Well, here we are, back again with a slightly smaller and (thanks to
the Beck "controversy") tighter issue of the Indie-List. The focus
this time is Mr. Beck, (but not Mr. Jeff [or Burger Chef, for that
matter, but it's been a long week]). But keep the fine submissions in
the spool, folks. Anne and I are getting things sorted out so issues
should be arriving in more timely and manageable packages.
A quick note on advertisements. The rule really is to limit them to
ten lines and the PBS mode of hyperbole. That said, I count the lines
before I reformat to 70 column format, and at least in shorter issues,
I think we can afford to be a little lenient.
-es
------------------------------
|
From: Douglas Wolk
Beck, Helium, Laito Lychee, etc.
I'm really gonna have to disagree with Grumpy Sean on the Beck issue.
If I'm remembering correctly, he grumped about them in the same
paragraph as he mentioned the Mountain Goats; if I'm also remembering
correctly, Beck's cassette on Sonic Enemy predates the Mountain
Goats tape on the same label. The "MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack"
single came out a year or so ago, on (I think) Bongload. "Loser,"
more importantly, was a huge West Coast hit before DGC picked Beck
up--as a vinyl-only 12" single on Bongload. (Once he did the deal
with DGC, DGC distributed a re-pressing of the 12" to promo-type
places.) As far as I can tell, "Loser" made it as a genuine indie
item--whether you like the song or not, it's pretty respectable.
Beck's also recorded albums for K and some-or-other largish indie;
whichever one that is just came out (it has "stereo pathetic" in the
title; I don't remember the specifics). And there's a 10" on another
indie that came out a few weeks ago. Not only that, but according to
the paper, when he played in New York, he didn't play "Loser."
As far as I can tell, the guy's for real--certainly realer than
S--ndg-rd-n, for example, or any of a handful of bands that have made
records for indies for the sake of "credibility" while being financed
by majors they've already signed to.
Douglas D. Wolk dbcloud@panix.com
------------------------------
|
From: Seth L Sanders
I'm a Poser, Baby
[anyone else here remember Poseur, a leather and latex store from
the Bay Area, ca 1981? -es]
Well, that does it. Beck Hansen has pissed so many people off,
outraged their righteousness and violated their perimeters, that I'd
have to fall in love with him sight unseen and sound unheard. It's so
immoral to like Beck, it makes me feel like a sellout, a
pushover. Plus it's totally meaningless, a mere lifestyle option
with no more moral force than whether or not you pick your nose in
private. What easier cheap thrill could you get?
It's a lot easier because on a strictly formal level, "Loser" (the
only Beck song I've even heard) is more innovative than anything the
people he's ripping off (he knows he's ripping them off) have done in
a long while. Slide guitar sounds aimless and lazy to begin with, and
totally inappropriate for either indie rock or hip-hop, not for any
reason, just cuz no one's done it so you're not supposed to do it. So
he does it, sounds perfectly normal. The hip-hop backbeat is much
less coffeehouse and precious than acoustic guitar or "minimal"
"drone" stuff (as much as I enjoy Wreck Small Speakers on Expensive
Stereos, the music sounds like an Xpressway parody before Xpressway
even existed). It's familiar, unpretentious, throwaway. But I want
to keep it; it's not as powerful as Helium, but the words are
attractively crumpled, distorted but legible. And I have to hear
the song with the line I saw quoted in the NY Times (as a zine it
can't lick Wind-Up Toy's boots but it has better photos of Gerard
Cosloy): "I want to ride through the city on a wrecking ball."
I won't bother to connect the Beck concept to generational anomie; the
resentment he generates does that as well as anything ("one thing
about us is that we HATE being labeled!!"). But I can't imagine that
an alcoholic 14-year-old at the University of Paris in the 16th
century wouldn't have felt the same way, waking up in a cold room with
sores on his butt and all the contrived logic he'd been listening to
last night oozing out of his head. Plus he has a song called
"Motherfuker" (sic) which I find poetic.
And wait, if he doesn't go through _traditional underground channels_
does that mean he's not underground? Though everyone including
Thurston Moore (apparently hilarious 120 minutes episode where he
"interviews" Beck into throwing his shoes around the set) was pissed
off that they were't already hip to him, I could drop the names
Schwermut Forest, Brainticket, and the Fells and I'd probably sound
like a horrible collector scum if I said they were 3 of the greatest
things ever. But they are. Well, Beck's probably not so new to
Azalea Snail, and if he never paid any dues then good for him, bruised
knees are ugly. I think the tree of evil has a right to bear bitter
fruit even if it does it in the forest and no scenesters hear it.
Seth L. I AM A POSER AND I DONT CARE I LIKE TO MAKE PEOPLE STARE
Sanders
------------------------------
|
From: SONIKD@delphi.com
I Mother Carlos
Before I start just a quick reminder that B* will be playing at
Bernie's here in Columbus, Ohio on April 7. Room capacity: 120
people. Is B* cool or just an idiot? MTV & Geffen market the shit
out of him and then have him play the smallest clubs across the U.S.
Whaz sup? Well Eric, that's the extent of my B* discussion.
Joe Pospisil
columbus, ohio
sonikd@delphi.com
af763@dayton.wright.edu
:)
LONG LIVE B*!!!
"Never was a cornflake girl thought that was a good solution hangin'
with the raisin girls" - Does anybody know what this means?
------------------------------
|
The Indie-List Digest is published a few times each week (usually
Tuesdays and Fridays) by the Indie-List Infotainment Junta, Unltd.
What Who Where
Editors Eric Sinclair esinclai@indiana.edu
Anne Zender azender@indiana.edu
Mailings Liz Clayton lclayton@uhuru.uchicago.edu
Archives Chris Karlof karlofc@seq.cms.uncwil.edu
FTP/Gopher /pub/music/lists/indie @ ftp.uwp.edu
Consultants: Mark Cornick, Joshua Houk, Sean Murphy, and K. Lena Bennett.
Indie-List is not copyrighted. It may be freely reproduced for any
purpose. Please cite Indie-List as your
------------------------------
|