Subject: HI
Subject: Re: Is Ivo really a corporate whore?
Subject: Re: FSOL
Subject: Re: DCD: Longing Sea Doves...
Subject: Re: FSOL
Date: Sun, 18 Dec 1994 00:47:44 LCL
Hey, I'm finally back on the list after more than a month with the email being
down. I hope you people didn't miss me too much.
BTW, does anyone know how to get the mail off digest form and back to regular?
I emailed listserv for help and it didn't say how.
thanks,
Matt
Date: Sun, 18 Dec 1994 10:03:33 -0600
On Sat, 17 Dec 1994 [email protected] wrote:
> This recent diatribe against 4AD's deal with WB is really odd. It seems to
> me there are a couple of explanations for it, none of which are fair:
>
> 1. I don't like 4AD as much as I used to...it must be WB's fault;
> 2. Indie-label snobbery/major labels always suck;
> 3. I want to keep 4AD to myself and my coterie of cool, like-minded friends
> and not share them with the Pearl Jam-lovers of this world.
>
Thanks for a level-headed and intelligent entry in this thread. Indeed,
I've seen lots of alternative snobbery at work in current anti-4AD
sentiment. It does seem, as you said, that a lot of fans don't want their
favorite artists to be successful. I mean, they want them to eat, but
beyond that, if the artists retain some sort of foothold in obscurity
then that enhances, somehow, their street cred. I think much of this is
based in the romantic notion of the starving artist, a concept no working
artist would support, rooted as it is in the deranged idea that laboring
for nothing is noble. Like anyone else, artists should enjoy the fruits
of the labors.
As for the current direction of 4AD, whether you like the fact that the
labels music is taking a more accessible alternative rock turn, and
distancing itself from the ether-bliss Cocteau thing, is purely a matter
of taste. (Besides, the Cocteaus left of their own accord and are now
basically an easy listening band.) I've liked a lot of the new stuff
(RHP, HNIA, Heidi Berry), hated others (post-Ian Pale Saints, Air Miami),
thought some was okay (Breeders, Belly). And, Lush is God, so there.:)
Whatever you think of the new music, though it may be more accessible,
I'd have a hard time calling any of it commericial sellout, mainly
because mass audience tastes are less predictable than we like to think.
Though there are many paragons of crap that perpetually litter the
Billboard charts, every once in awhile something wonky like Nirvana or
Edie Brickell or, Jesus, even the Clash, will score a platinum album. ANd
there are many acts out there who attempt to go for the easy buck by
adopting a tried-and-true commercial sound, only to fail miserably
because their music is so self-evidently soulless.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that, despite its higher profile and more
radio-friendly persona, 4AD is still a much more interesting label than
most out there. IMO.
Martin
Date: Sun, 18 Dec 1994 16:16:08 -0600
17 Dec 1994 07:53:10 -0500
> I must admit that my opionion of FSOL is based less on
> their music and more on their interviews. They are
> obnoxious. And the music really is dull.
>
> Anyway, I'd love for someone to comment on Global
> Communication/Reload.
id have to agree there. unless i inhale mass quantities of various green plant,
FSOL are *boring.* But GlobalComm/Reload? They rock my world. Short Stories
is dark, trancey stuff but that doesn't do it justice; you need to plunk down
the $25 (import) and find out for yourself. Global Communication's 76.14 is
also excellent. imo, this cd is one of the best ambient releases of this year.
add them to your xmas list,
-joanna-
living in afterglow...