21 February 2012

None Dare Call It Boho

I suppose there's a lot one could say about this by way of addressing its errors and inaccuracies and the cards it stacks for the sake of making what amounts to a dubious argument. Little need, though; because one commenter (Christine) has already done a lot of the heavy lifting. Noted that the screed comes via a publication whose subscription rate priced me out of its neighborhood nearly a full decade ago.

2 comments:

David K Wayne said...

That comment by Christine is excellent. As reflected in what it covers, The Wire is militantly middle class. It's editorial approach invalidates any impassioned class argument it may make in its pages. The way they 'gentrify' genre terms in the reviews page ("critical beats", "avant-rock" etc) is annoying enough. Genuinely popular forms (like metal or r'n'b) don't get a look in until a dollop of 'theory' can be applied to make it safe for white professional 35+somethings. Its uptight, academic, cautiousness invalidates any claim to championing the 'radical' or 'experimental'.

And yeah, I was priced out of its audience years ago, along with the 'events' it covered (if not 'festivals' costing two weeks' wages, then some ponderous, forgettable, stand-still smuggery in a church, exclusive gallery or converted factory). And why is almost everyone who makes the cover male, white and over 50? Endless 'war stories' of the 60s or 70s from 'fathers' of something or other aren't exactly my idea of 'new music'.

It had a great run in the 90s, but I find it more annoying than the endless nostalgia rags it shares shelf-space with. Despite its claims to the contrary, its as conservative and 'retromanic' as any of them.

Greyhoos said...

But the editor knows Thurston Moore personally, therefore he knows what he's talking about. Whereas me, on account of being an American and all, clearly don't.

Except for one thing maybe: The difference between a Raymond Pettibon and a Mike Kelley.

But yeah...the transatlantic subscription rate was even worse. And in the 5 years or so that I subscribed, it was always going up. "We just redesigned our masthead -- that'll be an additional $10 per annum. We just added a few more color spreads per issue; so that'll be another $10. Many of our better contributors have wandered off to other venues and our yearly giveaway CD features the exact same labels we've been spotlighting time and time again for the past 6-7 years, but that'll still be another $10." Feh.

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