The first night of SXSW is a relatively slow one. There aren’t that many MUST see shows, everyone is yawning from their early flights, and Austin’s 6th Street just smells like only beer… not beer, piss, and garbage. By the time I got my badge, ate two tacos, and drank a margarita, I only had the energy for a short night. I wandered easily into the giant outdoor Stubb’s for the NME and Zune-sponsored Brit-centric line up.Catching only the last notes of Wales’ the Automatic, I grabbed a Miller Lite and prepared to be blown away by young English lad Jamie T, a next-big-thing signed to Virgin UK who I’d been told by a friend was the "one musician I am most excited about see this year at SXSW." His sloppy, shambolic set of punky-reggae free-associations sounded like 2nd-gen Arctic Monkeys to me, but why don’t you just hear it for yourself?
Next up was chirpy and cheeky London pop-reggae songbird Lily Allen, who looked adorable (green babydoll dress and ’50s hairdo), sounded better (her voice might be better live than on the album), and admitted very early on, "I’m a bit drunk. I’ve been drinking on my bus for hours." You couldn’t tell from the music — which was spot on — but her stage patter sounded like soused trash talk. "F— the NME!" she said, referring to the UK tastemaking magazine that was sponsoring the show. "If I had known it was their gig, I wouldn’t have done it!" (She also called the mag a raunchy British colloquialism that can’t be repeated here, but it rhymes with "blunts.") The gig then pretty much continued as usual until she introduced the last song — the funhouse ode to her stoner sibling "Alfie" — and she called the NME a few more nasty names and then strode offstage. Maybe some PopWatch readers can fill me in, what did the NME do to Ms. Allen?
UPDATE: Reader Mandy describes the details of the dispute in her comment below. Here’s Lily Allen’s blog post outlining her beef with NME.
Comments (1-30) of 30 Add your comment
Last November, Lily posted a blog on her MySpace page ripping NME a new one, partially because of the fact that on NME’s women in music cover, the women talked about on the inside of the magazine were not the women on the cover. I encourage everyone to read that specific blog. . .it was a doozy, and spot-on if you ask me.
She was also upset because she interviewed with them and they manipulated what she really said in the interview, putting her answers out of context and only focusing on things they wanted to say.
I have no idea what NME did to Lily Allen, but I can tell you that you did nothing for this piece. I would venture to say that this was the worst written article I’ve read on EW. I was concerned when only 2 sentences in, I read “their” when it should have been “there” … went downhill quickly afterward.
I hope they’re (note the proper use of the word) not paying you much for this dribble!
I suppose I should have pointed out that I was being sarcastic with “dribble” rather than drivel … or maybe you didn’t notice.
Wow! What’s with all the vitriol today towards the EW writers? Every article I read has someone trashing the writer as the worst in the history of the magazine. I think we should cut this guy a break; if I am not mistaken, Whitney said she was blogging underneath a tent in inclement weather between shows. Not the easiest of circumstances.
Oh look at me, I’m so superior, pointing out every minor error committed by someone else, but not by me, because of course I’m perfect. Gettenze a life!
Jen, it’s a blog. Lighten up. Or are you just an out of work English major, trying to impress the EW writers in order to try to get a job?
Jen, it’s a blog. Lighten up. Or are you just an out of work English major, trying to impress the EW writers in order to try to get a job?
Yeah, Jen H, I’m sure your ‘dribble’ was sarcastic …
Um, maybe someone should proofread his posts before submitting?
I think Jen is absolutely correct for pointing out the mistakes. Unless EW wants to be considered “In Touch,” it needs to hold itself up to high standards… and the first sign of credibility is knowing the difference between “their” and “there.” Even fourth graders know that. C’mon.
Pointing out errors, fine. But the crap attitude? Doesn’t impress me.
The “their”/”there” error is fixed. About that, we can say only 1) Don’t blame Michael Endelman, and 2) D’oh!
Well, I hate NME and everything it stads for, so good for Lily ripping them a new one. I just loved her a little bit more, if that was even possible.
Seriously, this rag is solely responsible for the british media’s attitude towards indie music, where every 0.2 seconds a new Saviour of Rock (TM) is discovered, only to be forgotten by the time they release a second album (usually NME buries these follow-ups. I guess they view their “discoveries” as products with strict expiration dates.)
UGH. Go Lily Go!
You know, in Jen’s defense, there are fewer things more annoying than people writing articles and posting blogs without any concept of spelling or grammar.
Honestly, everyone is allowed to be fat-fingered and make mistakes now and again, but shouldn’t the English language be respected just a little more?
Go easy on her. If it were up to me, I would make everyone pass a highschool English competency exam before allowing them to have internet access. Why should the rest of us suffer because of someone else’s illiteracy?
We already live in a world where too many people think it’s their right to be seen or heard (thus, reality television exists). The situation is only made worse when they carry themselves like booger-eating morons.
Rather than trying to show everyone how clever they are, some of these people would be better served to take a 101 class or something.
My apologies for taking up the time of anyone who doesn’t suffer from that affliction.
Let’s…
If you TRULY SUFFER by reading “their” instead of “there”, I am a little worried about you.
Yes, aymzer, asking people to be literate and respect the people that took the time to teach them when they were children is SO much to ask.
Silly me. I apologize. Everyone please go back to doing meth, worshipping Paris Hilton, listening to Fergie, playing Halo, blogging on Myspace, getting each other pregnant at 14, and then thinking that it’s cool to go on “Maury” and tell the world all about it.
Sorry to bother you. English isn’t important at all. You don’t really need it…
I added Lily after I read that blog way back in the day. I don’t even know if I have ever heard her music. But I heart her bravado. She’s a bad-ass! Go her!
Mandy, didn’t it have something to do with women being a certain size to be on the cover? Shocking news that is!
“Illerate”? Really?
Yes, good catch…and mildly ironic! It is illiterate. Like I said earlier, everyone gets fat-fingered sometimes. My mistake!
Who taught you spelling? I think they deserve an apology.
It’s not a spelling issue, it’s a fumble finger issue. I used to leave out the midde “in” in opinion, too. It could be a genetic defect.
Nevertheless, I apologize to all of the future crack whores that think it’s more important to appear on “Girls Gone Wild” than it is to learn proper English. I also apologize to every young man that thinks it’s okay to wear their jeans half-way off of their butts and talk like the Ying Yang twins.
Keep it up. Everyone will make excuses for you once your problems become society’s problems. Besides, who will serve me fries with that Big Mac?
Is it a full moon today or is just the comments to this post????
Back to Lily Allen. She rules! There is a great crop of girls coming out of the UK right now that can really sing and have a riot grrrrl attitude. I love it! (intentional spelling of grrrl)
Um, don’t you guys think that you’re taking things a little too seriously? Is society really going to collapse if you don’t point out a grammar error on a blog? I mean, yes, literacy is important, but at what point are you just being obnoxious?
Oh, I was obnoxious right out of the gate!!! LOL!!!
Seriously, I know that there are people out there smarter, richer, and far more successful than I will ever be that could not spell if you put a gun to their heads.
I just think this is an area where we, as a society, have lapsed. Is it going to destroy us? No. Not today, and not by itself. But look around you. Factor in every area where we are “lapsing”, and the picture gets a tad grim.
Collectively improving this one area is a baby step to improving us as a whole. It may be obnxious, it may seem a tad extreme, but I’m sure the future returns are worth it.
It may not be that big of a deal to most, but isn’t just better than not to have good spelling and grammar? Compare it to this – finding $50,000 would be great, but wouldn’t finding $100,000 be even better?
“but isn’t just better than not to have good spelling and grammar?”
Did you mean “isn’t it” ?
Thanks for the grammar/spelling/word usage lessons, kids. And this has *what* exactly to do with Lily Allen? I’m pleased to see that they updated this blog with a link to Lily’s statement.
Lily Allen spoke plainly about woman in music, in comparison to men, during an interview, an the N.M.E dropped the article in favor of featuring men in music! and she thought it was sexist
lmrxk mfryvjeq qrxp pitlbdfu zsdh jkolqfnbs aqnszhmc
ifaxebgj qjhutdnfo wnjbx zqjtnbgku bchsvpnfm hpwq gosx