Letters to the Editor

Comment by T.v. coahran: “Does The Stranger still
consider itself to be an alternative paper? WTF? Britney Spears?
Really?”

Comment by Stranger music editor Eric
Grandy: “Do adults still consider the alt vs. mainstream dichotomy
a reasonable way to interpret the increasingly factious, postmodern
art/media landscape of the 21st century? WTF? ‘Alternative’?
Really?”

Comment by flamingbanjo: “I stopped believing that listening
to obscure music would make me a better person when I stopped being a
teenager.”

Comment by Chris B: “Jesus Christ. We’re rehashing the
poptimist/rockist argument because The Stranger has a pair of
tickets to give away!?! Plus, I thought all of this indie hostility
toward Britney ended when Pitchfork approved of ‘Toxic.'”

Comment by T.v. coahran: “I’m bored. There are good shows
happening and there are amazing local bands forming all the time. If I
want to know what’s up with Britney Spears and Fall Out Boy, I’ll
subscribe to Teen People. I’m only bitching because The
Stranger could do a lot to turn people on to
new/local/interesting/old/obscure music, but instead spin their wheels
musing about Chinese Democracy. Fuck it.”

Comment by Eric Grandy: “Let me take you by the hand and
direct your attention to last week’s music section of The
Stranger, where you’ll find coverage of such
new/local/
interesting/old/obscure music as: XBXRX frontman Vice
Cooler’s sexually explicit teen liberation electro punk act Hawnay
Troof; Crazy Californian health food cult/psych band Ya Ho Wha 13; Dave
Segal’s favorite album, a 1971 prog-jazz headtrip by a band you’d
probably never heard of before; local indie stalwarts the Long Winters;
up and coming locals the Dutchess & the Duke; Midwest acid house
king DJ ESP; the return of Seattle rap crew Clockwork; a remix from
French trio Minitel Rose; as well as These Arms Are Snakes, Pontiak,
Jonathan Richman, the Spits, Grand Archives, Dressy Bessy, Satoshy
Tomiie, Police Teeth, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Mos Def, Holy
Ghost Revival, the Pharmacy, and Linda & Ron’s Dad. So, yeah,
pretty much all wheel-spinning about Chinese Democracy and Fall
Out Boy.”

Comment by T.v. coahran: “Fair enough, Grandy. This has
gotten a bit off course from what I was saying in the first place
though. (Spears, Fallout Boy, GNR get enough national press. Extra
publicity and coverage from local rags, positive or negative, seems
really pointless.) I don’t hate The Stranger. If I did I
wouldn’t be on the blogs. I might hate Eric Grandy though. His mocking
tones really wind me up.”

Comment by Jeff: “I’m just pissed that the Peruvian flute
band that plays every day in Westlake Center NEVER gets any love from
The Stranger.Hardest working band in Seattle!”

Comment by Eric Grandy: “Should the film section ignore films
not shot in Seattle? Should the book section not cover international
authors? Should Slog not comment on stories from the New York
Times, because said stories have gotten plenty of national coverage
already?”

Comment by Stranger music staff writer Dave
Segal: “Hey, everyone: Keep ’em peeled for my Up & Coming blurb
on T.v. coahran in next week’s paper. Paradigms will be shifted. I’m
serious—well, at least about the T.v. coahran coverage; maybe not
so much about the paradigm-shifting.”

Comment by T.v. coahran: “Shrug. I don’t like movies.”

Comment by Fnarf: “Britney’s better than these Seattle bands
you’re not covering. And The Stranger has ALWAYS had terrible,
terrible music coverage; it’s arguably better now than at any point in
its history (except for the brief, erratic reign of Everett True).”

Comment by benny: “I have been to a lot of different cities
on the East Coast, West Coast, and Midwest this year. I check papers in
almost every single city, and I have to say The
Stranger/Portland Mercury have the BEST local coverage. It’s
a good balance of local and touring national bands here because they
are not writing specifically for struggling local artists but also for
general readers who would appreciate more choices.”

Comment by ndrwmtsn: “You all need to shut the fuck up.
Grandy has no agenda, and The Stranger is not whatever you want
it to be. He’s one man trying to go to shows and listen to shit and
he’s got good ears and is smart and can write and y’all are
assholes.”