Stories for Boys said:
diamond, please stop saying comments like that. i may be less than half your age, but i'm intelligent enough to realize your condescention--and i do not appreciate it. i strongly believe that every mockery, joke, or sarcastic comment has at least an incling of true feelings behind it. and i think you're confusing the words "higher standards" with the words "different taste"...
pete has amazing potential. better yet, he is still a super nice guy...
First I want to thank you for being so cool about this whole discussion. Very mature.
Second, your comment about Pete's personality, at least his public persona, is right on. I had the chance to chat with him at a show once. We were interrupted by someone who knew him and he made it a point to finish our conversation before moving on. A small gesture I know, but I've met other musicians who lack even that common courtesy. But moreover, I just felt like he was genuine.
As far as the comments that he's some sort of pre-packaged music hunk who's marketed on his looks, I don't see it. I think he's kind of ordinary looking, even slightly un-attractive, though I could see certain types of girls digging his overall vibe.
I'm also mystified by the whole sponsorship thing, but my guess is that he doesn't care. It's too easy to just dismiss him as a sell-out, because his statements and lyrics suggest he's a different type of person. My guess is his feeling is similar to U2's, though perhaps more compromised--and that is, get the music out, let that be the most important thing. If someone or some company wants to do that in exchange for a banner or a brand name on the ticket stub, whatever. I don't exactly agree with it, but I'm not going to judge him based on those moves.
(Different in U2's case, in which their "compromise" was to do such uncool things as play the Superbowl and NBA Championships, Letterman, SNL, etc. But both types of moves generally upset the purists in the same way.)
Last point, as if anyone cares at this point: I actually quite like "Day I Forgot." I see it as a natural extension of "MFTMA," except with a few more liberties and indulgences musically. I think it takes a some guts to put a song like "Carlos (Dont' Let It Go to Your Head)" on your album when you know it's fairly inaccessible. I think there's all kinds of little Wilco-esque musical quirks on the album that are intended to be subtle creative embellishments (the little bell sounds on "So Much Work," the high guitar/mandolin notes on "Crystal Village.") I think they're just an attempt to make the music a tad bit different, give it a slightly different hue, a bit of an awkward tilt. I actually think it works, in most cases.
Burrito -- hey, this is a fun song about young love. Just turn it up and drive fast. Nothing more.
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