At 2:18 PM -0600 on 3/25/99, William F. Silvers wrote:
>Bob Soron wrote:
>>> Well, now, I don't want to turn this into Postcard, but I think this is
>> a useful distinction: I don't hate Tweedy, I hate his work.
>
>Point taken. I was guilty of imprecision there.
A fine point it is, but like I say, we've already got a Postcard. I'm
not a "Wuv Jay / Dump Jay" kinda guy, and that's the juxtaposition I
reflexively have when I see the L or H words.
>There is, I'll grant, a fairly rich P2 tradition of criticism based on track
>record and press clippings as opposed to what the records themselves
>actually
>sound and "read" like, (lyrically that is) but it's one I've never
>cottoned to
>or found particularly meaningful or interesting.
I'm from the "Doctor, doctor, it hurts when I do this" school. I've
stopped doing this. And in my own defense, when a band can maintain a
level that makes me think they're going to be interesting someday, I do
keep spending that money in the hopes that finally this will be the one
that doesn't hurt. But I think a track record of declining interest in
both forms -- live and recorded -- means it's time to change trains,
along with metaphors. Otherwise, you end up having to listen to
everything just in case it might be good. I'm not utterly ignorant of
the new one, though I probably wouldn't recognize it if I heard it,
FWIW, having come across a track or two in a store and on the radio.
>While I'll grant that Big In Iowa/Cincy Bob (as opposed to big in
>Boston/Chicago
>Bob) didn't fill several screens with his analysis of SUMMERTEETH, he
>raised a
>worthwhile point about "experimentation" and fans response to it, and
>added that
>his response to the new record was positive. Forgive me for not finding any
>point in your initial response but "less filling."
Fair enough. As I say, I should have sprinkled some <g>s in there,
because rereading it this morning my goofy insomniac mood really didn't
wander into the call-response stuff.
>And the offer stands...<g>
And when I say, "Doctor, it hurt," your response will be? <g> No,
seriously, it's taken me this long to listen to stuff I bought before I
moved. (The stack of CDs I haven't listened to still goes back that
far, but it's about half the size it was a couple of weeks ago, thanks
to unemployment.) I know I tend not to like pop, having heard it most
of my life, and if a band I tend not to like decides to experiment with
a sound I tend not to like, I don't reckon they're going to cancel out.
But if you want to donate that tape to the TF Auction, someone might
take you up on it.
Bob
