The Last Mike Doughty Post
You know that phenomenon where you learn a word for the first time and then, suddenly, you hear it said by four different people, it shows up in an ad for Buicks and it's the punchline for a joke on Friends (which is especially odd, given that the word is "exsanguination")? Well, I had a healthy dose of that phenomenon today after my ham-handed attack on Mike Doughty who, I now fear, is going to save my life one day and I'm going to feel just awful for having called him a twat.
I swear to whichever religious deity suits your needs that I'm not making this up:
First, I was listening to the internet radio at work today and, around three, on the "Indie Rock from the 80's, 90's and Today!" channel, the Soul Coughing song "Super Bon Bon" came on. Weird...
Then, secondly, I was reading Chuck Klosterman's "Killing Yourself To Live" on the train ride home and, in it... actually, side note: Anyone else read any Chuck Klosterman stuff? I'd read some articles he wrote and they were alright, though he tends to go on a bit about hair metal, and this book is pretty good too but, I don't know. He's that guy who works at the all-vinyl record store who has amazing insights into music and movies and pop culture but who, for some reason, you just can't stop hitting in the face with your shoe. Is this just a "me" thing? Anyway, my point... I was reading his book and, during a discussion on the importance of music criticism, Klosterman quotes... you guessed it... Mike Doughty regarding his thoughts on uber-critic Robert Christgau.
So bizarre.
The kicker here is that the quote is actually dead-on accurate and masterfully deflates not just the man, Robert Christgau, but the very idea of Robert Christgau and all other insularly self-important music critics in the world. In the words of Doughty:
"Let's face facts here -- what Robert Christgau does is write about his mail."
If you've ever hung out with a music critic, you know how on the nose that statement is. Not really an outdoorsy bunch, them, and you wouldn't be either if every album you ever wanted was in your mailbox bi-weekly. At any rate, I'm officially laying down my arms and admitting defeat to Mike Doughty. Apparently he's omnipresent and this is the fates way of firing a warning shot across my bow. Don't mess with the Doughty. The Doughty will mess back.
I swear to whichever religious deity suits your needs that I'm not making this up:
First, I was listening to the internet radio at work today and, around three, on the "Indie Rock from the 80's, 90's and Today!" channel, the Soul Coughing song "Super Bon Bon" came on. Weird...
Then, secondly, I was reading Chuck Klosterman's "Killing Yourself To Live" on the train ride home and, in it... actually, side note: Anyone else read any Chuck Klosterman stuff? I'd read some articles he wrote and they were alright, though he tends to go on a bit about hair metal, and this book is pretty good too but, I don't know. He's that guy who works at the all-vinyl record store who has amazing insights into music and movies and pop culture but who, for some reason, you just can't stop hitting in the face with your shoe. Is this just a "me" thing? Anyway, my point... I was reading his book and, during a discussion on the importance of music criticism, Klosterman quotes... you guessed it... Mike Doughty regarding his thoughts on uber-critic Robert Christgau.
So bizarre.
The kicker here is that the quote is actually dead-on accurate and masterfully deflates not just the man, Robert Christgau, but the very idea of Robert Christgau and all other insularly self-important music critics in the world. In the words of Doughty:
"Let's face facts here -- what Robert Christgau does is write about his mail."
If you've ever hung out with a music critic, you know how on the nose that statement is. Not really an outdoorsy bunch, them, and you wouldn't be either if every album you ever wanted was in your mailbox bi-weekly. At any rate, I'm officially laying down my arms and admitting defeat to Mike Doughty. Apparently he's omnipresent and this is the fates way of firing a warning shot across my bow. Don't mess with the Doughty. The Doughty will mess back.
posted by Clinton at 10:25 PM
2 Comments:
Mike Doughty's going to start showing up at all family functions and it's going to be AWKWARD!
Ah, Chuck Klosterman, I just finished his nugget on how Billy Joel is cool, because he's not cool.
Although, I do tend to agree with him on the point that The Real World, created archetypes.
[I'm muddling my way through 'Sex, Drugs And Cocoa Puffs'].
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