My second post in Slate’s year-end Music Club discussion went up yesterday, with some verbiage on the Dirty Projectors, “Fourth World” music, tUnE-YaRdS, Fever Ray, DJ Quik and Kurupt, The Very Best, shitgaze and Lucky Dragons. Later today, Ann Powers brings the sex, and then we’re back for a final round of inconclusive conclusions.
Since you mentioned Vampire Weekend, I want to say: I think in 2010 critics are gonna realize they fucked up on Vampire Weekend in 2008, like Kala made critics realize they fucked on MIA in 2005. In both cases it’s intensely reflective, serious and honest art dealing with its own context in meaningful way that got affectionately dismissed as “the context is a little problematic but it’s a fun light affair so it’s ok”.
so, nobody listens to cutting edge techno or house. no one dances, or floats
away into unknown noises and non song spaces.
that’s disappointing. especially because it’s such a rich area of creativity
and technological change. the most contemporary of music if you ask me.
too bad everyone’s up their rock arse’s.
and lazer bass is way yesterdays’ dumb genre/marketing meme.
dubstep has its talents, but mostly its devolved into dudestep. all muscle and gesture,
not so much music (ie. benga).
and fever ray is overwrought pop-opera.
it’s a really big world. why do i keep seeing the same itsy bitsy ‘critic’ circles talking
about the same 10 things?
I agree with you about Vampire Weekend, Peli. I mean, I wouldn’t put them in the same class as M.I.A. But they’re real good. But wait–I thought both Arular and Vampire Weekend’s first one were roundly critically-hailed?
Jodi — I’d say they were each hailed musically but affectionately dismissed conceptually. I remember going crazy in 2005/6 over how every critic praised MIA’s pop-savvy but derided her terrible lyrics and confused affectations. Oh, I actually even blogged my frustration on this in 2006:
http://secondbalcony.blogspot.com/2006/06/minor-late-notes.html
In the Vampire Weekend case it’s more that critics systematically demarcated the politicizing touches that VW work into each song as “VW weekend try to show self-consciousness that what they are doing is problematic” (not every critic maybe, but even terrific people like Carl and Franklin Bruno wrote reviews to this effect), rather than look a little harder at the integrated whole and see that “what VW are doing” *is* VW’s constant obsessing over post-colonialist ethics and etiquette. I mean, really, that album plays like the soundtrack to an Edward Said biopic (including the fixation on suits).
[Make that Jody, not Jodi]
Christ y’all seem to be working so hard to out-clever each other and you still miss the point. Boring. Well, at least you read each other, even if you don’t feel anything but smarterer. Try jerking off. Ed Said is a fraud. I don’t think you’re even fooling yourselves.
Yeah he was a master jewel-thief that whole time.
I suggested this to Eric already, but: Lucky Dragons at EMP ‘10?