jeru

It’s very sad to see great artists reviewed by pretentious people who act like they know it all, but then showing in all-too unsubtle ways that they are remiss with misrepresentation, colored by their innate preconceptions, almost like they never even listened at all–only heard. Concocting a vile flatulencethat proves indigestion, yet, back stretched over their abdomen, legs up, they revel in it. It’s obvious why, then, when an artist sees this and avoids journalists, and yet, greater when one reveals wit toward journalists. For example, Tim Hecker, when interviewed in Pitchfork numerous times, had made a lot of attempts to avoid directly discussing many topics, and they keep asking, repeatedly, questions that he is making perfectly clear that he doesn’t want to answer. It’s very frustrating. I could be seeing a good interview, and instead I see some drooling snotty journalist completely missing the signs that say loudly, “don’t ask me anything like this,” and yet they ask, and then assume the answer, and then publish their trite as fact… So instead of answering the idiodic question with something serious like this:

I feel like I was inspired by church music, the reverence, and the beauty in praising god, and in contrast, common perceptions of religion like Kanye “Yeezus”/“Ye” West and his “I am god” things, as well as other common elements of pop music that stand to elevate the individual or performer(s).

Instead, he will say “liturgical conceptions post-Yeezus,” and that is a troll, honestly, they didn’t even get it, they didn’t say anything about the concept of the album, they leave it completely and totally out of the equation, mindlessly running that quote “liturgical conceptions post-Yeezus” with each new press release, which, the fact he kept releasing singles after giving that quote, is phenomenal, very clever.

And seeing things with O’Rourke and Pitchfork in the early days of Pitchfork–it was very sad to see that, I can’t help but feel like journalists are predatory and narcissistic, grimy and illogical, vile and base. It makes perfect sense why artists turn to irony and satire, even self-satire. To be honest, it’s one thing to not understand something, it’s another to not even try, and to continue to espout your opinion when you’re completely wrong in every way, that’s another thing entirely. Then to do that, all while essentially masturbating to your own idea of yourself, to defecate all over his art, is just–well, how do I say this… The lowest of the low in music journalism? It’s vile and disgusting? It’s a sickening sight? I’m without words, and to be completely clear, I wish I could say more.

So I will. It’s sort of a peculiar thing, to have someone think highly of your opinion, to be able to sway people, to be able to tell people what to do or think–that’s a big responsibility. I think these media types who do this are power-hungry and self-centered. They do this because, well, they think they’re smarter than the readers, they think they can just say something, anything, and it becomes true, or it doesn’t matter, but there is objectivity in art, and it’s perverse to distort the truth, or eschew it, or both, and it’s antagonistic to talk with someone, with the direct intention of talking with someone, and then not only avoid listening, but make up your own version of what happened, distinct from reality, and it’s not just O’Rourke, and it’s not just entertainment journalism, this has been a running trend in things for a while, for journalists to eschew their responsibilities for short-term gain.

The full lyric section I find relevant here:

Two sips, instant drip, Sanka mud
New corpus publicist, thanks ya bud
As hundred bucks worth of wordy bloggerthugs
Come forth forthwith to four seasons aflood
To morbidly orbit your toilet like hornets abuzz
Forming above like buzzards in love

– Why? (with a question mark) / Yoni Wolf