unkle-war-stories

Far more hyperbolic

For as self-obsessed as I am, I'm still always completely caught off-guard when I'm confronted with the fact that people actually pay attention to the stuff I write.



Maybe it's just me.

Maybe losing that election to be my 7th grade homeroom representative had lingering effects on my self-esteem.

But it's pretty astounding to me when anyone gives a shit about what I think. (And I'm pretty sure the people closest to me share the same dumbfounded amazement.)



So I'm just now getting used to the fact that the musicians I write about (actually, to a much more likely extent: their publicists) will reference a quote from me on their websites or in press releases. I'm not special (don't listen to that, mom). I mean, this happens to anyone at AP–and really, to anyone in the media. You know what I'm talking about. All those ads or CD stickers that say things like:



"Exceptionally Tolerable." — Alternative Press



It's kinda weird when something you write ends up in a place like that. Cause, most likely, you wrote it at 3:43 a.m. in your darkened apartment with a bowl of soggy Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch next to you, just praying that you're gonna make your deadline. Not that you don't mean every word you said.

You just don't expect anyone to latch onto it.

Especially when it's a band you grew up loving.



That's kinda how I felt late last week when Heisel told me that I needed to instantly check out the Toadies' website.



They totally posted my Listening Station write-up about the band.



So this got me to thinking about other instances where I was quoted or referenced or exploited. And since I have 96 minutes before this blog is officially past my deadline, I'm gonna use that as today's topic.



So, in no order, here's my ultra-narcissistic look back at some of my favorites:



UNKLE – War Stories press release

With UNKLE's third proper release, the outfit veer in two directions nobody foresaw–live and West–to record with stoner-rock icon Chris Goss. This organic indulgence is initially disconcerting, but upon closer inspection, UNKLE's familiar, cinematic aesthetic reveals itself

–Tim Karan, ALTERNATIVE PRESS (September 2007)



I completely went nuts for UNKLE when Psyence Fiction came out in 1998. I was working at the now-defunct Music X in my college town and I used to subject my co-workers and innocent customers to repeated listenings for hours on end. When I got a chance to write the review for War Stories, it was kind of trippy to think that a decade earlier, I was just a disheveled record store sales assistant. And now I was a disheveled magazine editor. I was a little bummed when I saw this quote, because I don't think it's super-flattering for UNKLE. I'm can't be sure, but knowing me, I'm pretty sure there was a far more hyperbolic sentence they coulda gone with.

 



THRICE – MySpace page

You probably know by now that Thrice are just about infallible to me. I vote for them collectively as write-ins on every regional voting ballot. So I was out of my mind stoked when they got hold of my early review of The Alchemy Indexand not only posted it in full on their MySpace page, but posted a bulletin telling everyone to check it out. For a minute, I thought about turning in my resignation, because there was really nowhere to go from there but down….and down I promptly went. It was my first real taste of message board messiahs disagreeing with me. I was instantly reamed a new orifice on one website in particular that claimed that I obviously hadn't actually listened to the record (although I gave it 4 out of 5 stars), mostly because I made the apparent unforgivable sin of referencing the band Chevelle. In hindsight, I probably could've come up with a different band to compare the album to. But then I never would've had the indescribable pleasure of being lambasted publicly by kids who've never met me.

 



GLOS – MySpace page

Glos is the project of brother-sister duo Keeley Davis (Sparta, Engine Down) and Maura Davis (Denali, Ambulette). I legitimately loved their debut album, so I made it my Listening Station pick. Then it showed up on their MySpace. This one was awesome, not so much because I was glad they liked the write-up, but more because I may or may not daydream about a life where Maura and I live in a cozy little studio apartment somewhere in the suburbs of Portland or someplace like that. And Maura would be like, "Oh, isn't it weird how that one little paragraph led to our beautiful, beautiful life together? Let's watch NFL Gameday." This is all hypothetical, though. Remember I said, "may or may not daydream about…"

(But it's true.)

(Or is it?)

(Probably.)

(Or is it?)



(yeah.)



Evanescence – EvThreads message board

So, yeah. I don't hate Evanescence. Sue me. We've already established that I like Chevelle.

But when I included them in my 10 Essential list on albums I own that I should be ashamed of, that ended up becoming a topic of discussion on a fansite. I'm really glad that most of the participants seemed to get what I was going for, and realized that I was actually…kind of one of them.

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