madlee wrote:

steve wrote:

madlee wrote:there's no way around it, unless you decide to become cardew, which after years of thinking was the way, I've come to conclusion that it's akin to taking your ball and going home.

Nonsense. Everyone picks his way through the forest, and there are some ways that are uglier and more destructive than others. It is also totally normal to notice how others are making their way, and form an opinion on it. Totally normal.

Nonsense? I'm agreeing with you!

C'mon, you know Steve is "difficult."
Don't you read Pitchfork and stuff? It's all true!

-A

Is this a good time to post this article?

alex maiolo wrote:C'mon, you know Steve is "difficult."
Don't you read Pitchfork and stuff? It's all true!

No, no...he's usually "notorious" or "infamous."

NerblyBear wrote:Marsupialized, that's one of the funniest stories I've ever heard.

One time when I was eleven years old I pulled a prank where I put up a sign in my community mailbox that said that Shaquille O'Neal was coming that Saturday to sign autographs. Half the neighborhood showed up. People were having barbecues on their front lawns, waiting to wave to the limousine as it drove by! LOLZ!

DAMN! That shit's so funny! Best laugh I've had all day!

Steve,

Through the course of your recording, haven't you ever recorded a band who put out music through some whack-ass means, like they played the superbowl or played on SNL and immediately after their set, SNL put up the "music provided by Budweiser" graphic or whatnot? You've never aligned yourself with anybody who aligned themself with something shitey, maybe in the interest of paying your rent?

I realize that's different, because it's one step removed... not allying oneself with the MTV awards but rather with a band that played on the MTV awards, something like that. And I realize you're not rolling in the benjamins or anything, when you most likely could be. And you've probably passed up a bunch of opportunities to whore yourself out in ways that you would consider unethical.

But does that factor in with the whole threshold-for-douchebaggery thing? Like, folks are gonna dislike Sonic Youth extra much because they worked with Starbucks. So now moving forward, does allying oneself with Sonic Youth then taint you by proxy, since they're allied with the douchebags? Didn't Robert Plant write a song for Pepsi or something whack like that? I made that up, but there has to be something, right?

I hope it's obvious that I'm just asking a maybe-loaded question, and there's a little devil's advocate going on too. It's just that even with something like this, I really don't feel like I have a good reason to not hold Sonic Youth in high esteem. Maybe that's because I haven't paid much attention to anything they've done since the 80's/early 90's. But obviously, Steve, I have a lot of respect for you as a person, musician, engineer, maybe even businessman (if you really are one, at the end of the day), etc.

But seriously, haven't you recorded at least a handful of douchebags over the years? Is it a key difference that you haven't sought it out, or even been enthusiastic about it, whereas Thurston is seemingly gung-ho to do this? Is it the one-step-removed thing? Or is there something I'm totally missing here (which is what I expect). Please rip me a new one.

scott wrote:Steve,

...

Please rip me a new one.

tommydski wrote:

e-cunt wrote:<scratching my head>

As in, they are both tied to big corporations that try to maintain an ethical stance.

I don't approve or disapprove but I understand it. They sound like perfect bedfellows to me.

Yes, that was clear, but we dont' get starbucks here, and as far as I understand this a coffee oriented Mcdonald's type of thing? So the fact that they are involved in making a CD with a serious band is absolutely WTF-ish ridiculous to me. I understand it might look different to folks from UK/USA.

scott wrote:Steve,

Through the course of your recording, haven't you ever recorded a band who put out music through some whack-ass means, like they played the superbowl or played on SNL and immediately after their set, SNL put up the "music provided by Budweiser" graphic or whatnot? You've never aligned yourself with anybody who aligned themself with something shitey, maybe in the interest of paying your rent?

But seriously, haven't you recorded at least a handful of douchebags over the years? .

this is stupid, it's like bitching to Bush's tailor about Iraq.
He just made the suit, man. He has no say...or interest, really, in what the motherfucker wearing it does.

emmanuelle cunt wrote:...we dont' get starbucks here, and as far as I understand this a coffee oriented Mcdonald's type of thing? So the fact that they are involved in making a CD with a serious band is absolutely WTF-ish ridiculous to me. I understand it might look different for folks from UK/USA.

Starbucks is a franchise-chain coffee shop that sells bulk coffees and carry-out cups of coffee and houses a small restaurant. In addition to coffee, they sell pre-made pastries & sandwiches. The shops also have a small hardware section that sells coffee makers, small home espresso machines, stainless thermal cups and the like.

Their prices tend toward the expensive side, and they tout their coffee as being top-quality blends of only the finest beans. The coffee is almost always dark-roasted (Viennese or darker, most being around the range of French roast) and is brewed quite strong.

The company has a reputation for treating its employees exceptionally well for a fast-food-type employer, but many people see Starbucks stores as distasteful, douchebag yuppie havens that are cropping up all over the country and driving smaller, hipper independently-owned coffee houses out of business.

Starbucks has also been carrying music CDs for 5-10 years, as an impulse-buy item near the register. They started out selling song compilations as seasonal items, with jazz artists renditions of popular Christmas music. As tijme went on, they began offering special compilations (I believe they contracted them from one of the major labels) of some less-threatening jazz selections. Recently though Starbucks announced the formation of a new record label of their own, and their first recording artist was announced to be Sir Paul the Beatle.

Marsupialized wrote:this is stupid, it's like bitching to Bush's tailor about Iraq.
He just made the suit, man. He has no say...or interest, really, in what the motherfucker wearing it does.

Well this is obviously nor true. For example, if he really has no interest in what the motherfucker wearing the suit does, then Steve wouldn't mind recording a band that put together their recording fund by kidnapping and selling children in some slavery ring. I'm fairly certain that a line would be drawn there, and the money considered to be in some way tainted, and the association with the band undesirable.