Is Stephin Merritt a racist because he doesn't like hip-hop?

I gotta admit, I dislike hip-hop and Beyoncé and Outkast, too.

Is Stephin Merritt a racist because he doesn't like hip-hop?

He likes early Run DMC. And he refers to Holland-Dozier-Holland in song. And he worships the Brill Building, which - admittedly mostly jewish songwriters - but lots of black performers. Mostly he's just a moldy fig. He prefers old pop to new pop. He likes ABBA, but so did Joe Strummer.

I don't doubt that he could talk about Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" for hours, or speak knowledgeably about Otis Blackwell's songwriting.

The other article in Slate, about "poptimism", is pretty invigorating: [link]

Just talking about that article on another board. I think "Queen of the Savages" is the best example of Stephin Merritt as a performer flirting with racism, but I think its an example of willfully anachronistic songwriting rather than any true feelings of racism, like Robbie Fulks' song "White Man's Bourbon," which is a direct homage to "Ubangi Stomp." In other words, the taste is questionable, but I don't hear any hate.

Also, Hopper and Frere-Jones have their heads up their asses. That's usually not true of Frere-Jones, but the guy is certainly capable of being a dumb-ass every now and again. Just like anyone else, I guess.

Was he that guy in that iPod ad?

Pfft. Kids today.

From bon bon's link:

Undoubtedly there were plainchant rockists back in 13th-century France, thumbing their noses at that god-awful polyphony.

Ha! Gotta forward this to FAQWife, whose dissertation on the first known (13th Century) collection of popular music is off to the bindery this week!

The other article in Slate, about "poptimism", is pretty invigorating:

I don't know if I've ever seen an attempt to remake a canon without using negative examples. Something's always Out when you argue that something else is In (or Ideal). That was one of Malcolm McLaren's first provocations when he was still a stop owner, selling a t-shirt listing the Ins and Outs of the punk orthodoxy. (For the record: Pink Floyd was Out, Gene Vincent was In).

I'm thinking the poptimist stance has already become the new orthodoxy. It won't be hard to outflank an aesthetic that's occupying the middle. Whenever the cycle pushes too hard toward pure pleasure you get a responding chorus of punker-than-thou and keepin' it real and "real country not this Nashville crap" in response. And when the music takes itself so seriously that there's no fun, then pure pop (in each genre) reasserts itself.

(It's ridiculous though to say that John Cougar Mellencamp doesn't write pop songs, though.)

The other article in Slate, about "poptimism", is pretty invigorating: [link]

Cool. I was totally a proto-punk/punk/post-punk/alternative rockist for a long time. These days I have one foot in both the rockist and poptimist camps, but I think I still might have more weight on my rockist foot.

Hate the term "poptimism" though....

Pfft. Kids today.

Heh.

I should mention that I've always loved Elvis (thanks largely to an uncle who owns every single Elvis record ever). I even remember where I was when I head he'd died....

These days, I suppose the rockist in me has me leaning more towards his Sun Studio stuff. His version of "Blue Moon" is one of the most amazing songs ever....

Oh, yeah. I very rarely have patience for post-Sun Elvis.