Appreciate the time and energy that went into this. This seems to be the crux: "That there was some way for the thrills and novelty of the American market-driven system to co-exist with the BBC’s ad-free public service monopoly."
I guess my feeling about the pushback to poptimism isn't so much that people actually think the critics caused it, it's more that they long for a world that's less market-oriented, and think the critics were wrong to embrace the aesthetics of pop without realising they were also embracing the market as such. Capitalism crowds out other ways of life. In the words of Terre Thaemlitz, "there has to be more than the sale." So it's not that people think "human beings who care about virtue and values are steering the ship" -- does anyone look at our world and think that? -- but that they'd like a bit more space for virtue and values, maybe?
I mean, he also makes the point that critics are themselves creating competing stories which they must sell in the market, and that the idea that music you like exists outside of those forces is one of the most compelling narratives a writer can spin for likes and retweets
Just read another thing yesterday that trotted out some of the old "poptimism" talking points and it reminded me of this piece, which I have come to believe is something every contemporary Anglophone pop culture writer should not only have to read but also pass a quiz on
Appreciate the time and energy that went into this. This seems to be the crux: "That there was some way for the thrills and novelty of the American market-driven system to co-exist with the BBC’s ad-free public service monopoly."
I guess my feeling about the pushback to poptimism isn't so much that people actually think the critics caused it, it's more that they long for a world that's less market-oriented, and think the critics were wrong to embrace the aesthetics of pop without realising they were also embracing the market as such. Capitalism crowds out other ways of life. In the words of Terre Thaemlitz, "there has to be more than the sale." So it's not that people think "human beings who care about virtue and values are steering the ship" -- does anyone look at our world and think that? -- but that they'd like a bit more space for virtue and values, maybe?
I mean, he also makes the point that critics are themselves creating competing stories which they must sell in the market, and that the idea that music you like exists outside of those forces is one of the most compelling narratives a writer can spin for likes and retweets
insanely fucking good piece wow
Just read another thing yesterday that trotted out some of the old "poptimism" talking points and it reminded me of this piece, which I have come to believe is something every contemporary Anglophone pop culture writer should not only have to read but also pass a quiz on
The rabbit hole deepens. Well done.
This is great and I think Adam Curtis should narrate the documentary adaptation. Rodney Bingenheimer was not British though.