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Trend of the Week: Musicans Hating People on the Internet…and Each Other
February 28, 2006
in blogs, magazines, music, music industry, publishing, white stripes
Just when you thought Nick Zinner was the only guitarist that was going to stick it to his critics this week, the king of hating journos and the ‘Net has returned to upstage him. Yes, that’s right, it’s the incorrigible Jack White! Check out the hate spew posted on the WS site yesterday:
What a funny album, coming from divided critics to supposed disappointing sales, to going platinum in several countries, to making most critics top ten lists, to winning a Grammy. That’s funny, right? When that happens pitchfork has to call spin to confer on whether to ignore or make fun of it. They lose perspective, the sewer worker below their lower east side Manhattan hipster bar out smarts them every time. They all play a cowards game. The faceless opinion of print and the internet. What is it teaching all of us?
Back when there was a time when we had great writers, and respected journalists who had earned their position as tastemakers, and won peoples respect with their knowlege and insight, it was much easier to understand a written opinion because at least you knew where it was coming from.
Now those printied opinions are probably coming from the person sitting next to you on his laptop at the mall. Why should you care about their opinion? Why shouldn’t you? Who are all those people on vh1 trashing everyone? Why does a failed stand up comedian have the final word on the rubik’s cube? They are currently digging trenches for the bar to be lowered down into.
…Don’t let them bring you down, don’t let them make you consume. Remember the person’s opinion you are reading probably knows less about the topic you are interested in than you do.
Yessss!
If you read the whole entry, you’ll see Jack go off on Billy Childish. Why? Turns out B.C. (who has toured with the WS) had this to say about the Stripes in the most recent issue of GQ:
“I can’t listen to that stuff. They don’t have a good sound…Jack’s half into the sound and music, but then he wants to be a pop star as well, so you’ve got a big problem. You can’t pull it both ways. Someone compared us to the White Stripes and I said, ‘They’re heading to the stadium with all their might.’ We’ll play the stadium if we have to. They want the fifteen yards between them and the audience, and the big PA. It’s a different animal.”
Geez. I think everyone is cranky this week.
(Source)
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{ 30 comments }
This could have possibly escaped the NME’s attention if you had not posted it. Way to go!
You forgot this part of Billy Childish’s quote
Childish calls the White Stripes’ Polish-flag look, which he has been told some see as charismatic, “one of the shabbiest gimmicks that’s ever sold a group on God’s earth, a fucking red T-shirt. And I’ve been told off for saying that, and I say, “Look, it’s no disrespect saying they are not charismatic. It’s like saying ‘cornflakes ain’t roast beef.’ It’s not rude; I’m just not playing that game. I’m not getting into some sort of silly notion of an uncharismatic group being charismatic.”
www.whitestripes.com/message/message.html
Wait – did Jack just diss internet bloggers via his blog…on the internet?
Catholics can be such victims of their own inner conflict. Trust me.
He only posts on that damn thing like once every 4 or 5 months. I don’t think he puts them on the site, he gets the webmaster to do that.
Beg to differ. Two days in a rwo.
Methinks that makes a blog, regardless of who writes the code for it.
That is incredibly rare. It’s never happened before.
Haha, proof Jack does read the internet. He sure is opinionated for someone who is bashing all the critics.
Billy childish is not garage rock, he’s folk rock. Folk artists have always been outside the pop world. Jack’s wife keeps calling everyone “garage rockers”, need to clear that up with the fashionistas.
His music is most definitely garage rock. Just because he is “outside the pop world” doesn’t mean it’s not.
Garage rock does not exist, it is a term created by music critics to sell cds and records.
Alright then he falls into the rock/punk category.
Hey why does Jack even care about critics or spin or bloggers. He is so talented and makes a good living, maybe he will implode someday with all the anger? I mean even if you look at him the wrong way he just gets so pissy. Chill out not everyone is out to get ya.
I personally urge any music critic or journalist that has ever publicized a kind word about Jack or his work to politely request a statement of apology from Mr. White, as his entire career and fortune have been made possible by the light of the mass media.
Either an apology, or send back the money they helped you to make, White— and earn your millions in another, less public, trade.
Oh please. The man doesn’t like some critics attitudes big freaking deal. No reason to get your panties in a twist and start saying he should apologize to a whole bunch of critics when he is obviously talking about specific types.
Yeah but why doesn’t Jack name any names of the critics. That’s what he’s bitching about all the anonymous bloggers criticize his band wtf?
JACK’s PISSED HE WON A GRAMMY. Now he’s more pop than ever or at least that’s the label grammy winners get, what a tragedy for the entire world. boo hoo.
Fight, fight, fight, etc
I do rate White Stripes and YYY’s but they don’t half talk some *******.
Jack White does tunes for Coke, looks like a tit in NME with a cape and tache (moustache), slates technology and then he’s on the internet. Slight contadiction maybe
YYY’s rawk but I’m quite surprised Nick Zinner is slating the audience for not getting into it. Surely if their performance was er rocking people would rock out. Point in question being the recenti ish Editors review
Check
www.themodernage.org/2006/01/22/the-editors-totally-rock-my-socks/#more-3453
“Why does a failed stand up comedian have the final word on the rubik’s cube?”
*LOL*
Jack is awesome, I love the guy.
www.nme.com/news/white-stripes/22367
A message board, especially one on which someone posts every couple of months, is NOT the same thing as a blog. Do some research on your terms.
As an actual journalist who went to actual j school, I can see what he is saying about blogs, critics, opinions, etc. The advent of internet blogs means everyone has the opportunity to get their opinions out there. It’s the democratization of journalism, which is a good thing, but it has its downside too. Literally, everyone is a critic…whether they have any credentials or experience to be one or not. To use Jack’s example, now 12-year-olds can be critics. It’s a double-edged sword.
And at least Jack acknowledges the irony of criticizing critics, and makes a point of saying that readers can believe or trust him or not.
ooohhhhhhhh, get you journo!
gina knows what she’s talking about. please give it a rest: please follow your own advice.
And to think I once worried if Jack ever got into a good relationship, he’d have nothing to write about. Clearly, he’ll always be in a bad relationship with somebody.
As to the first entry, it just seems like he’s talking about the two-edged sword of tastemakers. Where once there was an ivory tower, now everyone can publish their criticism whereever and however. While in the past one knew the credentials and the agenda of the ivory critics, the background and agenda of the Pitchforkers is murkier. The democracy of the Internet cuts both ways and it’s easy and tempting to be anonymously vicious in ways you wouldn’t be in a face-to-face encounter.
I don’t think Jack sounds angry per se, just a touch frustrated or incredulous and venting as one would to friends over drinks or coffee. (I guess I identify with people taking my semi-hyperbolic observations way to heart. Playing with words and observations is fun, children.) I don’t think he’s too upset over what Michael Ian Black thinks of Rubik’s Cube (I’m sure he was a Snake man) or even really what Billy Childish says about him behind his back. He’s just making an observation about the banaity of mean opinionizing for the sake of attracting ink to your name. (But what the fuck do I know? I’m just posting my opinion semi-anonymously on the Internet, and the irony is not lost on me.)
As to the second entry, I’m glad someone finally introduced
Jack to paragraph breaks. My head hurts much less. Also, he name-checked Shaw, which made me smile. I don’t know why. It’s nice that he sounds happier, yet still flinty and goofy, unless that’s his e-mail sarcastic voice and he actually is being pissy, in which case never mind. Whatever the case, it’s always fun to ape his letter of truth randomizings. And I do in fact have a few uncle Bobs. Cheers.
sorry for weighing in so late.
no one that wants to be a pop star would release ‘Get Behind Me Satan’. or any of the other ws records, either, for that matter.
jack is the man. detractors do so to reaffirm their own beliefs and insecurities, not to change who jackie and his big sister meg are.
that is all.
jack white is such a pussy. he has to blog out his anger.
this blog only encourages his rants by linking and quoting them. i’m sure there will be others to follow.
yawn.
Hey, he doesn’t just “blog out his” anger. That’s not fair.
He also violently beats people.
I concur: yawn.
yeah he ‘violently beats people’ all the time
yawn yawn yawn
give it a rest already
I say yawn to you all for your predictable reactions, this is exactly what Mr White is talking about.. We all have the right the express ourselves as does Jack, but Jack’s word is dissected and false meanings are put upon these words. We will always find room to critize. we all want to hate our idols look at this web site, almost every blog entry about anyone is always so bitchy, you want these guys to fail and be miserable it seems. what happened to being passionate? I’m 23 and I’m sad to be a part of this generation as we are all so spoilt rotten and ungrateful.
We all probably secretly wish we where Jack White, Nick Zinner or Julian Casablancas, but because we’re so jaded we just bitch about them instead, to make our pathetic lives seem more ok?
I’m mad, we’re all going no-where with this attitude.
think he’s pretty dead-on. the tastemakers used to be the labels. now every jackass with a g4 is a label. so if you can get 250 kids to a show and have an alcohol sponsor your next big party, you can be big man on the hip express, too! thing is, what’s pathetic beyond the understood lack of a market or audience or career transience, is that tastemakers now are tastefollowers. just as clueless as the labels. i had this conversation with a rock journalist, and the dude said he/she only checked out bands he/she knew. hmm. i thought the fun part about being in such a diverse and eclectic medium was seeking out unknown bands. not being handed your flavor du jour by spin.com.
that’s pretty much bullshit. it’s sad that our bloggerrrs/jourrrrnalists/managerrrs only want part of what is already safe. the cliché is so true- you all want to be second on board.
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