Rules Of The Game #31: Rockism And Antirockism Rise From The Dead

[koganbot]

Here's my latest, in which I reveal myself to be a rockist, unless that's not what I'm revealing. I also don't come to a conclusion about what rockism is. Stay tuned for the exciting sequel.

The Rules Of The Game #31: Rockism And Antirockism Rise From The Dead

EDIT: Here are links to all but three of my other Rules Of The Game columns (LVW's search results for "Rules of the Game"). Links for the other three (which for some reason didn't get "Rules Of The Game" in their titles), are here: #4, #5, and #8.

UPDATE: I've got all the links here now:

http://koganbot.livejournal.com/179531.html

Comments

[mcatzilut.livejournal.com]

Ah. I see where I got confused. I thought you were saying that Geoff was throwing bouquets at his readers by championing Underwood and that you were doing the real deal. Ie: I read "In fact, I’d say that as a critic I’m the real deal and Geoff isn’t in that I challenge my readers..." as saying "therefore voting Miranda Lambert our number one" was somehow more challenging. As in, I know that you were a critic who supported Lambert and didn't support Underwood (at least didn't champion her in the same way) and I was looking at the way that became communicated to the audience. Vis-a-vis, I assumed that when you said "I challenge my readers" you meant by championing Miranda.

What I think I really had difficulty parsing was the audiences you're assuming for yourself and Geoff. Are you assuming that the readers you're challenging are the same readers that he is throwing bouquets at? (Ie: Music critics?) Because while he is lauding you for challenging yourself [with Miranda], he's also making an argument about the relationship between a music critic and his audience. He's saying that you *could've* pandered to your audience and voted Underwood #1, but you like to be challenged, and you're smarter than you're audience, and so you voted Miranda (which, obviously, automatically also challenges your audience).

Am I reading too much into this?

[koganbot]

Are you assuming that the readers you're challenging are the same readers that he is throwing bouquets at?

Good question. But the poll and his essay were in the Nashville Scene, which is an altweekly (the guys who bought the Voice from Stern and then sold out to the New Times bozos), which presumably has a readership that prides itself on being alt, hence would lean more towards Miranda than Carrie. And the critics in the country critics poll definitely lean far more alt than the mainstream country listeners do.

Also, Geoff cheated in his essay by saying that "Before He Cheats" finished number thirteen in 2007 while neglecting to say that "Before He Cheats" had finished fifth in 2006 (and would have finished higher still in 2007 if he'd combined votes over years the way that Pazz & Jop does), which doesn't put her poll numbers up there with Miranda's but doesn't make her as unliked by critics as he thinks.