americans were) that they jumped the gun on anointing his successor as the herald of a new age. Sadly, so far we have only the rhetoric and a few small (yet significant) gestures in a new direction. He's been in office only eight and a half months, though ... perhaps he will one day live up to this honor (retroactively).

I've had very little of this kind of trouble with Netflix, considering how many discs of theirs we've watched. But those Wire discs were evidently somewhat fucked.

SBS > W(TA) And it's not even close, in my opinion. I say that while acknowledging that I hate two songs on SBS.