April 2011
20 posts
March 2011
31 posts
My Chemical Romance covers "Common People." →
somekindofawesome.com
OFFICIAL CRITICAL STANCE: !!!!!!!!!!!
(OK the arrangement on the choruses could be a little better but the rave-up… yessssss.)
(Jarvis should cover “Teenagers” to get ‘em back, no?)
Co-signatures on every stance taken here. I am dying to hear Pulp’s “Teenagers.”
Carson Daly Pushes Back Against Britney's PR -- Vulture →
nymag.com
Has anyone written the piece about Britney yet that describes how the initial narrative of her career was about her breaking free from the shackles of the pop machine and being reborn as her own girl, and now after having had a bruising personal life for a while, she is basically crawling back into the womb of complete and utter record-industry control? She is rewinding her life, playing it back in reverse.
It’s kind of sad to watch, for me — she’s completely and utterly surrendered her self, in this really upsetting way. I know that’s sort of a rockist critique (“how dare this pop object not be an authentic representation of someone’s truest soul”), but you don’t really get the sense that she’s doing it for ecstatic reasons, for the joy of being something bigger, the way the best singers and performers do — it feels like she’s doing it just to hold on to something.
(Obviously this ties right into the fantastic Willa Paskin piece about “zombie fame,” but that’s more about Britney-as-thing, rather than Britney-as-person, though it touches on that.)
Oooh! do you have that sequence archived here? I'd love to see it.
http://dyfl.tumblr.com/post/432568166/superpowered
(In response to his earlier post of Roisin Murphy’s “Off And On.” Carry on, internet.)
“Let’s talk about the dance for a second. Britney’s fans have attributed her immobility in recent years to the knee injury that torpedoed her tour for In the Zone in fall 2004 (and, less frequently, to the toll that motherhood can take on the female body). But Britney has never publicly acknowledged that her dancing has changed at all. She has remained Britney by refusing to acknowledge the possibility that she is no longer Britney. Despite the injury’s alleged consequences, she continues to strap herself into ridiculous heels and, though she does little more than strut, she struts like she was born to strut and has never done anything but strut. The whole performance is going to be dubbed over? Who cares! Put that microphone on and go through the motions as hard as you can even though everyone can tell you’re going through the motions.”
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Britney Spears: Femme Fatale Forever | Vh1 Blog
Nick’s post is sharp (especially the conclusion, so click through), but I have to lodge one complaint: I have seen some bitches who strut like they were born to (I watch Drag Race, honey) and Britney is not one of them. I was watching those GMA clips and I honestly felt like I was transported back in time to 2007, sitting on Matthew’s couch watching the VMAs and feeling my heart drop.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: It’s time for Britney to gain 50 pounds and go country. I think it’s what she wants, deep down, in her heart: to continue performing and being famous, but also to drop all of the baggage she doesn’t care about (like, say, dancing), and living life comfortably, the way she’d prefer to. At this point we all just want Britney to be happy.
Pitchfork: Articles: You Were There: The Complete LCD Soundsystem →
pitchfork.com
Obviously the must-read piece of music journalism today. It’s a pretty great tribute, all in all, though I’m amused by how many times the various different writers had to grapple with the “this song sounds a lot like another song from the 70s/80s” issue. (And how many of them brought up the idea of Murphy working with Britney Spears.)
I’m a little bit sad to be missing the farewell shows, but I certainly had my decade with LCD Soundsystem, and I loved all the time we shared together, whether in concert or out. Best American band of the 00s? Probably so.
“
GRETA: I thought about the last movie that just truly made my heart jump out of my chest and make me feel so in love with love and characters — it was Brokeback Mountain, to be honest. It was unabashed. He takes that shirt out at the end, and says, “Jack, I swear … ” It’s so big! It’s romance and I don’t think I’ve seen anything that pure in a long time. I want that romance from the movies. I’m all for the banalities of life and humiliation and everyday tragedies, but I also think people have big moments and they have bigness in them. And they want to see that bignesss. I want to see it.
NY MAG: Has that been on your mind a lot lately?
GRETA: Well, I made a Pandora radio station out of “Africa” by Toto. Which turns out is the best radio station in the world, because it’s a lot of Don Henley “Boys of Summer” — a lot of stuff that’s epic and unapologetic and totally synthed out. I find it all very moving. And of course, “In Your Eyes” played and I felt like I had to watch Say Anything right now. But it wasn’t on Netflix Instant, so I found it broken up into ten parts on Spanish Yahoo. I guess that’s sort of where I am right now.
” —I AM AT THAT PLACE TOO GIRL.
“INCEPTION! DRUNK HULK LIKE THIS MOVIE! BECAUSE DRUNK HULK SEE SOMETHING NO EVER SEE BEFORE! LIKE PART WHERE CHARACTER ENTER GIANT PLOT HOLE INSIDE GIANT PLOT HOLE INSIDE GIANT PLOT HOLE! IT LIKE JOE ESZTERHAS AND M.C. ESCHER MAKE MOVIE TOGETHER!”
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PUFF CHRISSY » THE DRUNK HULK INTERVIEWS (updated)!
That’s a pretty good burn, Drunk Hulk.
The New York Times: Digital Subscription Plans →
nytimes.com
OK, as one of the only people in the world who is actually going to pay for the Times online and who really thinks it’s worth it, I’m hesitant to engage in any kind of bitching on the subject, because it just adds to that groupthink where everyone gets to act like Big Media is ripping us off, and paying for good content is stupid, and etc. etc. etc.
But. What the fuck is the Times thinking with their “All Digital Access” pricing? It’s $15/month for website and iPhone access, which, fine, I’ll pay that, I use both things heavily. It’s $20/month for website and iPad access, which, slightly less fine but OK. But then to get both devices adds another fifteen dollars, at $35/month? What the hell is that? That is absolutely absurd and not born out in any way by bandwidth costs or any other possible overhead. It’s just pure extra cost for no reason.
C’mon, Times. Getting people to pay for you online is an uphill battle. Do NOT shoot yourselves in the foot by setting the tone of the debate with such an obviously usurious policy. You have to be smarter than this.
