I still feel that Epic could and probably should have capitalized on that controversy rather than getting offended and hurt-prideful about it. Malcontents move units. Did Rolling Stone go off in a huff when Kurt Cobain wore a T-shirt saying "Corporate Magazines Still Suck" during their 1992 photo shoot? Nah, they put that shit on the cover! And both band and publication prospered. It seems like Death Grips would be a nightmare to work with, but a savvier label would have recognized that, like, the band was generating more publicity for themselves than any label could have possibly managed. Epic ... failed.
I agree with both posts mentioning Fight Songs as underrated. It's not much like Sea Lion (which is also a superior album IMO), but it is really excellent and I think a lot of people slept on it.
Thanks, scruffy! I should probably tag all of these lists with that explanation/disclaimer. But you know, I think most people, if they're being honest, understand we're not trolling them. Sometimes the writer's opinions hew closer to the consensus, sometimes further from it, but these are ALWAYS totally honest and delivered only by people who have intimate familiarity with -- and are passionate about -- the catalogs they're covering. The readers have the same passion, of course. That inevitably leads to some heated arguments in the comments. But as an editor I would never ask a writer to be dishonest about his or her feelings, especially when they would then be subjected to scrutiny and criticism in the comments.
Before registering any comments lamenting the exclusion of individual favorite songs from this list, please read the intro, which explains the rationale behind the exclusion of certain songs (as well as the author's methodology). After that, lament away!
Sorry all, just to be clear: The list is in chronological order, not ranked from worst to best. Also, the chronology stops at 13 Songs, so Jawbox (and Nation Of Ulysses, etc.) were ineligible. Next time!
It's a good guess based on the biographical context but the music isn't really reminiscent of Three Stacks. FWIW I don't think it's an established name hiding behind an alias; I think it's a new artist with a good PR gambit. Or, if his bio is taken at face value:
He started making music secretly at age 15, and even now in his early twenties, likes to retain some privacy - which is why he's not releasing much information about himself. The Child of Lov has been living more or less like a recluse for the past few years, spending time in London, Paris and Amsterdam, whilst being more artistically rooted in the southern state of Georgia, USA.
Still, not too many recluses in their early 20s are working with Damon Albarn and MF Doom so who knows.
No, I know. I follow him on Facebook. I like when he posts photos of himself looking severely jaundiced and badly bruised, his eyes filled with blood from broken vessels, and the caption is like, "I HAVEN'T SLEPT IN 72 HOURS AND I FEEL AMAZING! I AM PUSHING MYSELF TO PARTY HARDER AND BETTER! NEVER STOP THE PARTY!" or whatever. I've got elaborate and incomplete theories on the subversive nature of Andrew W.K., but that's for another time.
I hear some version of this in the comments pretty regularly, and I never address it because one reply from me isn't going to do much to change popular opinion, but I probably should try anyway, so here goes: As the person who edits these things, let me say for the record that there's absolutely no internal policy guiding the writer's choices in any of these lists. I've never said, "Hey, we all know Slanted is the best Pavement album, but slot it in at number 3 to generate some commentary." No one here has. Nothing of the sort. The writers who do these lists know these catalogs backwards and forwards; all I ask of them is that they provide readers with as much historical and cultural context as possible, so these things aren't empty clickbait but stand up as informative and illuminating works of analysis that provide value to the expert and novice alike. I'm honestly being totally transparent here. I'd be much more likely to ask a writer to re-work his or her list if it seemed deliberately contrarian than I would if it seemed painfully obvious. There's no conspiracy at work, just differing opinions, you have my word.
I feel the same way. Damon has been cagy as hell when asked about a new album. He said the band might consider doing one if it were a film score. He said he wants to do another opera. I can only hope he's being coy to frustrate the faithful. Because honestly, those are terrible alternatives to a new Blur album.
I was always under the foggy impression that Tommy was part of Grandpaboy, but they weren't allowed to say as much because of his contract with Guns 'N Roses.
In defense of that statement, per Billboard: "The top legally-downloaded band [over the first six months of 2012] on BitTorrent was Death Grips, which is signed to Epic, Records, part of the major label Sony Music." Death Grips had 34,151,432 downloads in the first half of 2012. (Counting Crows came in second, with 26 million downloads.) That was three full months before the release of NO LOVE. They were already an incredibly hot commodity, and I don't think it's inaccurate to say that the chaos surrounding NO LOVE has led to them being one of the most-talked about bands on the planet, over the course of this news cycle anyway.
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/death-grips-top-bittorrent-s-list-of-most-1007965262.story
Gah! The pitfalls of hitting publish too quickly. I've amended my error, thus erasing the setup for your joke. My apologies. Future readers: You'll have to piece together on your own just what happened here.
Aside from one indirect mention of Godsmack, I left discussion of AIC's influence out of this piece, partly because it wasn't relevant, and partly because they (and Pearl Jam, and even Nirvana and Soundgarden) pretty much inspired the worst rock music ... well, ever, IMO.
But to limit one's understanding of AIC's artistic contributions to the output of their immediate followers is pretty reductive and frankly off-topic. All the bands you mentioned (and plenty more!) watered down AIC's approach to create something much less compelling and intense. But AIC, especially on Dirt, weren't working from someone else's blueprint, and there's not much compromise in their music. (I could state my own feelings regarding the album's artistic value here, but I'd just be repeating what I already said in the piece.)
Furthermore, I don't think their influence can be fully assessed just yet. For example: Have you heard the band Man's Gin? It's a project from Erik Wunder, who also plays in the fantastic American black metal band Cobalt. I think they're pretty great FWIW. Man's Gin comes from the same dark places as Cobalt, but musically, it's nowhere near as violent or abrasive. I detect a strong AIC influence in Man's Gin's sound, and I think we'll hear more good and important music spawned from that sound, especially as the modern metal scene evolves.
(Here's some Man's Gin music in case you don't know them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4b5kMp-mcU&feature=share&list=ULS4b5kMp-mcU)
Jordan, this is excerpted from the original solicitation:
"we’re looking for professional-ish horns and strings for EVERY CITY to hop up on stage with us for a couple of tunes ... you need to know how to ACTUALLY, REALLY PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT! lessons in fifth grade do not count, so please include in your email some proof of that (a link to you playing on a real stage would be great, or a resume will do. just don’t LIE…you’ll be embarrassed if you show up for rehearsal and everyone’s looking at you wondering why you can’t actually play the trombone.)"
Yeah but if you were a "professional-ish" musician who was being asked to submit video to prove you could "ACTUALLY, REALLY PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT!" (these are her words and requirements), you might be a little frustrated to learn that this potential job was compensated with "hugs/high-fives."
FWIW she says they have paid musicians "in New York (and in some other cities)," but record release or no, it's kind of a dubious remark, no?
"there were cities like new york where jherek –- and everyone in the band –- really wanted to make sure we had a 100% tried-and-true string corps. he didn’t want to bank on possibly risky volunteers that night...so we called our more professional horns and strings friends in new york, and we freed up the budget to pay them. we’re doing that in some cities, and in some cities it’s a total grab-bag of strangers on stage."
Do flyover residents get discounted tickets to watch "risky volunteers" instead of the "100% tried-and-true" pros warranted by NYC?
It's a fine line. Your hypothetical website is probably a labor of love to begin with, in which the proprietor isn't making any money (or is making just enough money to pay his server costs). Nothing wrong with volunteers seeking other volunteers. But if a for-profit website solicits unpaid labor, it falls on the wrong side of a few ethical and legal lines. It exploits the unpaid laborer and marginalizes the professional who refuses to work for free.
In New York State, newly amended labor laws demand that interns receive either academic credit or pay. For companies trying to cut corners, unpaid labor is very attractive, especially when that labor is enthusiastic about their work (because they see it as an opportunity to break into the field and eventually get paid). But that field shrinks when it's populated by volunteers, thus making paid employees an unnecessary expense.
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