[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

I admit to irationally resenting carrie's celebrity and I have no good reason to aside from its not my taste..

[evollove]

Originally Posted by LifeDistortion

Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, or even Kim Gordon?

Three people I can't imagine ever doing an American Express ad. Maybe that's the bigger issue.

[evollove]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

I admit to irationally resenting carrie's celebrity and I have no good reason to aside from its not my taste..

Because it negates so much of what made SK special.

[h8kurdt]

Originally Posted by evollove

Three people I can't imagine ever doing an American Express ad. Maybe that's the bigger issue.

No Iggy Pop was content to do a car insurance advert and Kim Gordon was happy to model for Saint Laurent.

[pantophobia]

Iggy did that add for Chrysler hyping the John Varatos trim on the 300, he also played a Vorta on Star Trek DS9

Thurston I recall composed some instrumental piece for some commercial, HSBC maybe some company like that

frankly there aren't many millionaire rockstars crashing lamborghinis in pools filled with bikini clad vixens anymore, and many can barely afford a living from it anymore so it's not shocking you use what talents you got and cash in

[evollove]

Fair enough. Everyone's a whore, I suppose.

[LifeDistortion]

I just think that back in the 90's about the time of Nirvana the whole "sell-out" thing really seemed to reach its peak. The whole, what signifies "sell-out", and it was different for everyone, being on a major-label, having your music on a movie soundtrack, etc. At some point the musicians just gave in, and realized that in order to keep making music and touring, it just became the name of the game. Whether they liked it or not. Not too many musicians over think it anymore it seems, its just, I want to make music, I want to tour, so either I play the stupid game of having these companies back me, or I simply stop making music and touring.

[evollove]

Maybe. I don't have access to anyone's accounting in the biz. Anyway, there are of course a ton of artists who would never appear in a TV ad (which somehow strikes me as a greater sin than a well-made fashion ad).

Anyway, I return to "SK used to mean something, now they don't."

You can't have lyrics championing the individual--which, if anything, was their "message," or "theme" if you prefer--and suck a credit card company's wang at the same time. You just can't. You have to become something else. That something else might rock, but it'll be a different beast.

I invested too much in a band. That was my fuck-up. I should be old enough to know better. Never mind. Party on.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Yet Nirvana never did any.corporate advertising now did they

[Drjohnrock]

Originally Posted by evollove

Maybe. I don't have access to anyone's accounting in the biz. Anyway, there are of course a ton of artists who would never appear in a TV ad (which somehow strikes me as a greater sin than a well-made fashion ad).

Anyway, I return to "SK used to mean something, now they don't."

You can't have lyrics championing the individual--which, if anything, was their "message," or "theme" if you prefer--and suck a credit card company's wang at the same time. You just can't. You have to become something else. That something else might rock, but it'll be a different beast.

I invested too much in a band. That was my fuck-up. I should be old enough to know better. Never mind. Party on.

I very much respect your opinion, evollove. My own viewpoint on these matters used to be similar. But now...

Bands have to have food and shelter like anyone else. Maybe back when bands could supplement their touring income with sales of physical media (records/tapes/CDs) and songwriting royalties such crass commercialism wouldn't have been necessary. But with so many people getting downloads and streaming for free, the extremely high cost of living, the extremely high cost of touring, etc.--well, money has to come from somewhere. I don't think there's anything noble about suffering just so someone like me, who doesn't depend on making music for a living, can feel good about my favorite musicians not being sellouts. Money has to come from somewhere. Not everyone can has the ability or interest in running a recording studio like Steve Albini.

Maybe looking at it from another angle might be helpful. Musicians who do these commercials are perhaps subverting the corporate monster from within the beast's very own belly.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Citibank commercials are hardly food and shelter

[Drjohnrock]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

Citibank commercials are hardly food and shelter

But the money from such endeavors can certainly help purchase such trivial things.

[evollove]

Drjohnrock, I agree with you in respect to a number of bands, but that's because a number of bands don't really mean anything. They're just there to entertain. I mean, it's not like if Stephen Malkmus did a McDonald's ad, the force of his lyrics would change. They'd be as silly and fun as before.

"The first beast that will appear will entice us with money and fame..." That's a SK lyric that I totally don't buy anymore, at all. That's what's been lost. Used to rouse me, now they are just words.

To be totally fair, however, if I was in the situation, I'm not sure I would say no to a fat corporate check. So there's that.

[!@#$%!]

oh yeah the fucking amex ad. thanks for clarifying it.

i have a huge beef with it in that it attempts to convey the notion that you can craft you identity by shopping, which is, ugh, atrocious. but this is what you'd expect from amex, except that it's ms. portlandia endorsing it with her name & signature. not just amex, but that whole social construct that keeps america engorged.

i have nothing against shopping by the way, it's just the notion that shopping is what gives your life meaning & identity which i find so fucking vexing. you know, like the guy who thinks that he's defined by his "brands." vomit.

to think that carrie brownstein is going to subvert shit from the inside is hilariously supernaive.

having said all that, i'll be happy to change my beliefs for a 1/2 million dollars right now.

[Savage Clone]

If they no longer "stand for something," does that mean that people can finally talk about how irritating their actual musical content is without being labeled Tools Of The Patriarchy?

Asking for a friend.

[gmku]

Ug. Fucking sellouts. So Portlandia.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

The irony of that ad in.the.context.of.the lyric "in between my beauty magazines and my.credit.card bills" is sickening.. but.remember that was only.carrie.not.corin and.janet in those ads

[Severian]

Even at their most hip- the pinnacle of their career... Just before All Hands on the Bad One started turning up at Best Buy & Circuit City, have S-K ever received this much ass kissing from the press.

I can't help but feel that this is a mistake. I have never seen Portlandia, and I've never heard the NPR show, and I've barely kept up with Corin Tucker Band, but I used to attend every S-K show I could.

I feel like they left at the perfect time. I can't see what's to be gained from this, but it does smell a bit like $ to me.

Whatever. Punk isn't even a thing anymore.

[Genteel Death]

What did Sleater Kinney stand for anyway?

[Genteel Death]