Of the 5,200 words that make up Michaelangelo Matos’ all-encapsulating Jackin’ Pop essay, this passage seems ripe for further debate/deconstruction/dissing:
Because what our critics did hear isn’t especially inspiring. A couple years ago, my pal JBR defended the previous 12 months with a phrase that’s stayed with me longer than most of the music she was describing: “It was a great year for middling indie.” That’s what this Jackin’ Pop feels like to me, and not just in terms of collegiate guitar music, either. Many of the finishers here feel like fallbacks rather than causes–not so much in the “I’m sick of ‘Crazy’” sense as in the “really? Jenny Lewis?” one. Obviously, it could have been worse; we could have had the scant six hip-hop albums featured in the Top 40 the weekend before Jackin’ Pop’s final deadline, rather than the less-scant eight that finished. Still, the tracks list is patterned way too familiarly. Inevitable smashes dotted with college-radio staples (”Wolf Like Me” at No. 5?!) in almost equal portions–throw in a death ballad, a 10-minute album track, and/or a random mixtape cut, and voila! Instant Pitchfork.
We’ve always had our own definition of “middling indie”–or “mindie,” as we’d like to rename it–and it usually applied to wistful invertebrates like Takka Takka and Oh No! Oh My!: They’re just the sort of groups that pick up half-hearted endorsements from over-excitable fans, but will eventually be relegated to one big flash-drive full of quickly out-of-favor MP3s.
But maybe we’re kidding ourselves, and the “good” bands that topped so many Jackin’ Pop lists (TVOTR, Arctic Monkeys, the Hold Steady) are benefiting from altruistic writers looking for something–anything–to champion. In ten years, maybe we’ll look back at our record collections and wonder, “M. Ward? What?”
So: Is the “middling indie” a fair judgment? And if so, which artists best fit that description ? And could we be any more overt in our attempt to post a tangentially related picture of Jenny Lewis?
With all due respect to Matos and kiteless and any other person who feels this way - I don’t feel this was a bad year for music. I think it was a really great year for music. Maybe there wasn’t one stand out album, but there were a lot of artists and a lot of releases that were incredible. And I think a number of ballets don’t merely list a bunch of indie albums. Maybe if you didn’t hear amazing music, you should think about expanding your horizons. Maybe read something new, find some blogs that spotlight different genres.
1. No one said anything about racial quotas in critics’ lists.
2. At no point did I express surprise at the bell curve or loads of mid-level indie crapola. Disappointment, yes; surprise, not hardly.
The worst song will be remembered far longer than the best criticism written about it. You poor bastards.
RichGirls: This is all that lists do now - make a person punch up a myspace page and decide in fifteen seconds whether the music is crap or not. Nobody believes that whatever tops the list is really the best - it just gets some more traffic. This is the golden age for the consumer - instant access online from labels/iTunes and the CD format that has brought me the Monks, Os Mutantes, Back From The Crypt Series, Shuggie Otis, Maurice Pop, The Complete Velvet Underground and Pet Sounds. Fuck vinyl.
So, keep arguing y’all - I’ll sort it out later. Long live rock.
I’m sure I’m just repeating other sentiments, but I’m a little disturbed by the following:
1) The idea of racial quotas in critic’s lists.
2) The idea that TVOTR and The Hold Steady are what passes for THE BEST
3) Amused that somehow this thread devolved into comparing Jenny Lewis with Alan Jackson.
Relatedly, I was really disappointed, in the end, with Rabbit Fur Coat. It could have been better. The Laura Nyro-with-Labelle production style was a little too much for me to bear. Those songs were better as crappily-taped live versions recorded at some joint in Silverlake. Now, I realize that makes me some sort of insane music nerd trainspotter completest, but I kind of don’t care.
Because really, I’m trying not to barf up my breakfast over the fact that Matos seems to be completely unaware of what happens when you collect a lot of data and statistically analyze it. It’s called a bell curve. Of course most of the list is going to be made up of mid-level indie crapola. Sheesh.
Er, please strike ‘amused that’ from point three. Thank you.
I totally agree that the Jenny Lewis songs were way better in their original pre-production incarnations. Good point. Side note: “I Never” from More Adventurous was a far, far more appealing song when it was just Jenny and a piano, before it made it to the album.
Um, did you just say: “fuck vinyl”? This really is the most disturbing thread ever.
Matos:
1) Complaining bitterly about the percentage of hip-hop artists in the top 40 or whatever sounds like endorsing quotas to me. But then again, don’t you (or some other critic(s)) complain about this like, every year? *yawn* I can’t believe this needs to be said again, but most music critics are white middle-class males and, without putting limitations on listening habits, white middle class dudes are probably the last thing hip hop artist are thinking about in terms of expected audience. However, the kids hanging on the stoop and at the corner bodega in ‘hood are. Thus, your 8 out of 40. I sure would be happier to see a more diverse polling pool than another “essay” flogging the tired topic that there’s never enough hip-hop on the resultant list.
2) I dunno, you were compelled to write an indignant essay about the entire subject, as if this were some kind of critical revelation. Maybe surprised was the wrong word, but really, was the topic worth all this strum und drang? For reals.
I misspoke on that last point there, the whole essay wasn’t on this topic — just a few grafs. But still.