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?

I wouldn't feel guilty about love of any Beatles album.

Not feeling guilty about my strange and deep love of Let it Be.

I know you love the music you love, but it feels like in here, it's the only music worth listening to.

I don't like that others feel this thread is hostile to mainstream music tastes. My feeling is that lots of folks have posted about mainstream artists in this thread and while it sometimes meets no discussion, so do lots of other posts about obscure artists that others have nothing to comment on other than "I've heard of that guy. Hmm."

Just heard: Brando died.

Wow.

I went and worked on a cost-benefit analysis and now I feel much calmer.

Ah. Never underestimate the soothing effects of the cost-benefit analysis I always say.

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).

I was slightly miffed to read in the intro graph that there was no Springsteen on the list. But on further reading, it's not a bad list. I would have more to say on that but it is POURING rain here and I am listening to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots for the first time in forever and am caught up in perfect-rainy-album listening joy.

Joe, I'm willing to listen to the case for Lennon (and "In My Life" is a nice enough song), but the general fact is still that the Beatles have never moved above pleasant background music for me. I recognize that 95 percent of the rock fans in the world disagree.

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.

I hate to say this, but I do sometimes feel like Hec's thing is liking stuff very few people listen to anymore, or have heard at all. Which I respect, since I have my own tendencies to adore the obscure. But Archies love is not mainstream in 2004. If he wrote a book about 3-11, that might make your case :-).

I would love to see more people in here. Love it.