Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Engaging with the Stereogum community

In a recent Stereogum article called TMZ Details Zooey’s Divorce, Net Worth, I posted my two cents in the comments as shown below:

Oh my lord, someone on the internet called me a snark but I don't mean to be - I was being honest when I said she should spend some money on singing and acting lessons. I find her voice unlistenable (which today I described as sounding like a cat caught in a snare) and she follows a long list of actors (Drew Barrymore, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves etc) who are one note thespians who can only play themselves. I don't say that to be mean, I don't say it because she's a female, I say that because that's what I think.

That Stereogum and their merry followers obsessively love her is of no interest to me, I just call it how I see it. I presume this devotion is because she's that hipster kind of cute that turns indie rock fans into drooling messes. I find that idolisation gets a little uncomfortable and you used to see creepy indie kids at live shows staring lustfully at Meg White from the White Stripes, Laura Ballance from Superchunk, Zia McCabe form the Dandy Warhols or Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth. In a scene supposedly based on good left politics, feminism and specifically female musicians occupy a sometimes sketchy relationship with their male fans. Maybe it's a lack of female role models in music but that weird dream fulfillment they present to some male fans (wow, she is a girl and she sings/plays bass/drums/guitar in a rock band so she is the perfect woman and I want to marry her) sometimes steps over the mark from idle attraction (which is part and parcel of being in a position where you have a profile and as a fan, is understandable) to just plain creepy. Anyhow, that Stereogum is quoting TMZ makes me disappointed that I even clicked on the link in the first place. Anyhow, that's what I've been up to...

Regular readers might have noticed a significant decrease in posts this year. This is in part due to a lack of internet access at home (new apartment) but mainly because I'm working on a major writing project at the moment which I think will take at least another month or so. So, it'll be very sporadic blogging until I've finished that but I'm seeing PJ Harvey next week so expect a report on that and on my lord, At the Drive In and Refused have both reformed for Coachella. I pulled out my Refused shirt today which was in the bottom of a drawer and it smelled like a urinal cake - I have no idea why...

I'm thinking I might be expanding my focus a little this year to talk about TV and movies a bit but it'll mainly be music. I guess the main thing I want to say is when you take a genre like westerns and cross it with sci fi, the worst thing you can do is make a film boring but that's what Cowboys and Aliens is - offensively boring. Great actors, ok premise but shit that film is a fucking drag. It might be too late too warn you but if you haven't seen it and are looking for an entertaining dvd to pass a couple hours - that ain't it...

Back soon - promise.


1 comment:

  1. Great to have you back, JH. I've also been internet-less and realised it was actually kind of cleansing.

    I'm with you on the Zoe D front - she's gorgeous but a bit one-note. You make a really good point about the lack of female role-models in music (apart from the Peej - so jealous you are going to see her live). It really hit home for me when I was chatting to a "music writer" in NY who loved Joanna Newsom (or however you spell it) but his reasons seemed mainly to do with her long "alabaster legs". Perhaps female performers would get less objectified if there were greater numbers of them.

    Good luck with your big writing project! How exciting. Hope you'll keep us updated in your progress.

    x K

    PS. I can't stop listening to Peter Gabriel at the moment. I think you might be to blame for this.