Band that you like the 'idea of'...

[Ghost of Electricity]

I have the same thing with CSN. Like some of their respective related work (Crosby in Byrds, Stills solo, etc) but put them together and the harmonies grate. And usually I'm a fan of vocal harmonies. When Neil Young joins them is about the only time they're tolerable.

[Vacant Horizon]

Maybe you just need some Adderall.

 

Right...I did listen after my daily dose. Didn't It Rain sounded good too.

[Vacant Horizon]

Nobody. I hate music.

 

 

My tastes are wide-ranging, but it just so happens that a lot of bands already mentioned here are ones that I'm also not all that into. (And did you miss the "I love all those bands" comment in the middle of my post?)

 

 

i did miss that part! loved you're comment about phish. there was a time in my life that if i wasn't at phish shows that were in a 500 mile radius i had to contemplate suicide. ridiculous.

[Vacant Horizon]

I have the same thing with CSN. Like some of their respective related work (Crosby in Byrds, Stills solo, etc) but put them together and the harmonies grate. And usually I'm a fan of vocal harmonies. When Neil Young joins them is about the only time they're tolerable.

 

 

man music is so subjective. i love CSN together, but apart, meh. i especially have a hard time with crosby in the byrds. this is hilarious. i'm sure there are some csn purists out there that think when neil's around he just f's it all up.

[brianjeremy]

You like the idea of the bands?

 

Yeah...they seem to be bands that should interest me and people keep telling me that I need to check this or that out by them in an attempt to sway me, yet I haven't either a)listened to them or just don't get the love admiration. On paper, it seems that I should really like these bands and/or at least appreciate their music on a deeper level.

 

Maybe the Wrens don't belong on that lit because Meadowlands is a brilliant album...

[Vacant Horizon]

Yeah...they seem to be bands that should interest me and people keep telling me that I need to check this or that out by them in an attempt to sway me, yet I haven't either a)listened to them or just don't get the love admiration. On paper, it seems that I should really like these bands and/or at least appreciate their music on a deeper level.

 

Maybe the Wrens don't belong on that lit because Meadowlands is a brilliant album...

 

 

again, the reason i started this thread. on paper i should love certain bands. but they don't grab me the way they do others. it's just interesting.

[Dr. Sax]

Bruce Springsteen.

[lamradio]

This is an interesting topic indeed. There have also been bands that grabbed me right away, and I couldn't get enough of them for a few days... And then I just stopped listening completely... Andrew Bird is one of those.

[jff]

Andrew Bird is one of those.

 

He's another one I have trouble with. I can plainly hear that he's a talented musician, but his wordplay feels cumbersome and overly clever to me.

 

Jandek. Mystery man quietly putting out zillions of albums over the span of decades would seem to be an interesting idea. Unfortunately, his music is atrocious.

[PopTodd]

He's another one I have trouble with. I can plainly hear that he's a talented musician, but his wordplay feels cumbersome and overly clever to me.

One of my favorite lyrics of the past 10 years:

"THERE WILL BE SNACKS!!!"

(From the song "Tables & Chairs")

[Guest Speed Racer]

Jandek. Mystery man quietly putting out zillions of albums over the span of decades would seem to be an interesting idea. Unfortunately, his music is atrocious.

 

I think that's your first problem - trying to approach him from the angle of mystique rather than his music. Lost Cause and Glad to Get Away are two of my favorite albums of all time, probably in the Top 15 or so. What he did was unprecedented, to be sure, but I don't think he ever intentionally sought out the mystery people think he relished.

 

His lyrics are fantastic. That you can't deny.

 

Rain in Madison

Rain’s pouring down in the window

And I’m sitting here in Madison

Trying to figure out where you are

Yes, I’m sitting here in my car

Drove a long long way

But I didn’t have no rain until today

I was way out far where it didn’t rain much

I could see pretty clearly

But now today there’s all this rain

I guess it’s the end

I guess I just really didn’t know

And now we’ve got to stay here

Or else get all wet

You know you can’t bring no

Electric devices out into the rain

[jff]

I think that's your first problem - trying to approach him from the angle of mystique rather than his music.

 

The "idea of" (see thread title) Jandek, at least post-documentary, is his mystique, and not his music. He has certainly played up the mystique angle very aggressively (such as referring to himself as a "representative from Corwood Industries" when accepting a gig). Probably more than any other musician who has ever lived.

 

You said that was my first problem. What was my second problem?

[Guest Speed Racer]

He has certainly played up the mystique angle very aggressively.

 

How? If you write him, he'll answer just about anything you ask. His real name is registered with the Library of Congress. He has a stage name; why does that make him "aggressively mysterious"?

 

You said that was my first problem. What was my second problem?

 

Not liking his music.

 

ETA: He had a day job for years; a day job that involved a good deal of trust with clients and all that. Given the nature of many of his lyrics, I can see how he would want to avoid marketing himself aggressively or playing in public for the duration of his career.

[jff]

How? If you write him, he'll answer just about anything you ask. His real name is registered with the Library of Congress. He has a stage name; why does that make him "aggressively mysterious"?

 

 

 

Not liking his music.

 

That would seem to be your problem, actually.

 

I edited my previous post to give one example of how he aggressively promotes his own mystique. I don't think the name Jandek is mysterious in the least.

[Guest Speed Racer]

He has certainly played up the mystique angle very aggressively (such as referring to himself as a "representative from Corwood Industries"). Probably more than any other musician who has ever lived.

 

So? His real name is readily available. Even if you count the Rep and Jandek as two separate stage names, he has fewer than Prince. Still don't see how that plays anything up.

 

He is more accessible than almost any other recording artist; how can that be mysterious?

 

ETA: You don't like his music, that's fine. Certainly not for everyone. I just think that people who are calling him mysterious are making the whole thing up themselves; making something out of nothing. The guy has an address, a name that's easily accessible, and his own face all over his 60+ albums, and you're bothered by the name he uses when he appears live? That's all I've gotten out of you, anyway. Sounds more like disappointment in total lack of mystique than anything else.

[jff]

So? His real name is readily available. Even if you count the Rep and Jandek as two separate stage names, he has fewer than Prince. Still don't see how that plays anything up.

 

He is accessible as any other recording artist; how can that be mysterious?

 

Yeah, he's just like Cher.

 

In my opinion, if you get offered a gig, and you respond by saying "I will send a representative from Corwood Industries to perform", rather than "Sure, I'll play the gig", you are guilty of obfuscation.

 

 

Now, shall we engage in a tedius pontification about how obfuscation and mystique are, or are not, the same thing.

[jff]

I just think that people who are calling him mysterious are making the whole thing up themselves; making something out of nothing.

 

Right. That film about how mysterious he is does not exist. I'm just making things up.

[Guest Speed Racer]

So he annoys you because he is indirect, even though all of the facts are readily transparent to you. Which means that he is not mysterious, because there is no mystery to you.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Right. That film about how mysterious he is does not exist. I'm just making things up.

 

I know, personally, a number of people who appeared in the documentary; I have read the mailing list in its entirety, from its inception to the present. I know for a fact that they never really considered him "mysterious" so much as fiercely private and reclusive. He answered questions he wanted to and did not answer ones that he didn't.

 

The idea that a musician doesn't owe anyone anything comes up a lot in discussions about why Wilco blows chunks these days (a la "not making music for you") but the idea that they would deal with the public on their own terms is suddenly "mysterious"?

[Ghost of Electricity]

 

 

 

Now, shall we engage in a tedius pontification about how obfuscation and mystique are, or are not, the same thing.

Isn't this precisely the reason why this place exists?

[jff]

So he annoys you because he is indirect, even though all of the facts are readily transparent to you. Which means that he is not mysterious, because there is no mystery to you.

 

He doesn't annoy me. Where are you getting that idea? Granted, I have not heard all of his music, so it's quite possible there is something in his catalog that I'd enjoy. No further effort will be made on my part, however, to find out.

[jff]

I know, personally, a number of people who appeared in the documentary; I have read the mailing list in its entirety, from its inception to the present. I know for a fact that they never really considered him "mysterious" so much as fiercely private and reclusive. He answered questions he wanted to and did not answer ones that he didn't.

 

The idea that a musician doesn't owe anyone anything comes up a lot in discussions about why Wilco blows chunks these days (a la "not making music for you") but the idea that they would deal with the public on their own terms is suddenly "mysterious"?

 

You obviously care WAY more about this than I do.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Where are you getting that idea?

 

I just didn't think you were part of the 1% of the world that found obfuscation pleasant and enjoyable. Apologies!

 

You obviously care WAY more about this than I do.

 

Calling one of the most accessible recording artists around "mysterious" is simply erroneous. Yes, I care, but the fact of the matter is he's not mysterious.

[jff]

He has a stage name; why does that make him "aggressively mysterious"?

 

 

 

 

 

OK, I can't resist...

 

How is Jandek a "stage name" if he didn't appear on stage until 30 +/- years after giving himself that name?

[jff]

I just didn't think you were part of the 1% of the world that found obfuscation pleasant and enjoyable. Apologies!

 

 

His obfuscation neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg, so I don't find it annoying.