Chris Ott Responds to Tricia Romano's UltraDrrrrvl
As you may already know, Tricia Romano wrote a cover story this week for the Village Voice who depicted UltraGrrrl as a martyr burning at the stake. I do not care for what Sarah Lewitinn [U.G.] represents nor Ms. Romano for that matter, but I never give them much thought. Tankboy over at Idolator comments in the discussion of the cover illustration, "Is that really the cover? Okay, why are you all wasting your time bashing Ultra when you should be hatin' on the VV art department?!"
Chris Ott -a fellow Village Voice contributor- vocally expressed his distaste for the article on the piece's website on Friday citing the possible conflict of interest in that Stolen Transmission [UltraGrrrl]'s band the Horrors played the Voice's SXSW showcase. He continues: "If Nick Sylvester can be fired because someone he lampooned turned on him, what do we do with you, Trish?"
Knowing the Voice's predisposition to fire or blacklist dissenters, I hope you are still getting along over there. You may have just painted yourself as a martyr, with smaller boobies.
Tricia,Read the rest of Ott's response.
As a Voice contributor - and participant in the I Love Music discussion you mention - I find it curious and not a little convenient that you did not think to reach out to me for a quote on this story. My views on Sarah are public, and far from anonymous. In fact, the two times I have spoken of her, my email address was displayed at the foot of the message (as it is here).
Written from jerry yeti's cave at 6:39 PM
1 Talk to a Yeti
1 Comments:
"If not for the ILM thread in question, you have essentially written a cover story lionizing budding music magnate Sarah Lewitinn's resilience in the face of nasty blog comments. Others have noted, with varying incredulity, how totally ridiculous this is.
"As a subject, Sarah is definitively Now, a sociopathic solipsist born of the easy, indulgent self-celebration made possible by the internet, where the insecure desperation of thousands of young people manifests itself through the public display of how many "friends" they have. Would that your piece was an examination of this terrifyingly unreal situation - how the definition of friendship has been diluted to the point of meaninglessness, leading to a vacuous culture of familiarity (which, Tricia, you've made your name promoting) - I might have enjoyed it.
"Instead, it's another manipulative sell job involving Marc Spitz, Sarah's former something-or-other at SPIN. Not very long ago, he floated the same "Ultragrrrl" hype in Vanity Fair (with a much better photo shoot - and retoucher). These two have long engaged in closed-loop pull-quote make out sessions, and this makes two mainstream publications that have been hijacked for their ends. How many times must we groan through "Marc was my mentor, he's a total genius"/"Sarah heard the Killers before me, she's a total genius." The L.A. Reid anecdote, all the industry types lining up behind her - this is not happening without considerable cognition. There is a vested interest in developing Sarah as an icon, a pusher who can penetrate the marketing-resistant sheep grazing in the fields of MySpace.
"I respect that you reached out to Jason Gross for at least one substantive counterpoint, but he is only one of many music junkies who find Sarah Lewitinn repellent. Like so many unserious musicians and promoters before her, she tries marginalize negative reaction by inventing a closed definition for "rock critic" - as if rock writers aren't all in bands, putting out records, going to shows, making the scene...you know, look up Nick Kent some time. Neil Tennant, Chrissie Hynde. Even DeRogatis was in the Ex-Lion Tamers.
"I should also note that, to each other, we are not at all anonymous. The fact that you couldn't identify (most of) the participants in that ILM thread is either denial in service of framing Sarah's persecution, or evidence that you're out of your depth. The Voice is complicit in not making a determination there.
"Now we see that the week this feature runs – having been in the cooker for ages – a band on Sarah’s label (the Horrors) is playing the Village Voice 2007 SXSW showcase. If Nick Sylvester can be fired because someone he lampooned turned on him, what do we do with you, Trish? Is not the new management accountable for using the paper’s reputation to engender this short-sighted “brand synergy”?
"The Village Voice is not a blog, and cannot be wielded so carelessly, or treated as a brand. Its history and still-vast readership stipulate strict observance of and adherence to journalistic ethics. I stood up when it was unfairly attacked during the tumultuous transition from the Robert Christgau and Chuck Eddy eras, and have twice been cited by Christgau, in print, as a capable if not sterling cub. However this feature, and the collusion surrounding it, obliterates whatever hope I held that the next generation of music and culture writers could convene around the Voice’s lately revolving door, fomenting a future where the paper could live up to its past.
Adieu,
Chris Ott"
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