2002 Pazz and Jop

My letter to the editor got published and Christgau replied to me.

HOTEL DEFECTIVE

In Robert Christgau's piece on the 2002 Pazz & Jop poll ("Party in Hard Times"), he repeatedly refers to Wilco's drummer, Ken Coomer. The only problem is that Ken Coomer was not the drummer on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; Glenn Kotche replaced him at the start of recording. You'd think the Dean of Schlock Criticism would read the liner notes to his poll's No. 1 album. Or at least see the movie based on the making of it!

Jake Brown
Chicago, Illinois

Robert Christgau replies: In fact, both Coomer and Kotche are listed in the package, which attributes no instruments to anyone, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have figured it out—factual errors are always inexcusable. The point, however, remains the same. Of course I heard Kotche's tricked-up meters and textural fills as Coomer's attempt to keep up with the artiness at hand. No matter who played them, they don't rock, funk, or propel.

Link: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0309/letters.php