A force of nature, a triumph of self-promotion, the idea of D.I.Y. taken to its final priveleged extreme, Allison Weiss has certainly made a name for herself in Athens over the last few years. Few artists in this town inspire as much (public) hatred as Ms. Weiss.
Take this seemingly innocuous mention of her new album in Flagpole’s ‘Threats & Promises’ column, written & editorialized by Gordon Lamb.
Order Up: Allison Weiss is now taking orders for her newest album, Allison Weiss Was Right All Along, which is to be released Nov. 24. The four-tiered pre-order scheme starts at $10 for the album and a couple of bonus items up to $75 for the album, a t-shirt, poster, one-of-a-kind-drawing, limited-edition buttons and stickers and more. I have no doubt that there’s going to be more than one person out there in Internetland who'll buy in at the $75 level. This was originally planned to be an EP when Weiss began soliciting funds for a new recording, but she managed to raise so much that she fleshed it out into a full album. On a critical note, this is heads and tails above her previous work. Weiss is great with a full band, and her players, notably brother and guitarist A.J. Weiss, create a world of nuance behind her rather matter-of-fact lyricism. Speaking of which, if you’re the dude that broke her heart, you’re gonna feel like a real ass when this comes out. For more information, please see www.allisonweisswasrightallalong.com.
And here are some of the comments people have left below the article.
“It's almost like Allison wants everyone in Athens to think she's a giant tool.”
“Offering a bunch of shit for 75 bucks isn't exactly marketing, it's just stupid. For 75 bucks I'll give you a shitty CD and a personalized blow job. That's a much better deal.”
“Selling overpriced worthless junk for much more than it's worth is the American way. How do you think I made all my money?” – bill gates
“weiss is the lisa loeb of athens music.”
“bands can also have "ambition" without fucking insulting their fans by selling an album for 75 bucks.”
Now some of this is just standard local music scene behavior, the ‘anyone who gets successful is a jerk’ syndrome you find around town, but Ms. Weiss attracts a special resentment due, in large part, to her commitment to self-promotion and relentless marketing of her product—Allison Weiss.
The problem with criticizing Ms. Weiss for promoting her music, which is what most of these people do, is they tend to lose sight of the music. And her music is extremely interesting—and in it’s own way, extremely un-interesting—when compared to the way she markets herself.
Let’s look at that music? Is it as good as Gordon says it is? Well to me, his praise reads more like a series of backhanded compliments. He says, “better than her last album. . . somebody on the internet will buy it. . . ‘matter-of-fact’ lyricism. . . great with a band (my emphasis)” He certainly can’t think it’s ‘great,’ not coming from a writer who in his year-end summary last year described 2008 as “yet another year where the lions (sic) share of critical kudos went to completely safe, predictable and bland music. Absolutely nothing pictured below did anything to change or challenge the artistic paradigm in which they operated. Yes, that includes Lil Wayne.”
I understand that local paper protocol means Gordon couldn’t call Weiss’ new album “safe, predictable, and bland” even if he wanted to so let's cut the guy a break. I, however, don't work for a paper, but I am interested in digging a little deeper into her music since it's the one thing that nobody in town wants to talk about beyond a "like it/hate it" level.
As music her songs are harmless enough, sweet & catchy melodies presented in an accessible and straightfoward manner. Although, this too, could simply be the result of market research and Weiss’ ever-bending-backward attempt/desire to please her audience.
The lyrics are a lot more interesting. Every single one of her songs—and I have just read through all 45 of them on www.allisonw.com/lyrics (the “comprehensive Allison Weiss lyrics website")— addresses a “you,” presumably a boy, who is unwilling/unable to commit to a relationship as serious as the narrator would like. Perhaps this reluctance to sing about anything other than love is also just sound marketing. Gang of Four explained it better than I could.
Love crops up quite a lot as something to sing about,And as far as Gordon’s whole ‘dude-you’re-gonna-feel-like-an-ass when this record comes out’, the implied idea being that Allison Weiss is gonna tear that guy's ass up with her scathing lyrical putdowns, I have a feeling that the guy who breaks Joanna Newsom’s heart, or Lady GaGa’s heart, or even Miley Cyrus’ heart is more likely to “feel like a real ass”. As a writer, Weiss seems incapable of expressing any emotion crueller than disappointment. And anyway, she always saves her harshest criticism for herself.
cos most groups make most of their songs about falling in love
or how happy they are to be in love,
you occasionally wonder why these groups do sing about it all the time -
it's because these groups think there's something very special about it
either that or else it's because everybody else sings about it and always has,
you know to burst into song you have to be inspired
and nothing inspires quite like love.
These groups and singers think that they appeal to everyone
by singing about love because apparently everyone has or can love
or so they would have you believe anyway
but these groups seem to go along with what, the belief
that love is deep in everyone's personality.
I don't think we're saying there's anything wrong with love,
we just don't think that what goes on between two people
should be shrouded with mystery.
In a year when 13 people in the Athens area have already died as a result of domestic violence, when women at her university and in her local music scene are still forced to deal with issues like rape and abuse and coercion, Weiss’ take on relationships can charitably be described as naive. Let’s look at those lyrics.
From “Try To Understand” (not a Heart cover)
And I know I'll miss the bad jokes,
and the way you never called.
If this qualifies as scathing, then Gordon must also think that “He’s Just Not That Into You” is the embodiment of militant feminism. Elsewhere in the song, Weiss spends a hell of a lot more time blaming herself for the relationship’s failure and apologizing to the man for not being good enough.
On “Yer Going Down”—not about what you think it is, although that would be a feminist statement—she accuses an ex (were they ever in a relationship? Like fairy tales, Weiss’ insight into relationships never goes beyond the “courtship” phase) of being a “fading scar,” and a “liar”. Setting aside the fact that scars don’t actually fade—that’s what makes them scars—Weiss fails to specify whether or not his pants were on fire.
From “You + Me + Alcohol” (it equals exactly what you think it does, i.e. an awkward physical encounter facillitated by large quantities of “wine” and “liquor” told from the persepective of a narrator who “can’t remember the things we did”).
This bottle of liquor I left in my kitchen
Was finished the night I was finished with us
I kept it around, although it was empty
So empty like you.
And that’s it, in album’s worth of songs, I have just referenced every single negative thing she says about the guy who “broke her heart”. And what’s sadder, it would have taken me ten times longer to list all the negative things she says about herself. Anyone who mistakes Weiss’ self-promotion for self-confidence obviously isn’t looking very closely.
The thing that galls me about Weiss’ art isn’t her music. Or even her lyrics. Those things are meant to be appealing, in the sense that beige stores and strip-malls are appealing, or in the way that Chick-Fil-A provides good customer service. If a landlord painted their strip mall blue, or pink, or any tangible color, someone somwhere might not like it. And that would mean less money. Better to paint it beige. After all, nobody dislikes beige, right?
And while there are plenty of people who find her music appealing, I’m afraid to say that I'm not one of them. At best, Weiss is a mediocrity. And the fact that there are people out there who like, or even love, her music doesn't make it any less mediocre. Although as a 37-year-old male who hates the color beige, I don’t think it was ever supposed to appeal to me. Wrong demographic.
And it isn’t her self-marketing that gets under my skin. I don’t like it, but if she’s willing to do it, more power to her. Granted, it reinforces the idea that we live in a world where people who lack self-confidence (or have enough self-confidence that they don’t feel so driven) might go unheard. Or, as Weiss herself put it in a recent interview, “Unfortunately, its about more than just writing great songs. You have to be organized and you have to be on top of things and you have to be putting yourself out there in the real world and online”. An idea like that is demoralizing to any artists who might lack good organizational skills and a desire to put themselves ‘out there’.
No, the problem I have with Allison Weiss and her art is the way she incessantly refers to herself as a D.I.Y. artist, which in case you don’t know stands for Do It Yourself. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure she wrote the songs by herself. And she has certainly promoted her career by herself. But it seems a little disingenuous for somebody who has been a full-time student for the duration of their music career, who hasn’t had to work a job while she’s been in college, and yet still found some way to record & promote her initial recordings, to call themselves “D.I.Y”. Certainly when it comes to promoting her music, no one has helped Allison Weiss but herself. But if your family creates an environment that allows you to do spend all your free time promoting your music, can you really say it's D.I.Y.?
You can say it. But if you don't bother mentioning all the advantages and resources that other people gave you, that actually allow you to do all these things in the first place, then you're either being naive or you're allowing a lot of other people who might share the same dreams as you to feel a little less good about themselves because they're not able to work as hard as you do. When anyone knows that working 25-plus hours a week while you're in college, or 40+ hours a week if you're not in college, at some job you hate is a hell of a lot more "D.I.Y." than spending your free-time galavanting around the country doing something you love while someone from home pays your rent.
As an artist, Allison Weiss sure is good at marketing herself.
In the interests of rebuttal, here’s a link to a recent interview with Ms. Weiss. (www.grassrootsy.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/an-interview-with-allison-weiss/)
30 comments:
Good piece. The one small thing I might possibly fault is that you seem to partially hold Weiss' lyrics to a standard based on Gordon's interpretation of them instead of Weiss' actual intentions (we don't necessarily know that Weiss herself thinks her lyrics would make this supposed ex feel like "a real ass")
And to be overly critical, it also gives the impression of a double standard b/c Weiss is female -- would you equally fault Lou Barlow for his hurt puppy dog, lovelorn lyrics, because he's not addressing larger issues of domestic abuse and real-relationship-politik? (Hey, I said I was being overly critical!)
That said, I've not really been too excited by what I've heard from Weiss. And that interview was less than inspiring. But the one thing I'll say about her (and others using the Kickstarter model) is that at the end of the day, her album exists because average people/fans funded it. It wasn't foisted upon the public by some clueless A&R rep. It exists because enough people wanted it to, and paid for it on the front end.
Of course those same Kickstarter funds reinforce your point that this isn't really so much DIY. But considering that to today's youth, DIY means being able to fix a broken faucet on your own, as much as being a truly independent artist, I might be slightly willing to forgive her naive, incorrect overuse of the phrase.
BTW, there was a time when "local paper protocol" didn't preclude being honest, or even harsh. The problem is that the Athens scene can't handle honest critique. Hell, it can barely handle a little tame constructive criticism. There's a lot of self-satisfied musicians in Athens who don't want to be questioned or pushed beyond their comfort zone. Even their fans can't handle the criticism.
And Weiss kind of seems to be the result of that sort of falsely nice, too scared to call bullshit, too sensitive to handle criticism sort of environment. Like you said, beige. Then again, I have to admit that my knowledge of Weiss is pretty limited and like you, I'm not exactly in the target demographic.
Anyway, good work on this "thinkpiece" or whatever the kids are calling it these days. Weiss is one of those folks who makes music that is hard to write about - neither amazingly good nor incredibly awful, it's just kind of OK - and I enjoyed the read.
--John
So if you don't have a shitty job that you hate, you can't be DIY? BTW: I have ZERO respect for people who live with "jobs they hate". Sure Allison is a typical college student in that she receives support for her education but it's what she does with that support that makes her DIY all that more valid.
When I was her age I was dropping acid for weeks at a time, smoking dope all day and like most current UGA students drinking way too much.
What you need to realize about Allison is that her music IS her job (see the lyric to "Why Bother"), so she produces and sells merch, ITunes downloads and plays shows all over the SE, making $$$$ with each effort.
Not to mention Allison is a freelance graphic/web site designer,(read: job you LOVE) and will have all the work she needs when she graduates soon with a high 3 point degree.
The girl never stops: Be it some extensive art school project, designing some other musician's My Space, traveling/playing shows, creating award winning films, designing posters for European bands, while creating music many people like.
You don't have to like her music, (GOD knows no musician has ever pleased everyone), and you can resent her privilege (most underachievers do resent privilege).
The question I always ask myself when I hear someone trash another person is "So, what makes you so special?"
Just curious what you think about a student that maintains the HOPE scholarship and therefor saves tens of thousands of $$$$? Does that qualify as a "job" in your "A-job-has-to-suck-to-be-real" world?
I think I understand the reason for all the negative crap you spew....you're 37! You should not even try to understand a young woman's world.
Ah, and then come two anonymous posters proving exactly what I wrote in the third-to-last graf above. You can't have a contrary opinion (even a thoughtful, articulate one) in this town without people getting wound up about it.
While the issue of "following the money" w/r/t authenticity is worth discussing in general (don't forget that Gram Parsons was a trust fund kid, too), the rebuttals here are typically pathetic.
According to these anonymous folks, you can't have an opinion on art unless you're "special." That sort of desperate, lonely need to put the artist on a pedestal is sad and destructive to any intelligent discussion of music.
And according the the most recent Nony, Weiss makes music that can only be appreciated by college-aged girls. That would mean her appeal is pretty limited, and basically rules out any hope of her having any true artistic worth. Also, I guess I should toss out my Spinanes, Neko Case, etc, records, because I am not a woman. And my Coltrane discs should be next, since I'm not black. I'll probably go ahead and get rid of Chris Bell's "I Am the Cosmos" while I'm at it, since I'm not a dead, gay Christian, either.
It's humorous that these two anonymous posters find your post to be some sort of mean-spirited "negative crap" that "trashes" Weiss. I fear for the moment that they actually encounter true vitriol. Their heads might explode! As it is, they better grow some thick skin before they leave the safe confines of Athens - their first post-collegiate boss will at some point probably give them a worse dressing-down than you did to Weiss.
Scars actually do fade, since you seem to be unaware of that fact. Also, it's hardly fair to expect someone to write about abuses she has not experienced just because it happens around her. I assume she prefers to focus on subjects she's gone through, so it should be pleasant to know that nothing more horrifying hasn't happened to her in her life. Lastly, maybe I don't have the most refined or sophisticated taste, but my only real filter I have for deciding whether I like music or not is by how it makes me feel when I listen to it. If she can find enough people that enjoy listening to her instead of inciting the wish to rip the ears off of their head, then that is good for her.
I'm glad someone finally said it. She's not producing substantial music, and she's a schmooze, but I'm not sure if it's more healthy to say- Allison, what your doing doesn't matter- don't be a tool or to say, ehhh, fuck it- the world is full of people trying to get paid- girl's got a gimmick that works.
Maybe it's best to say: "Allison, you don't, in any way, "deserve" the platform that you have, but you have it- consider it a gift from the gods- take honest stock of who you are and why you make music." Make yourself something worth promoting. The shelf-life of cute is approx one album.
I don't know jack about the Athens scene or its supposed inability to take criticism.
But, I would definitely say Allison Weiss has a job. Just because it might be more fun than your job or someone else's doesn't mean it doesn't involve a lot of hard work. She may get to fly around the country, but only because there is a demand. The fact that she's flying across the country to play sold out shows definitely counts for something.
While I definitely don't find her to be any sort of lyrical genius or musical prodigy, her ability to promote herself and the amount of work she puts into that drew me in. How can she not "deserve" to be where she is when her effort is what has put her there?
After thinking it over for a while and trying to see it from every angle, I'm pretty fucking sure this website is beige. It's a few shades of it, actually. I mean this in a literal sense, because your website is fucking beige.
Level with me here; people like music for different reasons, and I think critics should consider the honesty in Allison's lyrics and how the self-consciousness you mock actually gives more insight into her situation. The songs seem to be about trying to let go even though she knows that she should hate this person for the shit he's put her through. It only makes sense for her to reveal that she still feels like she "wasn't good enough" and blames herself on a few levels for their falling out, because it's apparent she didn't want it to end. If they were never in a relationship, it would appear to me that the situation would actually be worse. Someone who is a close friend as well as the object of your affection is forgotten less easily than someone you dated for a while until you found someone better. It would appear easier to trash the disappointment he's caused her than to trash this guy personally. Hopeless romanticism has not lost its charm.
The honesty of her lyrics is highlighted by her vocals, which are not played up or contorted to be stylized as every other artist today. She's kind of just yelling in a pretty way about all of the things that she thinks about, whether or not she wants to.
I hate music like this, but I love her songs. They are infectiously catchy and unapologetically honest with a twinge of optimism in the face of a subject matter that should make you feel like shit.
As far as self-marketing herself goes, she does it the best. It works. Shut up. She slipped in at the perfect moment to be internet famous without being on the circulation of trendy blogs, only to be forgotten once too many people know about you, consequently making you unhip. Her fanbase seems loyal. If she can get someone to pay $75 for a CD just so they can have something personalized from her, she's managed to make much more of an impact than bands that let themselves fall victim to the ebbs and flows of internet popularity. She seems like she wants to be famous like everyone else but wants to work towards her fame alongside her fans. Self-marketing makes the whole experience more personal, and I applaud her for that.
I wouldn't necessarily pay much for one of her CDs, but I have to respect the fact that I felt compelled to rush to her defense after reading this shitstorm. Lay off, bud.
It's unfortunate that Allison should be martyr, but I suppose she's done every possible thing in her power to paint a giant target on herself.
Part of me wants to say that your comments are misdirected, that the problem here is not Allison's mediocrity, but that there are those who accept the mediocrity with open arms. But I know that without addressing that Allison is an amateur, none of her fans will ever be prompted to raise their standards.
So I think this is definitely a subject that needs to be broached.
What should be made clear, I think, is a distinction between what is "juvenile" and what is "amateur." Juvenile can be very interesting. The Beatles wrote about juvenile things (teenage relationships) exclusively through Rubber Soul & "love" & such continued to dominate their songs through the end. It's fine that she's not talking about social issues or politics or what have you (mature subject matter). But the Beatles weren't amateur. The difference is that they 1) were living juvenile lives worth singing about & 2) writing very unique songs, lyrically & melodically. They didn't do it on their own, of course, but I've never faulted them for the obvious George Martin influence & I don't think any reasonable person would. That is to say that if you're constantly promoting yourself, or prematurely adopting the primary lens of "putting yourself out there," you likely aren't going to have a lot of real substance to put out. It's painfully obvious that she's writing the same song over & over again. And if you're marrying yourself to the concept of DIY, you're inhibiting yourself from becoming something greater. There is nothing inherently noble about doing things on your own. Someone should tell her that in person. But perhaps she says it best herself in "Fingers Crossed" when she says, "I need time, I need direction, I need something to say." Amen to that. She obviously understands on some level that her writing isn't inspired. Perhaps she's too busy promoting herself to really figure things out. You don't just put "Oh hey, I'm not inspired!" to a tune & then go about shoving that down folks' throats. Anyone who pays $75 for that kind of crap is a nimrod. That needs to be said.
But who should really be chastised here is the journalists... that's where the heart of the problem really is. If you pick of the cross of the critic, the price is that you'll be hated by mediocre artists. And by their fans. But that's the whole point. Otherwise you're useless. When they get over it, they'll be better off for it. Everyone will be. Otherwise critics would just be assholes who served no purpose. I love how the term "music critic" has become "music journalist" because the only people writing these days just want to hang out with the bands, just want to dream their dreams of being a "tastemaker" & all of that other self-satisfying bullshit. Most music journalism these days is just publicism with a sense of pride.
And of course the danger is becoming one of those pretentious Pitchfork-type dickheads, who compete to come up with the most creative ways to diss perfectly fine bands in order to seem "above" the band... people who have no idea what competence truly is & just spew their personal opinion all over the place (which is how we end up with bullshit hyped-today-gone-tomorrow acts like Vivian Girls). That's not what I'm condoning. I'm just saying if something is so obviously & mind-numbingly mediocre & passionless & dull & repetitive & trite & beige as Allison Weiss (or Vivian Girls), it should be noted. And without treading lightly, either. The public is owed this. Platforms should be reserved for this.
So with all that said, I appreciate that you are holding artists to a standard. Your points aren't the best ones, but you brought up the right topic.
Oh, & I hope that Allison figures her shit out, that she becomes a great & successful songwriter & performer. I'm not betting my savings on it, but I still wish her the best. I'd love to not hear her name all of the time though, at least until she writes something worth listening to.
"If you pick of the cross of the critic, the price is that you'll be hated by mediocre artists. And by their fans. But that's the whole point."
No, Jon, it's not.
I totally understand why you think she's not DIY. So she pays for her tours, studio time, musician fees, merchandise, extraneous equipment, self-promotion, wardrobe, press releases, etc. with the money she earns/raises. I think we all know her parents set aside money to help her get a college degree AND she has an academic (HOPE) scholarship. What's DIY about that? I bet MOST people don't have parents who help them get an education. And getting a bachelor's degree with an A- average is pretty unremarkable...I mean plenty of people do it. She definitely needs to acknowledge that her PARENTS HAVE HELPED HER GET THROUGH COLLEGE! Admit it Allison.
Thanks for calling her out on it.
Jon, Thanks for "spewing your personal opinion all over the place". I would prefer you confined the narcissistic self-abuse to your bathroom....."that needed to be said"
"BTW: I have ZERO respect for people who live with "jobs they hate"."
Guess you've never been desperate enough for money? Maybe a single mom with kids? The list goes on. This statement is ridiculous.
“Allison! Why do you demoralize lazy artists?! You’re sending the wrong message!! Why don’t you write more songs about domestic violence?? WHAAAAAAAAAA!”
Boo fuckin’ hoo. You couldn’t possibly be more out of touch with the way music and the Internet work today. Who helped you set up this blog? Your neighbor's kid?
So you think she's a little beige? Some people fucking LOVE beige. Some people paid a lot of money (nearly $8,000) to guarantee her beige album would actually get made. (Full disclosure: I gave her 50 damn dollars!)
DIY or not, Allison Weiss works her ass off. Maybe if the "artist[s] who might lack good organizational skills" could get their shit together, they could get noticed as well. How many times can music fans/critics argue over ‘What is DIY?’ ‘What is punk rock?’ Who the fuck cares? Allison is doing what she wants to do, the way she wants to do it, and no one is telling her to do it different (except jackasses like you.) I personally think Allison Weiss is PUNK AS FUCK.
It seems as though the crux of your DIY argument is that her parents pay for her to go to college. How do you even know that? I certainly have no insight into her financial life. Even if that is true (and it probably is) what the hell does that have to do with her music? Just because she's not some crust punk living off tips from The Grill, you're gonna hold that against her? You, sir, are what the French call "LE FUCKING RETARDED".
One thing you don’t mention in your little ‘think piece’ is Allison’s live performance. Have you seen her? She’s one of the most goddamned charming and charismatic performers I’ve seen! Band or no band, stand her in front of a microphone with just her guitar and she’s going to MAKE YOU LOVE HER. Her albums are good and her songs are swine-flu catchy, but her live performances are what got me preaching the Gospel of Allison Weiss.
Weiss 3:16 - Thou shalt play house shows around the country and twitter your adventures. Thou shalt play live streaming shows from your living room. Thou shalt make your fans feel like they're not just fans, they're friends.
It depends on whether your aim is notoriety or making good art. Folks who fight for notoriety without really having something to say don't get as much respect- especially if they're trying really hard to say it.
I am a long time Athens resident now. God, longer than I ever thought I would be. I have seen bands for fun, subjected to them mercilessly while working a club door with no escape, and just damn well because.
Back in the day, we used to have this great column in the Flagpole. It was called the Heckler. There were several reasons this column was great 1) It was always entertaining. 2) Many times it did prevent me from seeing a truly crappy band. 3) When praise was given by the author it was deserved. Not based on some new age morality - "we are all winners!" Most of my musician friends would work thier asses off just to get mentioned, then harder to get well mentioned. It was a goal for them. Something to tweak shows for, rearrange arrangements, and damn try to put out something other than biege money making bullshit.
Ahh money, we all need it, that's why I work a job I hate and don't respect myself for. What I also don't respect, artist making art for money. Who the fuck does this? If you are one of 'em, your album probably does suck. Marketing and self promotion should come after you have something of substance to sell.
My New Year's wish - Gordon will grow a set of real balls and quit trying to make friends with every half assed musician in town. I hope he does tell us all what he really thinks of all the good, bad, and ugly he has to endure to make some of his living.
As for you whinning artisit and fans. What the hell are you gonna do when you get out to the big bad world outside of Athens and they tell you how bad you and your favorite band suck? I know some of you will be like, "Ah we're just ahead of the rest of the country." Ah no, Athens, we are really starting to put out some crappy ass unoriginal music. Sorry, but someone's gotta say it. Wouldn't you all rather know what your talented peers and musically educated audiences feel about your stuff before you spend the gas money to have some folks in a far less "cool" town throw thier beer bottles at you and not buy your merch so you can't get home?
Did any of you stop to think a little hometown pshaw from the gifted kids might make you work harder and put something out our town can be proud of to help keep up the uhum.. "cool" reputation.
Truth really be told other than two bands I can think of - no one I have seen local in the past year or two was worth my time or money. I was even actually embarrassed to take some of my out of town friends to one show here after bragging so much to them about the music scene. Really, the band was unbearable to the point I wondered if they had even played together before. Nucci's Space, garages, and even storage spaces are here for a reason people. Use them!! It's all most as if original thought packed up and left this town about 2002.
Hey times are tough for everyone from musician to fan. I could use my $5.00 to $10.00 you all expect at the door to buy food, or a six pack to sit at home where my ears won't be assalted because you and your homies haven't learned how to tune that thing yet.
Also, I think the quality of our music scene would go WAAAYYYY back up if we quit using the proverbial pitching machine so every one can get a hit.
Nowamomma, your name says it all:
A boring, washed up old townie who happened to get pregnant.You probably shouldn't comment on anyone's balls.
You mentioned "The Heckler" but failed to mention that column ceased to be written about 12 years ago and, more often than not, John was hell bent on being the most obnoxious "critic" in town. He purposefully tore bands apart simply to be funny. He wasn't a critic, he was a self-professed heckler.
God, you old farts are boring as hell.
Nowamomma,
What a boring, bitter, tied-down person you must be. Glad to not know you.
Oh Nony 1:55pm -- you clearly neither knew me, nor read more than one or two of anything I ever wrote. But I'll save the trips down memory lane for some other time.
--John
It's uncouth to toss personal insults at people who express an opinion that you don't agree with. Granted, I made the nimrod comment, but it wasn't directed at anyone specifically.
At this point it's pretty clear that these diy artists that get big via the internet (Allison, PlayRadioPlay, the Scene Aesthetic, Owl City,etc) are all selling something besides the songs. And Allison's songs are wonderfully mediocre, don't get me wrong, but to consider them anything beyond mediocre, you have to be buying into the person (as perceived through social networking). And the person is... (no offense, Allison, this is just the unfortunate far side of "putting yourself out there") kind of endearing but nothing special. Just a really sweet, kind of awkward, self-conscious girl with a great work ethic who can't get past a bad relationship (at least that's what I've taken from limited exposure). Doesn't write particularly well, doesn't sing particularly well, doesn't play particularly well... just passable in every respect. And for those of us who don't buy into the cute little image, the songs don't stand up. They really do read like a poorly written teenage diary.
So it's something that is built around and caters to and belongs on myspace or facebook or twitter what have you. It's nothing that can be discussed on the basis of musical merit without offending a ton of people or coming across as a huge asshole. But that's what music criticism is... being honestly critical about the merit of the music.
And that's why the music is so polarizing.
Pretty lame to be an anonymous blogger. At least if you're going to bother writing all this out you should put your name on it.
Are you really trying to a wanna be Pitchfork reviewer? Your shtick isn't working. I can't even take anyone seriously who only writes on blogger, which is probably the most awful service to blog on.
Granted Allison Weiss is not for everyone (especially bitter 37 year olds like yourself) but you have to admit she really does get her name out there and takes really good care of her fans.
I have seen her 3 times in NYC in the last 5 months. I have never met a more down to earth and hard working artist than Allison Weiss. I also have given her $50 to "kickstart" her album and I feel proud to be part of a great album like that.
Who cares about how her lyrics are? You really take something like pop music way too seriously. Most singer/songwriters sing about failed relationships. In this case Allison manages to make them sound pleasant to the ear.
yall so alt
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I've written a response to all your comments in another blog post. I appreciate the time people took in responding to this article, whether they enjoyed it or not.
I think Allison is a great promoter of her own work. She's creative and charming enough to find an audience that likes her. If I were in a band, I'd want her on my side doing promotions and outreach.
That said, I really cannot stand her music.
Here's my two-cents, and this is with regard to critics in general. Not this page specifically, because this is the only review I've read here (so read "you" below as very impersonal).
Here's what I see over and over in local media (for example, the Stranger, the Rocket, the Weekly anywhere):
1) Local Critics love to hail whoever is "happening" in the local region. In my town, it's a crappy jam band that will not admit they're a jam band, and no one cares about them except the local street rag. Or you read coverage of whoever is the flavor of the month from the region. Compare it to a review from SPIN or Pitchfork, and it is the same opinion ... often rephrasing the same descriptions.
2) Critics love to tear apart the mediocre bands, mostly because they are offended that mediocrity is praised while a lot of really good music out there that is being ignored. I empathize ... this is my problem with Mediocre bands that get coverage. These artists receive the "I'm cooler than you" shredding from critics. And they get it over and over. If it is so mediocre, why not ignore it? Why are we talking about them?
3) If you're relatively new, but have great music ... good luck getting anyone to give an honest review! Why? Because there is no one out there to parse your opinion from! So you get reviews that paraphrase such as "These guys are great if you're into that sort of thing -- which I have yet to define for you." Or "these guys really suck, but there's great musicianship." What?! You can rarely glean the opinion of the critic through the padded verbiage used to hide the insecurities of forming an opinion on a new act.
So this reviewer doesn't like Allison Weiss, and we now have your reasons. But from the responses, it seems people in Athens would have agreed or disagreed with you long before ever reading your article.
So, who gives a shit? What else is happening?
Analogy: No one would care about Tiger Woods affair, if the media wasn't blabbing about.
So blab about something you like, or dislike, but make it new ground. Show me something that everyone else isn't already talking about. Move your scene forward. Let mediocrity be a fading scar (they do fade, by the way ... scars AND mediocre bands, that is).
Or do the same damn thing everyone else is doing ... critics fade too. Unfortunately, the especially crappy ones always pop back up at another paper :)
So that's at least two cents, thrown into the "general" arena. Maybe THIS blog is different, and this type of reporting on Weiss isn't already happening in Athens (but from the responses, it appears that folks minds are already made up!)
So, that said, let me know if you want to review my record sometime!
Mike
Creative, maybe. Original, no.
She acts like she's the 1st person on the planet to go thru the crap she talks about.
I actually wasn't trying to imply that Weiss is a scathing lyricist. I was trying to get across the idea that a normal person would kind of feel like an ass if a girl wrote a whole album about how a dude broke her heart.
I mean, wouldn't a normal person feel this way? I know I would.
-Gordon
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