Misc Shit

[John A Arkansawyer]

Six minutes in, the first commercial break has a truly weird ad for 7-Up, then an ad for five bands, five bucks: Johnny Winter, The James Gang, Spirit, The New York Dolls, and Brownsville Station. Is that not one of the strangest bills ever?



About half the material is from Missing White House Tapes. The stuff I haven't heard is very good. I'd never heard audio of Mrs. Agnew's Diary, a favorite print feature, before. It's also harsher. I just heard one particularly scabrous bit surely written by O'Donahue that did not make the record, though the surrounding material did.

ETA: Dear god, the sports scores: Catonsville 9, Chicago 7; Strontium 90, LSD 25 in an upset; and here's a late score, Slaughterhouse Five, Kent State Four.

[John A Arkansawyer]

A really good article on Johnny Cash and prisons from Philip Martin:

Johnny Cash's cause: Arkansas music legend did his time as an advocate for prison reform

I did not know that story about Glen Sherley. Life is messy and often sucks.

[dime in the gutter]

prolly want to put this on your resume.

[Beaverdam]

https://www.billboard.com/lists/oliver- ... ond-facts/

My friends from Virginia have been messaging about this guy. I disagree with many of the sentiments, but I like his playing.

[brettac1]

I'm basically terminally online so I've been following/participating in discourse surrounding this song for almost a week now and I'll just say that I was told I should "get the rope" last week because I criticized the song (particularly the stuff about welfare recipients). So that tells you the kind of folks who seem to be rallying around it.

Anyhow, it seems it likely has been co-opted (possibly the intent from the beginning) by right-wing culture warriors in a coordinated effort. There is a lot of astroturfing going on in regards to this song becoming viral.

[beantownbubba]

I'm basically terminally online so I've been following/participating in discourse surrounding this song for almost a week now and I'll just say that I was told I "should get the rope" last week because I criticized the song (particularly the stuff about welfare recipients). So that tells you the kind of folks who seem to be rallying around it.

Anyhow, it seems it likely has been co-opted (possibly the intent from the beginning) by right-wing culture warriors in a coordinated effort. There is a lot of astroturfing going on in regards to this song becoming viral.

This song (which I've heard once) straddles the line between what I'd consider legit populism and dog whistle populism and it's very easy to see how it could and would be adopted by right wing culture warriors. It is staggeringly distressing that the singer/writer identifies rich men "north of Richmond" as the bad guys as if rich men south of Richmond aren't at least equally as guilty of oppressing the people he wants to represent. The welfare stuff of course goes back to Reagan's welfare queen. It wasn't true then and it isn't true now.

Who exactly is trying to protect miners and who wants them to work under horrific conditions for "bullshit pay?" Hint: It ain't the rich men north of Richmond who are in the forefront of oppressing miners. To the extent that those lyrics are really about the shrinking of mine work due to meddling environmentalists, I don't think that people who demand the right to work in terrible conditions for lousy pay while befouling the environment in order to be dead by 50 have all the right on their side though of course that's a legitimate view.

Many of the people who have or will rally behind this song don't pay federal income tax; that's just statistical reality. Some do of course but high federal income taxes are hardly the scourge of the working class. But you know, facts. Who needs 'em?

OTOH, the tone and intent of the song is gonna hit a lot of hot buttons for a lot of people for good reason and once it's out there people are going to use (co-opt) it for their own purposes. Anthems never have to be factually correct or even correctly understood (see, e.g. "Born in the USA") to be adopted as anthems.

[brettac1]

If I was going to try to sum up the politics of the song in a word, I'd say "confused." However, the vast majority of folks don't have coherent politics in this day and age.

That's in large part (IMO) a result of more and more people no longer looking at the world through a class-based lens and instead through this bizarre mix of cultural/consumption signifiers. In my circles, we would say "this is what no theory does to a motherfucker." No materialist analysis whatsoever and a bunch of grievance directed at completely powerless people. In essence, exactly what the "Rich Men North of Richmond" want.

[beantownbubba]

If I was going to try to sum up the politics of the song in a word, I'd say "confused." However, the vast majority of folks don't have coherent politics in this day and age.

That's in large part (IMO) a result of more and more people no longer looking at the world through a class-based lens and instead through this bizarre mix of cultural/consumption signifiers. In my circles, we would say "this is what no theory does to a motherfucker." No materialist analysis whatsoever and a bunch of grievance directed at completely powerless people. In essence, exactly what the "Rich Men North of Richmond" want.

I'd give that an A except you can't dance to it.

[beantownbubba]

If I was going to try to sum up the politics of the song in a word, I'd say "confused." However, the vast majority of folks don't have coherent politics in this day and age.

That's in large part (IMO) a result of more and more people no longer looking at the world through a class-based lens and instead through this bizarre mix of cultural/consumption signifiers. In my circles, we would say "this is what no theory does to a motherfucker." No materialist analysis whatsoever and a bunch of grievance directed at completely powerless people. In essence, exactly what the "Rich Men North of Richmond" want.

The New Yorker chimes in w/ a lot more words saying a lot less:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-colu ... f-richmond

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[Clams]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[tinnitus photography]

boobgenius

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Full disclosure- posting before reading, so don’t blame me if this sucks

https://www.theringer.com/music/2023/8/ ... lectronica

[tinnitus photography]

i blame clams.

but maybe i should read it first.




naw.

[beantownbubba]

New single from The Paranoid Style, "I Love the Sound of Structured Class" out now on bandcamp. Check it out.

[dime in the gutter]

[beantownbubba]

Full disclosure- posting before reading, so don’t blame me if this sucks

https://www.theringer.com/music/2023/8/ ... lectronica

I wish snark and obscure hipster type references weren't so much a part of the current critical landscape/writing style, especially when it affects meaning. But to the extent that I can hack through the bullshit and obscurities I think there might could be some good stuff in here.

To the extent that I follow the controversy about "fast car" which is hardly at all, isn't it reasonably clear that the criticism is not about the music/cover but about the political "fact" or observation that Tracy Chapman's version was never and never will be played on the stations playing the cover? And isn't that seriously overblown to the extent that the cover is by a country artist, presumably in a country or countryish style (I haven't heard it) while Chapman's version...is not? There have been plenty of crossover covers over the generations of pop music, usually to the detriment of Black artists (except to the extent that they were able to assert and maintain writing credit over the tunes) and this issue is still the same: It's racially motivated or at least racially explainable at its core, but it's commerce/capitalism at the point of sale (stations that played Pat Boone were never going to play the originals of the songs he covered as much as a matter o f style as of race).

[tinnitus photography]

I wish snark and obscure hipster type references weren't so much a part of the current critical landscape/writing style, especially when it affects meaning.

i've been writing that way for years, i ain't no bandwagon hopper.

[brettac1]

Full disclosure- posting before reading, so don’t blame me if this sucks

https://www.theringer.com/music/2023/8/ ... lectronica

I wish snark and obscure hipster type references weren't so much a part of the current critical landscape/writing style, especially when it affects meaning. But to the extent that I can hack through the bullshit and obscurities I think there might could be some good stuff in here.

To the extent that I follow the controversy about "fast car" which is hardly at all, isn't it reasonably clear that the criticism is not about the music/cover but about the political "fact" or observation that Tracy Chapman's version was never and never will be played on the stations playing the cover? And isn't that seriously overblown to the extent that the cover is by a country artist, presumably in a country or countryish style (I haven't heard it) while Chapman's version...is not? There have been plenty of crossover covers over the generations of pop music, usually to the detriment of Black artists (except to the extent that they were able to assert and maintain writing credit over the tunes) and this issue is still the same: It's racially motivated or at least racially explainable at its core, but it's commerce/capitalism at the point of sale (stations that played Pat Boone were never going to play the originals of the songs he covered as much as a matter o f style as of race).

The Luke Combs cover is really good, IMO. I like him in general, though. It's a very respectful cover and he genuinely loves the song through personal attachment. I think any sort of actual "controversy" that was supposed to happen with that didn't because I think most people just view him as a wholesome dude covering a song he loves.

[beantownbubba]

I wish snark and obscure hipster type references weren't so much a part of the current critical landscape/writing style, especially when it affects meaning.

i've been writing that way for years, i ain't no bandwagon hopper.

But we love you and love conquers all, even snark and obscure hipster type references.

[cortez the killer]

https://www.billboard.com/lists/oliver- ... ond-facts/

My friends from Virginia have been messaging about this guy. I disagree with many of the sentiments, but I like his playing.

[brettac1]

The dude is such a dipshit. Was on Rogan yesterday, actually.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

https://www.theringer.com/music/2023/9/ ... x-in-utero

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

It’s where you’ll find Billy Bob’s Bar & Grill

[beantownbubba]

New single from The Paranoid Style, "I Love the Sound of Structured Class" out now on bandcamp. Check it out.

"Print the Legend," the second single from the upcoming Paranoid Style album, The Interrogator," is out on bandcamp. They've also released the track listing for the album and just based on song titles it should be at least an amusing listen. E.g. the previously released "I Love the Sound of Structured Class," "Are You Loathsome Tonight," "The Ballad of Pertinent Information," "Bad Day for the Group Chat" and more The album is available for preorder.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[beantownbubba]

^^^Gotta say that's pretty remarkable.