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| From | Stewart Mason <flamingo@theworld.com> |
| Subject | Re: arrogance expressed musically |
| Date | Fri, 25 Jul 2003 00:17:51 -0400 |
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At 11:45 PM 7/24/2003 -0400, Paul Melancon wrote:
>I have to agree that if you're going to make a point to insult a band
>personally, not musically, at least bother to say why. But frankly, even if
>they are the most arrogant band in the world, do I really need to know it?
>Who cares? I don't pick my music based on my assumptions of the band's
>personality. I'd have to get rid of a vast majority of what I listen to.
>Probably a lot of it power pop bands.
I don't even remember who originally called BBC "arrogant" (I personally
didn't care much for the group back when they were called Evelyn Forever,
and I honestly had no idea they were either still around or had changed
their name) and I wish to make it clear that I don't have a dog in this
fight, but I took the initial post to mean that the group, MUSICALLY,
sounded arrogant. This is actually not an unreasonable descriptive term to
use with a band: after all, what were the Rolling Stones circa "Get Off Of
My Cloud," "Under My Thumb" or "Stupid Girl" if not arrogant? (Ditto
'65-'66 Dylan.) Thing is, this is a quality that not many artists can pull
off successfully, and it can turn off a listener who finds that arrogance
unearned.
Oasis, for example: plenty of people absolutely loved 'em. Me, I thought
Liam looked like an extra from the PLANET OF THE APES movies and Noel's
songwriting ability consisted primarily of cribbing just enough from
various Beatles songs that he couldn't actually get sued, and I didn't
think that they deserved the cock-of-the-walk mentality they exuded onstage
and off. On the other hand, there's (hmmm, what's a band I like that's
kinda musically arrogant...) okay, look at Redd Kross. Especially from the
period covering BORN INNOCENT through NEUROTICA, Redd Kross' persona was
extremely arrogant, in the sense that if you weren't hip and smart enough
to get the underlying jokes, you were a loser. Does that mean that Jeff
and Steve McDonald were themselves arrogant? Dunno, never met 'em
personally and I always got the sense from their interviews that they were
just enjoying the put-on. (Just like '65-'66 Dylan, now that I think of
it...watching DON'T LOOK BACK now, the thing that always strikes me is how
no one seems to notice that 95% of the time, Dylan is obviously kidding.)
It's not just arrogance. There are other qualities that can be expressed
musically that turn some people off. Just today on another list, someone
was talking about how he finds Fountains of Wayne condescending towards the
subjects of their songs. Personally, I don't agree, but I can see why that
would piss someone off if they felt that. As I've mentioned several times
in various places, I find Ben Folds' music to be unbearably smarmy in a
"lookit me, I'm just so goddamn clever" manner, and I can't stomach most of
it for that very reason.
So. I can't speak for whoever it was who made the initial comment, but it
read to me like Stacy might have misinterpreted the meaning.
S
NP: THE SECRETARIAT MOTOR HOTEL -- Ashley Park (largely acoustic and mildly
countrified pop highly recommended to anyone who likes Beachwood Sparks or
Elliot Smith)
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