Last Friday, comedian Rob Delaney posted a screenshot of the New York Times website on his Tumblr account. The picture showed the Times’s front page article, which featured the headline “Fugazi Rises Again, In Online Archive.” Delaney included the following paragraph:
I took a screen shot so that in case an editor at the NY Times was like, “Why the fuck is this on our front page?” and took it down, I would have proof that Fugazi releasing bootlegs was, for a moment, the most important story in the United States of America.
I’ve seen comedians do this a lot lately. They point out that on certain news sites or newspapers stories about relatively unimportant things like the return of the TV show Arrested Development are prominently displayed while stories about Libya or Egypt are more difficult to find. There’s nothing wrong with poking fun at the often strange format decisions made by the American media. I get that Delaney was trying to be funny while also commenting on something like political apathy in this country (also, Sirius radio host Jake Fogelnest responded to Delaney via Twitter with a hilarious mock front page of the New York Post).
NOTE: Jake Fogelnest saw my analysis of his and Delaney’s posts and corrected me. My bad. I now see my mistake and admit my inability to understand humor. Here’s what Fogelnest had to say:
I’m fairly certain Delaney’s blog post was more of a “HOLY SHIT, FUGAZI ARE ON THE COVER OF THE NEW YORK FUCKING TIMES!!! CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE HOW COOL THAT IS?” sort-of thing, and less of a comment about “trivial” news items getting larger placement than pop-culture items in media. It actually IS important huge news, but when you think of the average reader of the New York Times, the first image that jumps to mind isn’t a guy in a Minor Threat t-shirt. These jokes were celebratory of Fugazi.
To me, however, Fugazi’s online archive was huge news. Fugazi is one of the greatest, most experimental punk bands that has ever existed. Frontman Ian MacKaye successfully helped popularize the 80s D.C. hardcore scene and the straight edge scene in general with iconic band Minor Threat. Then, with Fugazi, he broke all the rules of hardcore punk. The band added complexity and musicality previously unheard in short, fast, simple hardcore music with their debut album, 1990′s Repeater. They continued this trend, while evolving themselves, through their last album, 2001′s The Argument. Fugazi officially disbanded (under the usual “indefinite hiatus” claim) in 2003.
While news about the band’s reunion would have been more exciting, Fugazi’s recently announced online archive seems pretty cool. On December 1st, the band will launch a website called Fugazi Live Series that will feature recordings of almost all of its performances throughout the years. As the New York Times noted, Fugazi was known for their interesting performances that were cheap, all-ages, and largely impromptu/improvisational (the band rarely, if ever, used a set list). The site is currently in Beta mode for those with a Dischord Records account.
When the site officially launches, it will feature a “pay what you can” per video model as a way to keep Fugazi’s always-DIY business ethics intact. There will be a pay scale from $1—$100, with a suggested donation of $5 per video. Access to over 800 of the band’s shows, as well as “(when available) related photos, flyers, and MP3 downloads” are set to be included on the site.
There may be bigger and more important things going on in the world, but for Fugazi fans, this is huge and exciting news.
Hi Will, It’s Jake Fogelnest. I have a google alert set for my own name because I am a giant narcissist. I’m fairly certain Delaney’s blog post was more of a “HOLY SHIT, FUGAZI ARE ON THE COVER OF THE NEW YORK FUCKING TIMES!!! CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE HOW COOL THAT IS?” sort-of thing, and less of a comment about “trivial” news items getting larger placement than pop-culture items in media. It actually IS important huge news, but when you think of the average reader of the New York Times, the first image that jumps to mind isn’t a guy in a Minor Threat t-shirt. These jokes were celebratory of Fugazi. I hope you understand. Clearly the right thing to do here is for you to you take this blog post down forever and never write anything on the Internet again. (That last joke is about dissenting opinions on blog comments being completely unimportant.) Thanks!!
Jake,
I apologize for misinterpreting those jokes and I’ve corrected my mistake in the post. To somewhat restore my credibility, though, I have to admit that I laughed at both Delaney’s post and your response (and I didn’t think either of you had anything against Fugazi or Black Flag)… I guess I thought Delaney was pointing out that there were more important things going on in the world than Fugazi— like you said, not necessarily a mainstream group— releasing their live recordings online. When you put it your way, though, it makes much more sense. And I agree, it is pretty badass that that was the top story.
There was a comedian (can’t remember who, exactly) that tweeted a Huffington Post screenshot that had a huge picture of the Arrested Development cast and an article about their return with a tiny blip about Libya above that. I’m pretty sure THAT post was mocking the media (which caused me to feel the same way about Delaney’s post), but I’m probably wrong about anything I’ve ever analyzed in my life. Oh well. Thanks a lot for the quick response.
perhaps due to hear their new album? or they never come back together?