Turning things around: the SALEM controversy
Updated on Oct 8, 2010 by
Marley
Updated on Oct 8, 2010 by
Marley
Updated on Oct 8, 2010 by
Russ
Updated on Oct 8, 2010 by
Russ
Now that Salem's KING NIGHT is actually out, we at soldout (AKA the salem-superfan-superfascination site) are enjoying mainstream reviws of the album. Naturally, more than one have noted the interesting mix of musical styles that Salem blend--shoegaze, rap, drone, pop, screw, crunk--and we have to nod to Pitchfork for making a Werewolf Bar Mitzvah comparison, to our surprise, instead of commending the group for bridging the gaps between these vastly different styles some reviwers have taken to suggesting that the group's intents were based on racial appropriation. While we're open to hearing everyone else's opinion on our favorite trainwreck of a musical group, we're not so sure what to think of reviwers who so casually throw around terms like, racist and minstrelsy.
To wit: the esteemed twitter music critic 1000timesyes aka Chris Weingarten vs our own Dr Z
Those terms are heavy, loaded and easy--or, to put it much more casually, them's fightin' words. But maybe it is we who are missing something? For us, t's not a black and white issue (pun... indented). So the soldoutmusic.com members who are online at 11 AM on a Friday (read as: Liz Raftery is innocent in all this) are discussing...and we hope you'll join in. Note: this conversation is UNEDITED.
Kristin: Wow. I'm really surprised by that well-written and thoughtful review. I guess it takes more than 140 characters to do that kind of thinking!
