Let's Talk About Stereogum - Idolator Comments

Let's Talk About Stereogum

SupraCute — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 13:13:20 EST

Grambo, I think you're missing the point a bit. Brian didn't write that the site never hates on Stereogum. His point is that Idolator doesn't hate on Stereogum for the sake of hate, but rather because Stereogum's direction in the past year or so has been rather disappointing.

It's like being a long-time fan of a band whose last few albums have sucked. It's frustrating because you know how good they can be.

SupraCute

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Mark Graham — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:30:09 EST

@Brian Raftery: From the looks of it, this site has been heavily invested in Stereogum bashing since Day One. I guess the one thing we can agree on here is that snobbiness is in the eye of the beholder.

Mark Graham

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Vince Neilstein — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:16:33 EST

This is why I love Idolator. The fact that this book is written from an "outsider" perspective totally ruins it and goes against the point of having a book about something. Same goes for the 33 1/3 book on GNR's "Use Your Illusion" albums -- it was written from the point of view of a holier-than-thou music snob, and as such wasn't of much value to anyone who was actually a fan of those albums. It would be like if I decided to write a retrospective on the Arcade Fire.

Vince Neilstein

Let's Talk About Stereogum

MJ — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 06:46:11 EST

I wonder if that book will talk about her songs in French. She partnered up with one of the best (if not the best) French songwriters for her French albums. She developed a more interesting and soulful persona through those songs (while still kind of cheesy -she's Céline Dion, after all), and even if you can tell that the wonderful lyrics had a lot to do with it, she certainly had it in her to transmit those feelings and let her powerful lungs be just another tool to build the song.

Let's Talk About Stereogum

lastclearchance — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 01:52:45 EST

Speaking of the eighth grade school bus, the "tip" was a year late and came in the form of a livejournal post.

This just in: Stereogum saw a myspace bulletin that says Stephin Merrit is racist. Jessica Hopper said so!

lastclearchance

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Brian Raftery — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 23:43:30 EST

I think anyone who reads the site regularly knows that we generally don't attack people just for the sake of doing so (and I hope they'd also realize that I'm a long-time Stereogum fan who's frustrated with its recent direction). The Dion post was snobby and ill-informed, and the fact that it appeared on an influential music sitemakes it worthy of discussion (or criticism).

Brian Raftery

Let's Talk About Stereogum

brasstax — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 18:50:45 EST

@Uncle Grambo: Grambo, maybe you've missed Stereogum's "It's Okay to Like..." series of posts. The moment they began to hand down edicts of acceptability for certain artists, whether they be guilty pleasures or what have you, is the moment Stereogum turned a corner from which they can not come back.

brasstax

Let's Talk About Stereogum

janine — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:38:18 EST

@blobby: I honestly don't like that song. I've never heard it the whole way through; I have no opinion. Her fame sort of sprouted up without my knowing it was happening, like the Pussy Cat Dolls or the OC. I do like that "touch me like that" song, because it reminds me of Meatloaf.

janine

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Mark Graham — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:29:31 EST

In the nearly five years that I've been reading Stereogum, the site has never EVER copped the sort of "holier than thou" attitude that you're accusing them of here. And when you factor in the fact that making fun of Celine Dion has been culturally acceptable since her late `90s assault on our collective conscience, this post feels like haterade for the sake of haterade to me.

Mark Graham

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Mark Graham — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:27:53 EST

Mark Graham

Let's Talk About Stereogum

blobby — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:21:57 EST

Celine Dion has a great voice but a perverse sense of how to use it (i.e. as a club with which to bludgeon songs to death).

Which isn't to say that I don't like "My Heart Will Go On, cuz I totally do, and anyone who says they don't is a liar.

blobby

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Weezy F Baby — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:19:12 EST

i know that today they tried to talk shit on Joanna Newsom calling her EP "and the Ys Street Band"

i really don't know how you CANT like that title

Weezy F Baby

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Don Mak — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:16:10 EST

I wasn't sure. But now I know I like you Idolator. -dm

Don Mak

Let's Talk About Stereogum

taylorklong — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:13:34 EST

actually, I think they posted about H2O's awesomeness some time around when Yacht Rock broke out.

but, uh, did you guys just admit to liking Celine Dion?

taylorklong

Let's Talk About Stereogum

markp — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:04:12 EST

Here's the summary. Tell me this doesn't sound completely awesome:

"Non-fans regard Céline Dion as ersatz and plastic, yet to those who love her, no one could be more real, with her impoverished childhood, her (creepy) manager-husband's struggle with cancer, her knack for howling out raw emotion. There's nothing cool about Céline Dion, and nothing clever. That's part of her appeal as an object of love or hatred - with most critics and committed music fans taking pleasure (or at least geeky solace) in their lofty contempt. This book documents Carl Wilson's brave and unprecedented year-long quest to find his inner Céline Dion fan, and explores how we define ourselves in the light of what we call good and bad, what we love and what we hate."

markp

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Matos W.K. — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:57:18 EST

Carl's been hinting around at the direction he's going to take it for awhile on his blog, Zoilus.com. He's a fantastic writer and thinker; his presentation on Celine at the Pop Conference last year was really smart. And god yes this should prove a more interesting book than a lot of the more fawning stuff in the series (including my own, I'm sure).

Matos W.K.

Let's Talk About Stereogum

joe bananas — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:52:44 EST

man, i'm getting sick about people griping about this title. if someone's going to write about, you know, Pet Sounds, or Blonde on Blonde — I already know where that book is going to go. This, to me, is totally intriguing. What is he going to have to say about this?

joe bananas

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Halfwit — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:28:05 EST

"Why does Sterogum hate melody?"

That's ALWAYS funny.

Actually, this might be an interesting read. The "Aeroplane Over the Sea" one (the only one I've read) was mind-numbing in its total fawning. It'd be interesting to see what's to be said about such a clearly manufactured product (especially if the author is looking at it with a somewhat disapproving eye).

PS: H&O = teh awesome!!11!

Halfwit

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Silverfuture — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:24:29 EST

SterEogum, that is. Sterogum sounds like the horrible mutant offspring of Stereogum and Jim DeRogatis.

Silverfuture

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Catbirdseat — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:23:27 EST

I was going to make a comment about this but decided it would be a complete waste of bytes.

And anyway, how is this even news when's there are so many more important things to talk about like OMGZ PITCHFORK'S RYAN SCHREIBER MOVED TO PARK SLOPE, FOR REALZZZ!!!!

Catbirdseat

Let's Talk About Stereogum

Silverfuture — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:21:57 EST

Why does Sterogum hate melody?

Silverfuture

Let's Talk About Stereogum

ryan hodgkins — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:07:36 EST

BLOG WAR! BLOG WAR, EVERYBODY!

IT'S GOING DOWN!

SHIT IS GOING DOWN!

I expect one hell of a charticle in response, in between posts about the smell of Hillary Duff's latest fart and how Jared Leto did something unbecoming of a gentleman!

ryan hodgkins

Let's Talk About Stereogum

brasstax — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:58:12 EST

Alec Baldwin to Stereogum:

"This is boring. I'm bored now."

brasstax

Let's Talk About Stereogum

markp — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:58:08 EST

Wilson specifically chose Dion because he doesn't like her music. As I understand it, it's a book about taste. 'Good', 'bad', how we determine our personal aesthetics, the fine line between loving something and hating something, etc etc. For my money, Carl is one of the best music writers alive, and of all the 33.3 books, this is easily the one I'm most amped to read.

markp