From this morning’s Puritan Blister column at Pitchfork ( www.pitchforkmedia.com )
Any metacompilation from the 2000s would also have to include Brakes’ “Heard About Your Band”, any of the (early) Stills’ cleverly-titled metatunes, the Cribs’ “Hey Scenesters”, the Format’s “First Single”, the Echoes’ “God Bless the Strokes”, and Desaparecidos’ “Hole In One”, during which Conor Oberst informs you that “You can buy my records down at the corporate chain.”
Link: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/columns/puritan-blister/06-06-09.shtml
This is pretty wild, it sort of gave me a little head rush. One thought; it seemed after “howie&scott”* that I should choose a band name that wasn’t confusing at all. How we got from echoes to “the Echoes” escapes me, but no worries at this point. Somebody heard the song. Ripples.
It’s true that the next sentence is “Have you noticed that such a metacompilation would not be, um, very good?” I can’t speak for any of the other tunes, but I like “…Strokes” for what it’s worth, and in terms of Bowers’ conclusion that we need to write more original, honest songs, I’m doing my best. Hang in there until Ventura.
-h
* Known variously to reporters and promoters as “Howie and Scott,” “Scott + Howard,” “Howie & scott,” “howie with scott,” and “howieandscott.”
Comments
4 responses to “Holy $%#@, by howie”
Thanks so far to Cory, Shannon, Mom, Mike, and Karen for sharing in this raindrop of surreal “cool.”
After thinking a bit more about Bowers’ column, I see the point more clearly; that the meaning of a meta-song is exhausted after just a spin or two, once you “get” it. “God Bless the Strokes” is a self-depricating look at hipsters’ worship practices, and after that it’s a fairly innocuous bit of guitar pop that lacks the potential for anything deeper.
As opposed (to use a recent example) to Cory/Benjamin Axeface’s “Where Did I Go Wrong?” in which I often find new nuance or connection to my situation when I hear it. There’s nothing bad or wrong about meta-songs, but they’re very limited in what they can say, where original, honest material holds out the possibility of transcendence. I dig it. -h
I dig your style, Hooey. BUT! When I told Lara about this, her response was “yeah, that’s a really good song, even if it is satirical.” Which is cool! So, I think you can say that a meta-song is just as worthwhile as a really catchy pop song that says nothing (My Body’s Too Bootylicious). It might not be this deep great piece of art, but it can still be an important part of a time and place, and stick inside your head pretty well, and I think that counts for something. “One Stereo?” “Bustin A Move?” Right?
Was that Shannon F. or Shannon V. that e-mailed you? If it were Shannon V., you should tell her Rob Mitchum wrote the column! AND, we should write a Noose article talking about how pretentious Pitchfork is for name-checking an obscure artists from Raytown, MO!!! YEAH!!!! :)
Much love! So cool!
howie-
if i can actually still read, are you actually going to be back in lincoln in august? if i am still around and i can find a sitter i will have to come check out the show since its been awhile since i have seen you or really talked to you.
i just lost my train of thought but oh well. hope you are well.
mel
Mel – I’ll be in Lincoln with Five Star Crush ( http://www.fivestarcrush.com ) in August sometime, check our myspace for show details. It would be great to see you!!!111 -h