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WTF is "Outsider"?

RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,779 Posts
edited April 2007 in Strut Central
I hear this term passed around alot lately. It sounds like the new buzzword... like "modern soul" for 2007Please to let me know what this is so that I can buy these potentially crappy LPs and exploit them on eBay for cash profit.

  Comments

  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts


    "Did someone say Outsider?"
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    It's actually not a new term at all

    Refers to someone who is "outside" of or on the margins of society

    also similar to "real people music"

    Basically someone who is not a trained musician or songwriter somehow producing an item of interest, usually privately.

    Mingering Mike = Outsider

    Raj Mahal = Insider
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    The term Outsider Art was coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as an English synonym for Art Brut (which literally translates as "Raw Art" or "Rough Art"), a label created by French artist Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture; Dubuffet focused particularly on art by insane asylum inmates
  • high_chigh_c 1,384 Posts
    It's old crusty terminology that's about as hip as saying "cheesecake" and it somehow turns aweful records like this into 100 bills:

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    It's old crusty terminology that's about as hip as saying "cheesecake" and it somehow turns aweful records like this into 100 bills:


    Dude......plaese leave behind all these unhip records for crusty old guys like me!!!

    Mucho Gracias.

  • high_chigh_c 1,384 Posts
    It's old crusty terminology that's about as hip as saying "cheesecake" and it somehow turns aweful records like this into 100 bills:


    Dude......plaese leave behind all these unhip records for crusty old guys like me!!!

    Mucho Gracias.




    Ha... by "old crusty" I was actually refering to TacoMonroe. You should see some of the records this guy buys nowadays.. Dobro Mandolin Deliverance AOR BREAKZ for days!
  • anthonypearsonanthonypearson 2,442 Posts
    I hear this term passed around alot lately. It sounds like the new buzzword... like "modern soul" for 2007

    Please to let me know what this is so that I can buy these potentially crappy LPs and exploit them on eBay for cash profit.

    disconnected
  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,471 Posts
    It's music made by a mental patient, a hillbilly, or a chimpanzee.
  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
    It's music made by a mental patient, a hillbilly, or a chimpanzee.


    Chimpanzee braeks are fetching mad loot on ebay these days.

  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    It's old crusty terminology that's about as hip as saying "cheesecake" and it somehow turns aweful records like this into 100 bills:


    SECRETLY SKANKY PILOT CHICK TRUNK SPRAWLING MOVES
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts

  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    It's old crusty terminology that's about as hip as saying "cheesecake" and it somehow turns aweful records like this into 100 bills:


    SECRETLY SKANKY PILOT CHICK TRUNK SPRAWLING MOVES

    She probably wears a diaper on her road trip to brain her rival. Definition of OUTSIDER.
  • Tektonic_PlatesTektonic_Plates 100 Posts
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    It's music made by a mental patient, a hillbilly, or a chimpanzee.

    C'mon, QUO - make this happen!!

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
  • kitchenknightkitchenknight 4,922 Posts
    It's music made by a mental patient, a hillbilly, or a chimpanzee.

    I was voted most likely to become a mental patient, hillbilly, or chimpanzee!

    (one of my favorite episodes ever. the send up of art is good; the building of 'le grille,' is fucking facemelt.)
  • ZEN2ZEN2 1,540 Posts
    le grille? what the hell is that?

  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    There is a mailing list for "outsider music". Someone like Jandek would definitely be considered "outsider music". Someone who is an outcast, doesn't fit in with the rest of the world, but feels a need to share that music with the rest of the world.

    It can either be an artist, or a songwriter who sends their lyrics to songwriting services in Nashville:


    Sisters with a keen ear for melody, rhythm, and timing:


    Or singers who aren't always in tune, or sing as if they have no teeth:
  • hemolhemol 2,578 Posts
    or sing as if they have no teeth:


    Outsider is generally not the kind of term you want to use unless you are an old anthropologist with tenure. There's a degree of insensitivity to it.
  • SnagglepusSnagglepus 1,756 Posts
  • Young_PhonicsYoung_Phonics 8,039 Posts
    sounds like waxidermy catnip
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts

    This book looks like BS. Tiny Tim? Syd Barrett? Captain Beefheart? Those cats all had major label deals with lots of label support and commercial success. Tiny Tim was on every 60s variety show. Damn the Shaggs wouldn't have made the list if they hadn't been discovered and mainstreamed in the 80s.
  • SnagglepusSnagglepus 1,756 Posts


    This book looks like BS. Tiny Tim? Syd Barrett? Captain Beefheart? Those cats all had major label deals with lots of label support and commercial success. Tiny Tim was on every 60s variety show. Damn the Shaggs wouldn't have made the list if they hadn't been discovered and mainstreamed in the 80s.

    Yeah ... it really isn't all that good of a book. I wasn't trying to champion it or anything. More like fuel for the "outsider" discussion ... but B.J. Snowden from Massachussetts (described in the book) is unbelievable:

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    It's music made by a mental patient, a hillbilly, or a chimpanzee.

    Does anyone else have the misfortune of owning the "Crafty Ladies Christmas" 45? When I added it to my collection of Christmas sevens for a quarter, I didn't realize it would haunt me year-round. But I can't bring myself to get rid of it.

    File under: music made by disabled women.
  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    http://waxidermy.com/category/diy-outsider/
  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    I'm not sure if that Songs in the Key of Z book is related to the CD of the same title, but the comp has some SERIOUSLY outsider schitt (including what were/are 'classics' of the genre)
  • SnagglepusSnagglepus 1,756 Posts
    I'm not sure if that Songs in the Key of Z book is related to the CD of the same title, but the comp has some SERIOUSLY outsider schitt (including what were/are 'classics' of the genre)

    Yeah ... the CD is the "companion piece" to the book. Looks like it's well worth a listen. The book is a good library grab as it has some worthwhile chapters but isn't really worth buying ... just not sure why some of the more "known" artists were included.
  • johmbolayajohmbolaya 4,472 Posts
    ...just not sure why some of the more "known" artists were included.

    As time goes on, I think the perception will be that artists who were innovative, unique, and creative were on the fringe. Not everything by Captain Beefheart was like Trout Mask Replica[/b], and Syd Barrett's solo albums were pretty good. What happened afterwards with his mental health is another story, but these days, everyone has to be glamorous or face the mainstream consequences. I guess when "alternative music" had become mainstream, someone had to point the finger at some of the more odd records out there.
  • ChairmasterChairmaster 45 Posts


    Sisters with a keen ear for melody, rhythm, and timing:


    Only an "outsider" would play Avalon guitars. Those things are
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