Friday, June 15, 2007

RUN IT ON ME 4

There've been all sorts of interesting responses to Racket - and the nice things that have been said, especially from those whose opinions I particularly value, are really most gratifying to hear.

One comment that has been repeated in several quarters that continues to mystify is that Dyad is somehow about The Wire - so let me state for the record it's neither about The Wire, Playboy, Woman's Own, The Economist, nor any other magazine for that matter.

One type of response that I love is one such as the priceless following example (by a certain 'Zeno Marx'):
"If this was done by someone else, say, Konono N°1, which would never happen because they're actually good at what they do, this album would get panned as it justly should. While generally a purist, I'm no Whitehouse purist because I don't care about them enough to hold them to a strict standard or style. I don't think they've had a good idea, let alone executed an idea well, since Quality Time, and maybe even before that. Racket, and what an appropriate name that is, sucks. Tracks 4 and 7 are the only ones worth a shit, and the only reason I'll even give those credit is because the others are so bad that they stand out as having a semblance of value. Live off the name, boys, because that's what you have left."

14 comments:

John McAndrew said...

Think I was the first to suggest your lyrics could be accusing the Wire - my apologies William for the false words! I hope you understand how I could come to such conclusions though, and I did follow up by saying that the lyrics could relate to any personal situation though... anyway, glad it's cleared up.

That Zeno Marx quip is a riot! Pity they don't get it.

morelikespace said...

Which Marx brother was Zeno again? ;-)

James said...

Zeno is a regular on many online boards. He used to run a label called Recalcitrant Noise (which you might remember, Kate). He does tend to speak his mind. While I don't always agree with his opinions I've always found him an intelligent and articulate person - we share a certain love for abstract acoustic soundwork, but, apparently, not Whitehouse.

If you think that's harsh, you should hear him go off on hip hop.

mcarpio said...

so what exactly do you enjoy so much about what zeno wrote, bill? you failed to articulate why you enjoyed this person slamming your creation. just curious. i have yet to even hear the album myself.
best, michael

William Bennett said...

sometimes it's better to let words speak for themselves - btw, what's with the 'Bill'?

mcarpio said...

oh, nothing's "with it", william, just quicker to type. is Will alright, or is it only william?
note to dystonia: i'd love to hear him go off on the so-called hip-hop(such a lame term) disaster. could you forward/post any links?

William Bennett said...

thanks, Michael, yes, I like William most - and I will second your request to Dystonia to hear this guy go off on hip hop

James said...

Alas, it seems his most vitriolic comments didn't survive the archiving process at the old iheartnoise board (though you can try your luck at http://p206.ezboard.com/biheartnoise and search user 'Johannes de Silencio'). Or search for posts by 'Zeno Marx' at www.noisefanatics.com, though I don't think the subject has come up since the board was launched (mind you, I'm not a forum regular, so I may have missed something).

Kai Stavre said...

The "If this was done by someone else, say, Konono N°1" comment is priceless :-)

mcarpio said...

well, that's a shame we can't easily get to his attacks on modern rap music(how about people just agree to stop using the idiotic term "hip-hop" altogether?)...but william, where did you pull that review of yr latest from, i couldn't find it on the web, maybe we can find a way to contact him and ask for such corrosiveness directly, maybe inspire him to start a blog already.
i was reading some reviews of bars here in the supposedly uber-hip "billyburg" section of brooklyn, ny and came upon a link for this young woman's reviews of certain bar bathrooms and their positve/negative qualities for having sex and doing drugs w/in. she's such a nasty, filthy, free as a bird little whore, and a rather inventive writer to boot, just can't help but tell everyone about it. go to onedatatime.com (that d is for dick, not day)and then click on "potty mouth" in her categories section to the right.
hope you enjoy.

mcarpio said...

alright, i'll quit making an ass of myself: go to
http://gawker.com/news/slut-machine/

Anonymous said...

It´s a great record William , it gives me so much...

Fearlono said...

I've really enjoyed the past three albums, and Racket was no exception. The extreme music from Africa compilation really opened my ears and I'm interested (as ever) to see where you go from here. Managed to endure the Whitehouse Leeds gig last night and have been deaf as a fucking post all day as a result. Perhaps you could donate your ear drums to medical science as mine are now beyond use !
Cheers, Andrew.

keith finnan said...

Racket is another departure for The whitehouse sound and Again it makes me feel sexy,But you knew that already william:)