Brian Harnetty: Paste's "Artist of the Week"

I've written about Brian Harnetty before, so I won't go into a long preamble about him. But he's a talented dude from Columbus, and I was happy Paste let me write about him for its website's "Artist of the Week" feature. You can read it here.

Silent City, Harnetty's new album featuring Bonnie "Prince Billy, is out tomorrow on Atavistic Records.

Paste magazine seeking bailout

Apparent the Georgia-based music magazine is in a lot of debt. Here's some links to explain things:

- The campaign to save Paste

- Paste's letter to readers

- Paste's letter to contributors (many of whom apparently haven't been getting paid recently)

- Atlanta Journal-Constitution's story about the situation, w/ editor Josh Jackson interview

- Rundown/analysis from Blurt (formerly Harp)

Staying relevant

Neko Case has a new album out, and if you liked Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, you'll like this one. Same vivid, bizarre songwriting, same terrific voice. Same electric-red hair, too, judging by the album cover and features in Paste and Spin. In fact, she graced the cover of Paste's February issue.

Before hearing the album, I was pretty excited to read about Neko, the making of Middle Cyclone, etc. But, to my disappointment, Paste decided to do a "50th Issue Lovefest"-themed issue, which I guess was also some sort of Valentine's day tie-in. This also meant the cover story on Neko Case ended up being a list of her favorite things ("17 Things I <3"). There's a reason most good, long-form feature stories rely on more than a Q&A with the artist, just like there's a reason good stories aren't made up entirely of quotes. Generally, I learn more about an artist and his/her music by reading about a writer's experiences with that artist rather than a string of quotes. Some of my favorite music journalism is such because of what a writer perceives behind and between the quotes--the way someone's face twitches, the way she gets visibly awkward when addressing a certain subject, how she holds her spoon, interactions with strangers, etc.

Which is why I enjoyed Ellen Carpenter's Spin profile of Neko far more. While it may seem counterintuitive, I don't care about Neko describing her favorite things in her own words. I want to hear a good writer describe her favorite things, how that conclusion was made and why they're her favorite things. Not to mention that what she hates is probably far more interesting.

One example. Both stories talk about how much Neko loves her grehounds. In Case's words (from Paste): "Dogs live for today. I love them for that."

In Carpenter's words (from Spin): "Neko Case's biggest fans bum-rush her at her front door. 'Hi, guys!' she singsongs as four large dogs come clattering over floorboards to fill the entrance of her Tuscon, Arizona home with sheer body-wiggling desperation. You'd think she'd been on tour for weeks, not at a local cafe for two hours."

Which is better?

All this to say, the use of gimmicks in music magazines seems to be on the rise, and Paste is certainly not the only guilty party. (This little case study could be easily reversed in a different issue.) I understand that print publications are suffering right now, which I presume is why the newest issue of Paste is the March/April edition. Guess it's back to bi-monthly. But if print publications are trying to compete with free information on the Internet, then they should be emphasizing what makes a print publication different. Not to say that this is the only struggle print publications have (horrible economy, dwindling advertising dollars, etc.), but adapting to the age of the Internet doesn't mean restyling a magazine so it's more like a webzine or a blog. Any number of music blogs have Q&As with artists every day, and they're rarely interesting.

Readers of print publications want more. They want the writing to be a cut above what they speed through on their Google Readers every day. So make it worthwhile, music mags. Adapt, don't conform. And stay away from shallow gimmicks.

Anticipation

The end-of-the-year lists have begun. The new issue of Paste ranks the top 50 albums of 2007, with The National's Boxer claiming the No. 1 spot. I've probably been annoying people all year with my National lauding, so it's good to see them get some well-deserved love.

I'm thinking I'll do a Top 20 of 2007 list, and undoubtedly Boxer will end up in the top five. But until then, there are a few releases I'm looking forward to in 2008, including albums from U2 (hopefully), My Bloody Valentine and The Mountain Goats. But I think I'm most looking forward to Bon Iver's debut on Jagjaguwar. I only have three tracks from Bon Iver (aka Justin Vernon), but I can't stop listening to them. Vernon doesn't really sound like Sam Beam, but fans of Iron & Wine will probably enjoy him nonetheless, mostly because it's acoustic, folkish and Vernon has a beard. Where Beam is whispery and delicate, Vernon uses ample amounts of falsetto and some soul to create achingly beautiful, semi-lo-fi love songs.

Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Jack White is my homeboy

Last week the new issue of Paste was delivered to my doorstep, then to my mailbox, and from there I took it inside my house. Paste is, in my humble opinion, the best magazine out there for music fans. The writing is superb, highlighting an eclectic variety of great bands without catering to indie rock snobbery/fandom. And the mix CD included with every issue ain't bad, either.

The current issue features a lengthy interview with Jack White (and occasionally Meg White) of The White Stripes. It's one of the more in-depth interviews with the man I've read, and it made me like him. A lot. In fact, I never realized I had so much in common with him. (Kudos to writer Jason Killingsworth for tackling some big issues.) I found myself admiring Jack and completely agreeing with him about the state of music journalism and indie rock in general:

Paste: It seems like the journalistic community is partially responsible for the cycle of building up rock stars and then ripping them down. Like a kid who makes a bunch of sand castles and then gleefully stomps all over them.
JW: I've never understood it. . . . It's ridiculous to champion underdogs and once they succeed to abandon them. . . . If you abandon a band as soon as other people like them, then you don't love it for the right reasons. You like music for identity. That's not loving music. Loving art for its own sake means you don't care what people think.

Now, I admit I feel a pang of disappointment, maybe even some disillusionment, when a little-known band I like strikes it big, but that's my fault, not the band's. If a band can stay true to its sound and sell out an arena, bully for those guys.

Reading on, I found out that Jack and I have a similar opinion about God as well, at least at the core. He says:

I just want to know what the truth is. I mean that's what I'm looking for. In my opinion, there's no way God looks at things from 14 different angles. I see God as knowing only one truth, and that's it. There's no other opinion about it. And I want to know what that one truth is.

Amen, brother.

That said, I sometimes wear black with colors other than white and red, and there's also no confusion about whether the lady in my life is my wife or my sister. So I guess the similarities only go so far.