Free Frest 2010 Get to Know the Bands

[Vas Deferens]

Did he not take English composition in college? This is just dreadful writing.

We were playing in Portland, Oregon, I think it was the spring of 1994. I was wandering around town and came across this cool little record store and went in to look around. I asked the woman behind the counter if she had anything new that she liked, and she handed me Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.

I clearly remember liking the cover and putting it on in the bus. I didn?t love it at first, but I remember thinking the first track sounded heartfelt. That was enough for me to want to play it again, after which I began to really hear the first track. I also began to notice the second track, and found myself gravitating to a couple others deeper in the record as well, like ?Range Life? probably, though at this point I didn?t even know what the songs were called. This process continued with each subsequent listen. The record just kept sounding better and better.

To make a long story short, by the end of the tour I could not stop listening. I fell in love with that record. I ended up getting everything they put out. Wowee Zowee is my favorite. Pavement was the soundtrack to the second half of the ?90s for me. I had a couple friends who felt the same way and we would quote lines to each other in the corner at parties. ?chim chim chim sing a song of praise, for your elders? They?re in the back. Pick out some Brazilian nuts, for your engagement? Check that expiration date man, it?s later than we think.?

Most of the people I hung out with didn?t really get what the big deal was, but to the friends I had who really liked Pavement at that point, it felt like we were in on a secret.

?Father to a Sister of Thought? is one of my all time favorite Pavement songs. I used to sing that song to my girls to put them to sleep??Rotten device, I?ll say it twice;? ?Angel of Corpus Christy, you?re so misty.? Listening to it now, I?m transported right back into that era, the mid to late ?90s. The busses and hotels, the parties in Burlington, the European tours. It?s really emotional.

I love Stephen Malkmus? guitar playing. Check out ?Rattled by the Rush?. He kind of reminds me of Neil Young, who?s playing I also love. They both know how to milk it. When I met Bryce Goggin he told me that the solo on ?Rattled? was one take, which didn?t surprise me because it sounds so fresh. Bryce?s genius is knowing when not to ?fix? something, which is a tough thing for a lot of producers to get. Bryce gets it. He knows that ?right? or ?perfect? usually isn?t better.

I wish I could appropriately thank those guys. Their music was a big part of my life during that emotional, turbulent period. I?ll always be grateful.

[walkonby]

Did he not take English composition in college? This is just dreadful writing.

We were playing in Portland, Oregon, I think it was the spring of 1994. I was wandering around town and came across this cool little record store and went in to look around. I asked the woman behind the counter if she had anything new that she liked, and she handed me Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.

I clearly remember liking the cover and putting it on in the bus. I didn?t love it at first, but I remember thinking the first track sounded heartfelt. That was enough for me to want to play it again, after which I began to really hear the first track. I also began to notice the second track, and found myself gravitating to a couple others deeper in the record as well, like ?Range Life? probably, though at this point I didn?t even know what the songs were called. This process continued with each subsequent listen. The record just kept sounding better and better.

To make a long story short, by the end of the tour I could not stop listening. I fell in love with that record. I ended up getting everything they put out. Wowee Zowee is my favorite. Pavement was the soundtrack to the second half of the ?90s for me. I had a couple friends who felt the same way and we would quote lines to each other in the corner at parties. ?chim chim chim sing a song of praise, for your elders? They?re in the back. Pick out some Brazilian nuts, for your engagement? Check that expiration date man, it?s later than we think.?

Most of the people I hung out with didn?t really get what the big deal was, but to the friends I had who really liked Pavement at that point, it felt like we were in on a secret.

?Father to a Sister of Thought? is one of my all time favorite Pavement songs. I used to sing that song to my girls to put them to sleep??Rotten device, I?ll say it twice;? ?Angel of Corpus Christy, you?re so misty.? Listening to it now, I?m transported right back into that era, the mid to late ?90s. The busses and hotels, the parties in Burlington, the European tours. It?s really emotional.

I love Stephen Malkmus? guitar playing. Check out ?Rattled by the Rush?. He kind of reminds me of Neil Young, who?s playing I also love. They both know how to milk it. When I met Bryce Goggin he told me that the solo on ?Rattled? was one take, which didn?t surprise me because it sounds so fresh. Bryce?s genius is knowing when not to ?fix? something, which is a tough thing for a lot of producers to get. Bryce gets it. He knows that ?right? or ?perfect? usually isn?t better.

I wish I could appropriately thank those guys. Their music was a big part of my life during that emotional, turbulent period. I?ll always be grateful.

maybe he needs practice by posting on forums.

[wml7]

what's the name of his band, is he still in it? 

[runwhiteyrun06]

Vas Deferens,
   If you qualify that as terrible writing, I think you overestimate the writing skills of the average college graduate.

[azaghal1981]

I still don't even think it's writing.


It's probably part of an interview transcript.

[vansmack]

Did he not take English composition in college? This is just dreadful writing.

It's probably worthy of a local newspaper, but not much more than that.

[xneverwherex]

Sweet! I <3 reading all the hate for P Spree and Edward Sharpe. At least I wont have to deal with those assholes when Edward Sharpe plays. My friends and I will be dancing and having a great time and having fun.

And yes, Im seeing all the Pavement shows at Summerstage before you want to go on some rant about my bad taste in music. And Ill be seeing them at Freefest too.

walkonby likes polyphonic spree ? LMAO

hey . . . what's wrong with that??  atleast i don't claim to like something like, pavement.

Actually I was gonna respond that Polyphonic Spree aren't terrible, but you just coated your own argument in shit stank by disparaging Pavement. Not that they're some sorta holy cow, or even among my favorite bands, but they've had an undeniably huge influence on the last decade's-worth of rock.

You don't have to like Pavement, but it shows something of a lack of perspective not to understand their sloppy, 90s-y appeal.

Based on the tastes you've displayed thus far, you should definitely check out Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

[Hieronymus]

Sweet! I <3 reading all the hate for P Spree and Edward Sharpe. At least I wont have to deal with those assholes when Edward Sharpe plays. My friends and I will be dancing and having a great time and having fun.

And yes, Im seeing all the Pavement shows at Summerstage before you want to go on some rant about my bad taste in music. And Ill be seeing them at Freefest too.

It's chill, even people with the best taste in the world tend to like a shitty band or two. In fact, my dislike of ES & The MZs mostly springs from my bafflement that friends of mine who tend to keep it pretty real music-wise fall for 'em. I might hate on bands, but I'm not gonna hate on the people who like them... or be calling strangers assholes.

And if the friends I'm going with drag me to see Edward Sharpe, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt enough to try and enjoy myself. I mean Christ, it's free, there's no way it can't be a net gain. Sorry if my flippancy provoked yeh.

[James Ford]

I just don't get the love for Pavement.

I confess to having been ignorant to them beyond their one decent pop hit, Cut Your Hair.

So a year or so ago, I stole all their albums and gave them all a listen, and thought it was absolute amateur garbage.

Why are they so highly regarded?

[Relaxer]

All I want inscribed on my tombstone is:

"he tended to keep it pretty real music-wise "

[killsaly]

It's chill, even people with the best taste in the world tend to like a shitty band or two.

Well seeing as calling a band "shitty" is giving your opinion and not a fact, your thesis doesnt hold up.  Taste is subjective.  You might think ES and MZ or Polyphonic Spree are shitty, but that doesnt mean they are shitty.  I have (I think) decent taste in music, and love both those bands.  I dont get the hate for either.  So PS are happy as shit and wear matching robes, of course a metal head would probably hate them.  And Edward Sharpe has catchy as hell poppy songs, so of course someone who listens to only noise or hates reverb might think they are shitty.  Still doesnt make it a fact.  Everyone has different tastes, thank goodness, cause if we didnt it would be extremely boring. 

[Hieronymus]

It's chill, even people with the best taste in the world tend to like a shitty band or two.

Well seeing as calling a band "shitty" is giving your opinion and not a fact, your thesis doesnt hold up.  Taste is subjective.  You might think ES and MZ or Polyphonic Spree are shitty, but that doesnt mean they are shitty.  I have (I think) decent taste in music, and love both those bands.  I dont get the hate for either.  So PS are happy as shit and wear matching robes, of course a metal head would probably hate them.  And Edward Sharpe has catchy as hell poppy songs, so of course someone who listens to only noise or hates reverb might think they are shitty.  Still doesnt make it a fact.  Everyone has different tastes, thank goodness, cause if we didnt it would be extremely boring. 

I honestly don't know what you're talking about here. I didn't claim any sorta objectivity. All I was saying was that someone else liking a band or two I don't like (i.e. think are pretty shitty) doesn't mean I think they have bad taste -- and it's pretty likely I'd think that you've got decent taste. So we're really on the same page; de gustibus non disputandum est or whatever (and for the record, PS made some fine records).

And I like a lot of real poppy tunes and I'm definitely not exclusively into metal/noise/whathaveyou. I mean, fuck, I was in the front row at a Belle & Sebastian show last week (and holy Christ was it good).

If you've got any curiosity about what I find grating about Edward Sharpe, it's mostly not the songs themselves. It's the faux-Laurel Canyon pseudo-hippy trappings they cover it all in that I find a little contrived. Maybe it's just my cynicism, but there's something almost calculated about the whole project. I have trouble trusting the would-be earnestness of a song like "Home" -- in short, I have the nagging feeling I'm being pandered to. And I'm not alone in this. In my experience, opinions are pretty split on these guys.

[atomicfront]

It's chill, even people with the best taste in the world tend to like a shitty band or two.

Well seeing as calling a band "shitty" is giving your opinion and not a fact, your thesis doesnt hold up.  Taste is subjective.  You might think ES and MZ or Polyphonic Spree are shitty, but that doesnt mean they are shitty.  I have (I think) decent taste in music, and love both those bands.  I dont get the hate for either.  So PS are happy as shit and wear matching robes, of course a metal head would probably hate them.  And Edward Sharpe has catchy as hell poppy songs, so of course someone who listens to only noise or hates reverb might think they are shitty.  Still doesnt make it a fact.  Everyone has different tastes, thank goodness, cause if we didnt it would be extremely boring. 

I love polyphonic spree's second album.  I must have listened to it 100 times. I like Edward Sharpe and the Mangetic Zeros too.  Pavement is cool.  I like some of their albums.  Really this line-up is going to be amazing for me because I like so many of the bands.  Matt & Kim is a band I have wanted to see for a while now.  

I get not getting why some people like some bands.  Wilco would be an example.  I dont' see one redeming quality in their music and Jeff Tweedy is an asshole as well.  But a lot of people love them..so go figure.  

[killsaly]

Hiero,
My point was:
"Of course someone else is going to think a band that someone else likes is shitty, but that doesn?t mean the band is shitty, just that these two people have different tastes."

You had said:
"It's chill, even people with the best taste in the world tend to like a shitty band or two."


I was commenting on the fact that calling a band a shitty band is pretty much meaningless since everyone has such varied taste.  I guess I didn?t articulate myself well; damn my college degree isn?t paying off.  I wasnt trying to say YOU didnt like noise bands or pop music or anything, those were possible examples of differing tastes.

[Hieronymus]

Hiero,
My point was:
"Of course someone else is going to think a band that someone else likes is shitty, but that doesn?t mean the band is shitty, just that these two people have different tastes."

You had said:
"It's chill, even people with the best taste in the world tend to like a shitty band or two."


I was commenting on the fact that calling a band a shitty band is pretty much meaningless since everyone has such varied taste.  I guess I didn?t articulate myself well; damn my college degree isn?t paying off.  I wasnt trying to say YOU didnt like noise bands or pop music or anything, those were possible examples of differing tastes.

Ha, looks like both of us are having articulation issues. Really all I ever meant by "shitty band" was "band I don't happen to like." I should've been careful to make that distinction. Handshake?