The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do - Idolator Comments

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

Trackback — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:31:37 EDT

If you're anywhere near the Internet, you've likely heard (or read) that music critic and Ui founder Sasha Frere-Jones wrote a long essay titled "A Paler Shade of White" in last week's New Yorker, and that it's rubbed all sorts of folks the wrong way.

Trackback

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

iheartponeez — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:41:33 EDT

Bad Brains:
-lacks "swing," "some empty space," and/or "palpable bass frequencies."

-identifies more as "punk" than "funk."

-primarily draws from folk traditions other than the blues.

I'm liking this rubric!

iheartponeez

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

the rich girls are weeping — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:51:21 EDT

@CloudCarrier: Fretless bass is only okay if you're ... Mick Karn.

the rich girls are weeping

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

gregcoff — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:09:14 EDT

@Cam/ron: And I just read the Slate piece. Totes agree.

gregcoff

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

gregcoff — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:30:59 EDT

@Cam/ron: He mentioned them in the accompanying podcast. But agreed, he should have done it in the article, it's a pretty relevant band to the subject.

gregcoff

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

Cam/ron — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:40:52 EDT

Here's the best response to SFJ's piece I've read, it's from Slate. It's fair, balanced, and devoid of truthiness.

[www.slate.com]

As for the scoring policy that rewards 20 points to Clash-like bands, it reminds me that SFJ never mentioned Bad Brains (all-black and a major hardcore punk pioneer that influenced countless white punk bands) once in his article.

Cam/ron

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

Diglett — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:26:02 EDT

@Botswana Meat Commission FC: Yeah, you thought that was Q-tip rapping, but no.

Diglett

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

lastclearchance — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:14:04 EDT

@baconfat: Correct on both counts I think. The EMP confusion originally came from Jessica Hopper (though her original blog post got murked too) and S/FJ was certainly noting the other stuff as it happened, but May 06 was when S/FJ's Merritt critique got bigger.

lastclearchance

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

Botswana Meat Commission FC — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:28:25 EDT

@relaxing:
Ghetto tech or any music, really, that uses lots of Roland 808 drum patterns = perfect 100.

Botswana Meat Commission FC

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

Botswana Meat Commission FC — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:25:50 EDT

@oovy:
You were in Dee-Lite?

@lastclearchance:
I think he's confusing Sasha Frere Jones and Kaleefa Sanneh.

Botswana Meat Commission FC

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

baconfat — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:25:01 EDT

@lastclearchance: Wasn't Sasha taking potshots at Stephin long before last year's EMP? He seems to have removed his lovely "Gerrymandering on ice" entry from his own blog but you can see it here. It's from May, 2004. Homeboy knows how to keep that chip locked on his shoulder.
I thought it was Jessica Hopper who got all bent out of shape over Stephin's Song of the South love, basically picking up Sasha's ball and running it the wrong way into the parking lot (she didn't even stay to hear everything Stephin had to say on the subject). Regardless, I keep wondering how long it's going to take before Sasha (or anybody) comes up with an actually intelligent and non-scattershot way to begin a discourse, assuming a discourse is even called for.

baconfat

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

lastclearchance — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:09:56 EDT

@dalecooper: You mean the New Yorker?

Also the "Stephen Merrit" [sic] debacle involved a misunderstanding/difference in interpretation of Merritt's comments on Song of the South at EMP. His Times playlist and claim of only liking the first two years of rap were the auxiliary materials S/FJ used to support the argument.

If you're going to criticize the guy, don't use the same lack of clarity and bad example choice that he did in writing his piece in the first place (which is a criticism that even supporters of S/FJ's argument should acknowledge).

lastclearchance

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

CloudCarrier — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:31:32 EDT

@CloudCarrier: Looks like I spoke too soon, Yeasayer!

CloudCarrier

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

relaxing — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:09:56 EDT

You can't subtract for '-tech', because that would include Ghetto Tech and there's not way my DJ Assualt 12"s are anything but a straight 100.

relaxing

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

dalecooper — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:59:54 EDT

Sahsa Frere Jones lost me when he tried accusing Stephen Merrit a racist for pointing out the plainly obvious fact that modern r&B and hip hop sucks, and is boring. Not to mention unbelievably stupid. Middle brow at the very best (see Kanye).

So that guy's a tool. And you're right, why is anyone working for the Times somehow allowed to finger-point at "the man".

dalecooper

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

CloudCarrier — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:44:01 EDT

@therichgirlsareweeping: @Nicolars: Or a fretless bass, at that.

CloudCarrier

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

Nicolars — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:35:21 EDT

@therichgirlsareweeping: Or Seinfeld.

Nicolars

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

queensissy — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:47:41 EDT

Doesn't Airborne Toxic Event get points taken away for naming themselves after something in a Don DeLillo novel? That is so white.

queensissy

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

the rich girls are weeping — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:42:52 EDT

Any more than four strings on a bass guitar is clearly cheating. Unless you're that guy in Los Lonely Boys.

Oh and? White dude playing slap bass = JAM BAND. I don't think this is what SFJ had in mind, y'all.

the rich girls are weeping

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

Smirk — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:36:51 EDT

"there's not a single aspect of white--and especially white male--culture that doesn't need to be mercilessly picked apart for both the covert and overt, conscious and unconscious racism that it perpetuates every day!"

So...when I go to TCBY and buy an ice cream cone then I'm somehow being racist? I had no idea...

Smirk

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

King of Pants — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:13:07 EDT

I am in love.

King of Pants

The Sasha Frere-Jones Score: Emo Swings More Than Acoustic Guitars Do

Diglett — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:56:31 EDT

Slap bass is indeed a red herring. So much so that in a white-lady-fronted disco band I once sang back-up for, the black bass player did nothing other than flamboyantly slap the shit out of his bass's six strings. If you could callibrate that band for the SFJ scale, you'd earn a Ph.D.

Diglett