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Unsung Forum » Dubious selections for Unsung albums... |
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zphage 3378 posts |
Feb 12, 2011, 15:57
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jb lamptoast-morsley wrote: IanB wrote: I suspect the average age here is actually going down year on year given some of what is written. When I first came here around the time of Citizen C / Dark Orgasm I would have laid big money on it being largely populated by people who were born no later than '65. I think that could easily be '75 now or even later. Given some of what is written? What are you referring to there Ian? It sounds like you want to ban people that are younger than 35 because they don't know about music? For the record i was born in 77' so maybe you want to ban me? personally i don't tend to look at unsung reviews, but don't see why people need to get hung up about what unsung means - i would see it as a platform for people to rave about whatever music has touched them, and they feel people need to know about or reevaluate. Maybe that doesn't meet the remit of the unsung section but there you go. i think Ian was giving things a context one generation's cheese, can be another's unsung
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Jasonaparkes 876 posts |
Feb 12, 2011, 16:28
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I don't really have sour grapes, but was amused that both a review of 'early' by Scritti Politti and 'Dazzle Ships' pre-reissue/reevaluation were deleted within a day or so of me posting them...& there were some folk on these here boards whining about the inclusion of PSB, Soft Cell and Suede (who were out of vogue when I wrote both DMS reviews). Not really into scenes and I have that Salem LP that was well received and it just sounds like those Aphex Twin remixes of Slowdive; I was never convinced by Dubstep either. Perhaps it was the tedious way Simon Reynolds jumped on various scenes, genres etc. But the point is...King Night by Salem isn't Unsung. It's not deleted, it's well reviewed and covered by WH-train jumping sorts on the Guardian. The Earth album out on Monday can't be Unsung with four and five star reviews - or is it Unsung as it's not yet out? There's no sense of discovery here - I'm hardly going to get a revelation from something like Animal Collective or TNP that have been raved over at all quarters. Neither have those bands yet gone out of vogue (yet). I'm just not sure what's to be gained by giving an Unsung review to something critically creamed over. Perhaps I should write one on 'Funeral' by Arcade Fire, 'Daydream Nation' by Sonic Youth or 'Screamadelica' by Primal Scream? An Unsung review about an album that we've already been told was great seems odd...or pointless The mass of lists/list-based books since 1999 of the greatest albums comes to mind. I bet pretty much every one of those has 'Forever Changes' by Love in - not remotely Unsung (though I'm sure a less celebrated Love LP would count). What next - 'Revolver' as Unsung? I probably wouldn't have a problem with Girls Aloud being written about since they aren't in vogue and if another angle can be argued that would count. Though they did start to get a few good reviews from album # 3 and # 4 onwards. 'Chemistry' is probably the one - though I do like to point out 'Tangled Up' is the best electronic-pop LP since 'Violator'...
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Mart 214 posts |
Feb 12, 2011, 16:43
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Jasonaparkes wrote: I do like to point out 'Tangled Up' is the best electronic-pop LP since 'Violator'... dammit youre right - sexy! no no no is a great song.
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zphage 3378 posts |
Feb 12, 2011, 16:46
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1. some things sold well and are dissed for their success, but not recognized for being good/well done artistically 2. other albums get critical raves and have little or no sales or impact with the greater public
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IanB 6761 posts |
Edited Feb 12, 2011, 17:47
Feb 12, 2011, 17:44
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zphage wrote: jb lamptoast-morsley wrote: IanB wrote: I suspect the average age here is actually going down year on year given some of what is written. When I first came here around the time of Citizen C / Dark Orgasm I would have laid big money on it being largely populated by people who were born no later than '65. I think that could easily be '75 now or even later. Given some of what is written? What are you referring to there Ian? It sounds like you want to ban people that are younger than 35 because they don't know about music? For the record i was born in 77' so maybe you want to ban me? personally i don't tend to look at unsung reviews, but don't see why people need to get hung up about what unsung means - i would see it as a platform for people to rave about whatever music has touched them, and they feel people need to know about or reevaluate. Maybe that doesn't meet the remit of the unsung section but there you go. i think Ian was giving things a context one generation's cheese, can be another's unsung Totally. I don't give a toss how old people are. I was actually arguing for the validity of some of the reviews that night seem fairly conservative choices from a 40+ perspective.
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IanB 6761 posts |
Edited Feb 12, 2011, 17:58
Feb 12, 2011, 17:47
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jb lamptoast-morsley wrote: IanB wrote: I suspect the average age here is actually going down year on year given some of what is written. When I first came here around the time of Citizen C / Dark Orgasm I would have laid big money on it being largely populated by people who were born no later than '65. I think that could easily be '75 now or even later. Given some of what is written? What are you referring to there Ian? It sounds like you want to ban people that are younger than 35 because they don't know about music? For the record i was born in 77' so maybe you want to ban me? er ..... no. see above. there are people who write on these boards who are clearly discovering music that was more commonly listened to in 1975 or 1985 than in 1995 or 2005. I don't have an opinion about that. Just an observation as to why some records that might be considered part of the outsider mainstream to some of us are new discoveries to others and records that the authors are only just hearing about. as people get older their relationship to rock n roll and to the internet changes. I know a lot of people in the region of 50 who have stopped caring quite so much about what is new or even newly discovered and are now spending that time on books or cinema or grandchildren or simply just earning a crust. they've got a lot of records and eventually they've got enough records. so the content of these pages will change with the age of the contributors. if Cope gets one of his periodic moments where he can bathe in the light of widespread critical approval for a new album and is therefore more relevant to a younger audience then that process will only accelerate. can only be a good thing long term.
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Dog 3000 4611 posts |
Feb 12, 2011, 18:14
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This topic has come up before, I'm still a bit perversely proud of the stink I caused in 2004 by reviewing an ELP album (still one of the top 5 stickiest threads in the history of the forum) -- though the truth is I have hardly written anything since then: http://www.headheritage.co.uk/headtohead/unsung/topic/19427/#212 I also favorably reviewed the debut album by BOSTON! On the theory that these albums may be "unhip" but have something special about them. I tend to think the definition of "unsung" should be left to the discretion of the author (except if it's an obvious commercial plug/spam in which case instant deletion is in order; though if the Unsungness of your review is questionable you might want to make the case for Unsungness in the review itself.) I was not aware that anything had actually been "editorially deleted" from the archive though. Not sure I like that (and what's with all the Spanish reviews lately? Isn't there a website somewhere in the Spanish-speaking world that could host those?) Similarly, if you're going to review new albums they should be "under the radar" (not written up in every music media outlet) and you should wait until you've had a few months' worth of listenings before you write it up. Not that I am volunteering to play review-cop! If anything, I'd err on the side of allowing "junk reviews" to be published in order to keep the "fans write the reviews" angle going. It's easy to ignore reviews you're not interested in (just "change the channel" you know?)
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Vybik Jon 7720 posts |
Feb 12, 2011, 18:24
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I never understood Unsung to be just about unheard stuff, though that's an inevitable part of it. Julian says it's Gnostic, which I understand to mean "of, relating to, or possessing intellectual or spiritual knowledge". That's subjective and could relate just as easily to the obscure as to the well known. Did it move you, did it open up something to you or in you, did it take you somewhere? Where Do we Take U? Also: "take the opportunity to deliver your own worldview of rock‘n’roll free from editorial constraints, Motherfuckers!" That's from the Unsung main page. I think that there are times when it is just used by some as just another review site, but generally I think it's more than that. I think Unsung is still okay.
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jb lamptoast-morsley 2448 posts |
Feb 12, 2011, 18:45
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Apologies, Ian. Completely mis-interpreted what you were saying there - glad you explained what you meant a bit more fully.
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Vybik Jon 7720 posts |
Feb 12, 2011, 18:48
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Bring back the ventriloquist avatar!
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