We’ve posted a couple of original tracks by Asthmatic Kitty trio Cryptacize, as well as their cover of Steely Dan’s “Peg” (for which, they were taken down a few pegs in the comments). That said, the smartest way for a young (or old) band to get their name out there is to have a band with a “bigger” name review you. Ask Daniel Johnston. Or, maybe ask the Meat Puppets (actually, we did) or Vaselines. Sufjan isn’t of Nirvana proportions, and we have to take into consideration that he’s writing about his label mates on his label site, but no doubt his positive thoughts on Crypaticize’s debut will do good things for Chris, Michael, and Nedelle. It’s also good writing. On top of that, he takes a swipe at Vampire Weekend. Yes, it’s got it all. The title: “Cryptacize is ALIVE! Decipher that code, yo!” The highlights:
Yes, of course I revel in the busy ambition of songwriters who seek to challenge themselves to endless boundaries, to jump fences, to scale large mountains. But what is the effort all about? Cryptacize yield to no such ambitions. They make music that is refreshingly coherent, stewed with deliberate melodies, a refinement of instrumentation, no excess, nothing wasted, nothing lost. Their new record “Dig That Treasure” offends many of my own musical impulses, the over-achieving bigger-is-better-shock-and-awe approach. Obviously I’m not offended, but rather in complete admiration of the band’s minimalist gorgeousness. These songs are not trifles, but rather cryptic haiku poems that expand toward a vast cosmic significance. But one doesn’t have to be a cartographer to appreciate these songs. Their surfaces shimmer to the ear, like magic crystals hanging in the windowsill…
Chris Cohen’s guitar shakes off all the fashionable amplifiers and effects pedals of his previous band Deerhoof…
Sometimes I worry that the ever-increasing trend toward excessive innovation has pushed the art and music world into a slapstick exhibition of dog breeding, generating increasingly newer, more contemporary fashions: gothic folk, for one. Or Afro-beat Ivy League pop. Maybe this only reflects the inevitable merging of all cultures, in which art slowly becomes a least common denominator for the interchange of multiple civilizations coming together in one song. I don’t mind the intermarrying of ideas. This is the natural sequence of events. We are all better for it; it is fundamentally American. But sometimes the effort of innovation itself is just empty exertion, unspirited and unreal, bearing bad fruit. Cryptacize, of course, shirks all such ambition and seeks instead to “know thyself.” The record speaks of something much more present, in a careful tone, with the considerate enumeration of an enlightened monk who, after spending countless hours in isolation, in prayer, in thought, in meditation, decides instead to leave the monastery to play jazz guitar at Bibbi’s Bar and Grill on Main Street. Yes, of course, I’d go to that show.
Afro-beat Ivy League pop? Wonder who that is. David Tibet might disagree about “gothic folk” being a new thing, but all said, thoughtful and thought provoking. You can read the rest at Asthmatic Kitty.
[Photo via Asthmatic Kitty's Flickr]
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the thing is vampire weekend aren’t doing anything new or innovative, but neither are 99.7% if bands around today though.
Yeah, can’t have any of that excessive innovation. Like writing an album for every state in America.
That’s ambition, not necessarily innovation. In discussing Cryptacize, he admittedly contemplates his own over-the-top artistic sensibilities.
All of you guys looooved Vampire Weekend when they weren’t big.
To be fair, he doesn’t take a swipe at Vampire Weekend. He simply wrestles with the idea of innovation going too far, at the risk of “empty exertion, unspirited and unreal, bearing bad fruit”–an insightful and thoughtful opinion. But we’d expect nothing less from Sufjan.
Regarding Cryptacize, I love how Sufjan describes their present, ephemeral quality. It’s carefully crafted music that’s refreshing in its simplicity, but at the same time, not something you’ll be listening to in ten years (at least, I won’t be).
Was that “gothic folk” part directed at Iron and Wine? I would hope not….Sammy makes me happy.
Don’t tell anyone, but I still actually kinda like Vampire Weekend. I know, I should be ashamed of myself, right? They’re write good (not great) pop songs, what’s so bad about that?
That whole “X band is better than Y% of other bands” comment is getting old.
dude, X & Y? this is a veiled coldplay slag, isn’t it?
vampire weekend gave indie rock/pop/whatever exactly what it needed: a breath of fresh air. if they are not sufjan’s cup of tea, that’s fine (and of course, tender-voiced faux-American roots church ballads avec the Community Theater Singers isn’t everyone’s cup of tea). But I don’t agree with this worry about the intermingling of different cultures and artistic innovation. these are precisely the best things going on now in music and the broader art world. kanye’s sampling steely dan and daft punk, rocking tight pants, and enlisting Takashi Murakami for his cover art. lil wayne employs patois, French, and space alien in his flow as he sees fit. gnarls barkley is making modern psychedelic rock-hip-hop-soul records. and vampire weekend is gleefully marrying their dainty bookish sensibilities with their love for rhythmic African music. this is a great pop universe we live in, sufjan! since when is it indie rock’s or any musician’s job to NOT be innovative??
You have some good points, but Sufjan isn?t arguing against innovation. He simply wrestles with the idea of taking it too far?that?s why he uses qualifying language like ?sometimes? and ?worry.?
I agree that what comes out of innovative mixing of musical styles can sometimes lack a soulful quality. For example, compare Beirut with DeVotchKa. Beirut kind of bastardizes traditional musical styles?it?s innovative, playful and sometimes sloppy, but Condon?s got soul. DeVotchKa, on the other hand, includes expert musicians producing an eclectic mix of beautiful, well-crafted, complex songs. Their sound (especially live) is so polished that it lacks that soulful quality found in Beirut?s music. I dig both bands, but the difference, to me, is clear.
one other thing: cryptacize is terrible. they sound like a poor man’s neko case fronting a pretentious twee-pop band. deerhoof is far superior, for starters.
B — you hit the nail on the head. I do believe he’s taking a swipe at Vampire Weekend, and it’s exactly why I haven’t been able to get into them. They innovate, add all sorts of pretty new sounds and elements, and I could care less about the product. No soul. I’d rather listen to Bon Iver – not necessarily innovative or different – but truly inspired and soulful.
If he’s got time to seriously worry about the potential ramifications of “excessive innovation” on the music industry…uh, wow. Must be nice.
Y’know what? I’ll start caring about what Sufjan has to say AFTER HE GETS BACK IN THE FUCKING STUDIO.
This.
how do you over-innovate? is he referring to illinoise? nevermind, i understand completely!
Ever since Chris Cohen left Deerhoof, his stuff’s been kinda meh. Glad Sufjan’s enthusiastic about it, I guess he’d have to be to put out the dude’s music. But there isn’t anything that makes me want to come back to it.
remember that time Sufjan made music and stuff? yeah…good times.
Sufjan blows! His overly-pretentious twee bullshit is lame. Vampire Weekend is a great young band, who are just having fun and just happen to be making super-catchy songs in the process. Sorry Sufjan, but you’re just not that relevant.
I’m sure that’s EXACTLY Sufjan Stevens’ artistic aspiration–to be relevant in the pop music world. Too bad he’s such a failure.
Why else do you think Sufjan took a swipe at VW?! It’s a case of good ol’ fashioned jealousy, my friend. Here’s a guy who’s been hyped by critics for years, yet virtually shunned by the masses because, he’s…well, err…”boring”. Yet, along come those precocious, Ivy-league scamps in VW, and seemingly overnight, garner the mass-appeal that Sufjan feels should be his.
“I’m sure that’s EXACTLY Sufjan Stevens’ artistic aspiration–to be relevant in the pop music world.”
You’re serious?! Like, “for real” serious?!
No, you’re right! I’m sure Sufjan’s aspirations are different from the rest of mankind! He’s probably not at all interested in trivial topics like ‘success’!! You’re awesome.
Have you ever listened to Sufjan Stevens? He’s a reclusive artist who writes lyrics comparing the nature of mankind with those of serial killers. He’s certainly not trying to appeal to the masses. Claiming that he’s jealous of Vampire Weekend’s success is just absurd.
Word.
Cryptacize SUCK live.
Can you qualify this a bit? I’m seeing them tomorrow, so I’m interested.
cryptacize stunk up the stage at knitting factory when they opened up for. they were terrible AND boring.
Yes Sufjan, because Afro-beat Ivy League Pop sounds more of a threat than whiny Modern Emo Pop-Punk.
sufjan – stop worrying about stupid imaginary trends and make a new album already
Everyone needs to give Vampire Weekend some credit. They somehow managed to make an album that is remarkable for the first 2 days you have it. Then…the incredible thing….you never want to ever listen to it again after those first 2 days. Amazing. AMAZING! How did they do that?! Tricky Vampire Weekend. Tricky, Tricky, Tricky.
Everyone needs to give Vampire Weekend some credit. They somehow managed to make an album that is remarkable for the first 2 days you have it. Then…the incredible thing….you never want to ever listen to it again after those first 2 days. Amazing. AMAZING! How did they do that?! Tricky Vampire Weekend. Tricky, Tricky, Tricky.
I never thought I would see David Tibet’s name grace a Stereogum article. Kerrazy.
Innovation in music is becoming incredibly harder to achieve, thought that’s to be expected, when you have tons of artists intentionally trying to do something new. Everyone’s really just living in the shadows of a former success story. Music can only go so far, and room to breathe is becoming more scarce as time progresses.
*though
So the point of that, was to say that I believe good innovation is on it’s death bed.
So don’t fret too much, Sufjan.
all of this innovation going on in Indie music yet everything still sounds the same…
right? you’ll never get through all fifty states at this rate, buddy.
oh – are we past that already? maybe time for some more innovation, sue grafton – i mean, sufjan?
sorry. i do like his music, but maybe chill and actually make some.
Sufjan Stevens is a Genius of epic musical porportions. Love him. His talent speaks for itself so Hi Haters Hi Haters Hi Haters Hi Haters!
i think caling trends like afro ivy league pop ‘lazy’ is exactly right, but pop music is mostly shallow and crosses most boundaries because of this trait. of course sufjan will take a swipe at lazy bands, he does not make pop music. he makes inspired, hugely technical albums concerning more than grammatical anomolies crossed with african flavours. im sure if sufjan had left half of Illinoise out it could have sold twice as many records, if he just took the poppiest bits and went for the dollar. experiment for experiments sake is never going to be anything more than a stab in the dark and only fortune will decide which of these experiments will suceed or die – if you have something behind the experiement, an idea or process then you end up where SS is.
i just dont think there is anything controversial at all here in what sufjan says.
He makes a good point about the abundance of ambition floating about but he’s putting his hypocritical foot in his own mouth. Illinois was a massive piece of ambitious pop (hence why it put him on the map). The blips, the orchestral arrangements, the shifting from dark and brooding to playful…
I would even speculate that this ambition sparked the good reception of bands like Vampire Weekend (who are an awesome and fun pop band, overplayed).
That said, I do agree that there has been too much of this.
Who knows when Sufjan’s next masterpiece will hit the stands (or if he decides to join a country band and become a monk). I just hope it is more piano-heavy and less ambitious than Illinois. And yet, the fact that it’s taking so long for the next thing to reach our ears makes me think he’s once more reaching for over-ambition.
Sufjan is an amazing songwriter/composer. He was obviously asked to do a favor by Asthmatic Kitty to plug these guys, so let’s just leave at him being a d-bag.
Obviously Sufjan hasn’t come to terms with the ever quickening advance of the superstructure that is new music. And perhaps being just another human being, he’s weighing in (and oh so fallbily at that) on the typical backlash against a band, a backlash that comes with 1) their commercial success, and 2) the realisation that they possess the zeitgeist while you’re just another stuckist without a recent album. Jealous wha? He totally is. Why is he worrying about innovation? Like what sort of a reactionary is he?……….. I’ll tell you He’s one that should have disappeared when the French Revolutionaries were finished cutting off heads.
you guys suck. Everything is is don’t like this band because of this and this, but I DO like this band because of this and this.
you are essentially giving some band press, ignoring the fact that their popularity will only make you like them less.
props to chris and nedelle…
both extraordinary musicians and brilliant songwriters.
i’m amazed people dislike their live show.
having see them, myself, i was blown away at their attention to subtlety, nuance and innovation…
completely original music…
good for them!
Just saw Cryptacize this week, and I wholeheartedly agree.
I like Vampire Weekend THey put on a good show Wed. They let the kids get on the stage and rock out, sometimes You dont need to hear aboure the nature of mankind and all the imagery and all that shit, sometimes you just wanna put on a record that puts you in a good mood and brings in good memory What the fuck was sufjan talking about the only time its good to listen to him is when your by yourself and you have a paper to finish
I saw them open for Why? in Baton Rouge a few months ago and the three friends I was with hated it, but I loved it. It was extremely minimalist (to a fault, my friends say), but I was in a weird mood that night and somehow it was ridiculously apropos.
lots of valid points here. thankfully we’re heading away from exclusionary name drop of the minute. i think SS nailed it by saying “know thy self”…find the music that’s there. and cheers to the 45 year old weekend warrior playing white blues at the holiday inn lounge.
btw, there is nothing even REMOTELY African or Afro-inspired about the music of Vampire Weekend.
Sufjan Stevens is wearing a HAT! Who cares what he’s saying, he’s wearing a HAT!