Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Where do you begin with this? The good-gosh grade-school Greilisms? The asinine idea that it's possible for anyone to "capture the true essence of the entire country," or to "turn a five-minute rock song into a melting pot for the disparate sounds of Nashville, New York City, Memphis, San Francisco, and Texas, to name but a few locales" (which Barr acknowledges "is a massive undertaking"--gee, ya think?)? The unspoken assumption that "America" equals guitars and nothing else? The idea that indie rock doesn't sound American enough? Between his belated discovery of Justin Timberlake (headline in the print edition: "Am I Gay?") and this, someone please tell me this is all an elaborate joke.