Interview Note: Apparently I’m still pretty rusty when it comes to interviews. It wasn’t the worst interview that I’ve ever had but it definitely wasn’t an A+ effort on my part. I didn’t stumble over questions regarding my career aspirations but I don’t have those answers as fully formed as I would like. Hopefully I did enough to break through for a second interview. Otherwise it will be more time preparing for the future. I always hope that someone would hire me for just being smart but apparently they want other skills as well.
Final Oscar Note: I just discovered that former stripper and Oscar winner Diablo Cody went to a rival high school of mine a few years after I graduated. I still don’t know her but at least I now don’t know her in a much more personal way. Or at least I’m pretty sure I don’t know her. I would like to think that I would have remembered someone like her. Oh, and now people younger than me are winning screenplay Oscars. First Ben Affleck wins one and now this. I feel like such a slacker.
I have some very sad news to report tonight. My favorite music magazine of all time, No Depression, is going to stop publishing. This is a tough fact for me to face for a number of reasons. For one thing it was always my goal to write for No Depression though occasionally I’ll claim to have already written for it in order to impress women. (Look, I didn’t start that claim. It was mentioned on a website once and it kind of just took off from there.) I really considered it to be one of the best music magazines out there where the focus wasn’t on rating albums but on just discussing what they meant and how they made you feel.
But the big reason is that I fear that this might be a statement as to the longevity of my favorite music genre, which just happens to be called No Depression. Technically the Carter Family song came first and then the Uncle Tupelo album and then an AOL newsgroup and finally the magazine but in essence almost all of the music that I listen to has been described as No Depression. It was always difficult to describe. I sometimes use the phrase alt-country but that is a bit of a misnomer. Some of it is like Son Volt, country music with a rock tinge, while others are people like Willie Nelson, stuff that is so traditional country that it has become alternative. The No Depression is more of a state of mind than a sound. It’s fiercely independent, true to heart, lyrically brilliant music. Songs that someone can stand on stage in front of twenty people and sing because it truly is what they believe in.
I don’t think that the genre is dying per se (odds are the magazine business is a rather poor one to be in right now) but this is a blow for people like me. I learned about a lot of great bands by reading the magazine. I saw shows solely because of a blurb I read or, truth be told, a picture of a pretty female singer-songwriter in one of the ads. (To this day the only reason I go to see Eleni Mandell in concert is because of a picture I saw of her.) The magazine was run by people who weren’t bound to any corporate viewpoint; they all just loved music. There was no overlying agenda, no “You have to give the new Hootie and the Blowfish record three stars”, just great discussions of often overlooked acts. While Paste magazine has tried hard to reach the same audience I think that this will be a big gap in the music world. No Depression will definitely be missed.
Of course, I can always just rely on Maxim for my music commentary. They apparently gave the new Black Crowes album two and a half stars despite not actually having listened to it. I don’t know about you but even though I haven’t listened to it I would have to say that two and a half stars sounds about right to me.
Final Oscar Note: I just discovered that former stripper and Oscar winner Diablo Cody went to a rival high school of mine a few years after I graduated. I still don’t know her but at least I now don’t know her in a much more personal way. Or at least I’m pretty sure I don’t know her. I would like to think that I would have remembered someone like her. Oh, and now people younger than me are winning screenplay Oscars. First Ben Affleck wins one and now this. I feel like such a slacker.
I have some very sad news to report tonight. My favorite music magazine of all time, No Depression, is going to stop publishing. This is a tough fact for me to face for a number of reasons. For one thing it was always my goal to write for No Depression though occasionally I’ll claim to have already written for it in order to impress women. (Look, I didn’t start that claim. It was mentioned on a website once and it kind of just took off from there.) I really considered it to be one of the best music magazines out there where the focus wasn’t on rating albums but on just discussing what they meant and how they made you feel.
But the big reason is that I fear that this might be a statement as to the longevity of my favorite music genre, which just happens to be called No Depression. Technically the Carter Family song came first and then the Uncle Tupelo album and then an AOL newsgroup and finally the magazine but in essence almost all of the music that I listen to has been described as No Depression. It was always difficult to describe. I sometimes use the phrase alt-country but that is a bit of a misnomer. Some of it is like Son Volt, country music with a rock tinge, while others are people like Willie Nelson, stuff that is so traditional country that it has become alternative. The No Depression is more of a state of mind than a sound. It’s fiercely independent, true to heart, lyrically brilliant music. Songs that someone can stand on stage in front of twenty people and sing because it truly is what they believe in.
I don’t think that the genre is dying per se (odds are the magazine business is a rather poor one to be in right now) but this is a blow for people like me. I learned about a lot of great bands by reading the magazine. I saw shows solely because of a blurb I read or, truth be told, a picture of a pretty female singer-songwriter in one of the ads. (To this day the only reason I go to see Eleni Mandell in concert is because of a picture I saw of her.) The magazine was run by people who weren’t bound to any corporate viewpoint; they all just loved music. There was no overlying agenda, no “You have to give the new Hootie and the Blowfish record three stars”, just great discussions of often overlooked acts. While Paste magazine has tried hard to reach the same audience I think that this will be a big gap in the music world. No Depression will definitely be missed.
Of course, I can always just rely on Maxim for my music commentary. They apparently gave the new Black Crowes album two and a half stars despite not actually having listened to it. I don’t know about you but even though I haven’t listened to it I would have to say that two and a half stars sounds about right to me.
1 comment:
There's actually an even better reason to see Eleni Mandell. Simply put, she's the best songwriter alive today. No contest. She has 6 CD's out and there's not a bad song on any of them. Not even The Beatles can say that.
Post a Comment