New Yorker article

[bböp]

Just got through reading an interesting piece by New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones in this week's issue about why indie rock has become so "white." He makes some interesting points, including a brief mention of Wilco toward the end. He likes Being There, apparently, but not YHF so much. Too much so-called "noise" for him. He also seems to make the, to me, absurd point that mainstream country is more "soulful" than Wilco (in the accompanying audio interview on the New Yorker's Web site).

 

Anyway, I agree with him on some points he makes in the piece--though far from all of them. The funniest thing is I always thought that he was black for some reason. But whether you agree with him or not, it's worth reading.

 

You can find the whole story here.

[pnêyu]

Idolator has ran with this story for the last week. It seems like a highly subjective call on an already subjective form, but maybe that's what rock critics are paid for.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

There's a lot of talk about this article (as well as another) in this thread:

http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?showtopic=31551

 

[bböp]

There's a lot of talk about this article (as well as another) in this thread:

http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?showtopic=31551

 

 

Yeah, I figured there would be. I just kind of scrolled through quickly to see if there was any thread titled "New Yorker" or anything and there wasn't, so I went ahead and posted it. Mods: feel free to merge this into that other one or whatever you guys want to do.

[Dreamin']

Just got through reading an interesting piece by New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones in this week's issue about why indie rock has become so "white."

It was an interesting article, but I wish he hadn't used the Arcade Fire as an example. When I was a kid, I found it really embarassing when Canadian music, TV, movies, etc. tried to imitate American culture... poorly. The so-called "indie" scene allows Canadian artists to find their own audience by being who they are (sounding as "white" as they are), rather worrying if it will sell in the States. Why is it so wrong to draw inspiration from Anglican hymns (or Cape Breton fiddle music for that matter) rather than R&B?

 

[/OT rant]

[j4lackey]

I read the New Yorker, and I have to wonder why their art critics are 100 years old, then they have Sasha writing about mainstream pop and hip hop. He's not a bad writer, but seems to have limited or odd tastes (IMO). A shame that YHF doesn't speak to him. He's probably just being a contrarian, since so many people view that album as a pretty big deal.

[bjorn_skurj]

It was an interesting article, but I wish he hadn't used the Arcade Fire as an example. When I was a kid, I found it really embarassing when Canadian music, TV, movies, etc. tried to imitate American culture... poorly. The so-called "indie" scene allows Canadian artists to find their own audience by being who they are (sounding as "white" as they are), rather worrying if it will sell in the States. Why is it so wrong to draw inspiration from Anglican hymns (or Cape Breton fiddle music for that matter) rather than R&B?

 

[/OT rant]

What ever happened to that Ashley MacIsaac cat? He was like the Jimi Hendrix of the CB fiddle.

[Dreamin']

What ever happened to that Ashley MacIsaac cat? He was like the Jimi Hendrix of the CB fiddle.

He went a bit crazy (drugs?) for awhile and pissed a lot of people off. Then he threatened to go into politics (drugs?) The last time I heard his name mentioned was when he opened for the White Stripes in Glace Bay, NS this summer.