er, no comment except to say that the phrase "with Beck, Joe Henry and
Wilco doing what they're doing..." begs the Sesame Street response:
which of these things is not like the others? I would actually choose
Beck as one of the artists who's not been too "chickenshit" (to quote
myself) to pick up the Make Singles challenge raised by Nirvana, as
well as, at different times and places, the lines in the sand drawn by
Prince and the various hip-hop contenders including Dre and the
Beasties, not to mention by Uncle Tupelo, Steve Earle (whom I believe
was an AOTD nomination in our previous go-round), Elliott Smith (an
important up-from-underground phenom) and, in a roundabout way, Mr.
Number-Two-But-Trying-Harder Brooks.
I still think he's in Cobain's long shadow, by the by, and my personal
feeling is that he's just not quite the burst of light he'd need to be
to qualify, but Odelay, Transmutations - and I'd bet the upcoming
"official" Odelay followup - make a good case.
carl w
