tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post116481169042291239..comments2023-08-10T05:24:20.775-04:00Comments on Razing the Bar: Hipper-Than-Thou Rock CriticsAndy Whitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1164992910215005732006-12-01T12:08:00.000-05:002006-12-01T12:08:00.000-05:00Thanks for your kind words, Scott. I appreciate t...Thanks for your kind words, Scott. I appreciate them. <BR/><BR/>In all honesty, hipness is a game I have no interest in playing. I wouldn't be very good at it, and it's only going to get worse as I get older and lose more hair and hearing and gain more of a paunch. I do love music, though, and I still get the same visceral thrill in discovering great new music that I got when I was in my teens or twenties. I've never figured out that I'm supposed to stop caring about it, so I suppose I won't.Andy Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1164916557283541222006-11-30T14:55:00.000-05:002006-11-30T14:55:00.000-05:00I've been trying to navigate the maze of supposedl...I've been trying to navigate the maze of supposedly verifiable electronic voting. <BR/><BR/>Compared to the stuff I am reading about the machines, etc., and the problems with programming, I'll take the hipper than thou critics over that secretive world anyday.<BR/><BR/>BTW, for those of you who are interested and polically aware, here is a good site: <BR/><BR/><BR/>The Center for Election Integrity<BR/><BR/>http://urban.csuohio.edu/cei/jackscrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16163915446151636189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1164915811106160722006-11-30T14:43:00.000-05:002006-11-30T14:43:00.000-05:00Hi, Caleb. I saw that Sufjan review as well. I w...Hi, Caleb. I saw that Sufjan review as well. I was particularly befuddled by the statement:<BR/><BR/>"In short, there is a major disconnect between the subtleties of Sufjan Stevens the poet and Sufjan Stevens the composer. His music lacks the carefully modulated gradations of tone, meaning, and mood that distinguish his poetry."<BR/><BR/>Hmmm. Let's see: Sufjan plays banjo and guitar, features trombones and trumpets, uses vocal counterpoint to great effect in songs such as "The Wasp of the Palisades," works in tricky time signatures, employs elements of funk and heavy metal, and frequently employs female backup singers who function equally as Phil Spector girl group and Greek chorus. I'm not sure what the author is looking for, but that sounds like "carefully modulated gradations of tone, meaning, and mood" to me. Maybe if he had included a few more oboe solos ...Andy Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1164915079581451702006-11-30T14:31:00.000-05:002006-11-30T14:31:00.000-05:00hi andy. my take is that books and culture should ...hi andy. my take is that books and culture should stay away from rock reviews. did you see the preposterous harangue that they published in conjunction with the cameo shot of sufjan stevens on the cover (speaking of "hipper than thou")? the reviewers (no doubt it takes a committee to write a review this dumb) suggest that sufjan is good, but that his musical reaches are necessarily ineffective because he's limited formally as a classical composer and thus ends up sounding (gasp!) like a chamber-pop folkie. and God knows that's not SS's plan. sufjan really falls short in that respect.<BR/><BR/>i mean, you don't even need to like sufjan in order to realize that the writers are missing the point entirely. <BR/>the guy doesn't WANT to sound like a lush classical joanna-newsom-esque something or other. he just wants to wear dumb wings and sing like a folkie backed by the high school pep band. <BR/><BR/>i was puzzled at best. actually, i thought it was staggeringly imperceptive, stilted, and weird. <BR/><BR/>-caleb.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1164846651435585172006-11-29T19:30:00.000-05:002006-11-29T19:30:00.000-05:00seriously, andy. garden gnome look?!?!? thanks for...seriously, andy. garden gnome look?!?!? thanks for the laugh of the week! YOU are a funny man.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1164830129996888672006-11-29T14:55:00.000-05:002006-11-29T14:55:00.000-05:00Hi, Beth. I am almost unbearably hip. I think the...Hi, Beth. <BR/><BR/>I am almost unbearably hip. I think the receding hairline and hearing aid really add that special scenester touch. And who wouldn't want to adopt the Garden Gnome look?<BR/><BR/>I really do value accessibility, though, both in the music I review and in the way I write about it. I generally don't like weirdness/hipness for the sake of weirdness/hipness, and I am sucker for things like, oh, melody, harmony, and a good, catchy chorus about girls or cars.Andy Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1164829746151992442006-11-29T14:49:00.000-05:002006-11-29T14:49:00.000-05:00I think that writing regarding ANY area of experti...I think that writing regarding ANY area of expertise runs the risk of sounding hipper-than-thou -- just think academic literary journals (or maybe don't if that makes your stomach hurt as it does mine), where writers/reviewers often play the "I know more than you do" card. Perhaps the key is accessibility -- how accessible can the critic make music (or for that matter dance, literature, or any other art form) to someone who might not be in on all the lingo? I like your reviews because they make me WANT to learn about the music I don't know -- even though you are almost unbearably hip:DC's Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00375968201150339066noreply@blogger.com