Village Voice smacks down Decemberists, Colin Meloy's g

[bellenseb]

here

[kosmo vinyl]

never would have taken thatguy for being a village voice reader or a decemberists fan for that matter...

[Bombay Chutney]

Classic.

[sweetcell]

that writer's hipness just oozes off the page.  he's so resentful that one of his (former) own made it, the only pre-fab thing to do is ostracize.  he must walk around in circles under the weight of that chip on his shoulder.  instead of succinctly pointing out what sucked about the show, he had to get metaphysical - and, in the process, came across as more pretentious than the object of his ire who he accuses of pretentiousness.  how high school indeed.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

This article made my day. Now how about the same treatment for Sufjan Stephens?

[vansmack]

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
  never would have taken thatguy for being a village voice reader or a decemberists fan for that matter...

No kidding, although this was a great line by thatguy:
 
 "hope you don't wear your scarf high enough to cover up your ironic moustache."

[Summerteeth]

what is an "irish solidarity pose?"

[vansmack]

Originally posted by You go, Judge Alito:
  what is an "irish solidarity pose?"

<img src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0790729407.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1056489950_.jpg" alt=" - " />

[snailhook]

this is probably the chris ott who used to -- or still does -- write for pitchdork. i usually find his opinions to be smug and condescending.
 
 however...i completely agree with him here. colin meloy should be neutered for even thinking about covering shirley collins.

[brennser]

he mouthed off about the impact the "tay-n" cycle had on him. It's pronounced "torn."

on this point at least, he's wrong, meloys right....

[azaghal1981]

Yeah from his writing, it sounds like the same prick with the same name who writes (wrote?) for pitchfork.

[Darth Ed]

What a complete and utter hack (Chris Ott, the so-called critic, not Meloy). If you don't like Meloy's singing or his songwriting, that's fine -- his style is not for everyone -- but this is just an example of very poor reviewing and critiquing.
 
 Also, I find the term "pretentious" when used to describe music (or musicians) to be synonymous with "it's too intelligent/ambitious/literary for me." I think it reveals as much about the person using the term as to the term is being applied. Some people just don't like to think while listening to music, I guess, and prefer dumb love/pop songs. My tastes tend to run in the opposite direction, but that's just me. If Meloy is pretentious, then I hope someone calls me pretentious for listening to him. I'll wear that badge with honor.

[Jaguar]

That's funny. I immediately thought that this smelled of Pitchdork before Snail even mentioned who the writer was.
 
 Admittedly, I am not in the least a Colin Meloy fan but completely agree with Darth Ed regarding the use of the word 'pretentious'. It's always driven me crazy too. Always struck me as a word often used by those who have ego issues when using it regarding music. Now if the music contains a load of lyrics claiming how much better they are then others, that might be a whole different story. When used solely for the music itself, it always leaves me asking myself, "What the Hell does that mean!?". Give me something that makes a bit of sense like 'too loud', 'unskilled', 'muddy', 'out of scynch', or anything that actually might fit what the music sounds like. Not some pretentious ego game.

[Reod Dai]

A thoroughly hilarious and disgusting read.  I'm really not sure what he was trying to accomplish with that review.  The Decemberists have quite a cult following, of which I'm a proud part, and the opinion of some critic is not likely to change the minds of any of them.  It certainly did nothing for me.  So he must have written it for his fellow haters out there, many of them probably hipsters who are pissed one of their former favorite bands is catching on a bit.
 
 I get pissed when people attack bands, unless there's a really good reason.  If you don't like a band's music, fine, but don't go looking for (or completely making up) bullshit reasons to criticize them.  Critics can go to hell.  Their opinions are no better or more meaningful than anyone else's, and yet many of them write articles and reviews simply oozing with arrogance and self-importance.
 
 Since when are The Decemberists the musical voice of "self-pitying white people looking for reasons to be unhappy"?  I guess people like that just naturally identify with songs based on history books and centuries-old folk tales. >_>  Did he get confused for a moment and think he was writing about Bright Eyes or something?
 
 Also, I didn't know it was a crime for artists to write songs about things that interest them.  I also didn't know you had to be from a place to write a song about the history of that place.  And I also didn't know that being interested in other cultures and histories means that one is embarrassed about and disinterested in one's own.
 
 On another note, Colin Meloy is the last artist to which the words "ego", "pretentious", and "conceit" should be applied.

[Darth Ed]

Originally posted by Reod Dai:
 Also, I didn't know it was a crime for artists to write songs about things that interest them.  I also didn't know you had to be from a place to write a song about the history of that place.  And I also didn't know that being interested in other cultures and histories means that one is embarrassed about and disinterested in one's own.

Well said!!! Er, written, I mean.