Hipness quotient

Reynolds (http://blissout.blogspot.com/) updates his 94 piece from Lizard where he makes judgement on a long list of muso-cultural icons and gets it dead right by putting the Velvet Underground in the passe thru ovedr-use camp. However he then fucks it by putting the glory of Funkadelic alongside middle-brow crap like the Jesus and Mary Chain. Christ. The JAMC were cool for about five minutes and then got very dull, unlike, say, Big Black, or even Phantom Tollbooth. Their problem was not that they were derivative shit, but they were boring derivative shit. In contrast, Funkadelic is… well… some of the Greatest Music Ever Made.

Of course, if he were making some subtle point about Parliament being being better than Funkadelic, then he’d be on stronger ground. But as it is, well… pissed on chips I’m afraid Si. Some groups are beyond criticism — at least when you’re putting the Rolling Stones in the hardy perrenials of hipness camp.

Matthew Ingram in contrast has managed to soil himself in public by calling the Velvet Underground “the greatest band ever”. Isn’t it sad to see a great mind begin to collapse in on itself? Now, I’ve done my share of teenage garage punk covers of the Velvets — frankly they’re a lot more fun to play than they are to listen to — but I’ve always been mysitifed by their deification. Good art scene and all that but lets face it the fucking Doors were better than the Velvets despite the poetry, and The Stooges piss all over them.

Anyway, both pieces deserve an extended response, and they might get one.