At 1:40 PM -0500 on 3/17/99, Matt Benz wrote:
I'm also kinda disappointed with Kelly Willis' release. I guess I was
hoping for something more along the lines of "Kelly Willis," a harder
country sound. This is too ...erm.americana for my tastes, at least
some of it. Still, it is her voice,
At 12:40 PM -0500 on 3/17/99, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Case in point: Last night I went to see a free gig in town by the V-Roys,
who I thought were a great bar band, though they were batting about .500 on
decent songs. But the crowd was a really roadhouse-country-rock-lovin'
bunch, who wanted
At 1:36 PM -0500 on 3/17/99, Dave Purcell wrote:
Wilco, on the other hand, would get killed at a biker bar.
Too bad they're too big to play 'em these days. g
Bob
Bob re: V-Roys in Toronto:
it has to meet the needs of a crowd that gets very little of that kind
of music. Maybe they batted .500 because they had to bend a little to
satisfy that crowd. And maybe the crowd wanted their roots loud,
straight-up, and danceable because few bands like that come
From a Salon interview with Jeff Tweedy. Joshua Green is the
writer. Who is he and why is he such a dick?
Q: I was thinking specifically of the No Depression purists who are
kind of militantly pro-twang, you know what I mean?
A: I really have no concern for them. It's great that they have
Given the recent traffic here and especially on P1, I'd say the man has a
valid point.
rebecca, who is still unsure if she likes "Summerteeth"
-Original Message-
From: Dave Purcell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
From a Salon interview with Jeff Tweedy. Joshua Green is the
writer. Who
On Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:34:32 -0500 Dave "Man the
Barricades" Purcell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
From a Salon interview with Jeff Tweedy. Joshua Green is the
writer. Who is he and why is he such a dick?
Q: I was thinking specifically of the No Depression purists who are
kind of militantly
Militantly pro-Jeff Rebecca writes:
Given the recent traffic here and especially on P1, I'd say the
man has a valid point.
Dunno about Postcard, but given that everything from Coltrane to
Blue Oyster Cult comes up here on a regular basis, I think one
would be hard-pressed to describe P2
Dave:
Dunno about Postcard, but given that everything from Coltrane to
Blue Oyster Cult comes up here on a regular basis, I think one
would be hard-pressed to describe P2 as a list of No Depression
purists.
Indeed. Perhaps the demographic description should be changed to
"free-range
From a Salon interview with Jeff Tweedy. Joshua Green is the
writer. Who is he and why is he such a dick?
Q: I was thinking specifically of the No Depression purists who are
kind of militantly pro-twang, you know what I mean?
A: I really have no concern for them. It's great that they have
At 09:12 AM 3/17/99 +, you wrote:
Dave:
Dunno about Postcard, but given that everything from Coltrane to
Blue Oyster Cult comes up here on a regular basis, I think one
would be hard-pressed to describe P2 as a list of No Depression
purists.
Indeed. Perhaps the demographic
I get the feeling this entire journalistic discourse is part of
larger marketing and publicity calculations. When these people could
secure a niche identity for themselves as "altcountry," they did.
Now that they've consolidated at that level and seek poprock
market visibility wider than
What's his beef? He did the Mermaid Ave music in a roosty vein (never
have I heard a band try so hard to sound like the Basement Tapes, BTW),
so it's not like a huge stretch for folks to expect him and WIlco to
still produce ND related music, when his last project *was* so NDish.
Now he has a big
Joel Reese's take on Joe Henry:
This movement is known for its
zealous fans, quick to accuse a band of selling out if it doesn't
meet their exacting purist standards. (Just ask The Jayhawks and
Wilco, which have both evolved from their country-rock roots.)"
Don't you actually have to sell
On Wed, 17 Mar 1999, Matt Benz wrote:
with such sudden musical changes is funny. It is a radical jump from one
album to the next. People who like the Neil Young sound don't rush out
and embrace his rockabilly big band techno albums either. People like
consistancy. Not everyone is so
Michael J. Cempa wrote:
I don't think Tweedy "sold out," he just made a record he wanted
to make. If you don't like it, that's fine, but anyone who thinks
Tweedy has some moral, musical or any other kind of responsibilty
to alt.country is being close-minded.
Exactly. That's what
I don't know about other bands, but I think it's somewhat understandable
that Tweedy (and that other guy, what's his name again? g) might be a
little bit defensive about the "alt-country" tag. Because lookit, a bunch
of fans of his old band started up an AOL folder, named after a song
covered by
[Matt Benz] Well, in many ways, I identify with Tweedy, since I grew up
with much the same musical influences, I suspect, and hell, I jump
around myself musically. But then, no one asks me about that, nor do I
have an adoring audience following my every move. Well, I do, but a
court order
I thought the Joel Reese quote in re Joe Henry that Todd Larson posted:
There's nothing wrong with moving on
from the confining alt.country scene. This movement is known for its
zealous fans, quick to accuse a band of selling out if it doesn't
meet their exacting purist standards. (Just ask The
I have a mixed reaction to this - clearly the current backlash (which
I think has been accelerated by PazznJop and a couple of other
instances of high-profile folk like Christgau calling alt-country
"confining") is largely crap, and another case of Moronic Media Meme
Carl Wilson wrote:
Case in point: Last night I went to see a free gig in town by the V-Roys,
who I thought were a great bar band, though they were batting about .500 on
decent songs. But the crowd was a really roadhouse-country-rock-lovin'
bunch, who wanted their roots as loud and
I said of the V-Roys audience
the crowd was a really roadhouse-country-rock-lovin'
bunch, who wanted their roots as loud and straight-up and danceable as
possible.
And Dave P retorted:
Is that any different from people at a Metallica show not wanting to
hear Lars co sound like
I don't understand it either? I think it's really a case of being
"catagorized" that gets artists squirrelly. It seems like Tweedy and Henry
to a lesser extent take a defensive stance because a) they feel they have
to defend their "evolving" art b) not so sure they are confident with their
Carl W. says:
On the other hand, I disagree with Jon W.'s claim that nobody in the ND/P2
world has ever cried sellout at groups like Wilco. When a band known as
alt-country moves away from twangier sounds - the Old 97s, Wilco, whoever -
there's usually a comment made to the effect that it seems
was: gimmackry sp should have been: gimmickry...previous post...was:here
sp should have been: hear.
my brain...it is not letting my finger's work properly today...plus I'm
very related to several english teachers. g
BTW, Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!
Cheryl Cline wrote:
But -- more on this later; I'm working it into an essay (essays?)
about alt-country between time and Timbuktu, generations, the
so-called Boomer canon, and stuff I'm shit sick of.
For the record, I'm shit sick of Cheryl writing more eloquently and
intelligently about
I don't understand this almost predictable switch of formerly dubbed
alt-twang bands to this pet-sounds pop thing. we've seen it with joe h,
jayhwaks, wilco, golden smog, and the old 97's. maybe it's simply because
most of them have been musically incestuous to varying degrees recently
and in
At 01:40 PM 3/17/99 -0500, you wrote:
[Matt Benz] Well, in many ways, I identify with Tweedy, since I grew up
with much the same musical influences, I suspect, and hell, I jump
around myself musically. But then, no one asks me about that, nor do I
have an adoring audience following my every
George Figgs wrote:
I don't understand this almost predictable switch of formerly dubbed
alt-twang bands to this pet-sounds pop thing. we've seen it with joe h,
jayhwaks, wilco, golden smog, and the old 97's.
Slonedog responds:
While a handful (and it is just a handful folks) of the songs on
Jon sez:
"even leaving aside the question of whether it's really a criticism to say
that a stylistic change includes a commercial motivation (in my book, it
ain't), from my perspective there's a healthy-sized difference between the
two characterizations."
I agree, Jon, but in the
Slonedog:
While a handful (and it is just a handful folks) of the songs on
"Summerteeth" (which I think is brilliant) do owe a debt to "Pet Sounds", I
don't think either "Sound of Lies" or Joe Henry's new one have much to do
with Brian Wilson.
Right on. The Jayhawks' pop turn was pretty
Carl says:
I agree, Jon, but in the minds of someone like Tweedy and the rock
critics who interview him too much - generally reared in varying
countercultures with self-styled anticommercial posturings - the
"accusation" of commercial motivation is going to be read as a
sell-out slam, and
Carl Wilson wrote:
Me, I think the pop turn is as much the result of a sudden but sincere,
methinks, rediscovery that shiny happy music is not inherently evil, and is
a way out of rock's dead ends in a similar way that the adoption of twang
influence had been.
Slonedog responds:
It may be a "way
William T. Cocke wrote:
You know, I just read this interview and I'm with Dave.
What's the deal here? Since when did this "No Depression
purists" tag start appearing? Just who exactly is this guy
referring to? He doesn't say. Out of the 700 people on this
list, I doubt that anyone really
Dave Purcell wrote:
It's ironic that Tweedy gets annoyed with the "Wilco is an
alt.country band" cliche, but seems perfectly willing to play along
with the "No Depression purists" stereotype. Perhaps he should
consider that some people, such as myself, just don't like his
music, and its
Matt Benz wrote:
What's his beef? He did the Mermaid Ave music in a roosty vein (never
have I heard a band try so hard to sound like the Basement Tapes, BTW),
The first time I heard "Guess I Planted," I thought Bragg had hired The
Band to back him up. The keyboards are reminiscent of the
A few folks have mentioned Neil Young and his topsy-turvy stylistic swings
as analogous to Tweedy. I'd say an important difference is that Young --
at least not that I can remember -- never burned his bridges. When it
suited him, he swung back to country or rock or whatever. I don't have an
Check out the Time magazine this week. Richard Corless -- one hell of a
reviewer, but mainly movies -- drools over Kelly Willis new one. I'll
confess, though, I couldn't figure out what the hell he was trying to say,
and moreover missed anything about the way the record "sounds," other than
a
The first time I heard "Guess I Planted," I thought Bragg had hired The
Band to back him up. The keyboards are reminiscent of the swirling Garth
Hudson
variety and the lead guitar is in the Robbie Robertson doing Hubert Sumlin
style. Couldn't just be a coincidence, could it? ;-)
Gregg
Yeah, and
On Wed, 17 Mar 1999, Matt Benz wrote:
Now he has a big ELO pop music spectacular, which is fine, but for him
to express bewilderment that folks are surprised and maybe not thrilled
with such sudden musical changes is funny. It is a radical jump from one
album to the next. People who like
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