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.
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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.
P.S. a bit of a tangent but you're the vocalist in Voided By Geysers right? Been watching some of the live performances on youtube and really enjoying them. Never had the opportunity to see GBV live but think you do a great job of capturing the ethos and energy of the band. Awesome stuff.
Haha, yeah, that’s a younger and slimmer me. We’re actually trying to record our version of Bee Thousand right now, and I’m really hearing what a better singer than me Bob is!
Cool! That's something I'd love to hear when it's done. & yeah Bob's vocals seldom fail to impress, especially on B1000. Particularly considering how hard it can be to get a good vocal sound on a 4-track with that kind of presence. One of the things I've struggled with most recording in that way.
haha. I guess being kind of an opinionated tit is sometimes a necessary mechanic of music criticism. And it's not like I can pretend I don't have my own sneery attitudes to bands like RHCP, Staind etc and their fans.
For me, I think it’s always good to go into a piece with a spirit of at least a certain amount of generosity towards both the artist and their fans, even if you eventually decide they’re stupid and wrong. But the extreme of writers just sucking up to the fans for clicks makes me sick.
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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