Always funny to me when people assume that if you like art that is in the least bit challenging/non-mainstream you are being disingenuous and just saying so to sound smart. No. Some of us just don't want to be fed mindless, generic corporate sludge
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That’s right! Some of us are just “pomo smarty-pants too prudish and/or alienated to take their pleasure without a touch of pain to remind them that they're still alive”.
I guess just a disparaging way of saying postmodern. In Christgauese I think we can read it more or less the way we would someone saying “trendy” with a sneer.
Ah of course! That makes sense. I just never put much thought into it. I'm not super familiar with Christgau but that somewhat word salady, sneery style of criticism just always comes across as a bit off putting to me. Seemed like he's judging the audience more than the music.
That line is for sure judging the audience, though I think that’s something a good critic is always kind of doing in the sense of thinking “Why do the people who like this like this?” And his assessment isn’t actually wrong either: it’s the whole creamy/fucked-up GBV thing in a nutshell.
Like, Christgau is a good writer and a smart guy who I just have very different opinions from on many key musical things. And who’s also kind of a tit.
That's a good point! I guess it just kind of flies in the face of my general attitude towards music, particularly a band like GBV where it feels like a lot of that "fucked-up" side of their sound represents a reflection of their surroundings and backgrounds to an extent.
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that said, whatever, fuck them and fuck the scene.