Robert Christgau's Music Criticism Blog - Expert Witness - MSN Music

Odds and Ends 002

Notes for a Revised Paleontology

By Xgau Nov 15, 2011 6:11AM

 

Wilco: The Whole Love (Anti-)

Full-on Radiohead electronica Americanized with aw-shucks diffidence, red-blooded guitar, sharp tunes, and exceptionally dull poetry ("Standing O," "One Sunday Morning") ***

 

The Mountain Goats: All Eternals Deck (Merge)

Four great songs, all of which address mortality directly instead of implying it the way the nine merely ambitious ones do ("Estate Sale Sign," "For Charles Bronson," "Sourdoire Valley Song," "Beautiful Gas Mask") ***

 

Radiohead: The King of Limbs (XL/TBD)

So much more fun than Eno these days ("Little by Little," "Bloom") **

 

Comet Gain: Howl of the Lonely Crowd (What's Your Rupture?)

Desperate times catch up with desperate punk love poetry ("Clang of the Concrete Swans," "Ballad of Frankie Machine") **

 

 

Giant Sand: Blurry Blue Mountain (Fire)

With nothing much at stake but the shape of his life, Howe Gelb keeps his slow hand in ("Fields of Green," "Better Man Than Me") **


Faust: Something Dirty (Bureau B)

Synth-free after lo these many decades, their experiments have more oomph, especially the Hawkwind homages ("Tell the Bitch to Go Home," "Dampfauslass 2") **

 

Wire: Red Barked Tree (Pink Flag)

Even formalists get the grays--well, especially formalists ("Bad Worn Thing," "Please Take") **

New York Dolls: Dancing Backwards in High Heels (429)

Weary blues from trying ("Talk to Me Baby," "End of the Summer") *

 

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248Comments
CHRIS DRUMM (cdrummbks)
Nov 18, 2011 7:05AM
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Keith Olbermann's recent historical diatribe
+1

http://goo.gl/in7rr
David Schweitzer _ Foolish Contender
Nov 18, 2011 5:45AM
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Re: The article about the OWS crackdown that Bob recommended 

This may get lost if the next EW shows up very soon, in which case I'll repost, and it's days late, and not central to our topic, though in a way it is.

I'm midway through Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States, and one thing it's convinced me of is that the rich and powerful exercise the power/ restraint to allow/quash exactly as much dissent as they think is healthy for them. They need to preserve enough of  the illusion of democracy and free speech to keep people at ease. When they're feeling desperate, they simply get around the Constitution or plow through it and finagle the consequences later.  If they feel backed into a corner by overwhelming public opinion, they give a little and figure out how to turn it to their advantage later. 

I don't believe this "they" always, if ever, operates as one entity, and of course sometimes various factions of the rich and powerful are at odds with each other. But nearly all of them make decisions -- and mostly have the power to enforce them -- that will preserve their power and wealth. If they need to throw a few bones, they do.  

Sometimes those bones are significant, sometimes they seem like a real sea change, and in some part they may be. But the great innovation of the U.S. Constitution is that the powers that be figured out that it's easier for the rich and powerful to stay that way by being a little flexible sometimes than by being rigid. Which is why Keith Olbermann's recent historical diatribe is so accurate. 

Find this at YT:
11-15-11 4 - Special Comment - Mayor Bloomberg - 


Tom Hull
Nov 18, 2011 1:09AM
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My 1990 ballot, done quick at the last moment:

  1. The Beautiful South: Welcome to the Beautiful South (Go! Discs) 17
  2. Pet Shop Boys: Behavior (EMI America) 16
  3. Pharoah Sanders: Welcome to Love (Timeless) 13
  4. Carlene Carter: I Fell in Love (Reprise) 10
  5. L.L. Cool J: Mama Said Knock You Out (Def Jam) 8
  6. The Chills: Submarine Bells (Slash) 8
  7. Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam) 8
  8. Beats International: Let Them Eat Bingo (Elektra) 8
  9. K.T. Oslin: Love in a Small Town (RCA) 6
  10. David Murray/George Arvanitas: Tea for Two (Fresh Sound) 6

Also sent in a long list of HMs (the balance of my A-list). Omitting the top 40 finishers (not that that loses much):

  • Marcia Ball/Angela Strehli/Lou Ann Barton: Dreams Come True (Antone's)
  • Salt-N-Pepa: Black's Magic (London)
  • Madonna: I'm Breathless (Sire)
  • David Murray: Ballads (DIW)
  • Eyuphuro: Mama Mosambiki (Real World)
  • Eddie Harris: There Was a Time (Echo of Harlem) (Enja)
  • Marian McPartland: Plays the Benny Carter Songbook (Concord)
  • Was (Not Was): Are You Okay? (Chrysalis)
  • Sonny Sharrock: Highlife (Enemy)
  • Betty Boo: Boomania (Warner Brothers)
  • Don Pullen: Random Thoughts (Blue Note)
  • David Murray: Spirituals (DIW)
  • Macka-B: Natural Suntan (RAS)
  • Loketo: Soukous Trouble (Shanachie)
  • Herb Geller: Birdland Stomp (Fresh Sound)
  • Macka-B: Looks Are Deceiving (RAS)
  • Marty Grosz/Keith Ingham: Unsaturated Fats (Stomp Off)
  • The Deighton Family: Mama Was Right (Philo)
  • Bud Shank: Lost in the Stars (Fresh Sound)
  • Samba Mapangala/Orchestra Virunga: Virunga Volcano (Earthworks)
  • Art Blakey/Dr. John/David "Fathead" Newman: Bluesiana Triangle (Windham Hill)
  • Soul II Soul: Vol. II A New Decade (Virgin)
  • Daniel Owino Misiani: Benga Blast! (Earthworks)
  • Michael Hashim: Lotus Blossom (Stash)
  • Michael Formanek: Wide Open Spaces (Enja)
  • Digital Underground: Sex Packets (Tommy Boy)
  • The La's: The La's (London)
  • Sheila Jordan: Lost and Found (Muse)
  • Wynton Marsalis: Tune In Tomorrow (Columbia)
  • Ali Farka Touré: The River (Mango)
  • Either/Orchestra: The Calculus of Pleasure (Accurate)
  • Jan Garbarek/Ustad Fateh Ali Khan: Ragas and Sagas (ECM)
  • C+C Music Factory: Gonna Make You Sweat (Columbia)
  • Digital Underground: This Is an E.P. Release (Tommy Boy)
  • Jackie McLean: Dynasty (Triloka)
  • Simon Shaheen: The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab (Axiom)
  • Archie Shepp: I Didn't Know About You (Timeless)
  • Lester Bowie: My Way (DIW)
  • Cecil Taylor: Looking (Berlin Version) The Feel Trio (FMP)
  • Victoria Williams: Swing the Statue! (Rough Trade)
  • Dick Berk: Bouncin' With Berk (Nine Winds)

Going through the 1990 list I'm struck by a couple memories. One is that a lot of my top-rated records were ones that I first heard at Georgia Christgau's house in the Catskills. We met Bob and Carola there and he brought along his usual travel box, and for some reason an exceptional number of them clicked. The other is that a lot of the jazz came from Francis Davis' Jazz CG and Gary Giddins' year-end list, which got me started on my 1990s jazz immersion. I wasn't reviewing anything at the time, but in many ways this year got me going again.


RobT-2
Nov 17, 2011 11:58PM
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Oh, and here's my ballot:

16 - Fear of a Black Planet
16 - Mama Said Knock You Out
13 - Goo
11 - Affection
10 - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
8 - Red Hot + Blue
8 - Brazil Classics 4: The Best of Tom Zé
7 - Bossanova
6 - Songs for Drella
5 - Glider

That one Philip Glass recording I asked about actually came out a year or two earlier. All of my selections wound up in the top 40, and four of them in the top 5. Considering the conventionality of my list, I'm also glad to have been one of the two people to vote for Lisa Stansfield and one of the three to boost My Bloody Valentine.

And the honorable mentions:

Let Them Eat Bingo
Interiors (my #11 choice)
Sex Packets (I got to know this through the vinyl version, which omits "Gutfest '89")
Under the Red Sky
More a Legend Than a Band
Time's Up
I'm Breathless
F.U.N. '90 (would have thought there'd be more Mekons fans around here)
Down to Earth
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
Demolition Plot J-7 (ditto Pavement fans)
Behaviour
Flood
Ragged Glory

Not many albums here that I'd rank as all-time classics, but a lot of likeable and listenable work.

RobT-2
Nov 17, 2011 11:45PM
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I'm not one to court controversy, but I can't help but take a twisted pride in seeing my post suggesting a classical poll right at the top of the "controversial" posts on this thread. Nonetheless, considering that it got 9 thumbs up and 11 down, I'd probably better withdraw the proposal for the time being. (Though I wonder how many of those 11 downs were from people opposed to polls here on principle.)

I may do some occasional posts on particular classical works if I have anything useful or interesting to say about them. (Although I probably ought to just start my own web page as a vehicle for such writing.) The lists I'd have submitted as votes will probably show up here at some point eventually. Thanks to Brad and Chris for their constructive criticism, and to everyone who thumbed my post (whether up or down)!
JY49NY
Nov 17, 2011 10:55PM
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I'd vote for him if his slogan was "Funkier than a mosquito's tweeter"!
Cam Patterson
Nov 17, 2011 10:44PM
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We need a leader, not a reader."
I'd vote for him if it was "We need a leader, not a parking meter."
Ñīçkÿ
Nov 17, 2011 10:37PM
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I wish I was kidding. Herman Cain's new campaign slogan is "We need a leader, not a reader."
Tom Hull
Nov 17, 2011 9:26PM
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Francis Davis has been shopping the Jazz Critics Poll around, and I believe he has a new sponsor lined up. If that falls through, he'll do it anyway and I'll host it. As for him no longer writing in the Voice, I imagine he has other options -- at least he has higher standards. It's the Voice's loss, and they have no clue how much.

Of course, I could publish myself too. I'd make less money and get less swag, but wouldn't lose a lot of value either way if I worked as hard at it. But it's always been a marginal proposition, as taking Recycled Goods private showed.


Tom Walker
Nov 17, 2011 9:03PM
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No Francis Davis?  No Jazz Critics poll? ???? Ah, that's so sad.
Michael Tatum
Nov 17, 2011 7:42PM
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Tom --  I get where you're going with that.  This is, of course, the reason why I displayed that draft in the first place.  I'll re-write and post my revisions in this space tomorrow.

 

Thank you Brad, and all other supporters.  Perhaps we should all write our own letters?  Please advise...

 

Wait a minute...Francis Davis is getting ousted too?  Oh, that's ****ing ridiculous.

Tom Hull
Nov 17, 2011 7:32PM
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What would probably be most helpful for me would be write Maura Johnston at the Voice and ask when the next Jazz Consumer Guide is coming out. Last one came out on May 11, 2011, but you know there's another one (or two or three) in the pipeline because Hull's been writing about his writing every week on his blog, posting notes about records he's promised to review in the Voice sooner or later. The fact is that we have a deal in principle but I can't get started until she does some things and she's been incommunicado (her term is "radio silence") for 3-5 weeks now. My guess is that she's busy and harried and isn't interested in jazz and won't do anything until she feels some pressure. It might help to point out that ever since Gary Giddins started there (or you started reading it, which was probably later) the Voice has been your favorite source for an adventurous, alternative take on jazz. It probably won't help to vent about how the Voice has gone to the dogs since, well, any of a number of bumps on their path to hell, but if you must, go with it.

In the latter vein, I'm aware that the Voice's Jazz Critics Poll has been killed this year, and that Francis Davis will no longer be writing for the Voice (although he has one more article in the pipeline -- one that's been there about as long as my Jazz CG draft).

I'll also note that people who know her tell me that Johnston isn't the "villain" here -- the favorite seems to be the New Times brass, or maybe it's just capitalism. But manners would have helped.


bradluen
Nov 17, 2011 7:16PM
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Michael: I'd emphasise the history of the Voice's jazz coverage and how it's one of the few remaining generalist outlets for writing about jazz recorded by living musicians. Would co-sign in any case.
JY49NY
Nov 17, 2011 6:32PM
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Current listening: Ravid Kahalani: Yemen Blues.  Finally arrived from Israel Music.  Fantastic stuff.  Love the Sofrito comp too, especially the cumbias.  Still awaiting Black Stars: Ghana's Hiplife Generation.
Allen B.
Nov 17, 2011 6:14PM
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Current listening: the Wire EP Cam was mentioning, followed by one of their B-side compilations - I do confess to a weakness for these boys' noodling when it's good, and their hit/miss ratio in that regard is pretty good.  And of course there's:

 

"Lock up your hats."

 

One can't take in this piece of rich and useful advice too often.  It reminds me, just a little, of the still-shocking words sung by Allan Clarke:

 

"Peer upon a ply

Baby, yilba my nye

My temperature started to rise."

 

Whose wouldn't?

 

Greg, I'd agree that "Cold Kisses" ain't a bad song at all...it was more a matter of what would fit on my personal comp.

Michael Tatum
Nov 17, 2011 5:55PM
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This is my first pass at my note to the Village Voice.

 

I am -- or at least, was -- a longtime reader of the Village Voice's music section. In the '90s, the Voice's pages were graced with some of the best music writers in the country -- Rob Sheffield, Ann Powers, Eric Weisbard, Chuck Eddy, and many others. Although I attended college at UCLA, way over on the other side of the continent, I made a pilgrimage to the newsstand on Westwood Avenue every Friday to pick it up. Poring through its pages over a grilled turkey sandwich at the diner at the end of the block was the highlight of my week, as was blowing my money on whatever records piqued my interest at the record store across the street.
 
Some of the writers I've mentioned above have jumped ship to other publications -- which is one thing -- but some of your key, longtime critics have been ousted, lessening the quality of the Voice's music section dramatically. Two of these -- Robert Christgau and Gary Giddins -- were absolutely key to the Voice's (now faded) reputation as the best source for music criticism in the country.
 
The current status of Tom Hull's Jazz Consumer Guide is no secret. While I understand money issues are plaguing not only the Voice but American magazines all across the board, it needs to be stressed that many of us are dismayed about the deterioration of the Voice's music section, of which the axing of Tom Hull's column is only the latest dismaying news. I am not so naive that I don't understand "the bottom line." But to cut corners at the expense of quality is both reckless and foolish.
 
Tom's writing is insightful, thoughtful, and damn entertaining -- everything good criticism should be. Please make sure his column keeps its proper home in the pages of the Village Voice music section.
 
Best,
 
Michael Tatum

 

 

Christopher Monsen (Chris Monsen)
Nov 17, 2011 5:48PM
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I am thinking of sending a note to Maura Johnston at the Village Voice on behalf of Tom Hull and his Jazz Consumer Guide.
I've been thinking the same thing, Michael.
bradluen
Nov 17, 2011 5:09PM
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Hey everybody, it's 2011! (Note that the Wire is the only complete album of the set I've listened all the way through.)

Wilco: Now we know why, after years of telling him knock it off, Tweedy still has literary pretensions. Thanks, Jane Smiley's boyfriend!

The Mountain Goats: Black Sabbath should reply to Darnielle's offer to write for their reunion by offering to write one for him.

Radiohead: So much less bottom-end than most artists on Hyperdub these days.

Comet Gain: David Feck is aggrieved that he still has to sing political songs at his age; hence the clang.

Giant Sand: Howe Gelb thinks time flies at 50? Wait until the reaper starts swathing through his disciples' heroes.

Faust: So much less fun than Radiohead these days. Not bereft of fun, but they need more Scorpions.

Wire: They're not at all surprised they still have to play political songs at their ages, which doesn't make it easier to muster up the energy for them.

New York Dolls: They got one more summer before they left. Then another, and another. Still easier for the kids to bear than Kim and Thurston.
Michael Tatum
Nov 17, 2011 5:06PM
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I am thinking of sending a note to Maura Johnston at the Village Voice on behalf of Tom Hull and his Jazz Consumer Guide.

 

I think -- obviously -- that Tom does consistently smart, thoughtful, and insightful work, and what he does needs an outlet.

 

I will draft a letter and post it out on this blog, as well as my own Downloader's Diary Facebook page.  Anyone who wishes to amend their name to this letter can email me at

 

downloadersdiary at gmail dot com

 

Or hell, write your own.  Let's Occupy the Village Voice.

 

There are too few music writers with brains and imagination and (this is so important) historical background who can put words together and make them resonate.  Tom is one of them.  Let's do this.

 

Michael

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about the blogger

Robert Christgau

Starting in 1967, Robert Christgau has covered popular music for The Village Voice, Esquire, Blender, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He teaches in New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, maintains a comprehensive website at robertchristgau.com, and has published five books based on his journalism. He has written for MSN Music since 2006.

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