Oh no!

Serial:

About Hec, in particular, is the most absurd thing I've read in a long time. The guy wrote a book about the fricking Archies.

Jim, have I mentioned how much I missed you?

After reading your rant on the Literary thread I thought exactly the same thing, Micha. How's life?

Hey, Jim, I've missed you too, big guy. I went and worked on a cost-benefit analysis and now I feel much calmer.

Polter, Sean, Connie, anyone who feels like you can't talk about mainstream music in here -- please don't think of this place as snob city. One of the examples that came up was Liz Phair, who I think Jon has championed more than anyone. Y'know, I hate Creed and Matchbox 20 and all those hyper-corporate, pseudo-alternative bands, but so what? I'm one guy. I don't think rock-&-roll even has anything approaching a Great Books list, although I'd bet that if it did, it would have a lot in common with Joe's list of yesterday.

Anyway, what did y'all think about Pitchfork's Top Albums of the 70s list? I didn't think that it was half-bad, given that I think most of the contributors were born in the 80s. But it gives waaaaay too much credit to Bowie (looking at you, Jim).

First encounter of Brando & Tennessee Williams, courtesy of Ed and Nancy Sorel. Ed also did a great drawing of John Wayne being restrained from dragging Sacheen Littlefeather off the stage when she, at Brando's behest, appeared in his stead to refuse his Oscar for The Godfather. Unfortunately I was not able to find that one online, but it's available in his collection Unauthorized Portraits.

Catching up after a meeting (I *do* work, y'know):

Thanks for the "Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary" rec , Joe. I'll try to seek that out.

Dude, did you see that list? It had some monster, monster, famoso bands. My mouth was agape reading the list. And P-C was psyched about the recently-formed band with only one full-length album to their name. Which, as an obsessive myself, I can respect, but it's a lot funnier with the context.

Thank you, Michele. That was exactly my point, and I apologize to P-C for not being clear. Dude -- The Stooges! The New York Dolls are reuniting!!! I don't dislike the Raveonettes, but I'm not going to go to an all day festival in NYC to see a band that tour all the time.

But it gives waaaaay too much credit to Bowie

Impossible, earth-boy!

(That's a quote from a '70s Cheerios commercial, I think.)

Seriously! Low is #1. Sure, it's my favorite Bowie album, but it's not even fit to play in the same hour or day as, say, Funhouse (that's the Stooges), let alone the equally ambient Future Days (that one's Can).

Maybe somebody should go tell Sean that y'all are talking BEATLES today.

How's life?

Oh, sure, you read my rant, but do you come in with the big Foucauldian defense? *sniffle*

This has been a tough year! But professionally, at least, things are aces -- I've got a good and interesting job with a fun bunch of people, and since I work in Soho, I get to mow down tourists and Eurotrash on my way in every morning.

We actually met with some people who work for a music media company at work on a project, and what struck me was the extent to which these guys, who worked for a mass-media outlet, were themselves dismissive of the stuff that is their bread and butter. Between them and my shoegazer co-worker, I was the only person at the table willing to call "Cry Me a River" a classic.

Speaking of pop, over in Blighty you might not have seen this refutation of the claim that Timbaland has fallen off, from the fantabulous Sasha Frere-Jones (if I could write ONE THIRD this well, sigh...)

I am wondering if maybe I misunderstood the term *fell off*. Perhaps it means "The fact of Tim's creative streak is so surprising that simply thinking about it made me fall off my bicycle on the way to the wacknasium today." Or maybe it means "Timbaland was riding a Segway someone gave him as a gesture of love and respect but the battery ran down and he fell off, gently, without hurting himself." That was what you meant.

[link]

And how are you doing?