confession
I super f-ing dig this song and video.
is that the “old one” in the nicole richie kerchief they keep obscuring the face off and sticking in the back? anyway, see you on the rez at the feather store!
fil just said what are you doing this is 905er music haha um fil we BOTH hail from the 905 remember that? also, you send me lolcats pictures everyday.
i see nothing wrong in apreciating some “top forty” garbage it’s music to drink and dance to sorry djs of the world you ain’t helping the dance floor with your pretentious 7 minute long sigur ros beirut whatever jams, i’ve tried it before no one appreciates accordians when they’re partying. you are not confined to liking one particular genre of music ever, what is this grade six NIRVANA RULES! RAP SUCKS? i feel like we’ve evolved a ton since then so stop jamming this pretentious sh-t down my throat. thanks love you bye.
also, this stuff gives me a serotonin rush, i have plenty and plenty of sad “acceptable cool” music to be emo by on reserve when the time calls for it plus i’m a girl, duh, and when i see a video like this all i think about is dancing to this song with other girls and trying to recreate these shitty simple moves. sorry for liking good times.
people who like music because they feel like they are supposed to like it (see: rotate this recommends wall or vice reviews page, stereogum whathaveyou) are really infuriating, is that indie record store your girlfriend too? what an expensive and clichéd existence and then you put on this new EP (that took you MONTHS to track down and you paid pounds for it) for a few friends and one slags it and you get in a fight, awesome saturday nite thanks guys this was a gas. if you prefer to stand music snobby against the wall all smug clutching your pixies (hi matt) LPs watching the tail go right on by, be my guest but until you GET that it’s ok to like music your cousin in ajax has access to you’re going to die alone or end up dating a chick who thinks she’s tank girl. ew.
i’m not saying all music snobs are like this so chill, i just don’t see the value in worshiping multiple acts like why not go fly a kite instead, seriously and no offense.
Matthew: see i take issues with that viewpoint
me: well read the whole post
and im not being completely serious so chillereeno
i can unrefernce you
and the pixies
Matthew: hahahaha don’t worry about it
me: k back
Matthew: the way I see it, the thing is there are people that are really into music and are nerds, people who are kinda into music and people who just passively listen to it. I am definitely a music nerd and the problem is that there are music nerds that use the music they are into as some measure of coolness. They ruin it for us other music nerds because they’re snobby and they look down on people who “just don’t get it” the fact is I constantly search out music to listen to because i love that feeling of an epiphany when you hear something brilliant. It’s almost like a drug and I am most definitely addicted. The people that aren’t addicted don’t see the big deal of course and because a lot of the people who are like that are snooty to them they of course get offended and think that everyone who is a music nerd is a pretentious douche bag
me: well ive always felt elitist and above music in a way like who cares i see the drug and i say no thanks id rather actually DO drugs
id rather be a star than give all my money to them
i appreciate classics
and i appreciate the newcomers who become big too
but then there is someone who says oh i saw them first or heard of them first
like this is a contest?
sorry i was too busy being cool i missed the boat by a few months
Matthew: but that’s the thing, it’s just different for you. You don’t care. I’m basically like a nerd who plays warcraft all day, brb showering
me: ps you don’t know how to spell epiphany i changed that for you
also annoying, people who TALK about music constantly to let us know that it is the most important thing in the world to them ughhhhhhh we KNOW why not follow that up with telling me your dreams please, equally interesting. news flash NO ONE CARES. congratulations on achieving the opposite of what you set out to convince me of, that being you seeming cool, cos there’s nothing cooler than music defines my personality like the guy who walks around with a lizard around his neck, it just reeks of insecurity i am totally tuning you out.
Matthew: I avoid talking music with people who aren’t like me. The thing about hearing something first is that in the context it sounds pretentious but it’s not meant to be. Imagine you told me I went to disneyworld last week and I said oh cool I went there 2 years ago too. no big deal right? But, you say oh I just heard this great band and I say oh sweet, I saw them 2 years. I’m just engaging in conversation and don’t mean to say oh I’m cooler than you
me: comparing disneyworld to music snobs is quite accurate cos it is pretty childish
it’s like an acceptance race that never ends
you never feel satisfied
and then your apartment burns down and there goes all your precious work
you need to find other things
is all
and not YOU you
Matthew: The unfortunate thing is that for some stupid reason coolness got tied to music you listen to. Because of the music I listen to I’m automatically branded a hipster just because these stupid insecure fucks that were losers in highschool use it to show how above they are the ‘normal people’ I pray for the day when indie rock returns back to the 80s when people buying shit from salvation army because they were truly poor instead of trying to look cool. Check out a few indie rock legends and their sense of style:
me: see how this turned into defending “cool” music when all i wanted to defend was slutty pedestrian tunes
Matthew: pixies:
me: thats pretty much how you dress
Matthew: hahaha sebadoh:
me: yes all of these looks are in ps my ex is friends with sebadoh
Matthew: cool!
me: HA
all you have to do to pick up guys in this city is say SEB A DOOOOOH
so easy
Matthew: hahahahahaha
so true
i remember this one girl in highschool who liked sebadoh
swoon
me: GAY
picking up indie dudes 101 subscriber
Matthew: very very few girls really like sebadoh
sebadoh is like jewel or some shit for boys
me: ugh
Matthew: it’s sappy
me: why dont you shoot a personalized video of yourself using a montage of holga shots to a belle and sebastian song while you’re at it
Matthew: what are holga shots?
me: you dont know holga!
and youre a 1 hipster 2 photographer
http://www.lomography.com/holga/
http://www.lomography.com/holga/galleries
Matthew: dang, I guess I’m not as cool as I thought. Please don’t post this on your blog as no one will think I’m cool anymore
oh yeah I saw these things at like urban outfitters or some shit
me: haha yeah
everything turns up there
Matthew: hahaha
me: i love having cool mass produced and sold back to me at UO
so then i KNOW for sure it is cool
it is a good one. they play it in the group x classes.
Nothing wrong with that song, Raymi, though you say it’s a top-40ish selection. It’s got interesting non-standard chords, not like the Ramones C, F and G. Bach would have liked it, would have tried a version of his own on the harpsichord or big church organ…the only thing is that for a stylish song they can’t think of any video better to do that “hot chicks driving down the highway” a kind of Thelma and Louise and Bernice sort of scene. The visuals bore me.
I’m an older guy and my picks are definitely uncool. I still like ABBA, okay? NOT ashamed! I also like slick 80’s sounds and musical heaven is when I can chill out Sunday night 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. to CFNY 102.1 FM because they got Retro Live at the Velvet Underground club and they dig out only the ALTERNATIVE 80’s, not the pop crap. Try it, you might like it!
I’ve tried to make a little music of my own and for dark reasons in my brain that I can not explain, I like to distort genres and make spoofs of Gary Numan songs (polkas, big band, etc.). The crop of songs I made from 5 years ago are at:
http://downstat.homestead.com
But then my music keyboard got stolen in the Great Apartment Robbery of 2003. I only got a new one 10 months ago, and a few new songs are in “web storage” until I can properly re-structure my web page:
http://downstat.homestead.com/files/Damascus.mp3 (Middle Eastern sounding, totally original)
http://downstat.homestead.com/files/Dance_Til_Ya_Puke.mp3 (sequenced from unoriginal bits and pieces in my music editor)
http://downstat.homestead.com/files/Transfer_Orbit_ver.1.mp3 (Ditto)
http://downstat.homestead.com/files/Blazing_Saddles.mp3 (short test of the Wild West rhythm my Yamaha automatically churns out)
hahah thx for mailing me a sebadoh cd steph, now i understand <3
(you had me at eric’s trip, just kidding)
you’re writing better and funnier lately raymi, it’s good
it won’t last it’s only cos i’m sick and look like a hag right now
hahahaaa
ya this post is cool beans raymi, next rant should be about classic rock snobs NO SERIOUSLY you know what i’m talkin aboot
you, right? hahaha. hi pierre!
I had a dream about YOU Raymi. You were mean to me. Waaah.
I love that song too, especially Nicole’s I GATTA DO IIT!!! parts. And I own that pretentious music shirt solely for underground yodeling.
binsk that’s impossible i am the nicest person ever to everyone always ad especially in dreams.
which one is nicole, krista? the main one?
I had to wiki to be sure, yep that’s the head pussy cat? doll?
The ‘old one’ Carmit isn’t in the band anymore. She was the original redhead, and when she left one of the other ones died her hair red… maybe they thought people wouldn’t notice.
Most people probably didn’t.
Oh… and I can’t help talking about music all the time. I don’t do it to be ‘cool’ – I do it because I can’t help it. I was brought up on it, I listen to it, I sing it, I write it. I publicize it. It kind of IS my life.
DEAL!
My favorite part of the vid is the part where they’re dancing in the rain with the clear-sky sunset behind them. Awesome.
Good rant!
nice post, raymi… but i think it could have used a little more cowbell.
the video didn’t load so unfortunately i don’t know what it is…
but i think the commentary is so true. i can see people’s opinions of me change as i admit to liking certain music. if i talk about underground hip-hop suddenly i’m awesome, but if i also act stoked for the latest lil wayne song suddenly i’m not discerning and must not REALLY get hip-hop, i just like everything. but for some reason if it is OLD commercial hip-hop then it’s okay, probably because they assume it’s ironic? i don’t know. i swear some people think old commercial hip-hop is some how obscure or underground, probably because they were too young or sheltered to hear about it until years later.
also i have had a few people just completely rule me out as having decent taste due to my liking jack johnson. oh well, screw you, you’d probably like him too if your friends did–you don’t even know what you like!
it doesn’t make me mad any more because i’ve seen it for a decade now. i was super into weezer and so many people thought it was weird, then a year later the blue album was super popular, then there were people who loved pinkerton and were in awe that i liked weezer way earlier then them, then i went back to being uncool because i liked the green album too (though not as much) and only the “fake” weezer fans were supposed to like that.
best post ever and lol ajax.
i forgot to mention that you get it all back when these fucking songs get stuck in your head and drive you crazy for weeks.
Raymi this post is so crazily defensive, i haven’t met anyone to your description of a music nerd, ever, isn’t that something hollywood made up?? Its almost like when people in art school would complain about everyone dressing ‘too crazy’ cause it made them feel like a bore, who cares?
maybe you are the defensive one cos you went to art school? i think you have met some of these people actually.
relax it’s just music and as you would say just like, my opinion man.
but I’m not defending going to art school by saying everyone who hasn’t is this and that same way as you dont have to defend liking a pop song by saying music enthusiasts are these cliches or whatever
the conversation carried over to that once my music enthusiast friend took issue with my argument, it was topical, and you are the one who is bringing art into this ha.
matt and i have sparred on pop shit music before and he is a music snob and so it gets personal, so like, i dunno why you are choosing to be offended by this it’s between he and me.
i do find this to be somewhat hypocritical, when i linked to your post about israel and some people challenged you on it you were like take down the link these are MY personal opinions how can you argue with that? see?
you can’t get mad at someone for sharing opinions on their own blog. i mean, yeah get mad but what’s the goal are you going to tell me that i haven’t encountered these types of people before? because i can assure you, i have and then some.
I’m not mad just saying as someone who likes some bands other people have never heard of i get some of these inflated reactions when i put on something unfamiliar to the point where i have to avoid doing that in order to not offend someones precious self esteem which seems redicolous and i wish people were less hung up about what everyone else likes?
maybe you should have just said that first instead of projecting your defensiveness onto my stupid post. basically i see both sides of the coin and this time i felt like shining the light onto the obscure music lover’s (oft’) disdain for the commoner’s unsophisticated taste in tunes, i thought i was pretty clear about it too. apparently not.
i know being different gets a bad rap too and i relate.
moral of the story if you can’t take jokes don’t make jokes? and don’t get so riled over every dumb thing i say here, cos then i’m winning.
You make an excellent point, and I really enjoyed the discussion about music taste and judgment of others. I mean, the only thing you can determine by talking to someone about their music taste is not whether they are worthy of hanging out with your cool self, but whether you want to listen to music together or go to concerts together. There are some friends with whom you can enthuse over the Dodos with, or give you arcade fire concert bootleg or whine about how expensive Wayne Shorter tickets are. Other friends who don’t like your music? You may well have something else in common with them if music is not the totality of your existence. One of my friends, who is really into Mariah Carey, is someone I do yoga with, not someone I trade CDs with. Liking Mariah Carey doesn’t make him any less awesome in my judgment, since I don’t happen to be a fan of hers; it would just make him someone other than who he is.
Sometimes the music I usually listen to is not the best music for having fun to, anyway. When I went to Chile last november, every club my friends and I went to was playing this super-annoying music called Reggaeton. It is somewhat trashy, it mixes rap with relentless latin beats, and you cannot stop dancing to it. Every friend of mine, regardless of music taste, didn’t care for it at first, and kind of groaned with annoyance at hearing it for 4 hours straight, but danced to it anyway. By the end of the three-week trip, Reggaeton had become our theme music, and we loved it, and sincerely, not in an ironic hipster asshole way either, because of the great time we’d had dancing to it.
it is funny to read that back and forth….because i’ve never had someone act like their self-esteem was hurt because i exposed them to new music. either they dig it or they don’t. but i’ve had plenty of people who like that “obscure” music think i’m cool b/c i like it too, but then suddenly decide i’m not one of them once they find out i also like the popular crap too.
there’s a lot of snobs out there. i see both sides to an extent, maybe 95% of the people you meet who like top 40 don’t have discerning taste or something, i get that, but that doesn’t mean that for someone to have “good taste” they must agree w/ you 100%.
& like i said, all those snobs like the top 40 too, just the OLD top forty, because some how they excuse that
& also i think there is a tad bit of snobbery in the term “music enthusiast” as it’s being used here. is the ultimate beyonce fan who buys every album, even the japanese versions, and travels to all towns in a 5 hour radius for concerts not a “music enthusiast?”
are the crazy polka fans with every old 45 not music enthusiasts? they are, but the music enthusiasts you’re talking about would brush them both off most likely.
and it’s funny to hear an art student never met someone like that. i’ve been constantly surrounded with people like that (and maybe dipped into that territory myself a few times) since age fourteen. if you like music at all it’s pretty hard to get away from.
ooohhh I loved Sebadoh in high school. Now a days I listen to everything, the music snob in me has disappeared, partly because I don’t no much about the “correct” types of music these days. I love myself a good Lil Wayne or Pussy Cat Dolls song quite often Although I think I’m stuck in a late 80’s to mid nineties time warp. lol
YOU KNOW I LOVE THE PUSSYCAT DOLLS. You will always have me to fall back on on uncool music. All about slutty dance pop, don’t women realise Nicole Scherzinger is the reason why long, black hair was invented? I want Nicole hair.
And the one in the back is Melody, the ambiguously racial baby of the band. The old one, Carmit, left the group.
Dear music snobs, wish yer girlfriend was hot like me,I bet.
Raymi, more Pussycat Dolls videos please, those girls are HOT!
What’s worse than a music snob? A Music Major Snob. Like comparing Beethoven to Schubert and minuets and recitatives and operas, ugh.