Win vs Wayne: The Rebuttal

Win Butler, as achingly evidenced by a repetoire's worth of catharsis, isn't one to
suffer in silence.




On his band's website, Win takes issue with He Whose Lips Shall Be Flamed. (After character assassinations on Beck and Richard Ashcroft, maybe their psychedelic band name is more literal than we ever would've supposed.) Here's what Win had to say (his formatting and curse words, not mine):

Wow,
I can't believe I am actually writing to defend my band's "real" personality. I wish I could not respond to something like this, but the reality is, is that people will be asking me questions for the next 5 years. I also fear that people will base their opinion of our band on the media quotes of a guy who doesn't even know us.

The only time we have ever shared a stage with the Flaming Lips was our last show on the Funeral tour at a festival in Las Vegas (over 3 years ago)...we arrived the morning of the show from Brazil, slept all day and awoke into some kind of surreal Vegas jet-lag dream in which we were playing after the Flaming Lips...how strange...I was really excited to meet Wayne. Clouds Taste Metallic was a huge record for me, and growing up in the weirdness of Houston, I always imagined Oklahoma City to be in the same universe. I was really nervous to meet him and I felt a little weird that we were playing after them. We traded a little hello, but he was a hard guy to get a read on. Steven Drodz was super nice, and I felt good after talking to him...

So...I am not sure Wayne is the best judge (based on seeing us play at a couple of festivals) if we are righteous, kind and goodhearted people like The Edge and Justin Timberlake (who I am sure he knows intimately as well). I can't imagine a reason why we would have been pompous towards The Flaming Lips, a band we have always loved, on that particular night, all those years ago. Unless I was way more jet-lagged then I remember, I hope I was less of a "Prick" then telling Rollingstone that a bunch of people I don't know at all are really a bunch of assholes.
As a closing note, the main point that I am offended by in this whole thing is for Wayne to say we treat our audience like shit...

At times like these I am comforted by knowing that even though Wayne slammed Beck all those years ago, he seems like a really nice guy to me. I guess everyone has a different idea of what being pompous means.

Win

He does pretty well, though- in places- it carries the scent of a victim and the tone of passive aggressiveness. Still, he makes good points. I can just see- if I squint my eyes real tight- all 27 members of the Arcade Fire gathered around the 13th Century abacus that they somehow got Steve Jobs to wire for the internet, (iAbacus?) Win's embossing the message on the iScroll, the band's flaming-by-committee (no pun intended) is angry and raucous and indie gothic. "Win, make sure you say that thing about Justin Timberlake I said..." (Win rolls eyes, hopes no one in the band ever listens closely enough to "Cry Me A River" to realize how he borrowed from it for "My Body Is A Cage.")

I know I'm flip-flopping. But I kind of believe them both. What is this anyway? E! Indie Rock?

Team-Ups (Wilco Edition)

Now that my internet is back up and working, after the world's largest data pile-up occurred yesterday at the on ramp somewhere between
here and here, I have a few probing, rhetorical questions.

Backstory:
Recently, somewhere between this song and this new song Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) played another new song called "You and I". This song is scheduled to appear on the forthcoming, still untitled, studio album.

The song "You and I", and subsequently the album, got another layer of hype added to it. As reported here Feist will be singing a duet with Tweedy on that song. I repeat, Jeff Tweedy and Leslie Feist will be singing together on the album version of "You and I".

Here come the questions:
Is this a marketing ploy from Chicago's second favorite sons?
This is hot on the heels of Starbucks promoting the last album and them selling the rights to half of Sky Blue Sky to Volkswagon. One might have thought that these guys were better than that after sticking it to Reprise with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Why Feist and not Norah Jones?
Norah has an actual history with the band covering Jesus Etc. and later joined Wilco on stage in Madison Square Garden to turn it into a duet. This sort of ties into the first question because Norah might not have the pull that Leslie does at this point.

Everyone who heard this song was floored
That was the quote for the article announcing the song. What does that even mean? Of course anyone hearing that song before the masses is going to be doing nothing but glowing over it. I don't want a sugar coated opinion. I want a quote from Jay Bennett. I want a real assessment from the most unfortunate musician in the last 10 years. In fact I want to know what Jay Bennett has to say about a lot of things.

More Matchups (pop culture edition) : Wayne vs Win

As long as we're talking about matchups and the Flaming Lips, singer Wayne Coyne has a few words (via Rolling Stone) for Win Butler and the Arcade Fire squad. Coyne can be overbearing and might be jostling for headlines, but I kind of believe him. His Earnestness Card has enough punches.

I mean, does this guy look like he might be a little self-serious? He is purportedly a stealer of basketballs.



There have been some historic feuds in the world of celebrities. Hip hop has the most, because it's almost like a rite of passage/marketing no-brainer to go after a fish bigger than your sorry gills. Some famous feuds:

2Pac vs Biggie
The biggest, as evidenced by their deaths.

Lily Allen vs Katy Perry
Battle of the hot pants. This one goes under the same Duh Marketing as hip hop, though. These GWAs need some publicity? Talk some snark about another one. For the record, Katy might be cuter, but Lily's seems cooler, smarter, and, well, less puppeteered. You know, if anyone asks.

Letterman vs Leno
I'm still dumbfounded anytime somebody says they prefer Leno. Even more dumbfounded if they're my friends. And all the more dumbfounded if they stay my friends.
David Lee Roth vs Van Halen vs Sammy Hagar vs David Lee Roth
Toby Keith & Redneck America vs Dixie Chicks
Shut Up And Sing was super enjoyable. Yes, Natalie Maines is a loose cannon. But she didn't say anything insane THAT NIGHT. How can a demographic that celebrates crap like Big & Rich and songs about Boots Up The @$# not see the fun in a little jab about a moronic President who likes to kill people? Oh. I think I just answered my own question.