Huph

I agree. But he is a very good Pop or Power Pop drummer, or whatever. And I don't mean that as a knock, I like Dave Grohl's drumming a lot.

But even he would be quick to point out (and he has before) that Matt Cameron and Dale Crover are two other grunge drummers, particularly from his era, that are much better than he is.

In reply to broonum's comment on Dave Grohl Writes Metallica A Letter at May 9, 2008 12:43 PM
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Props to reporting on Kayo Dot! Those guys used to play at pool halls in my old hometown, which was in the middle of nowhere, and they were always so cool and friendly with everybody. Amazed that they were willing to travel to such remote areas (the kind that even your "down-to-earth" punk and indie bands won't venture to) to play for a handful of confused people. It's great to see them hitting the big road, but I guess it's kind of sad that they probably won't be able to make the small stops anymore.

on New Kayo Dot - "Blue Lambency Downward" at May 9, 2008 12:30 PM
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Well, I'm not really into or against any of these bands, as has been pointed out, they're not doing anything that original to anyone who's followed underground music for more than 10 years. And I don't begrudge a band for making do with what resources they have at hand when they're ready to record, but to me, Times New Viking overstep the line. Just as I think it's arrogant and pig-headed to expect fans to damage their hearing at one of your shows in order to hear you "PLAY IT LOUD!", I think it's ridiculous to ask your fans to knowingly damage their hearing in order to listen to your album. *Especially* in 2008 when decent recording and mixing gear is WAY cheaper than it was in the 80s and 90s. I could put together a home studio for less than $1000 that would make Spot's SST recording facilities look like elementary school science fair projects. The price of Lou Barlow's 4-track in 1992 would probably be enough to purchase an entire recording suite these days.

Not to say that TNV don't write good songs, but I think they're really being obnoxious and immature by trying to willfully distance listeners through a production style that destroys the listeners' ability to continue listening to music. And as you said, "when it did it stop being about the songs?" Exactly! *When* did it stop being about the songs? Why did TNV record an album so willfully awful sounding (from a recording perspective)? Shouldn't the recording process have been about the songs, and not about what terrible mic position would sound worst?

In reply to Moy's comment on MTV Brings Lo-Fi To Whoever It Is That Still Watches MTV at May 6, 2008 2:03 PM
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Hey, leave the studio musicians out of this. They're a hard working bunch, putting forth a lot more work and effort (for no credit) than your typical indie musician.

And you'd be surprised by how many of your favorite indie (or any genre) band's guitar/drum/bass (*specifically* drum) parts are actually being played by hired musicians. It's sort of a dirty little secret in the industry, although everyone in the recording field is aware of it. Sometimes hired musicians replay parts, recording afterhours, without the band ever knowing it (a lot of studio musicians are masters at emulating someone's sound). That's why you run into a lot of bands that seem to be able to play on record, but suck live.

In reply to bridger's comment on Cryptacize Cover Steely Dan at May 2, 2008 12:58 PM
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These Are Powers? The noisy BK band with the Sonic Youth fetish?

I'd guess they're a little too noisy for The L, which seems to favor boring strum along white boy music "with an indie twist!"

on L Magazine's 8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear at April 24, 2008 7:35 PM
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Whining?

In reply to Brian's comment on Watch Trent Reznor Sign 2,500 CDs at April 24, 2008 7:29 PM
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Your an idiot. Calling someone pretentious because they're tired of hearing one of the most over used musical cliches? Why exactly is the poster pretentious? Because he listens to music with a critical ear and can recognize rehashed chord progressions or melodies? Oh wait, I know what it is:

*YOU'RE* the pretentious asshole who seems to think that his naive, unrefined, and unadventurous taste in music is somehow "better" than someone else's because "it's simple" and "I don't think about it too much, because that would be pretentious!"

In reply to The Other Matthew's comment on New Weezer - "Pork And Beans" (Full-Length Track) at April 24, 2008 11:25 AM
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Boston shouldn't be there. They produced the highest selling debut in rock history (still!), how could *any* band be expected to peak like that again? But Boston had numerous high charting singles from later albums: 'Don't Look Back' 'Feeling Satisfied' 'We're Ready' and who doesn't know 'Amanda'? All those Top20 singles were from subsequent albums. They were always selling millions of albums, every release went platinum several times over. Just not 18 times platinum like the debut. I think it's sort of a technicality to include them.

In reply to jo(seph)'s comment on The A.V. Club's 20 Acts That Peaked With The Debut Album at April 18, 2008 3:50 PM
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Nah... I think "The Private Press" is pretty good. It seems a lot better now that it's had some distance since it's release and doesn't have the burden of fulfilling so much hype. I'd say it has only a few less great tracks than "Endtroducing". I could take or leave all the stuff with vocals, but the instrumentals are stellar. Much more orchestrated and thought out than before. And it's Shadow's method of operation to keep developing different aspects of his style with each release. Even "Endtroducing" was simply an extension of his previous work with break beats and sampling, as opposed to focusing on his DJ'ing skills, or focusing on formal theory.

But "Psyence Fiction" (though not a proper Shadow album) and "Pre-Emptive Strike" were pretty great, too. And the "Brainfreeze" series is considered classic in most DJ circles. And he's done so much production work for rappers before and since "Endtroducing", it's hard to really pinpoint that album as his "debut". I do agree that it was his best recording to date, though.

In reply to buns's comment on The A.V. Club's 20 Acts That Peaked With The Debut Album at April 18, 2008 3:30 PM
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Oh, I thought this was just the jingle to Sunsilk Hair Products or something. Glad to see those jingle-writers are getting a little outside exposure.

on New Madonna Video (Feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland ) - "4 Minutes (To Save The World)" at April 4, 2008 5:45 PM
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