The critics put so much importance on these guys at the time that it's a wonder they are still so beloved in Minneapolis/St Paul (chalk it up to the entire music scene there being comprised of critics, both actual and self-appointed)let alone anywhere else.
That said,I still love 'em. How people who are not from the midwest relate to them I can barely fathom. But frankly, I don't think it amounts to many people.
The critics put so much importance on these guys at the time that it's a wonder they are still so beloved in Minneapolis/St Paul (chalk it up to the entire music scene there being comprised of critics, both actual and self-appointed)let alone anywhere else.
That said,I still love 'em. How people who are not from the midwest relate to them I can barely fathom. But frankly, I don't think it amounts to many people.
I like the Replacements & I'm definitely not from the midwest. 'Take Out The Trash' is a sweet hardcore LP.
Love me some Pavement and Wilco. I don't understand the huge fuss with Radiohead or Kanye West either. Also don't get people who can say someone's entire discography is trash because they didn't like 2 songs ten years ago. Ignorance + arrogance = NAGL.
last i heard, and this is a minute ago, he was on some weird Nick Drake[/b] shit or something.
...and hating on the Replacements is insanity!
Definitely one of the best bands of the 80's..."Let It Be" & "Tim" are straight-up rock & roll masterpieces.
I would love to watch them bludgeon the Pixies to death using bottles of King Kobra & guitars.
Also, pre-major label Flaming Lips are fantastic, but I can't speak on what came after that. The documentary about them from last year was really entertaining, though.
Since I'm just standing up for bands, let me co-sign that the single most over-rated band of all-time is Radiohead. I would rather listen to Coldplay than Radiohead...and I hate Coldplay.
Do you guys think part of that is (in the example of bands like Pavement, GBV, etc) critics trying to show what they know about older music while talking about newer stuff and the "roots" of some of the music they are assigned to report on?
Same question applies to magazines...do you think that the name dropping and constant mentions is the same thing? Maybe looking to establish equal credit from younger readers looking up bands they are just getting into AND people who were in high school for "Crooked Rain,..."?
Also i think a lot of times with critics if certain pieces are in place that people get praise because they are 'supposed to' for their given situation/disposition/competition (cough lesser of evils cough) to and whats important may get overlooked. I mean face it, does the majority of Spin or Rolling Stone's readership make researched or even personally informed decisions on everything they buy or do they get what they are supposed to. What magazine says they should. What radio says they should.
Quick example. i got a CD in the mail to review like a year or so ago and it was a producer putting out some of his songs...his band consisted of the bassist from Beck's band, R.E.M.'s drummer, Jay Bennett (who did all kinds of good and bad stuff to and for Wilco). Produced by Joe Chicarelli and Tony Hoffer (credits from Air to U2 to Zappa).
So this thing (in the minds of critics) should be off the meter. It stunk. A few nice moments but lyrical content about taking an airplane to Pluto and stuff, it just really wasn't very good. In my opinion.
i would just like to add, for no reason, that my lady's close acquaintence put Dougie Fresh on her iPod because he is apparently a scientologist (which she most certainly is).
i will also say this....Spin ran a bit once about what to do while Radiohead was on some hiatus...Coldplay was listed as a poor man's Radiohead. i'd have to say their tone has probably changed since.
Anyway, i have been reading Paste Magazine for a little while now, pretty decent comes with a CD and DVD every month.
to completely switch genres...and i think somebody else already referenced him...Rahsaan Roland Kirk. even "Blacknuss" and "Rip, Rig and Panic" underwhelm me. is he a genius just because he was blind and played five instruments at once?
Radiohead Interpol Sigur Ros Modest Mouse The White Stripes Animal Collective Wilco Spoon The Strokes Devendra Banhart The Books The Microphones The Notwist Boards of Canada Fennesz Broken Social Scene Liars The Flaming Lips Sufjan Stevens The Rapture The Fiery Furnaces Godspeed You Black Emperor! Manitoba Mclusky Deerhoof The Arcade Fire TV on the Radio The Shins ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead Prefuse 75 The Dismemberment Plan Joanna Newsom The Postal Service Yeah Yeah Yeahs M.I.A. Iron & Wine Cat Power 2Many DJs The Shins Sleater-Kinney M83 The Wrens The New Pornographers Les Savy Fav Mu Bj??rk Franz Ferdinand DJ/Rupture Yo La Tengo The Decemberists Black Dice The Unicorns
OK so about half of these bands never got more than a one-song chance w me but this was taken off of some post-00 pfork list. I also agree that Beck sucks.
I agree with a decent amount of these, these seem to be the people championed by the press. I will disagree with Radiohead,Wilco,Books,BOC,BSS,Manitoba,TVOTR,Prefuse,Bjork and Yo la tengo
My pick, although mentioned above is these guys Listened to both albums to see what all the fuss was about and ended up with a headache, but I do like Leaf house. And this, I can't believe I havent seen this mentioned yet
to completely switch genres...and i think somebody else already referenced him...Rahsaan Roland Kirk. even "Blacknuss" and "Rip, Rig and Panic" underwhelm me. is he a genius just because he was blind and played five instruments at once?
Animal Collective could easily be the worst band I've ever seen live. I saw them right after Hair Police, another over-hyped lamefest, and I walked out after about 30 seconds.
Yes, thank god. I have never understood the popularity of this band, at least from hipsters who should have heard this kind of music before. Usually, pop/rock buzz bands rip off artists from about two decades earlier, so that's where the blatant Joy Division/New Order sound comes from - par for the course there. But the more contemporary Radiohead overtones are disturbing - are people honestly not hearing this? Maybe Interpol are good people (as I've heard from several friends that have met them), and if so, it's hard ultimately to find some sort of fault with them for making money. But like Devandra and his Ongoing Unicorn/Beard of Stars Photocopy Tour, it's just plain annoying when style-biting presides. Realistically, though: some of these rip-off bands are gateway drugs for teens who are learning to find their own way and getting deeper into music. I can't hate Banhart's attempts to bring OG 60s/70s loner folk and fey music back into the sidestage limelight. That's a noble venture. I just don't want to listen to his personal reinterpretations. Will Oldham and Sam Beam and Josephine Foster are doing their own thing, in my book. I'd can listen to those cats because they can write songs and lyrics for days and provide their own style. But as for Banhart, I'm still going to wear my private press "LEAVE MARC BOLAN ALONE" tee-shirt to next month's Chicago's Pitchfork Music Fest.
Beck has his positive points; One Foot In The Grave is a great album for all its sloppy, loose humanity. Snag the vinyl version, too; it's not anachronistic in this context. And hating on OK Computer? People, get real. Yes: We've heard it a million times before (and maybe stuff like Airbag has lost its punch for you in the process), but like Achtung Baby before it, I don't think that oversaturation and backlash should be allowed to diminish what was a solid album when it dropped. The Flaming Lips have been a bore since Bad Days and TCTM. Not evil-bad, but just boring. Like Coldplay. I don't hate Chris Martin & Co. for making plain, ultra-produced, ultra-listenable music. It's just not my thing.
i think luck makes a great point. Part of this is realizing when these albums we are discussing were made. Things were a hell of a lot different then and for someone to scan through a few Pavement tracks alongside of all these indie dudes that are out now isn't a true representation of what that album / music is/was all about. Same thing with Radiohead, i mean really how many other albums did OK Computer influence? i love reading reviews from right when that came out because people are all about it.
Also can't agree more on Sam Beam, i am really feeling his lyrics and the imagery he uses a lot of the time. i can't tell you how many times i listened to The Creek Drank The Cradle (i have two more discs of that lo-fi demo type stuff if anyone wants it). His EPs with other musicians and Calexico are pretty cool too. Woman King gets a lot of play with me.
Banhart. Yeeeesh. He does have a few tunes where he's not a complete weirdo i got an encouraging head nod when i picked up his first disc from the guy at my favorite record shop and i am not even close to feeling it. He either has an album called Nino Rojo or did some songs with an artist by that name. The two that i heard from it (or with her) weren't bad "The Hop" and "Rejoicing in...(something something)...anyway. Not feeling it.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Pretty much any rock band from the past 10 years that got critical adulation stinks
But my nomination for one of the more egregiously worshipped folls:
Beck
This dude's music is trash.
And: if you like this dude, you do not like rap.
Dunno where that leaves me, then. I think Beck's good and, while I can see why he'd rub some folks up the wrong way, I think that's sometimes more to do with the level of acclaim he receives and the sources it comes from. Anyway, I always thought some of Beck's earlier shit displayed a pretty good grasp of the musical dynamic of late-80's/early-90's rap (see also: Portishead), without actually trying to sound like rap records. Joints like "Loser" and "Where It's At" are as much, if not more, like a modern take on talking blues anyway.
I'm not even going to attempt to list all the critically-acclaimed acts that I "don't get", but several of them have been mentioned in this thread already.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
to completely switch genres...and i think somebody else already referenced him...Rahsaan Roland Kirk. even "Blacknuss" and "Rip, Rig and Panic" underwhelm me. is he a genius just because he was blind and played five instruments at once?
to completely switch genres...and i think somebody else already referenced him...Rahsaan Roland Kirk. even "Blacknuss" and "Rip, Rig and Panic" underwhelm me. is he a genius just because he was blind and played five instruments at once?
Rahsaan's name does not belong in this thread IMO. First of all because he was subject to a great deal of critisism back in days for for being a perpertrator of gimmicks, but if you look past the initial wow-effect of his technical skill, he was simply a great and emotional musician whose influence reached beyond the jazz idiom, especially when it comes to his flute playing.
I don't know Beck's product at all. I do know it has always been hyped bigger than Jesus or whatever. I would be v. determined to close my mind tighter than the foundation stones of The Great Pyramid when it came to listening to something like this.
Anyway, 9 years ago I was on Bondi Beach and heard this band soundchecking. There was no-one around really. I thought they were local? They sounded pretty tight though and the tune they were checking was catchy.
When I got back some dude is raving on about Beck playing the beach and how it's > Jesus etc... I told him I saw them checking earlier and it was some tune about pollution. He dug out this CD and played me the same tune. But the album sounded like nothing special. It was alright, I suppose. I mean, the dude has some talent, and I probably would have sat through the gig.
But I mean, you watch Beck sing a tune live and then, if you could, watch Aretha sing something nice, not one of her stereotypical shouty numbers, it would be z0rs for anyone with a pulse.
What I am saying is, you have to be in the mood to take in the likes of Beck, Radiohead with all the clever you-have-to-know-the-meaning-of-the-song stuff. Like "Modern Art", whatever that is.
Wheras Aretha or Miles could pop out the suffering of all humanity in one note.
Comments
"HOW LEGENDARY OF YOU."
The critics put so much importance on these guys at the time that it's a wonder they are still so beloved in Minneapolis/St Paul (chalk it up to the entire music scene there being comprised of critics, both actual and self-appointed)let alone anywhere else.
That said,I still love 'em. How people who are not from the midwest relate to them I can barely fathom. But frankly, I don't think it amounts to many people.
Late Castration
...and hating on the Replacements is insanity!
Definitely one of the best bands of the 80's..."Let It Be" & "Tim" are straight-up rock & roll masterpieces.
I would love to watch them bludgeon the Pixies to death using bottles of King Kobra & guitars.
Also, pre-major label Flaming Lips are fantastic, but I can't speak on
what came after that. The documentary about them from last year was
really entertaining, though.
Since I'm just standing up for bands, let me co-sign that
the single most over-rated band of all-time is Radiohead.
I would rather listen to Coldplay than Radiohead...and I hate Coldplay.
Same question applies to magazines...do you think that the name dropping and constant mentions is the same thing? Maybe looking to establish equal credit from younger readers looking up bands they are just getting into AND people who were in high school for "Crooked Rain,..."?
Also i think a lot of times with critics if certain pieces are in place that people get praise because they are 'supposed to' for their given situation/disposition/competition (cough lesser of evils cough) to and whats important may get overlooked. I mean face it, does the majority of Spin or Rolling Stone's readership make researched or even personally informed decisions on everything they buy or do they get what they are supposed to. What magazine says they should. What radio says they should.
Quick example. i got a CD in the mail to review like a year or so ago and it was a producer putting out some of his songs...his band consisted of the bassist from Beck's band, R.E.M.'s drummer, Jay Bennett (who did all kinds of good and bad stuff to and for Wilco). Produced by Joe Chicarelli and Tony Hoffer (credits from Air to U2 to Zappa).
So this thing (in the minds of critics) should be off the meter. It stunk. A few nice moments but lyrical content about taking an airplane to Pluto and stuff, it just really wasn't very good. In my opinion.
i would just like to add, for no reason, that my lady's close acquaintence put Dougie Fresh on her iPod because he is apparently a scientologist (which she most certainly is).
i will also say this....Spin ran a bit once about what to do while Radiohead was on some hiatus...Coldplay was listed as a poor man's Radiohead. i'd have to say their tone has probably changed since.
Anyway, i have been reading Paste Magazine for a little while now, pretty decent comes with a CD and DVD every month.
I agree with a decent amount of these, these seem to be the people championed by the press. I will disagree with Radiohead,Wilco,Books,BOC,BSS,Manitoba,TVOTR,Prefuse,Bjork and Yo la tengo
My pick, although mentioned above is these guys
Listened to both albums to see what all the fuss was about and ended up with a headache, but I do like Leaf house.
And this, I can't believe I havent seen this mentioned yet
This is excellent.What is this??
"Yeah,I think I was in a band with him or something."
My buddy is all about it and he sent it to me a little while back. "Get the hell out of our store please!"
Genius. Pure genius.
Yes, thank god. I have never understood the popularity of this band, at least from hipsters who should have heard this kind of music before. Usually, pop/rock buzz bands rip off artists from about two decades earlier, so that's where the blatant Joy Division/New Order sound comes from - par for the course there. But the more contemporary Radiohead overtones are disturbing - are people honestly not hearing this? Maybe Interpol are good people (as I've heard from several friends that have met them), and if so, it's hard ultimately to find some sort of fault with them for making money. But like Devandra and his Ongoing Unicorn/Beard of Stars Photocopy Tour, it's just plain annoying when style-biting presides.
Realistically, though: some of these rip-off bands are gateway drugs for teens who are learning to find their own way and getting deeper into music. I can't hate Banhart's attempts to bring OG 60s/70s loner folk and fey music back into the sidestage limelight. That's a noble venture. I just don't want to listen to his personal reinterpretations. Will Oldham and Sam Beam and Josephine Foster are doing their own thing, in my book. I'd can listen to those cats because they can write songs and lyrics for days and provide their own style. But as for Banhart, I'm still going to wear my private press "LEAVE MARC BOLAN ALONE" tee-shirt to next month's Chicago's Pitchfork Music Fest.
Beck has his positive points; One Foot In The Grave is a great album for all its sloppy, loose humanity. Snag the vinyl version, too; it's not anachronistic in this context.
And hating on OK Computer? People, get real. Yes: We've heard it a million times before (and maybe stuff like Airbag has lost its punch for you in the process), but like Achtung Baby before it, I don't think that oversaturation and backlash should be allowed to diminish what was a solid album when it dropped.
The Flaming Lips have been a bore since Bad Days and TCTM. Not evil-bad, but just boring. Like Coldplay. I don't hate Chris Martin & Co. for making plain, ultra-produced, ultra-listenable music. It's just not my thing.
Also can't agree more on Sam Beam, i am really feeling his lyrics and the imagery he uses a lot of the time. i can't tell you how many times i listened to The Creek Drank The Cradle (i have two more discs of that lo-fi demo type stuff if anyone wants it). His EPs with other musicians and Calexico are pretty cool too. Woman King gets a lot of play with me.
Banhart. Yeeeesh. He does have a few tunes where he's not a complete weirdo i got an encouraging head nod when i picked up his first disc from the guy at my favorite record shop and i am not even close to feeling it. He either has an album called Nino Rojo or did some songs with an artist by that name. The two that i heard from it (or with her) weren't bad "The Hop" and "Rejoicing in...(something something)...anyway. Not feeling it.
Dunno where that leaves me, then. I think Beck's good and, while I can see why he'd rub some folks up the wrong way, I think that's sometimes more to do with the level of acclaim he receives and the sources it comes from. Anyway, I always thought some of Beck's earlier shit displayed a pretty good grasp of the musical dynamic of late-80's/early-90's rap (see also: Portishead), without actually trying to sound like rap records. Joints like "Loser" and "Where It's At" are as much, if not more, like a modern take on talking blues anyway.
I'm not even going to attempt to list all the critically-acclaimed acts that I "don't get", but several of them have been mentioned in this thread already.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH-Gd-buULw
twice...
Yessir!
Rahsaan's name does not belong in this thread IMO. First of all because he was subject to a great deal of critisism back in days for for being a perpertrator of gimmicks, but if you look past the initial wow-effect of his technical skill, he was simply a great and emotional musician whose influence reached beyond the jazz idiom, especially when it comes to his flute playing.
Anyway, 9 years ago I was on Bondi Beach and heard this band soundchecking. There was no-one around really. I thought they were local? They sounded pretty tight though and the tune they were checking was catchy.
When I got back some dude is raving on about Beck playing the beach and how it's > Jesus etc... I told him I saw them checking earlier and it was some tune about pollution. He dug out this CD and played me the same tune. But the album sounded like nothing special. It was alright, I suppose. I mean, the dude has some talent, and I probably would have sat through the gig.
But I mean, you watch Beck sing a tune live and then, if you could, watch Aretha sing something nice, not one of her stereotypical shouty numbers, it would be
What I am saying is, you have to be in the mood to take in the likes of Beck, Radiohead with all the clever you-have-to-know-the-meaning-of-the-song stuff. Like "Modern Art", whatever that is.
Wheras Aretha or Miles could pop out the suffering of all humanity in one note.
Or something like that.