My letter to the editor got published and Christgau replied to me.
HOTEL DEFECTIVE
In Robert Christgau’s piece on the 2002 Pazz & Jop poll (“Party in Hard Times”), he repeatedly refers to Wilco’s drummer, Ken Coomer. The only problem is that Ken Coomer was not the drummer on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; Glenn Kotche replaced him at the start of recording. You’d think the Dean of Schlock Criticism would read the liner notes to his poll’s No. 1 album. Or at least see the movie based on the making of it!
Jake Brown
Chicago, Illinois
Robert Christgau replies: In fact, both Coomer and Kotche are listed in the package, which attributes no instruments to anyone, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have figured it out—factual errors are always inexcusable. The point, however, remains the same. Of course I heard Kotche’s tricked-up meters and textural fills as Coomer’s attempt to keep up with the artiness at hand. No matter who played them, they don’t rock, funk, or propel.
My letter to the editor got published and Christgau replied to me.
HOTEL DEFECTIVE
In Robert Christgau’s piece on the 2002 Pazz & Jop poll (“Party in Hard Times”), he repeatedly refers to Wilco’s drummer, Ken Coomer. The only problem is that Ken Coomer was not the drummer on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; Glenn Kotche replaced him at the start of recording. You’d think the Dean of Schlock Criticism would read the liner notes to his poll’s No. 1 album. Or at least see the movie based on the making of it!
Jake Brown
Chicago, Illinois
Robert Christgau replies: In fact, both Coomer and Kotche are listed in the package, which attributes no instruments to anyone, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have figured it out—factual errors are always inexcusable. The point, however, remains the same. Of course I heard Kotche’s tricked-up meters and textural fills as Coomer’s attempt to keep up with the artiness at hand. No matter who played them, they don’t rock, funk, or propel.
Link: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0309/letters.php