Thursday, January 8, 2009
Oh, and...
The closest I came to making a resolution this year was to remain Pitchfork-free in 2009. It just came to be the 6th or 7th and I realized I hadn't looked at it for a few weeks (because they weren't updating) and then when it finally occurred to me I might check it out, I wondered "Why?" It's been a long damn time since they've written any review that piqued my interest, made me want to go find a record. Or if they did raise any level of interest in me to go listen, I was always majorly disappointed. If I heard about one more whisper-singer, one more expert on I hyphenated genre I couldn't care less about, or saw the phrase "Brooklyn-based" one more time, I might have strangled somebody. So, that's that. I'll stick with Allmusic and Soulbounce to keep up with new releases if I feel the need to.
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Goddammit. First comment by one Mr. Jakob says it all.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I saw this link earlier and for some reason thought it was about jam bands, so I skipped it. Thank you for re-bringing it to my attention.
ReplyDeleteOH, now I see what you're saying... negative, not positive...
ReplyDeleteDidn't actually read the dude's comment first... and what also helped is that I really really like the first band... but #2 and #3 so far are the suck... really really the suck...
Further Updates:
ReplyDeleteMemory Cassette: Liked it a lot
Young Fathers: Got into it... not major, but not bad
Chico Mann: Diggin' it lots... got me in an afro-beat trance! Which reminds me... you ever get into Fela Kuti??? If not, I HIGHLY SUGGEST IT!
I should probably give them all a chance before I dismiss them, but it's more about all these descriptions turning me off immediately. And it gets overbearing hearing about nothing but dance music all the time, and considering the first two descriptions prominently feature "disco" I was not immediately impressed. Breaks down like this:
ReplyDeleteMemory Cassette: "lo-fi disco with robotic female vocals (discogaze?)" Next.
Betty and the Werewolves: "post-punk indie-disco floor-fillers" Worse.
Let's Wrestle: "knuckleheaded and hilarious indie rock with little regard for frivolous things like singing in tune or playing more than three chords" Hmmm. Why do I doubt it's hilarious?
Young Father's: Except for maybe "one of NME’s acts to watch" actually nothing about that description irks me too bad.
La Roux: "gives edgy pop divas like Robyn and Lily Allen (with whom she’ll be touring) a run for their money" Great. Another Lily Allen? That description seems to tell me more what she looks like than what she sounds like.
Japanese Cartoon: "Cockney chimney sweep-accented singer Percival Fats is in fact rapper Lupe Fiasco" I'm not sure that could sound less appealing to me.
Spider and the Flies: "synth havoc" Meh.
Chico Mann: That actually does sound worth checking out.
Team Robespierre: "Brooklynite post-punk/dance-rock groups with synths might be a dime a dozen" No "might be" about it. Not interested.
Playdoe: "Stylish, electro-rap for new school hip(ster)-hoppers" Oh, great.
But I do think I'll give them a chance. And yeah, I checked out a little Fela Kuti last summer. Tried to check out several comps of what's going on with African music. Did not get crazy into it but there's definitely nothing to put down there.
Yeah, whoever wrote those descriptions loves to smoke crack... and then write descriptions for music they pretend to know something about.
ReplyDeleteDon't trust the Memory Cassette description. It doesn't make any sense. I enjoyed them the most and would definitely listen to it again.
Betty and the Werewolves: Meridian level of musical quality. I have no idea why bands like this are blowing up... like Vivian Girls.
Let's Wrestle: So boring I don't even remember listening
Young Fathers: decently cool
La Roux: like a really bad Lily Allen/Robyn/Annie warm up act... probably on the level of a warm up comic for the Two and a Half Men studio audience. Lily Allen is pretty great though... not as great as Robyn though... holy cow Robyn is awesome... as is Annie, but that's different.
Japanese Cartoon: You want less appealing? Give it a listen
Spider and the Flies: pretty worthless
Chico Mann: definitely give it a listen. Liked it
Team Robespierre: agreed... music equals my armpit smell at the end of a long day using non-aluminum based deodorants.
Playdoe: Give it a shot... you might be into it. I'd say quite worthwhile...
And now the streaming radio I'm listening to is playing a Robyn track... sweet.
I'll have to play you some of the Fela Kuti stuff I have... the best stuff is out of control.
Nice. All I can say to that is that personally I actively dislike Lily Allen, but it doesn't sound like that'd make a difference in La Roux suckatude anyway. Will give these a checkout this weekend IF I can turn off Reel People for a few minutes.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I think the Fela Kuti I checked out in the summer was Confusion, Gentleman, and The Best Of The Black President. It was whatever allmusic had put check marks next to.
ReplyDeleteYou ever listen to Robyn?
ReplyDeleteI have not. Should I put her on the d/l list for the weekend?
ReplyDeleteSee if you dig these videos... everyone one but the first has a high quality link... her voice is kinda like a super toned down cyndi lauper through a kate bush filter (without the extreme range). But here ya go:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vfLvZCdT9g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypQtJ8z6q5o&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdyxEps1uXY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcSIReQovmc&feature=related
Gave her the check out. Not really my thing, but I could listen to it. I'd have a much more enjoyable time listening to her than Lily Allen. Definitely.
ReplyDeleteI also revisited Fela Kuti, and I definitely have to re-evaluate my opinion of him. I guess when I listened to him over the summer it just wasn't what I wanted to listen to at the time, cuz you're 100% right, f-ing awesome.
Exactly... The grooves his band get into are hypnotizing. And yeah, I figured you'd at least appreciate the Robyn.
ReplyDelete