U2 interview on Pitchfork.

[namkcuR]

Thanks for posting -- let us know when Part 2 is available.

Two things made me laugh: 1) Adam's smiling to himself after Bono repeats the "chopping down the Joshua Tree" quote for the 4000th time, and getting the chronology wrong (he says JT was the album before Achtung). 2) Edge's appreciation of Bono's anecdote about Blackwell's comment on Bob Marley -- maybe Edge had actually never heard that one before?

If nothing else, the fact that Bono himself doesn't know in what order U2 released albums should tell some people on this forum that they need to get a life.

Well, it's possible he thinks of R&H as a live album with some studio cuts thrown in, and that The Joshua Tree is the proper studio album that came before Achtung Baby. Just a thought. I mean, I consider R&H the 6th U2 album, but he might not.

 

[Rosebud]

Pitchfok?

You must be shitting me!

 

[Vlad n U 2]

*pinches self*

 

[last unicorn]

I cannot believe U2 is giving an interview to these asses, after they totally ripped NLOTH

I hate media that bashes the band and its music and then sucks up to them.

U2 should choose the people they are giving interviews to more carefully.
Pitchfork don't deserve to interview the band, their album review was an embarrassement, not for U2, but for Pitchfork.

 

[CrashedCarDriver]

the thing is u2's a pretty easy target for pitchfork, because u2 is a band that doesnt have much relevance left to 'good' modern music (by good modern, i dont speak of rhianna, chris brown, i speak more of fleet foxes or franz ferdinand) . in many ways u2 is a soft target to even the alternative-pop minded people who just say: 'i know we're talking about u2 here, its crap but y'know they did once ... '

u2 was bunched in that "80s superacts" like madonna and michael jackson, who kicked on for a bit, but time has caught up with them

pitchfork dont hide from the fact they find talking to bono and the rest of the band members more like talking to their parents rather than people on the same wavelength.

its not ageism though, they still like leonard cohen and scott walker, just not what bono and the band is doing.

 

[last unicorn]

Has Larry left the band or what? He doesn't appear in most of the interviews they did recently.

Or maybe they didn't take him along because he would have punched the Pitchfork guy's face

 

[Don Marino]

Part two is up.

 

[chrissybaby]

I expected more than that from Pitchfork. Much more.
Those questions invited the most oft-repeated insipid responses i've heard on this promo tour so far. Good on Larry for not going I say...

EDIT: Just seen the end of the second part!!!!

 

[PookaMacP]

I expected more than that from Pitchfork. Much more.
Those questions invited the most oft-repeated insipid responses i've heard on this promo tour so far. Good on Larry for not going I say...

EDIT: Just seen the end of the second part!!!!

I've just seen the end of it too - it was on the tip of Bono's tongue for the previous ten minutes to say something like that and it looked to me like he wanted to take it a little bit further. Funny how much he seems to have taken it to heart what they said, but how little comment is made on Pitchfork about the content of the video.

That said, the interview was truly awful. I'd expect more probing questions from Pitchfork than the usual crap wheeled out again; they dented their own integrity a little on that one by playing to the usual media stereotype rather than asking the probing questions about the music that they might have. And I'm sure the band wouldn't have minded the diversion from the mind-numbing interview routine either.

 

[last unicorn]

Pitchfork isn't interested in U2, that's why they asked lame, uninspired questions. All of them were bored and didn't want to be there. I've seen more challenging and interesting interviews than that, thank you.

 

[bambu]

Since Larry did all the talking in recent interviews they decided not to take him along. Otherwise they would have to change the name into LM-band again

Has Larry left the band or what? He doesn't appear in most of the interviews they did recently.

Or maybe they didn't take him along because he would have punched the Pitchfork guy's face

 

[icebergy]

Has Larry left the band or what? He doesn't appear in most of the interviews they did recently.

Or maybe they didn't take him along because he would have punched the Pitchfork guy's face

The last time he was missing they said he was sick...im sure they just forgot to add the "of bono and promoting the tour" part

 

[mikal]

can't watch the 2nd part at work, anything interesting?

 

[BVS]

the thing is u2's a pretty easy target for pitchfork, because u2 is a band that doesnt have much relevance left to 'good' modern music (by good modern, i dont speak of rhianna, chris brown, i speak more of fleet foxes or franz ferdinand) . in many ways u2 is a soft target to even the alternative-pop minded people who just say: 'i know we're talking about u2 here, its crap but y'know they did once ... '

u2 was bunched in that "80s superacts" like madonna and michael jackson, who kicked on for a bit, but time has caught up with them

pitchfork dont hide from the fact they find talking to bono and the rest of the band members more like talking to their parents rather than people on the same wavelength.

its not ageism though, they still like leonard cohen and scott walker, just not what bono and the band is doing.

No, Pitchfork only thinks you're cool if you're "underground", plain and simple. They are THE most transparent magazine out there.

 

[Irishteen]

No, Pitchfork only thinks you're cool if you're "underground", plain and simple. They are THE most transparent magazine out there.

That's why pitchfork loves Rihanna's music and Lil Wayne, all that underground off the charts stuff

 

[BVS]

That's why pitchfork loves Rihanna's music and Lil Wayne, all that underground off the charts stuff

Really? It's been awhile since I gave Pitchfork the time of day... they've gone mainstream? Wow.

 

[last unicorn]

Since Larry did all the talking in recent interviews they decided not to take him along. Otherwise they would have to change the name into LM-band again

Yeah, he was starting to become a real threat for Bono, so they had to get rid of him.

Poor Larry.

But good choice NOT to go to that interview.

 

[Gonna Run 2 U]

Basically Bono said "thanks to the internet any arsshole can pick up a microphone and think theyre john lennon but theyre not and they suck and to please pay hommage to the last classic rock act around today".

 

[mikal]

That's why pitchfork loves Rihanna's music and Lil Wayne, all that underground off the charts stuff

yeah, pitchfork is just hard to understand and i have mixed feelings about them. for the most part, they're an indie-suck up publication, and personally, i love indie music. the new albums by animal collective and grizzly bear are some of my favorites this year. but i do question their motives from time to time. i've always felt that they've chosen to hate U2 as a way of saying, "we're indie, and it would be against our morals to support a band like U2".

 

[Irishteen]

Really? It's been awhile since I gave Pitchfork the time of day... they've gone mainstream? Wow.

They're the same as always, it's odd but if you look at their top lists for each year some really poppy stuff is at the top in terms of songs


The only thing I trust pitchfork on anyway are indie albums, anything else I won't give them the time of day

They also recently said something positive about Fall Out Boy too..

 

[popacrobat]

talk about an awkward ending.

 

[u2trinity]

This is the first Pitchfork interview I've seen so I have a question .
Do they always put the people they are interviewing on the other side of the building , or is the distance between them because it's U2 ?

I love the way U2 handled this interview .

 

[buzzkill27]

Thats the thing with these sites, they will slate them and slag them off on the website etc etc (because its cool to hate them now), but when they get the chance to interview them, they jump at the chance,

Ain't that the fucking truth

And to boot they gave Horizon a 4.2 out of 10......but Bomb rated higher a 6.9???? I'd love to figure that logic out

 

[buzzkill27]

yeah, i like that they went into it with that attitude. makes me wonder if there were some things said off camera.

Obviously someone in the band's camp made them aware of Pitchfork's piss poor review of Horizon....that is if the band didn't already know about it themselves(which is quite likely)

 

[coemgen]

I just watched. Wow. They were really trying to prove themselves there. At first, I thought they didn't have to. However, with the Internet and word and opinion traveling fast, maybe bands do more these days. I know U2 doesn't care about sales, but if relevance is their goal they may have to do a little pr as they get older. Odd.

 

[mikal]

yeah, i definitely don't mind U2 taking their critics head on. probably won't change some of the indie fan-boys' minds, but i still like their decision.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

This is the first Pitchfork interview I've seen so I have a question .
Do they always put the people they are interviewing on the other side of the building , or is the distance between them because it's U2 ?

What? U2 seemed to be at such-and-such location and they went there to meet them...don't read into the guy sitting a little far away. It probably has to do with not wanting to pick him up on camera, easier to film the two or three shots.

Loved how Bono turned this car wreck into a natural disaster at the end.

 

[last unicorn]

No, I found the distance strange, too, and the guy's behavious ackward. There clearly were some tensions between them. Just imagine you ripped the bands' album and now you're in a room with them. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when the cameras weren't rolling.

 

[mikal]

No, I found the distance strange, too, and the guy's behavious ackward. There clearly were some tensions between them. Just imagine you ripped the bands' album and now you're in a room with them. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when the cameras weren't rolling.

was this the same guy who wrote that horrible review?

 

[Judah]

was this the same guy who wrote that horrible review?

No, the NLOTH review was done by Ryan Dombal (or something). The interviewer is Mark Richardson...the only album review he's listed of doing of U2's stuff is the U2 Singles release (he gave it a 7).

This Pitchfork interview was one of the strangest i've ever seen. I think, like everyone else said, "awkward" is the right term. Though i'm impressed that they used more than one camera (maybe even three).

People are right though...Richardson's questions needed to be way more interesting. You're from Pitchfork...if you think you have a certain constituent of music lovers that are probably way different from the type that like U2 music (even if you won't say it out loud), ask questions around that of the band. "Do you think your music can still connect to an 'alternative' or 'underground' or 'indie' - however, people define them - scene? Why or why not? You were once considered the biggest underground band in the world, back in '83 or so. How are your sensibilities different and how do they impact for whom you make your music?"

I don't know...something more probing woulda been nice...