The Stop Making Sense DVD is awesome too, Loog.

Steve

Yeah, Talking Heads don't strike me as your bag, although it wouldn't hurt to sample their debut. "No Compassion" and "Uh-oh, Love Comes To Town" might surprise you.

I will have to check these out, as I am so predictable

Great read, <>D! Let me know once it's on an RSS feed, and I WILL subscribe!!!

I don't what any of that means, but I believe you are complimenting me. I appreciate it.

My favorite lines...

Well, then these 3 are keepers. The editrix just told me to give her 800-1000 words and she will consider it. I guess I gots some editing to do!

RSS is this crazy deal that lets you "subscribe" to daily blog and other web updates, like Smoking Gun and E!, among others. Most blogs that use Blogger (like "PostSecret," for example) give you the option to subscribe to the RSS feed. That way, instead of having to keep going and checking a blog or website to see if it's been updated, you get the notification whenever it's been updated. It's a pretty cool setup, really.

If that local rag doesn't publish you, then START A BLOG! We need daily GAR!!!

you should call her editrix she'll like that

i think it's too long and, as you well know, one of the most important reasons for writing is to answer the question "why?" i think your first paragraph of your intro is cute and stuff, but it bothers me that it doesn't ahve anything to do with the meaty morsels you're about to serve up -- its the baked potato that merely carries some comic sour cream.

if i were a perfect stranger (i don't know if your lady editor friend is a perfect stranger), i don't think i'd be satisfied with "i'm a music nerd, look at meeeeee!" as an answer to why the hell i care about the albums you erased. you either wanna spend more time on that or spend no time at all.

cut down your list, say its a sampling. don't repeat yourself on points ("because [sic] again," "another") but if there are multiple reasons you delete albums, make sure you characterize them as different reasons, not just that you maxed out your ipod. flesh out the more important ones, inform the reader as to why you're qualified to tell them why and albums crappy or not and don't just settle for "I think the production is what makes this not too enjoyable." why is that? is this an exception to the rule or are all albums with this kind of production irritating? bigger picture stuff, perhaps.

for a more solid showing (effect?) of professionalism, make sure you have a style that you use throughout for italics, dashes, serial commas, whatever.

so much use of the word hate or what-have-you. only a few concessions. of course, that could just be your persona or your writing voice o' choice, but if you want a column, then work on commenting more on other assets you like rather than what you hate (even if it's self-conscious like, "well, i'm a sucker for..." etc.

just some thoughts.

Thank you for that katie..being someone who works in the biz, i was hoping you would chime in. Obviously, I will save my mysoginy and crude sexual advances until after I know her better

I talked to her a bit, and she said that they are always looking for folks, and I should go for 800-1000 words, and send it to her and see what happens. I am kind of worried that it will be too creative for them (they employ several of the least entertaining writers on the planet) but I am hoping it is a breath of fresh air.

Anyway, I boiled it down to what follows, i'd love to hear your thoughts on my changes as well.

The Ipod has become a cultural bellweather. Either you have one or you don’t. Either you are with it, or you are not. Even The President has one, and even his favorite songs are up for scrutiny. (Creedence’s “Fortunate Son” is up there, natch)

But, just as important as having and iPod, is what is on your iPod. And this leads us to the point of today’s ramblings. Mine is currently overloaded. I have way too many cd’s, by way too many artists, many of which I don’t even like. I needed to take stock of what is on this thing, get rid of some, and keep others. Here’s a partial listing.

The Beatles -- Let it Be, Naked -- I have the first Let it Be, and I for one LIKE crazy ass Phil Spector’s overblown string arrangements, thank you very much…I think Michael Jackon just wanted this out to help defray his legal fees.

The Blind Boys of Alabama -- Higher Ground -- I like this, but really, I never listen to it. I think the production is what makes this not too enjoyable. If it were grittier, this would be the perfect soundtrack for driving Highway 84 from Albany, GA to Philadelphia, MS.

Brian Eno -- Another Green World and Before and After Science -- This guy is known as the “inventor of ambient,” which A) who cares? and B) does nothing to alleviate the fact that he looks like Buffalo Bill from “Silence of the Lambs.”

Brian Wilson -- Smile – Two or Three years ago, I thought the release of this album was a wonderful idea. A lost “Teenage Symphony to God” by everyone’s favorite acid-casualty Brian Wilson, sadly, I couldn't even get through this once.

Bubba Sparxxx -- Deliverance – I knew Bubba in Athens, GA, when he and his homeboy went by “Lil Devil and Jed Clampett.” but that doesn’t make this good. Warren, what about when me and you and Hern-Dawg used to kick it? Oh you drinking Henny out your pimp cup now, and done forgot us?

Depeche Mode -- Songs of Faith and Devotion and Violator -- I guess this is where I admit that I pretty much hate any and all English music from the 80s

I am keeping the Entire Faces Box Set 5 Guys Walk Into a Bar on this damn thing because: Rod Stewart’s haircut (and the fact that he has the best ever voice in rock and roll) Ron Wood played in this band, and if you understood what The Rolling Stones really mean to me, you would understand what Ron Wood really means to me, and could rationalize keeping 5 discs by a mid level sixties bar band.

Faith No More -- Angel Dust – My friend Chris really wanted me to like this album, and there may have been a time and place that I could have liked this, but the early 90s are over and eating acid in someone's garage was never that fun anyway

Fiona Apple -- When the Pawn – I am one of 9 people in America who saw her ill-fated acceptance speech at the MTV Music Awards, and thought this “this chick has moxie.” I am not one of the nine people in America who still like her music, though.

I am keeping Iron and Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days -- Though I have NO IDEA why; maybe I will need to be lulled to sleep by the cooing of a bearded mountain man sometime in the near future?

Joy Division -- Closer and Unknown Pleasures – This should be called: "We are only considered good cos that one dude hung himself and weird kids in America will always revere the British.”

Like 5 Kinks albums that aren't Muswell Hillbillies. -- If I need to hear about the Village Green, I will have brunch at my anglophile attorney’s abode in Atlanta. Seriously, The Kinks seem to be a band that people get into when they really want to seem snobby, and The Beatles and The Stones just aren’t “For Queen and Country” enough to prove their point.

Morrissey-- Viva Hate -- I reserve the right to randomly/drunkenly throw out the ‘Bona Drag/Viva Hate” bit from the beginning of Ryan Adams’ album Heartbreaker, but I cannot actually listen to Morrissey. Again, 80s English rock? I never need to hear "I wish I was a dead transvestite" again (I am also pretty sure you can catch The Ghey by listening to this, and have no real desire to prove or disprove this theory)

The Smiths -- Singles – This band bred Morrissey, and thousands of fey children who like to wear all black and kabuki face make up…guess what? It is Unlistenable.

I am keeping the 32,453 Spoon songs that Bob from Texas sent me for 2 reasons. 1) Many of them are enjoyable and I like them more when on random 2) I swear when Britt and them are on, they are ON and I want this to click again like the first time I put on Girls Can Tell. This band could be the best band in America 43 people listen to.

Sufjan Stevens. -- 7 Swans -- I will keep the entire Greetings from Michigan album because the first song is unbelievably awesome, but this guy is so slow, boring and stuck on the fact that indie kids can love Jesus, too that I just cannot bear to have more than one of his albums. Just because you play a glockenspiel does not mean you are a musical prodigy. It usually means you are producing your own albums. And High.

The Thrills – Let’s Bottle Bohemia – Their first album was a nice pop pastiche of some Beach Boys style California sun drenched tunes. A great album to drink on a deck to. So why does this album sound like the backing instrumentation is stolen from 70s –era game shows?

Wire -- Pink Flag – This is an album that people love to claim is “seminal.” What this usually means is, I play in a rock band, and instead of saying someone good, like Bruce Springsteen or The Clash influenced me, I need to throw something out to make me seem smarter and cooler than everyone else.

There is much more stuff on here that no one should own, and that I never listen to, that I just couldn't bear to part with. I have 35 gigs, and maybe 3 of it is stuff I listen to regularly, but I like the IDEA of having every Stones/Cash/Dylan album at my fingertips at all times.

Oh, I want to make this distinction clear. I ERASED these albums. I will never hear them again if at all possible, because listening to them is not enjoyable to me, and because, well, they SUCK.

i f'ing hate this sentence:

"And this leads us to the point of today’s ramblings."

it is a bit obvious, n'est-ce pas?

yes, along with quite a bit of your conclusion. you already stated that this was a partial list -- you don't have to convince your reader that you just had, like, so many more you could've gotten rid of but y'know you only have such little space to talk about all of them.

lilke i said, flesh out the important stuff. you may want to comment to the reader that iron and wine is a bearded mountain dude, but its really stealing away from your larger point: some of these albums are artificially awesome, too popular, too too, disputed champions, whatever. i don't care that you know the intro to R.A.'s "heartbreaker," even if you and your reader share that personal/public joke, its telling me squat about why you deleted the album.

and, unless i'm including words you didn't intend to be in there, you're still about 150 words over.

and you made the "X (low number) of people listen or listened to this band" joke twice. let one have the punch, the other to wallow in the gallows!

I respectfully disagree on the Ryan Adams/Morrissey thing. I think one of the things that makes this work is that most of these are arbitrary reasons for jettisonning albums. I do agree with you on the outro...and I fixed it, thanks.

(btw, I am usually the worst person ever to copy edit, because I like my writing way more than most do...thx)

Oh, AND, I switched the number in the spoon joke to be "I AM one of 9 people who listen to this band..." ties it together, nicely.

As for length, I couldn't decide which one of these to get rid of, as these are my faves of the whole thing. I am going to tell them its editor's choice on what to get rid of.

Also, I looked at the website and I have enough in common with these people to sell this bugger.

that's fine, just do it in a way that makes me, the reader, give a sh*t. saying you reserve the right to run through the skit in a crowded room blah blah blah makes me just think you're trying too hard to convince your reader you're hip to the joke. arbitrary, sure, but too many words are dilluting the absurdity. hell, i'd rather read 500 words on how you perform it, the entire text of the dialogue, that moment on heartbreaker that really caught your ear and then end it simply with "oh, but i can't listen to Morrissey."

on that note, the "reserve the right to" phrase is just plain baked bah-tato, no sour cream, no nothin'.

edit: and i hate when writers ask me to do the cutting for them. don't be a baby, be strong man.

how's dis:
The only good thing about Morrissey is the Bona Drag/Viva Hate bit from the beginning of Ryan Adams’ album Heartbreaker, which is awesome to fake an argument with your friends while drunk, but I cannot actually listen to the albums it references. I never need to hear "I wish I was a dead transvestite" again (I am also pretty sure you can catch The Ghey by listening to this, and have no real desire to prove or disprove this theory)

how about:

The only good result of Morrissey's carreer is the Bona Drag/Viva Hate bit from the beginning of Ryan Adams’ "Heartbreaker" because it makes for an awesome fake argument between your friends while drunk.



(yes, cut off the end bit)

Dear Senator,

IMHO your ramblings are FU-NEE, but I would have to say even the truncated version of you demon excorcism is a bit too "listy". I think you could distill your thoughts, on the decision process, down to a few nuggets of wisdom and universal truth and shed some reflected light on all of us.

Love,

Steve

Steve, I see your point, but damnit, I'm almost done with this. Katie. You are a genius. I wanna keep that in there cos its fun to insult people, but it ain't gonna make me any friends the first time out now is it?

nope.

I decided to take out The Beatles as the first thread...that way there will be NO bands that anyone in Mobile has heard of..Somehow I think this helps.

I guess we will know tomorrow or later in the week if this thing works out.

thanks all for their help (especially katie)

Damn Katie! That was really fucking nice of you to do that for Dave. You're the tits!

I'm a bit late to the party here and Ms. Princess has already done a career-worthy job of bruising your ego, but my occupation compels me to chime in.

The whole bellweather thing is stating the obvious, journalistically cliched and has nothing to do with the point of the piece you've written. I get the feeling you wrote the whole 1st paragraph just to get to the bit about the CCR song on W's iPod. That's grin-worthy... if I'm reading this 4 months ago.

The real point of the piece starts w/ the 2nd paragraph where you present the dilemma; "Damn, whitey's just about out room. I gotta thin the heard, so here's what I chucked and why I chucked it."
This is what you start with because you bring the reader into the "nut" of the problem right away and make them want to read how you resolve it.

I've got no problem with your nuggets on each album - nearly all had the zingers that each pieces like this need to stay compelling.
But there's another route you could take if you're in the mood to go under the hood, rip out the engine and rebuild it. Try doing things by categories. This takes a little more setup at the top, as you explain how while you were selecting what you toss you noticed tendencies.
The 80s British rock, for example. Present the category, give some examples of stuff you tossed and then riff for a couple graphs about what compelled you to not find the stuff worthwhile. Maybe at the end of each include an exception (if there are any) of something in this category you kept.
Other possible categories based on what you've written: failed followups (Sufjan, The Thrills), time hasn't been kind (faith No More, Brian Wilson) and overhyped fads (Bloc Party, Futureheads).
I can't think if a good way to end the whole thing, not right now anyway. I'll stop back in if soemthing comes to me.

The raw material is there. We just need to help you smelt it.
Good luck, Dave. We'll make a rock hack outta you yet.