Acclaimed recs that you're "just not that into"

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Rick Hunter
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Post by Rick Hunter » Wed Feb 15, 2006 11:48 am

john mayer is not acclaimed.

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YOUR KONG
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Post by YOUR KONG » Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:00 pm

Rick Hunter wrote:john mayer is not acclaimed.
Well, to some people:

Image


I see what you're saying thought - it isn't an acclaimed recording among, you know...our kind.

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Post by JGriffin » Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:17 pm

mertmo wrote:Regarding Bob Seger: "night moves", IMHO, is one of the best songs ever written about realizing that your youth is gone. When he wakes up in the middle of the night at the end of the song and it hits him how long ago it all was.... fuckin' BAM.
The whole tone, meaning and perspective of the song changes in an instant. That's just classy songwriting right there.
spot on, dude.
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Post by ;ivlunsdystf » Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:34 pm

At some point perhaps we all wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly realize Bob Seger is cool. Hollywood Nights. Enough said.

John Mayer seems to be angling for the niche currently occupied by Eric Clapton. Lately he is being presented as an ace strat blues player.

Who can explain "Loveless" to all of us who can't dig it? I am serious here. What am I missing?

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Post by FailedSitcom » Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:50 pm

I don't really think you can explain albums, either you enjoy them or you don't from my experience. I have to listen to Loveless on headphones (or loud speakers) in the dark whilst reading by torchlight, otherwise it doesn't really work quite so well for me...

That's what I like about this topic, we aren't saying the albums are bad, just that they don't do anything for us.

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Post by Rick Hunter » Wed Feb 15, 2006 1:16 pm

King Kong Kitchie Kitchie wrote:
Rick Hunter wrote:john mayer is not acclaimed.
Well, to some people:

Image


I see what you're saying thought - it isn't an acclaimed recording among, you know...our kind.
well, he is hyped, but thats not really acclaimed. I mean christina agulara has one of those too, but...

EDIT: I didnt see that last part until after I responded. yeah, I guess you're right. but still.

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Post by curtiswyant » Wed Feb 15, 2006 1:39 pm

King Kong Kitchie Kitchie wrote: I see what you're saying thought - it isn't an acclaimed recording among, you know...our kind.
Classic :P

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Post by FENder6 » Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:52 pm

Hello all - first post, longtime TapeOp magazine subscriber.

There are more than a few "supposedly" classic albums/bands that just don't do anything for me:

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation. Ugh. (and i really dig alternative tunings!)
Anything by the Doors.
Television - Marquee Moon
Anything by The Clash.
Most Wilco stuff.
Smile - Beach Boys bootlegs /Brian Wilson (highly overrated, although i really like Pet Sounds).
95 percent of Springsteen's stuff. I find it banal even as background music.

- Billy

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Post by californiawizkids » Sun Feb 19, 2006 2:35 pm

I whole-heartedly agree about the Doors. Some of their songs are "classics" but I can only take so much of Jim Morrison. Could he be any more melodramatic?

Let me add the Smiths. I like a few of their songs, but usually prefer the cover versions. It was one of those where I tried them out because bands I liked liked the Smiths. Just goes to show you.

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Post by kayagum » Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:06 am

Tatertot wrote:At some point perhaps we all wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly realize Bob Seger is cool. Hollywood Nights. Enough said.

John Mayer seems to be angling for the niche currently occupied by Eric Clapton. Lately he is being presented as an ace strat blues player.

Who can explain "Loveless" to all of us who can't dig it? I am serious here. What am I missing?
It's interesting that you're in the Twin Cities, over 30, and not like loud drony guitars. Definitely not saying that it's bad. Just not as common.

I think Twin Cities rock people fall into 1 of 3 camps: loud/drony/fast (Husker Du, AmRep, etc.); rootsy/bar (Paul Westerberg/Jayhawks/Semisonic); or kitsch (Faux Jean, Belles of Skin City/Kentucky Gag Order, Two Tickets to Paradise). You may be in the second category.

MBV: Late night, loud speakers or even louder headphones (not earbuds). Start on the 4th track of Loveless. The "You Made me Realise" EP is great too, if you can find it. If that doesn't work, you probably just don't like it. If you're prioritizing lyrics, you definitely won't like it- good luck trying to figure them out.

BTW, explain to me why Bob Seger is cool. What am I missing? He's the reason why I moved to the Twin Cities instead of languishing in Des Moines. Seriously. He's also a reason why my fiancee left Michigan, his home state. Not that there are any jobs left there either.

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Post by overnight » Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:36 pm

I really like MBV Bloodless but totally agree that it's best heard at high volume. It's funny how many records I've only understood when I walked in on them playing on someone elses stereo or heard in a bar when 6 beers deep. I did not get Pavement at all until pretty much shit-canned at friends house - and I already owned 2 records at that point. While I don't like Connor Oberst's (sp?) voice at all, I recognize that he writes a clever song. I'd like to hear them covered more by others than sung with that syrupy constapated ache of his. And I think y'all are crazy to be hatin' on Floyd, Radio Head and early Metallica but that's me.

My votes:
Anything by Stealy Dan. I like some songs and even love a few others but they get so much smarty pants credit for being so sardonic and witty and jazz trained but sometimes their songs just bleed together into one long semi-fruity jazz progression. Can't you just rock the fuck out allready Woody Allen?

Anything by Frank Zappa. I don't generally like my potty humor in 7/13 time. It's novelty music played by guys that spent way too much time and money at conservatory to be playing novelty music. Like poopsicles in my eardrums.

Anything by Flaming Lips. Mind you I own 5 records and do like them but I think the BS gets pilled pretty high them. Face it, the lyrics have always been nothing more than a neccessary chore for brother Coyne. I have a hard time rockin' out to that creeky voice going on-and-on about robots and slime monsters and animal friendships. The instrumentation and inventiveness is what keeps me coming back but there to, they've really only got like 3 songs in them.

Anything by the Beach Boys. Again, I like some albums, love some songs, but the BS gets piled mighty high for the Wilsons etc. The arrangments are good, very cool, but they're not earth shattering. At one point a few years ago, at the height of the hype I read a review of the Pet Sounds reissue that claimed it made Sgt Peppers sound like shit and compared favorably to Beethooven and Mozart. Ninja Please, put down the pipe.
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Post by ;ivlunsdystf » Tue Feb 21, 2006 4:09 pm

Since you are in the Twin Cities I can fully explain how I came around to Bob Seger: It happened one night at the Turf Club about four years ago when Mark Mallman came out and played "Hollywood Nights" in his special way, and then after a raucous set HE PLAYED IT AGAIN in full at the end! He was playing with a drummer at that time who was particularly apt at playing that beat with mucho brio.

Then, four or five days later, I heard it as piped-in background music in a doctor's office and I was fully Seger'd.

I'll go do my homework with MBV tonight.

Des Moines - my sister and her husband, both essentially NYC people, moved to Des Moines two years ago and set up a loft lifestyle downtown. They seem to think that they are a part of the revitalization of Des Moines, which may actually be true. I think our fair cities are a perfect (or imperfect) hybrid between Des Moines and Chicago.

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Post by hauser gabone » Tue Feb 21, 2006 6:30 pm

Anything by Frank Zappa. I don't generally like my potty humor in 7/13 time. It's novelty music played by guys that spent way too much time and money at conservatory to be playing novelty music. Like poopsicles in my eardrums.
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Post by DGoody » Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:44 pm

Most Beatles records don't do it for me. I love the recordings, and just dislike most of the songs..... they all tend to be McCartney songs. I love George Harrison and love his writing. Love what they did for record making in general, just don't care all that much for the songs, believe it or not. I'm a Zeppelin guy.

Interpol sucks.....it's like Joy Division redux. The Arcade Fire = all hype. In fact, that whole circus pop Montreal scene irritates me. Coheed and Cambria and My Chemical Romance are quite possible the most overrated bands in history. I know most of you probably don't see them as "acclaimed", but for mainstream music audiences, they most certainly are.

Pearl Jam was an awful band. Just good timing...... I dunno. WTF do I know?

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Post by ;ivlunsdystf » Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:20 pm

I never was much impressed by the Arcade Fire 'Funeral' album; I saw them live and I was astonished at how good they are; even now I think their album is just kind of flat and dull. It sounds like demos to me compared to the live stuff they do.

The comment by 'overnight' about being caught off guard by a song or album is spot on. I couldn't agree more. That kind of experience is so much more significant than the experience of hearing a bunch of acclaim, getting all hyped up, and then sitting down with some unfamiliar masterpiece for some critical active listening and being totally perplexed.

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