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by Adam Figman
by Travis Hayden
by URB Staff
by Som Khamsaysoury
In Defense of Steve Aoki...
Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008 @ 04:51 in Music by Joshua Glazer
It was as inevitable as an embarrassing blog photo after a night of free Sparks: the Pitchfork thrashing of Steve Aoki's mix CD, Pillowface and His Airport Chronicles. One could have almost held a betting pool on just how low the score would be. Five? Two? A monkey peeing in its own mouth? The final verdict? 2.5, and a written tirade so spiteful and unsubstantiated that it pretty much decimates any credibility the indie rock monolith had left, especially when it comes to the world of "indie-dance" music.
Full disclosure: I had a DJ residency in Los Angeles with Steve for six months 2005. And full, full disclosure—we didn't really get along. It was an interesting time for Steve, as he was right at the cusp of impending fame. Already a known name for his Dim Mak label and frequent DJing on the "magazine" circuit around the country, he was not yet a globetrotting headliner with his own line of headphones and awards won in Ibiza. Oh, and he mostly played three-year-old hip-hop hits with only dashes of rock and dance music tossed in. Nothing like the electro rockers that appear on Pillowface. But this was the norm for the time, pre-Daft Punk Coachella revolution and the rise of Ed Banger. And if Steve is to take heat for progressing into a new sound, then every other hipster DJ in the country deserves the same flogging.
2005 also marked the high water point in Pitchfork's impact and influence. With articles written in major newspapers about how they could make or break a new release with a single review. Indie rock was peaking as well, with LCD Soundsystem and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs reaching creative peaks, newcomers Bloc Party and Arcade Fire getting folks wound up, and Interpol bassist Carlos D landing on the cover of URB--not for his band's fashionably gloomy second album--but for his DJing of rock and goth hits at clubs, including Steve's Fucking Awesome night at Beauty Bar.
It was a great time all around. And Steve certainly rode the wave, despite detractors who never cared for his LA-tude and the perceived style over substance that came with his "Kid Millionaire" name. But something significant happened between 2005 and 2008. Dance music came back into vogue in a big way. And while in 2005 "indie-dance" mostly aligned itself with "indie," the "dance" side has taken over, and made sites like Pitchfork appear quaint when stood up against the hottest hipster blogs and MP3 sites like Floukids and Discobelle. So little wonder they are hitting back at the softest spot. Pitchfork may suckle at the teat of Justice and Daft Punk, but you know at their fundamental core, they'd rather be giving Arcade Fire the obligatory handjob while posted up in their Chicago digs (Chicago indie rock, btw, is the most pretentious smarter-than-thou scene in the entire country). So that leaves poor Aoki, alone with his mix-CD on Thrive (a quintessential old-school electronica label) to pummel mercilessly as the once mighty Pitchfork lashes out against a section of the music industry that doesn't need their approval to survive. And it stinks.
As for the CD itself? It's OK. With a selection of tracks as current and exciting as one could hope when playing the full-licensed game and the extra-hook of guest drops, it far exceeds expectations. I patently disagree with Pitchfork's panning of the verses by Pase Rock and The Faint, but the review is so full of bile and bitterness that I will not address it on a point-by-point basis. It is enough to say that it is a group of fun tracks assembled seemlessly as any professional mix-CD since the ubiquity of Pro-Tools made "mixing" a non-argument. And the extra effort in producing the drops with such a wide array of artists makes it exceptional compared to the glut of blog mixes that fill Zshare's servers.
It a shame that Pitchfork didn't officially review the recent Justice Fabric Mix that ended up an internet sensation when the the label declined to put it out. Well aware of the approaching saturation when it came to electro-mixes, the duo created an inspired selection of pop oddities that would have deservingly scored high on the notorious P4k scoreboard. But had Justice gone the other route, and mixed an hour's worth of party-starting hits--then called up their top-shelf creative friends to add spice and character, well...let's jut say most folks would have been quite impressed with that as well. Maybe a seven? Six at the worst. Certainly not a 2.5. And everybody knows it.
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. Comments:
well said.
Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008 @ 05:41 by missingtoof
See Pitchfork's original review below in which they completely praise the album. Way to be consistent! http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/45374-spank-rock-kid-sister-faints-todd-guest-on-aoki-mix
Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008 @ 06:13 by Kid Caligula
insightful. you should print that in the magazine. kudos to you. I thought their backhanded compliments to me (or were they backhanded putdowns) were quite funny though. It's kinda like they're missing out on all the action out there in Chicago. don't they know that Aoki hating is sooooo 14 months ago...
Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008 @ 06:54 by Pase Rock
Can't we all just get along? All this hateration burns me out..nice review of a bad review. DJ P (ol school LA) http://nextthing.wordpress.com/
Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008 @ 07:52 by Paul
Definitely alot of hate going on in that review, but putting this out as real album, was a stupid idea in the first place, since most of those songs are fairly old and standards now in the indie dance world. Getting those guest vocals ontop was a good idea, but who's gonna pay to hear non mastered verses on top of years old tracks that have been all over the blogs forever now? Anthropological artifact for the early 21st century hipster time capsule this might be but top of the line DJ mixtape (not to mention album) this is not.
Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008 @ 07:54 by Zach
Fuck Aoki!
Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008 @ 11:40 by Brother Muldrew & Statutory Ralph
I'm not usually one to stand up for Pitchfork, but it's funny to me how easily some people get caught up in a single sour review and use it as an excuse to bash the entire publication at hand. People seem to discount the fact that all publications like Pitchfork (and Urb) have sour reviews very routinely because they get SO MANY reviews out there. There will always be some untactful, smug rants here and there due to sheer quantity. I don't know exactly how Pitchfork works these days, but I'll assume they don't have a panel of secondary reviewers available clear every rating of every release before its review goes up or gets published. The point is this: Reviews and ratings are often in the hands of individuals, not publications at large. So it's really not fair to try to validate your affliction with Pitchfork or Urb or any other site or mag by singling out one lousy review.
Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008 @ 01:15 by Luminfire
@ Kid Caligula. An item in p4k's news section doesn't constitute a "review" or "criticism." If you're going there, bash the news section for tarting up press releases.
Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008 @ 07:15 by shillery.clinton@shilv.org
Josh Glazer ought to be ashamed of himself. For those who don't know, Josh is dedicated Cinespace/Dim Mak worshiper who in the past has been involved in "business development" between URB and Steve Aoki. And now Josh has the audacity speak of CREDIBILITY in his blog??? Absurd.
Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008 @ 08:47 by Insider
I don't understand why people hold Pitchfork to such high standards. It's a freaking internet website. They're allowed to say whatever they want. So if they like Justice but don't like Steve Aoki, we don't have to call them biased. Of course they're biased. Have you ever read a blog that wasn't? This Urb blog is just as biased (against pitchfork) as pitchfork is again bands it thinks sucks. Find me one hardcore music fan who ISN'T biased against certain bands/styles of music, and I'll show you Jesus Christ.
Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008 @ 10:53 by Michael Ocean
hmmmm the thing here being that steve, while one of the nicest guys ever, still could not mix his way out of a paper bag.
Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008 @ 12:49 by jr
Ummm Steve is most definitely NOT one of the nicest guys ever. You look up bullshit in the dictionary, and you find his gaping mouth. While I agree with Josh that the Pitchfork review is more an attack on Steve than on the actual album content, I can think of few people more deserving of the scorn. The whole of Los Angeles should hate the guy for giving the city such a shitty reputation. You can go to any indie dance party in any other city of the world and hear the same exact songs without the obnoxious pretension and fame-whoring. Having talented guests on a record doesn't prove anything apart from an impressive address book (which I imagine anyone in the music business can boast as well, though most people are tactful enough not to). Someone send David Raposa a gift basket with much love from anonymous.
Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008 @ 01:33 by anonymous
OK, so let me get this straight: URB: So like, it's cool if we get all snarky about Aoki and his whole deal. But eff those Chicago kidz for doing the same! Kid Benihana is OUR public whipping boy. Go find your own. P4k: Whatever, you Left Coast loser still sucking at the neon teat of warmed-over early '90s culture. If you were REALLY cool, you'd be right here on your knees with us deep-throating Bradford Cox. Who needs Weiner Circle? URB: Oh, eat me, snow hog. You're just jealous because we're all sexy, skinny, do rails of coke for breakfast on the beach in February after rolling on the floor all night to the sound of the neighbor lady washing her clothes. p4K: What? we were too busy getting corn-holed by the Black Kids to hear what you were saying. See you in Austin! The rest of us: Did you just hear something? I could swear that someone just threw a stack of Battles CDs down the stairs...
Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008 @ 02:46 by Jordan Catalano
Is URB still relevant? Is it even still published?
Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008 @ 11:59 by dagoberto
Mr. Glazer, you obviously hit a nerve. the aoki haters and pitchfork moles have come down from their trees.
Posted Friday, February 22, 2008 @ 04:22 by kidgonebad
Urb's solid. For example, their articles are of a higher quality than any of the garbage the likes of Solarski, Thompson, and Shrapnel-toothed Hogan "publish" every waking day.
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 @ 09:02 by Grettle
Hahah i love how America regards Aoki as some dane music guru In truth, the guy is wayyy behind the times...his tune selection is always obvious and lets not even go into his mixing skills..To top it all off i see numerous youtube videos of him describing his dj'ing as an "Art"...and people wonder why he's hated so much? With regards to his label its obvious all he does is fly over this way (UK)..see what indie bands are "hot", signs them and flaunts it as he own findings in the US..Bloc Party and Klaxons are the prime examples... Why this guy has any credibility as a DJ or Label boss is totally beyond me
Posted Friday, March 21, 2008 @ 06:31 by MNML BRIT
steve aoki gave my friend herpes.
Posted Saturday, March 29, 2008 @ 08:17 by nurse
What is really funny is how both Urb and Pitchfork are essentially for the same type of conformist, show-me-what's-cool hipster fuckheads (Though admittedly Pitchfork is way more prolific). Modern culture sucks.
Posted Wednesday, April 30, 2008 @ 08:48 by Larry Lamborghini
"OK, so let me get this straight: URB: So like, it's cool if we get all snarky about Aoki and his whole deal. But eff those Chicago kidz for doing the same! Kid Benihana is OUR public whipping boy. Go find your own. P4k: Whatever, you Left Coast loser still sucking at the neon teat of warmed-over early '90s culture. If you were REALLY cool, you'd be right here on your knees with us deep-throating Bradford Cox. Who needs Weiner Circle? URB: Oh, eat me, snow hog. You're just jealous because we're all sexy, skinny, do rails of coke for breakfast on the beach in February after rolling on the floor all night to the sound of the neighbor lady washing her clothes. p4K: What? we were too busy getting corn-holed by the Black Kids to hear what you were saying. See you in Austin! The rest of us: Did you just hear something? I could swear that someone just threw a stack of Battles CDs down the stairs..." HILARIOUS. And on point. Pitchfork AND Aioki/URB are hype-whores. In this case, the latter is a bigger one and got called out by the former. Little-read blog defense articles ensue! I comment! Yay!
Posted Monday, July 21, 2008 @ 02:39 by Tony
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