So last Tuesday, Jim DeRogatis gets this call on his radio show, Sound Opinions, from someone who goes to the same school as me. He references this fact, and goes on to say “Jen here goes to the same school as the super-fan Sam, and she’s still a great writer,” to which Jen and Greg Kot [his co-host, writer for the Chicago Tribune] say “oh no, he’s a very good writer” - to which Jim retorts, “no, you’re much better than him.”
Backstory: Jim DeRogatis dislikes me because I called him “fat” on a message board once, and I profusely apologized and explained why I was rash towards him. While calling him “fat” was a little unneccessary, I still stand by the fact I thought it was unfair he was making chit-chat with Wayne Coyne before a Flaming Lips concert, interrupting my talking with him, and holding up the line for seventy-five other fans dying to talk to Wayne.
He said he was being a journalist, but I heard everything they said. Jim was simply saying, Hey man, the fans love you! or Have you heard Sea Change? and shit like that. They briefly discussed Beck, but it was more like, ‘we’ll talk about that later.’ There was no setting up of interviews, no writing down of notes to be used in the paper - just friendly talk. He says that he “could have been doing his job as a reporter.” Bullshit.
And I am aware that Jim probably reads that message board still and notices my disliking of his writing, and the fact that I’m just really fucking critical of him. Well, that’s unfortunate, because I stand by it. I think Jim has passion - which is just great for a reader (I should know, I follow this same sort of code). But he more often than not, he gets mired up in this rock critic gubbledy gook shit, using terms that don’t mean anything, and going about his own agenda as a clearly biased writer.
It’s kind of insane how often he references the Lips and Wilco in his writing - anyone who’s ever read an article should realize this. But he never really talks about why he dislikes something. He describes it very well, but leaves it at that. Like in a recent Blur review, something like “Damon’s wild experimentation with worldpop” or something like that. So? So what’s bad about it? He left/leaves the reader to assume the connection for him - ‘I won’t explain it, I just don’t like it.’ It’s like he doesn’t even give it a chance. There are these certain touchstones that I think Jim has to see in a band to like it - witty lyrics? CHECK! Does it rock? CHECK! Is it catchy? CHECK! Maybe they aren’t those exactly, but they’re damn close. Look at his favorite bands. Wilco. The Flaming Lips. Wire circa Pink Flag/Send. They’re all rocking, they’re all making catchy music, they’re all trying to push the envelope just a little bit. But Sigur Ros! Uh-oh! No hooks! SHIT!
I don’t want to keep bringing up Blur - perhaps because I pay more attention to them then most bands - but when I called up the show, he wrote me off when I said that Damon doesn’t have to write about English socialites anymore, and he’s about love. Oh Sam!, Jim said, and hung up on me. Well, that explains why he doesn’t like the record … aside from the “Starbucks coffee-house” music.
Christ man, if you love “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart,” why oh why does the dizzying fall of Manitoba not even merit a listen? Who is Mary Timony? Who gives a fuck about that? Why aren’t you reviewing Four Tet? You pledge your love to psychedelia. What about this new fangled “electronia” psychedelia?
Up In Flames is perhaps the most astonishing “psychedelic” album I’ve ever heard, and a worthy addition to Kaleidoscope Eyes. Why do you harp on Wilco, when for someone who said they loved The Prodigy and Aphex Twin back in 1997, do you not try this out? Right. It’s not rock and roll.
Why is “do you realize / happiness makes you cry” any better of a lyric than “I ain’t go nothing to be scared of / ‘cos I love you”? Why is “Are You A Hypnotist” any better a psychedelic haze than, say, “2 Rights Make 1 Wrong?” Why no post-rock? For me, that build is far more emotional and involving than anything the Lips do, simply because it’s braver - it doesn’t rely on tricky rhythms, nor heartfelt vocals, or fucking monk choirs, but a complex guitar build, and it grows and grows, and my God, it’s gorgeous. Why is this not valid? Why are the Flaming Lips valid?
He writes off pop music without a thought. This just pisses the fuck out of me. Gawd Jim, *NSYNC must be awful if ten million people bought their album! Fuck that power in numbers shit! And suddenly, it sounds like he cozies up to Justin in an interview, once he plays with the Lips and the Black Eyed Peas. Yeah, “Where Is The Love?” is pretty awesome, dude … ha. But what about “Rock Your Body”? I have never heard an indication that Jim has listened to Justified, despite his constant bashing of Timberlake.
Another thing - hip-hop. Again, these touchstones for him to like it. Look at the acts he’s championing these days - Common, Jurassic 5, fuck, De La Soul, PM DAWN! They’re all on the “positive tip,” the psychedelic (I could see this in a few acts … but come on! J5? What the fuck?) experimentation. Basically, the rockier acts. The acts that incorporate themes from the shit that Jim so clearly likes. Well, what about Jay-Z? He works with the Neptunes - who you supposedly love in NERD - but yet, write him off! His rhymes aren’t worth shit! He’s only talking about himself! He must not be imaginative, is he? And the Neptunes production - it’s just throwback shit! Bang out a gritty riff on the keyboard, just like that old soul you love Jim … with those lyrics that aren’t about bitches! Ah. Contradictions. I get it now.
Mike Skinner is not Eminem! Listen to the fucking lyrics, man! If that’s what you get hung up on in the first place, it sure doesn’t seem like you listen to the man.
And what is this “stoner rock” shit? It’s just metal, man. I hate the buying into the label of “stoner rock” like Queens Of The Stone Age … oooh, stoner rock. It’s just fucking heavy metal hard-ass riffs! And when you use the “electronica” label. Oooooh.
And you love Lester Bangs. And if you’re reading this, or any of my writing, you might be able to tell that I probably love him too. But why do you ride on his horse all the time? Aside from this, Lester got deep down, you know, spiritual Astral Weeks shit. Why don’t I see that from you? Can’t you push yourself to write about what you feel, feel, feel, feel? What do you think about these new writers - Reynolds, Southall, the Pitchfork crew? Amazing. They take Lester’s writings more to heart than it seems like you do, just ’cause they’re so intense, and mean it so much, and take it all apart and back again, and are wonderful … and where’s that in you? You read like passionless drivel, just more MOR rock and roll ‘criticism.’
And I know researching artists is hard - often I just dodge that bullet all together. But for a paid writer, wake up. Damon still isn’t writing Tracy Jacks. And he calls himself a Blur fan! Rings Around The World is one disc, not two!
You have major discrepancies between the Sun-Times and Sound Opinions, and I genuinely wonder what’s going on, if you’re watering down for the Sun-Times, or beefening up and putting on your cool suit for SO. The Rising and Think Tank: 2.5 stars. Almost a positive 3-star review. Both “Trash It”s.
Hey, remember when you went back on the White Stripes, because you figured out that Jack White “meant it”? Shit. The Hives don’t mean it! They’re a joke! But you love them … I dun get it. Again, discrepancies. Sometimes you have to ‘mean’ it, sometimes you don’t, for Jim to like it.
Discrepancies: Slint and Pere Ubu … but not Sonic Youth? Tortoise and Stereolab … but not Jim O’Rourke? The Soft Machine … but not Spacemen 3, instead, Spiritualized! I’d love for you to explain some of these sometime.
Interviews - I hate reading stock questions. I don’t know if you make them, or if the Sun-Times pressures you into making the same old, same old, but it’s killing me when you ask Justin some stupid questions like:
Q. She was also asked why she covered “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and she said she’d always been a huge Pat Benatar fan. If the journalists weren’t on mute and they could have asked a followup question, we could have found out if Britney knew that Elvis was actually born in Tupelo, Miss., and that it was Joan Jett, not Pat Benatar, who popularized “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
A. Well, I think her answers were revealing!
Q. Fair enough. Other than that, I won’t mention Britney again. I could care less.
A. I could care less, too!
He’s just so close-minded about so much. And it frustrates me. If it ain’t his ballgame, might as well just write it off. But - he is a rock critic. Not a pop music or R&B/hip-hop critic. That might explain some of it. But even in the world of rock - it just angers me that he will only write positively about something that will appeal to him, and not think outside his rockist mentality. It’s Jim’s way or the hard way. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wrote his reviews before he heard the product.
I’d like to hear a response from him sometime.