by David Burn | Aug 28, 2006 | Music
In this month’s issue, Wired takes a close look at Pitchfork, the Chicago-based indie music site.
Ryan Schreiber, editor and founder of Pitchfork
Ryan Schreiber named his site after a tattoo that Al Pacino sports in Scarface: a pitchfork that supposedly marked him as an assassin in the Cuban underworld. It was a portentuos choice, as a bad review on Pitchfork can spell disaster for an emerging act.
By 2001, Schreiber believed the audience for Pitchfork had peaked. “It was like, how many more Yo La Tengo fans could there possibly be?” he says. But the site’s traffic quintupled over the next five years, from a modest 30,000 visits a day to a slightly less-modest 150,000. For the relatively tiny indie-rock audience, however, Pitchfork opinions had an impact far out of proportion to its middling traffic stats.
Pitchfork is as informative as it is opinionated. A look at the site tonight introduces me to Evangelicals, a psych-pop band from Norman, Oklahoma. Here’s a snippet from the Pitchfork interview:
Pitchfork: Do The Flaming Lips cast a formidable shadow over the city’s music community?
Jones: I don’t think so. Everyone knows they exist, but I think there’s still more of a shadow cast by Garth Brooks and Toby Keith. I was born in a town called Elk City, which is on the Oklahoma/Texas panhandle border, and then moved to Norman when I was 12, and instantly someone handed me a Flaming Lips CD and a Chainsaw Kittens CD. Had I lived in Norman and those bands hadn’t existed, who knows where I’d be, I might be doing something awful; I might be a doctor, or a physicist or something. Having those kinds of experiences at 12…the Chainsaw Kittens had a flamboyant homosexual lead singer, and the Flaming Lips were obviously very weird. I had only listened to the radio before that– things like Willie Nelson– so having people say, “These are the bands around here that you should listen to,” I was like “Ok, I guess this is what normal music sounds like.”
The Wired article also suggests Pitchfork might receive some competition from blogs. I agree, but not with the word “competition.” As a reader of music journalism, I want a definitive source and undoctored opinion and I’m willing to shop around for it. Excellent indie music sites like My Old Kentucky Blog, Aquarium Drunkard, Muzzle of Bees, Brooklyn Vegan and Largehearted Boy compliment Pitchfork and one another because there’s plenty of music and music criticism to go around.
by David Burn | Aug 28, 2006 | Digital culture
Like many busy people who rely on the interweb today, Jory des Jardins, one of the co-founders of BlogHer, gets buried in email, particularly the unwanted kind. Yet she keeps her sense of humor about it–not an easy thing to do with persistent electronic intruders.
I’ve stopped looking at SPAM as the problem and begun to look at the bright side of including it in my life. I know that if I don’t receive it, something is most certainly wrong with my computer or internet connection. It’s the equivalent of a breathing machine; it provides a din of normalcy that I’m used to.
by David Burn | Aug 25, 2006 | Music
Widespread Panic has made some surprising personnel changes. George McConnell left the band after four years. There’s no definitive word as to why, but rumors are flying. He left mid-tour, so whatever happened was sudden and unexpected. Sam Holt and John Keane finished the tour on lead guitar. Keane is the band’s longtime producer and frequent guest artist. Holt, was the late Michael Houser’s guitar tech for seven years. He now leads his own band, Outformation.
photo of Sam Holt by Jake Krolick for Jambase
The BIG BIG news for fans of the Athens, GA-based jamband is the coming addition of Jimmy Herring. Herring, has toured with Phil Lesh + Friends and Col. Bruce Hampton’s Aquarium Rescue Unit, among others. Lesh recently split with the guitarist, a questionable move by the “all business” Grateful Dead bassist. Jimmy is a rock star on stage and a good old boy who likes to fish in his free time. He’s the perfect addition to WP. I can’t wait to see this new lineup.
by David Burn | Aug 25, 2006 | The Environment
As any student of nature can affirm, nothing is stable. Atoms, meaning, one’s odds.
According to this BBC story, the solar sytem is not stable.
About 2,500 scientists meeting in Prague said Pluto failed to dominate its orbit around the Sun in the same way as the other planets.
The International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) decision means textbooks will now have to describe a Solar System with just eight major planetary bodies.
Pluto, which was discovered in 1930 by the American Clyde Tombaugh, will be referred to as a “dwarf planet”.
There is a recognition that the demotion is likely to upset the public, who have become accustomed to a particular view of the Solar System.
by David Burn | Aug 20, 2006 | Music
I picked up an advance copy of Bobby Bare Jr.’s upcoming release on Bloodshot Records, “The Longest Meow,” at his show on Tuesday night in Atlanta. The disc was recorded with members of My Morning Jacket, among others.
Photo from Bare Junior’s Flickr page
I was there to write about the event. Here’s a snippet from my article:
Describing his musical style, Bare says the indie label fits him better than alt country. “It’s southern and it rocks, but it’s not exactly Southern rock,” he says. Speaking of Nashville’s creative community, Bare mentions Lambchop, Pavement, Silver Jews, Ben Folds, Ryan Adams and others who have nothing to do with Music Row, a place Bare says is responsible for “the worst music in the world.”
Fortunately, none of that Nashville syrup spills from Bare’s six-piece band tonight. Instead, the hundreds of music fans gathered are treated to straight-on rock songs, some with strong punk influences.
by David Burn | Aug 17, 2006 | Place
Yesterday morning, while driving home from Atlanta, I got off the interstate in Macon hoping to find a Starbucks. I found something else instead. Jeneane’s Cafe at 524 Mulberry Street. Breakfast had just ended, so I walked up to the cafeteria-style lunch line and paused to absorb the choices of down-home Southern cooking presented before me. I finally asked the nice, patient lady for pork loin and stuffing, with sides of black-eyed peas, fried okra and two biscuits.
by David Burn | Aug 12, 2006 | Literature, Politics
Gore Vidal, 80, author of Myra Breckinridge, The City and the Pillar, Julian, Lincoln and Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia is also the grandson of a U.S. Senator and the son of an aviation pioneer who served in the Roosevelt administration. It must be hard for men of conscience in the American ruling class to find words to describe our present situation, but if anyone is up to the task, it’s Vidal.
“The election was stolen in both 2000 and 2004, because of electronic voting machinery which can be easily fixed. We’ve had two illegitimate elections in a row …
“Little Bush says we are at war, but we are not at war because to be at war Congress has to vote for it. He says we are at war on terror, but that is a metaphor, though I doubt if he knows what that means. It’s like having a war on dandruff, it’s endless and pointless. We are in a dictatorship that has been totally militarised, everyone is spied on by the government itself. All three arms of the government are in the hands of this junta.
“Whatever you are,” he goes on, “they say you are the reverse. The men behind the war in Iraq are cowards who did not fight in Vietnam – but they spent millions of dollars proving that John Kerry, who was a genuine war hero whatever you think of his politics, was a coward.
“This is what happens when you have control of the media, and I have never known the media more vicious, stupid and corrupt than they are now.
by David Burn | Aug 9, 2006 | Media
As a former college newspaper editor, I took note of this New York Times article about Gannett’s purchase of Florida State’s student newspaper.
College journalists have always had to grapple with a variety of concerns, from soothing the ruffled feathers of administrators to keeping beer out of the newsroom. Now seems to be the time to add a new one: dealing with corporate owners.
Last week The Tallahassee Democrat, a daily paper owned by Gannett, announced that it had purchased The FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student newspaper of Florida State University, which is also in Tallahassee. Media industry analysts said that it seemed to be the first time that a college paper had been bought by a major chain, but that it might not be the last.
Colby Atwood, a media industry consultant, said that the transaction could have ripple effects. “Most college papers are really not for sale,” he said. But, “if corporate sponsorship takes hold in the college newspaper arena, a lot of colleges might be interested in taking a look, for the mentorship opportunities and financial support.”
Thinking back on all the problems I had with administrators of my college, it would have been lovely to say, “Take it up with my publisher.” What I used to say instead is, “If it didn’t happen, it wouldn’t be in the newspaper.”
by David Burn | Aug 6, 2006 | Lowcountry, The Environment
Bluffton icon, Betty Felix by Harmony Motter of The Island Packet
Bluffton just invested $635,000 in a new 8-acre recycling and dump site on Simmonsville Road, upgrading Ms. Felix’s work environment considerably in the process.
In 2005, 5,637.96 tons of plastic No. 1 and No. 2; aluminum and steel cans; clear, brown and green glass; newspaper; cardboard, magazines and mixed paper were recycled via Beaufort County programs alone. The County has twelve reclamation sites.
An average of 1,200 to 1,500 cars pull into the Simmonsville Road center on a daily basis.
by David Burn | Aug 4, 2006 | Lowcountry, Media
WHHI-TV’s new owner, John Byrne (photo by Harmony Motter)
I took note yesterday of an article in The Island Packet about new ownership at WHHI-TV, the local cable channel. According to the paper, the new owner has big plans for the future, which is good news since the current production values and content offerings of the station are a bit soft.
Admittedly, WHHI has to do more to capture the interest of local viewers. A lot of residents have told Byrne they’ve seen his station, but they don’t watch it, he said.
Staff members say there are a lot of misconceptions about the station. Some people think the station is a cable-access arm of the government instead of an ad-supported station. Others think it is just a visitors’ guide.
“We are the good-news channel,” said Dick O’Donnell, director of sales for WHHI. “We don’t have hurricanes. We don’t have wars. We talk about the things your friends and neighbors do.”
Going forward, the station’s programs will be archived on the Web site, www.whhitv.com, so viewers can watch them online at any time. The Web site also offers schedules for shows, which include “Talk of the Town with Ed McCullough,” “Street Talk with Brian Finnerty” and “Doug Weaver’s Hilton Head Golf Weekly.”
A station like this needs to accurately reflect the community. Beaufort County has plenty of people with ideas and money. My hope is Mr. Byrne can channel some of these precious local resources into his new venture.
