Tag: rockism

• Flowers in a Pop(ul)ist Paradigm

  Spilled Reality, “One more on The 1975?”: The 1975 bloomed late in pop critics’ multi-decade questioning of masculine-rockist values like authenticity and edginess. In the new pop(ul)ist paradigm, entertainment value and its near heuristic, melodic propulsion, are strong arguments for aesthetic quality in themselves. Authenticity is redefined, less a matter of sheer aesthetic originality (anxiety…

  suspendedreason

  December 26, 2018

  Blog

  Brandon Flowers, Mark Fisher, Pitchfork, pop music, poptimism, rockism, The 1975, The Killers

• Genre, Values Hierarchies, & Intentionality in Pop

  

  I. Does intentionality matter? Critical consequentialism put to the ultimate test: David Cooper Moore’s “The Scary, Misunderstood Power of a ‘Teen Mom’ Star’s Album”  discusses Farrah Abraham’s infamous pop record My Teenage Dream Ended: It’s tempting to consider My Teenage Dream Ended alongside other reality TV star vanity albums, like Paris Hilton’s excellent (and unfairly…

  suspendedreason

  May 14, 2016

  Essays

  Camera Obscura, categories, category, critical reagents, critical relativism, Elizabeth Wollman, Farrah Abraham, genre, Lou Reed, pop music, poptimism, rockism, transgression, values hierarchies

• Regarding Rockism Pts 2 & 3: The Progress of Poptimism and the New Rockism

  Part One explored the origins and evolution of different authenticity models in American popular music criticism, breaking apart contemporary constructions into essentialist and personal models stemming, respectively, from European-American and African-American cultures. Now, in Parts Two and Three, poptimism’s rise to near-hegemonic acceptance is examined through the lens of Lana Del Rey and her shifting reception at Pitchfork…

  suspendedreason

  January 28, 2016

  Essays

  authenticity, Ellen Willis, intentionality, Lana Del Rey, Lindsay Zoladz, meta-criticism, music, nostalgia, persona, Pitchfork, poptimism, rockism, Ryan Dombol

• Regarding Rockism, pt 1: Black Truths, Noble Savages

  I. Introduction Controversy over Lana Del Rey has centered around everything from her singing ability and views on feminism to her interview last year with the Guardian in which she opined on musicians who have died young. (“Glamorous?” she was asked. “Ummmm, yeah.”) But within music criticism circles, one of the primary topics of conversation has been…

  suspendedreason

  November 23, 2015

  Essays

  authenticity, blues, fetish, folk, Lana Del Rey, meta-criticism, music, music criticism, Nitsuh Abebe, nostalgia, Pitchfork, pop music, poptimism, rockism