Whenever an Alternative Artist is on the Cover of a Mainstream Magazine, I quietly say to myself, “We Finally Did It. We have arrived. The mainstreamers are starting to understand why we listen to better music than them. I have a dream that one day, blogs will be the radio stations of the world, and Pitchfork will be the iTunes of the world, and minidisc players will be the iPods of the world.”
Part of me gets a lil bit upset that the mainstreamers are finding out about what I listened to 2+ years ago, but then I realize that I need to ‘be the bigger person’ and let them enjoy.
Did yall see Mathangi Arulpragasam on the cover of SPIN? (I call M.I.A. by her real name 2 sound more authentic.)
Remember when the Management was on the cover of SPIN?
Remember when hipsters were on the cover of BPM?
Remember when a Cool Dad made the cover of Us Weekly?
I was really proud when Crystal Castles were on the cover of NME.
“we are using sounds that no 1 else can get.” -Crystal Castles
I remember when Britney Spears’ sister sharted out a baby and landed on a magazine cover.
It was a big deal when some one as alt as Dustin Hoffman went mainstream and starred in “Hook.”
I was proud of Thom Yorkee for being on the cover of AZN magazine.
It was also a big deal when I was TIME’s person of the year just cuz I built a myspace profile. I showed my parents so they’d get off my back and let me chill on the myspace.
I kinda hope YALL are the Persons of the Year in 2k8.
(I am not proud of alt celebs when they r on the cover of altMagazines that I am not alt enough to recognize).
How do u feel when u see some1 on a magazine cover?
Is it a meme that u should be proud of and connect with?
Do u have ‘pride’ for ‘being into’ an artist/public figure before they were ‘recognized by a magazine’?
Would u be honored m0re to be in a magazine, or be blggd abt at ur fave blog?
Which 1 means more in the current meme economy climate?
//// am I just a meme?
//// RAGE AGAINST THE MEME.
Loading ...
IAmCarles.com
25 Comments
If you read the Crystal Castles article they actually don’t say that quote but I think this is the first time I realized Alice is my ultimate tug fantasy.
Reply
//////////Reply by lyfesavr
//////////Posted November 30th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
@Knights, i read that quote somewhere. i heard that somehow only they could put an atari in a microkorg…
but anyone can get the crystal casres sounds, just sample chiptune artists and put it in garageband!
Reply
//////////Reply by Knights
//////////Posted December 1st, 2008 at 7:24 am
@lyfesavr,
Garageband is used by Justices too. It must be the magical program that makes the hits for everyone. The stolen song by Castles is unreleased from 4 years ago, before he got the hot girl that I tug to daily at least.
Reply
Edgyness is totally overhyped, man.
Like 4 real, shes not icon, man.
Remember yall when the whole meaningfulcore movement of the early 00s was featured on the popular television program “THE ORANGE COUNTRY”
Reply
lol @ thom yorke’s face. do u guys think ptosis makes u more authentic in a vulnerable way? tegan quin and forest whittaker have it too. does n e 1 no how i can get droopy eye? soooo jeal0us.
uh oh. looks like agyness beat me to it.
Reply
//////////Reply by yall
//////////Posted November 29th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
@NathanR, it helps if ur blind in one eye.
Reply
WE DID FINALLY MAKE IT, WE CAN BE ALT AND RICH HOORAY!
Reply
Would Alice Glss be “a great shag” or would she just lie there like a junkie?
Reply
//////////Reply by glamrockonabudget
//////////Posted November 29th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
@yo, she’d fuckin eat you alive.
Reply
//////////Reply by Knights
//////////Posted November 29th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
@yo,
Either way I think I would last approx 4 “thrusts” and then she would roll her eyes and I would feel ashamed.
Reply
’save paper, read blogz’
Reply
<3 success, bcuz i can buy all the red shoe laces I WANT.
<3PEACERESPECT
ラブアンドレスペクト。
Reply
<3minidisc<333 miss you! we used to bootleg shows together s0000 hard. h8 change/emerging technoglogy.
Reply
I dunno…I kinda feel a bit ashamed when an alt celeb makes the cover, or any page (except emerging artist), of a magazine…bcuz I always feel like the article/interview was done by some ‘way 2 hip’ english grad who’s just trying to find some kinda deep connection between music and life. +Magazines are a huge waste of paper…++the production and distribution process of a mag has a huge carbon footprint (yeah, bigger than shaq’s). I feel that magazines are a waste of time/money/resources/polar bears, and any band that chooses to be involved with one is also a waste of time/full of themselves. Do artists/’musicians’ still have integrity? or is that toO 2k00?
Other artists who’ve aligned their personal brand with magazines include: Korn, The Diabetes Bros, Suge Knight, DC4C, The Limp Bizkits…and so on. So fuck magazine coverage…you might as well just burn a pile of plastic bottles while spraying a can of ‘aqua net’ into the sky.
Reply
//////////Reply by John O'Day
//////////Posted November 29th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
@*Jesse, you’re a jewel and a gem. really tho wtf are you talking about.
Reply
//////////Reply by *Jesse
//////////Posted November 29th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
@John O’Day,
Nothing in specific really…..just trying to show the connection between ALTism and MNSTRM/Global warming.
I think ALTism would be soO much better if they took more of a DIY approach to publicity and had a lil more integrity when it comes to global/social issues…because, when it comes down to it kinda, sorta, in a way Alice Glass and George Bush are kinda in the same boat. I’m just standing on the beach (w/a gun in my hand) watching their ship sink.
I’ve got a lotta shit brewing (no pun intended) in my head and I’m just trying to get y’all buzzed and explore our sexualitie.
So don’t try and ‘read Btween the lines’ I’m jsut hpstrunning off at the mouf.
Magazines are a waste of paper/ink/time/resources/life. It doesn’t matter how ‘cool’ or ‘in depth’ or ‘edgy’ ur magazine is bcuz in reality the only ppl that take that shit seriously (have subscriptions) are ppl like the ALTamont kidz. So plz…Just <3 me. k? PEACE!
Reply
//////////Reply by John O'Day
//////////Posted November 29th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
@*Jesse, omg ALTamont. i love you twisted sister.
//////////Reply by 2k8.9
//////////Posted November 30th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
@*Jesse, you need to expand your horizons a little bit, so your saying its not ok to have audio tech mags with mstrkrft on the cover and inside rlly getting informative about what they do? fuck those bs mnstrm mags that waste a bunch of time asking artists quetions that dont matter, i agree but sometimes mags can be kewl (musictech,futureproducer, etc)
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted November 30th, 2008 at 2:12 am
@*Jesse, Integrity is way overrated and will never feed you, pay the rent, or put gas in your tank.
I have absolutely no problem with musicians who make money because frankly the odds of it actually happening are so low as to be insignificant. How many have actually quit their day job? Less than you think.
The key to selling out is to be choosy and do it discreetly so that no one really notices…. which happens sometimes and most alts NEVER pick up on it. Then you have people like Mr. Barnes where there is just no way it’s going to be discreet… but shit it’s SO MUCH MONEY who could turn it down? Find me someone who wouldn’t cash that check and I’ll find you a lier.
Reply
//////////Reply by *Jesse
//////////Posted November 30th, 2008 at 10:17 am
@anony,
I get what you’re saying…I can’t even say I’d turnd down a fat ass check if offered one…but I can say that I would consider doing something awesome with all that money/fame maybe start an orginazation to help troubled(meth) youth, donate a portion of record sales to a worthy cause (aids/globalwarming/homeless), or maybe start my own microbrew so I can sell it at my shows so kids don’t have to drink PBR. hmmmm…..really the possibilities are endless….but of course I understand that ppl like chryscast, health, and other low pro ALTs dont rake in Pdiddy money, but what they do have is street fame and momentum.
But anyway…fuck that topic. C.R.E.A.M.
I had an idea yesterday that I thought was pretty cool… it was to open a business that manufactured custom synth/sampling gear.
Small businesses are soO ALT. que no?
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 1st, 2008 at 2:37 am
@*Jesse, To do most of these things require more money than most alt musicians will ever have the good fortune to acquire. Here’s the thing… and it’s both out of respect and selfishness. I’d like to see my favorite musicians make enough money to where they don’t have to struggle but they still have to tour and work at their career. But at the same time I don’t want them to get so big that I can’t still shake their hands after a show and they stop making good music. It’s this cute utopian vision where all musicians get to do what makes them happy without having too much money pool up into the hands of the few…. despite weather or not they might deserve it. But hey… the whole idea is total bullshit in a capitalist society.
//////////Reply by kyda69
//////////Posted November 30th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
@*Jesse, alt-artists have to eat too… And maybe they do some of that hippie bullshit too, who knows?
And having to promote yourself in order to eat does not make you “full of yourself”.. That’s hater talk
They’re not making as much money as you would think, no need to be jealous
Reply
IS SAMPLING DEAD?
Reply
//////////Reply by yo
//////////Posted November 29th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
@notMordecai,
NO, HIPHOP WONT NEVER DIE
Reply
//////////Reply by plastic fang
//////////Posted November 29th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
@notMordecai, Sampling is totally dead, anyways heres an article on M.I.A with her smash un-sampled hit “paper planes”! hah.
Reply
y doesnt radiohead want to become mah freeend??
Reply
comic sans? oh no he didn’t…
Reply
look at ol’ thomo wearing his tshirt inside out…i never got that indie trend. do u wear ur tshirts inside out carles? in my quiet moments i like to think so.
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted November 30th, 2008 at 2:15 am
@terry fuckwit, How are you supposed to see the band name screened on the front that makes you so cool because no one has ever heard of them? Do you have to cut the thin little American apparel tag off also?
Reply
carles y r u lookin @ mere magazines u douche
Reply
thom is really hot in that picture? not in the usual sense of hotness either. i just want to fuck him.
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted November 30th, 2008 at 2:17 am
@Anonymous, oh… I love thom but thats a face only an alt could fuck.
Reply
YES WE CAN.
Reply
lmao @ were using sounds no one else can get
i got a few of those bitches off limewire
literally just typed in Crystal Castles expecting more music
and there was a zip file with alll the same sounds
innit
Reply
DUSTIN H0FFMAN = JFK
I NEED H0FFMAN TO REMIX MY MEME AND MAKE IT BANGERRRR
Reply
si se puede yall
Reply
Sampling will never die!
Reply
Listen closely and you can hear the sound albums collections being purged and files being deleted in trendy neighborhoods all over the world. That’s so sad that M.I.A. just isn’t cool anymore.
And that’s the paradox right there now isn’t is? We all want our favorite alt celebs the grace the pages of mainstream pages everywhere until it actually happens and it turns out they were “so last year” as soon as it happens.
Or does this need to be moved to the alt vs. hipster section?
On a related note when did SPIN start thinking they were the least bit alt?
Reply
//////////Reply by *Jesse
//////////Posted November 30th, 2008 at 10:30 am
@anony,
‘collections being purged’ LOL
Actually, I always hope that they DON’T make the cover of magazines all over the world. I just hope that they’re able to keep putting out good music and make some money. Look ppl. Music shouldn’t be able to pay your rent….in the spectrum of ‘things that really matter’, compared to teaching or being a doctor, music is more of a hobby or pastime. THere’s serious probbies in this world yall….and while music can be used to inspire/depress/infuriate/motivate the masses the whole ‘music world’ should be put to good use and do something that’s gonna have a tangible effect on the world around them, as well as in the minds/souls of their fans.
Oh yeah, and spin started thinking they were alt when they realized that they could sell more copies if they put _____ on the cover.
Reply
//////////Reply by shutupppp
//////////Posted November 30th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
@*Jesse, omg please stfu. music is a past time? who the fuck are u to try and tell people that music is a past time. fuck you. so Mozart shouldnt have pursued music to the fullest, he should have made it some little hobby he did occasionally?
h8 it when people like u that think they “understand” how the world is supposed to work. if nobody had the opportunity to work on what floats their boat, we wouldnt have shit and u wouldnt be talking on this computer right now.
for the people that make authentic music, i dont think they really give a fuck about saving the world with ALtpower
dont expect everyone to think like u, thats what makes mnstrm. kthnksluvyabye
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 1st, 2008 at 2:46 am
@*Jesse, If cd’s and digital files didn’t exist and people were forced to place real value on music then I think artists could in fact make a living… not a superstar lifestyle but enough to where they didn’t have to work a shitty day job. I’m not even sure it has anything to do with the volume of music these days; it’s the attitude of taking it for granted as something that will always be available. Art should not be a commodity but in this day in age sadly it is.
Reply
rags = too much readng, not ‘nough pixars/talking back.
Although these comments are getting awful lofty.
Reply
that first cover with m.i.a. is a TOTAL FUCKING PHOTOSHIP DISASTER!!
Reply
Teen Vogue was pushing M.I.A. hard in 2004. Just… saying. Teen fashin mags (like, a step below an alt fashin/culture mags like i-D) = alter than thou.
Reply
I don’t mind when the bands I love get on the covers but it’s bewildering that MIA got this cover now. I thought she retired. Are we supposed to forget that. Don’t call it a comeback.
Reply