Google, advocacy, misconception

This has nothing to do with me, other than being the transcriber of Colin Meloy's words. Without knowing it--certainly without planning it--the questions I asked him last Sunday would discredit the story our competing publication, 7, would run today. Read on.

Quoth 7's piece on the Decemberists:

A great artist needs an obsession ... Jeff Mangum has Anne Frank ... The Decemberists' Meloy has pirates, folklore, history, soldiers and old, fancified language ... One of the all-time coolest songs about pirates, "Shanty for the Arethusa," works as well today as it would in the 17th century: "Tell your daughters, do not walk the streets alone tonight."

Alright, remember those bolded, blue-colored terms. For the record: Jeff Mangum is Neutral Milk Hotel -- He's the whole band. The Decemberists get compared to him non-stop, especially in indie webzines. It's an atrocious comparison. Granted: Tom Bowers, the writer of the 7 piece, only makes the implicit comparison between the two.

From our interview, now:

What are the big things writers get wrong about your work?
. . . Secondly: that we sing songs about pirates, which we do not. There is not a single song that involves a pirate.

Any plans to write one?
No, no, no. [laughs] I am completely not into pirates. Pirates are Halloween costumes. I have no interest in them.

I know you hate the comparisons that get made between you guys and Neutral Milk Hotel, but you're into archetypes and collective mythos, so it's gotta be flattering to be compared to somebody who has such a . . . massive footprint in the hipster consciousness. [Jeff] Mangum is like some magnificent, absentee indie God.
I'm totally flattered, I'm not angry about it. I think it tends to be, -- it ends up being a sign of lazy journalism. Letting other people do the work for you.

I only bring this up because (1) I care about music (2) I've come to care about Spokane's music scene (3) I believe the Decemberists to be the most important show coming to Spokane this winter (though Andrew Bird is also coming, and I can't WAIT for that), for the simple reason that we're finally, FINALLY, getting a zeitgeist-y indie band who are fully on the upswing. This could mean big things for (A) the national acts that play here, which would (B) at least expose more Spokane kids to a world outside metal and top 40, which would, potentially (C) create a local scene that consists of more than bands who sound like Mudvayne, more than singer/songwriters who sound like Jack Johnson/Jason Mraz.

TO WHIT: As one of the two influential arts publications in town--who should thus be helping educate and advocate for our town and our scene--7 has written an article about a very important band that was cobbled together entirely from Google search detritus, then sprinkled with misconceptions.

How does that help us, as a community?

Read the full thing here.

Dead links tell no tales

It somehow feels more real to me when I complain by ennumeration. So here it goes, the things that are annoying me:

1. I had to beg, borrow, (administer backalley handjobs) and steal to get 2 ad-free pages for my Decemberists piece. Shouldn't be that hard. The 2 pages I got were in Arts and Culture, not Music.
2. After Colin Meloy's publicity human drug her feet on getting me an interview, I had exactly ONE day to write my article.
   
3. The Inlander has a crappy website.
4. The Decemberists piece doesn't show up on the main web page (see 2 above)
5. The Decemberists piece doesn't show up in the music section of the website (see 1 above)
6. No one going to the web page will have any idea where to find the article (see 3,4,5 above)
   
7. The transcript I promised you folks should be linked at the end of the print piece (which, as you recall is in Arts and Culture, not music, and is inaccessible from the front page). It's not.
8. Even if it were, people looking for it (I mention it at the end of the print edition of the story) wouldn't be able to find it (see 4,5).
9. There's never enough time to do anything well. I feel like everything I do is half-assed by necessity.
   
10. The thing that's annoying me most of all--at the moment--is how whiny I've gotten.
    

Anyway, for what it's worth, here's the article itself, without the kickass art Collin, Joel and I worked so hard on, and without a link to the transcript. And, now that I'm reading it with a day's distance between the article and my critical eye, it seems pretty damn choppy. Vapid. Meandering. Pat. Flowing over with cliches. Fuck.

Read the full thing here.

Yes, things

You're sick of my update posts, so here's one more: I worked upwards of 60 hours this week, I think.

In exchange for that I got to interview Colin Meloy (of the Decemberists) and Bob Edwards (for 30 years the host of NPR's Morning Edition). Both were good. One was great, but I'm not saying which (though it might not be the one you think. Or is it?).

You'll soon (hopefully) have access to both transcripts, unabridged and unadulterated. When these things become available, I'll link them.

Because I love you.

Read the full thing here.