30 czerwca 2007
Thurston Moore Knows the Score
As I get older, I have become more and more weary of "sell-out" complaints of one band or another. Some artists bring this on themselves by claiming some sort of lefty or street cred before trying to make a few bucks.
It seems to me that there is "selling out" and "selling out." If tommorrow, I heard a Army recruitment ad featuring a song by, I dunno, Rage Against the Machine, definite sell out. But an Iggy Pop song gracing a cruise line ad, the Buzzcocks selling jeeps and the AARP, the Fall selling Mitsubishis and Corsas...not so much (but amusing). The trouble is that some people think that "indy" or "punk" means that a group has to wallow in obscurity so that only "cool" in the know folks that read Magnet will ever hear about them. "Sell out" to these types seems to mean that someone besides them might hear their favorite band.
The latest band to fall victim to this is Sonic Youth. They recently have authorized a Celebrity Sonic Youth Starbucks compilation, and now they are getting no end of grief from their fans.
I never go to Starbucks, but I don't begrudge the folks from Sonic Youth doing this. The silly part to me is that the band lives the indy cred better than most by nurturing a lot of talented young bands. Now, internet chat boards are full of statements calling Thurston Moore and company sell outs. Thurston points out that the band has been on a major label for years, why weren't they sell outs then?
Moore from Thurston can be found in this Pitchfork interview.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
It seems to me that there is "selling out" and "selling out." If tommorrow, I heard a Army recruitment ad featuring a song by, I dunno, Rage Against the Machine, definite sell out. But an Iggy Pop song gracing a cruise line ad, the Buzzcocks selling jeeps and the AARP, the Fall selling Mitsubishis and Corsas...not so much (but amusing). The trouble is that some people think that "indy" or "punk" means that a group has to wallow in obscurity so that only "cool" in the know folks that read Magnet will ever hear about them. "Sell out" to these types seems to mean that someone besides them might hear their favorite band.
The latest band to fall victim to this is Sonic Youth. They recently have authorized a Celebrity Sonic Youth Starbucks compilation, and now they are getting no end of grief from their fans.I never go to Starbucks, but I don't begrudge the folks from Sonic Youth doing this. The silly part to me is that the band lives the indy cred better than most by nurturing a lot of talented young bands. Now, internet chat boards are full of statements calling Thurston Moore and company sell outs. Thurston points out that the band has been on a major label for years, why weren't they sell outs then?
Moore from Thurston can be found in this Pitchfork interview.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
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I have never heard of any of these bands. Do they play that new fangled "Rock and Roll?"
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: sobota, czerwca 30, 2007 6:33:00 PM
: sobota, czerwca 30, 2007 6:33:00 PM << Home
