12.15.2004
radiohead, wilco, and the flaming lips
there's this guy named sasha frere-jones who writes for the new yorker, the new york times, slate, and a bunch of other publications.he's sharp and insightful. he said this about radiohead:
"The studio tomfoolery and electronic rejiggering they engage in are not different enough from what Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, and Pink Floyd were doing 30 years ago to be called different. These are common avant-lite upgrade antics that bands have been using for years to 'raise' their artistic profile, since the Beatles ruined everything. (Or made everything better—I get confused.) Perfectly good bands like Radiohead, Wilco, and the Flaming Lips go into the studio, hit the Pretentious Button, and people roll over like puppies. (I mean, before the Beatles, would anybody have even sat still for Sigur Rós?)"
i like stuff like that--stuff that challenges common perception and calls out misplaced reverence.