[photo by
Aislinn Leggett]
Being a photographer myself (or just pretending), I see some techniques in Aislinn's photo that may not be obvious without closer examination. For one thing, the mirrors show many reflections, so extra care must have been taken by Aislinn to avoid herself or her camera being in the photo. This image (linked from her blog) also has depth of composition (the mirrors help of course), but also look at the framing (ie, the crop) and how it draws you in (intimate). Maybe the scenario seems unusual (or even disturbing?) to those of us who are used to seeing BAM on stage (under the limelight), but photos that aren't normal (Zack Smith's "Portrait of the Slip's shoes" [my title] comes to mind) make us think and something we might not like at first glance we can learn to like with closer examination. The sepia tones seem to be from choice of clothing (and setting), but I'd like to hear from Aislinn herself the technical details of making this photo. I'm sure I'll learn something.
One aspect of art is making the normal seem strange or making the strange seem normal (so we discussed in aesthetics), so not fully understanding an artistic "angle" in a sense is not necessary to enjoy it. Also not liking something doesn't mean it's not "good art" from a more objective (or professional/experienced) viewpoint.
I'm also not one to criticize Rolling Stone's writers from a journalist's point of view, but I felt the article was fair and can't be as deep as many of us would like just yet. Since this is only The Slip's second appearance in RS, we're getting more background...but it will take some time until the media wheels come around and BAM gets more in-depth coverage. Until then we should be more than happy with the more extensive articles by our friends at State of Mind. I'll let SamNo2 comment on the journalistic angles as he actually can speak as a Journalist (with a cap-J, as in J-school, or J-to-the-hizzoint).
I somewhat agree that "most music journalists" are rather unoriginal, but I can say this about journalism in general. Most of the mainstream copy we see daily is just tripe, but I just seek out the well-written (thorough, angles I like) articles and I'm pretty good at filtering out the nonsense (biases, though I'm learning even biases can be filtered or generated in subtle or imperceptible ways). I'd say this write-up is more main-stream, but it's hard to really bust the moves in something that's still so short, and the debate is definitely a subject of concern (as we all have shown, and most blatantly the band) and even controversy. But I hope we can all learn to laugh at ourselves, and especially our insecurities...by doing this we all grow).
Being weary of repetition (also boredom) is another thing altogether, but what separates the pros from the amateurs is the amateurs get sick and never adapt, the pros suck it up and break on through (to the other side). They shatter the shackles and continue the race. To be stuck in a self-inflicted quagmire (we'll talk about Johari windows and other doors to perception, this is more psychosocial bibble-babble) is only going to cause stress and even embrace failure. Don't tell me something is boring then say how you're going to do a better job. Just Do It. If I'm every boring, please shoot me.
Another thing is when you know someone pretty well (with varying degrees of what we think of "to know" someone), you can ask far more interesting questions. Just ask Mike or Beth. Maybe Andy Greene has limits (editors?) to how far he can dig down now (with only 4 paragraphs to boot). I think Marc's quote is particularly meaningful: "It's nice to have a bit of time in the muck". We all know BAM is definitely not a one-album or one-hit wonder band. But then there's the Guitar Hero crowd. They are drinking the kool aid, too. I think Andy covers a good amount of territory, and we all know where we can get more details (ahem, State of Mind or Sam No. 2, maybe SlipLive though it's very scattered...there's backups of Graffiti and J.Booth's original site somewhere in the ether). We will also see this entension of the scope (or microphone if you will) when the larger articles come out in time. The timing of the media machine is hard to guess, but they are turning, cogs are starting to click and the teeth all starting to match up now.
It also won't be long before they're on Conan (my prediction) or Carson Daly (or who else?). Has anyone sent out the CD? I certainly hope so! Who is the coolest in terms of musical knowledge? I know Howard Stern has a musical vocab (plays guitar a bit). But once you've made the circuit once or twice, you're a household name. Even Johnny Depp was in something like 15 bands before he became an actor (and did you know he used to sell pens?). Remember, the video is not out yet, so don't jump the gun!
Sara, I'm reading you, but what would be your interview angles? It's easier to simply state something is boring, so please throw me a bone here. [Or roll one and I'll smoke it with you.
] Of course, you know them much better than most -- but I think you can use this to your advantage and show us some more interesting questions. (or are you holding out on us??? ;-}). Like the days at Antwerp or the Red House. If we don't write these down now, they will be lost in the sands of time! That's even worse than being bored, or perhaps boring someone else (I'm a documentarian of sorts, and feel the responsibility to both the public record and the media/arts aspects far outweigh any trivialities we contrive against ourselves!). But I'm not bored with your boredom, I just don't find Andy's article vapid, only a medium level of depth that I think fits the space on the page.
I'm also sure there are at least a few in the press who read this -- you know the ones I've mentioned here (and the ones you know) and I see there are hundreds of lurkers (and increasing -- I'll do a new country report for the stats-curious types). I also know that the commercial press looks at Wiki and many other sources of information. Why don't Andrew and Brad have Wiki bios???!!! There's something that would give benefit to the learning world out there -- beyond the media market that Rolling Stone and other major commercial publications represent.
I can think of thousands of "interesting" or "embarrassing" or "poignant" questions, and will give you one example here.
Q: Ok, Brad, now that you've been on Guitar Hero, Howard Stern and twice in Rolling Stone, are you at the top of your game??? How's that for a loaded question? [Please do me a favor and ask him this the next time anyone has a chance to talk to him, and please take good notes.
]
From my own perspective, Rolling Stone has improved considerably over the last few years, and Relix has definitely taken a slide. Everything oscillates and this is probably just a natural cycle. It's also about the writers and I think also the intense emotions about the election really brought out strong language and powerful, eye-opening articles on what's going on in the huge areas of war and politics (Matt Tabibi comes to mind..the Abu-Ghraib article, Bobby Kennedy, Jr, voting, etc).
I am certain that these heavy-duty journalistic masterpieces helped sway the election. This will directly save thousands of lives. It may turn a possible 20-year war (AEI said "several generations) into a 5-year war. But I'm going way beyond the scope of the original discussion, so I'll wrap it up.
Kudos again to our Canadian compadre,
Aislinn Legett, for landing a well-crafted photo in one of the largest and most respected music publications on the planet. She can only go up from here.
-Keep up the good work,
Phrazz
