[truncated]

A touchy issue indeed...

It's quite funny when people criticize a supposedly principled musician/band for "selling out" by participating in something mainstream. The way I see it:

1. Music is an art, but, as much as some purists hate to admit, it IS also a business. If a band's sole aim was to create music purely for its own and its listeners' intellectual gratification, they woudn't bother releasing albums; they'd sit in each other's basements and play to themselves. Nor would they sell albums at a profit; they'd give them away, or sell them at cost to break even. However, while it's a form of expression, essentially it's a job like any other.

2. The recurring hypocrisy of the trendophobe. People bitch and moan about the idiocy of the general public and their collective bad taste, their ignorance to worthwhile music while they happily swallow whatever top ten hit blaring on the radio at the moment. However, in some frantic attempt to jealously guard their image as ecclectic and 'underground,' they immediately damn an artist that makes their work accessible to the public, because, god forbid, what if everyone ELSE starts liking the same things that you, O enlightened avant-garde intellectual, enjoy as well?

Well, isn't that what you were just bitching about? That these people are ignorant to quality? A band makes its music digestable to the masses in the interests of sharing something it thinks is worthwhile, giving them the 'education' you think they so desperately need, and this makes them 'sellouts'?

Are you mad? ISN'T THAT THE POINT? To share the wealth with others?

Deep in the secret folds of your corduroy-draped, denim-swathed, toussle-haired, anti-establishment, indie-humping hearts, you cower in fear of assimilation. You desperately cling to your identity of being on the 'outside,' to the romantic notion that you, and ONLY you, are clever and anti-hip and abstract and enlightened, and if you suddenly became one of a multitude, you would have nothing definitive left to redeem your existence. You're DIFFERENT, by christ, and nobody ELSE is allowed to be different!

I would bet my literal life that if Sonic Youth were more popular, 80% of you assholes wouldn't be on this board.

[Anngella]

Haven't seen it, probably not going to, not voluntarily anyways, it's his life, let the man do what he wants~

[truncated]

There's a link to it on the first page Anngella, if you do care to watch it.

Yes, it's a silly commercial in my opinion, but that's irrelevant. As you said - "it's his life, let the man do what he wants"

Bah why do I even bother

[Anngella]

There's a link to it on the first page Anngella, if you do care to watch it.

Clicking a link it too much work for my brittle bones to handle~

[noumenal]

Coke tastes like happiness.

[truncated]

I hate waiting for pages to load.

DIET coke is the nectar of the gods. And diet black cherry vanilla coke? Orgasm in a bottle.

[Anngella]

DIET coke is the nectar of the gods

Truest words ever spoken~

And diet black cherry vanilla coke? Orgasm in a bottle.

That just killed it.

[truncated]

Originally Posted by Anngella

That just killed it.

Blasphemer!

[Everyneurotic]

so finally jack white admitted he's terrible?

about time!!! but terrible is putting it too lightly. how about "repugnant retarded ripoff has-been"?

[terminal pharmacy]

im not a fan of the white stripes, but the ad definately looks like the work of michel gondry so hey if they can work together and some massive corp pays them to do it it is their choice, depends on the lens through which you view it. i would do it for the money and to work with someone like gondry but i am broke, this whole cred thing gets a bit much sometimes, who's cool and who isnt because of a choice they make in their life which is of no business of anyone else.

[HaydenAsche]

Originally Posted by truncated

I hate waiting for pages to load.

DIET coke is the nectar of the gods. And diet black cherry vanilla coke? Orgasm in a bottle.

This woman knows what she is talking about.

[fishmonkey]

Originally Posted by truncated

The recurring hypocrisy of the trendophobe. People bitch and moan about the idiocy of the general public and their collective bad taste, their ignorance to worthwhile music while they happily swallow whatever top ten hit blaring on the radio at the moment. However, in some frantic attempt to jealously guard their image as ecclectic and 'underground,' they immediately damn an artist that makes their work accessible to the public, because, god forbid, what if everyone ELSE starts liking the same things that you, O enlightened avant-garde intellectual, enjoy as well?

Deep in the secret folds of your corduroy-draped, denim-swathed, toussle-haired, anti-establishment, indie-humping hearts, you cower in fear of assimilation. You desperately cling to your identity of being on the 'outside,' to the romantic notion that you, and ONLY you, are clever and anti-hip and abstract and enlightened, and if you suddenly became one of a multitude, you would have nothing definitive left to redeem your existence. You're DIFFERENT, by christ, and nobody ELSE is allowed to be different!

I would bet my literal life that if Sonic Youth were more popular, 80% of you assholes wouldn't be on this board.

A load of bollox, sorry

[terminal pharmacy]

FISHMONKEY

if you are going to argue against Truncated's point then I think you should at least explain why it is bollocks, lets have some actual intelligent conversation on this board rather than just short answers with no rebuttal of arguments.

[Alex's Trip]

I like the Stripes. The commercial is cool I guess...better than most commercials I see on tv.

[fishmonkey]

ok id argue if i had the time really, i finish work for the weekend in about 10 minutes but here goes..
i think Truncated thinks i'm some type of fonzy type creature living in my parents basement listening to all my Emo idols telling me that "down the road and not across the street" is the proper way to kill myself and oh wait here's Jack White doin a coke ad and thats about to push me over the edge.. Like i mean the line "what if everyone else like the same bands you do" what the fuck is that about? White Stripes were an international band way before anyone doing a coke ad, How stupid would i sound saying.." i liked them way before the Ad and how dare all yee cokehead's jump on MY bandwagon" no that sounds fuckin stupid and not the comments of a 28 year old man, thats the same 28 year old who started listening to sonic youth at 16, i've like thme when they were popular and like them when "the popular" was giving up on them..

Its a fuckin shite ad and a shite song and ok Jack White can do what he wants (the chap is a genius musician) i do feel doing this is a shite move for him...

over to you.

(PS sorry about the "bollox" comment but "I would bet my literal life that if Sonic Youth were more popular, 80% of you assholes wouldn't be on this board" really rubbed me up the wrong way)

[truncated]

Fishmonkey, that wasn't directed towards you in any way.

Nor did I like the ad, or the song.

It was a comment on how some people get all up in arms when certain artists appear in the mainstream. Like when Kim did Calvin Klein adverts, or when Death Cab, M83, and Malkmus's songs appeared on TV commercials. A number of people were appalled that supposedly "obscure" artists would sell themselves to popular culture.

The twisted logic of it bothers me. These people are complaining about the public, which they deem collectively ignorant, being exposed to 'obscure' music. Well, should the ignorant not be educated? Should we not WANT the masses to appreciate bands like Sonic Youth in the way that we do?

It just pisses me off how quick people are to apply the term "sellout." They do it in some mindless, reactionary way, and end up being hypocrites.

And can you honestly say you don't know the type of people I'm talking about when I say that if SY were more popular, they wouldn't be listening to them? Those anal-retentive music snobs? Those people who, though they hate to admit it, get rather miffed once an underground band that they listen to becomes more mainstream?

Though again, it doesn't apply to you fishmonkey (I read your posts, you're not a fucktard), I still stand by my statement: I would bet my literal life that if Sonic Youth were more popular, 80% of you assholes wouldn't be on this board.

Eh, I'm feeling magnanimous today. Make that 60%.

[bytheriver]

I love The White Stripes, Jack white is pretty much one of my favourite muscicians, he's an awesome pop star, I love their songs, their aesthetic, I love his Willy Wonka/ Southern Gentleman thing, and live they are so exciting it takes the piss. And I'm really disappointed he's done this, thats not gonna stop me buying the records or going to the shows but it is a bit of a shame, when they they turned down Gap which it was really cool because they could have used both the money and the exposure but chose not too and showed a lot of integrity and whatever reasons he says about doing the ad its Coke, I drink Coke a lot but they have some pretty dodgy associations with anti union paramilitaries in Colombia (which have been implicated in murders of unionists at bottling plants used bu coke albeit through outsourcing) in associating his image and artistic credentials to a company he's showing at best an ignorance and worse a disregard for those and similar issues. But whatever, so long as the next records good

[truncated]

Didn't Gap have some issues with using child labor at one time? I could be wrong.

How can you, by buying its products, endorse a company you've damned, then criticize an artist for endorsing that same company?

[bytheriver]

Because I'm fundamentally a hypocrite, I like soft drinks, I dont buy gallons of the stuff but you're right it is flawed. If I was to boycott all products with unethical associations, and theoretically ioften think thats what you should do, then Id be giving up a lot of my favourite things like cigarrettes for starters.
I also think theres a difference between drinking the occasional coke and using your image to endorse it to a much wider population, not that I have that option but ethically its in a different league.
And thinking on Coke has a bottling plant in Palestine and is one of the few foreign investors there, which is pretty good of them as thats an awfully deprived area.
And I criticised him, but I'm not boycotting him, similar to my approach to coke so at least theres consistency in my wishy washyness.

Oh and yeah Gap was using sweatshop labour in their clothes manufacture, as was most major clothing manufacturers and brands but after No Logo and a lot of activists publicised that fact it become really bad branding to have that sort of thing associated with them so they improved. Gaps actually pretty ethical nowadays.

[bytheriver]

I've gone from drinking coke a lot to having the occasional one, damn Ill settle for being an average consumer of the stuff.
I really like Sprite too.