I suspect this is part of the reason a lot of punk & "indie" musicians sneer at goth bands.
Oh, it's definitely a part of it. It's seen as an indicator of shallowness.
Harrow: You didn't have to wound that man. Mal: Yeah, I know, it was just funny.
'Shindig'
Buffista Music II: Wrath of Chaka Khan
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
DavidS - Jan 27, 2005 12:56:27 pm PST #7087 of 10003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
tommyrot - Jan 27, 2005 12:56:44 pm PST #7088 of 10003
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
It's a very strongly held notion in punk/indie orthodoxy that videos are evil, 'mersh, chee
Oh, that reminds me. For the longest time The Replacements swore they'd never do a video. Then they did one (for "Bastards of Young", right?) that was just a single shot of a stereo speaker and a guy's leg. Cracked me the hell up when I first saw it. I didn't know who The Replacemetns were at the time, but I admired their balls....
DavidS - Jan 27, 2005 12:58:34 pm PST #7089 of 10003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
For the longest time The Replacements swore they'd never do a video. Then they did one (for "Bastards of Young", right) that was just a single shot of a stereo speaker and a guy's leg. Cracked me the hell up when I first saw it. I didn't know who The Replacemetns were at the time, but I admired their balls....
This is, of course, the most famous example of this mindset. And while at the time, I admired it, now I think it's a bit precious. Because they sure as fuck did videos after that, so they didn't stay pure for too damn long. And it's not like Paul Westerberg didn't have a preening, dandyish side. He may have worn flannel shirts and chuck taylors, but he went through about a can of Aquanet a day in the early 80s.
Atropa - Jan 27, 2005 1:00:33 pm PST #7090 of 10003
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
It's seen as an indicator of shallowness.
Well hurrah for shallow goth bands! Give me fog machines, elaborate eye makeup, and some sort of ruined castle background, thankyouverymuch.
Atropa - Jan 27, 2005 1:04:08 pm PST #7091 of 10003
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
Oh, and as a tangent: I wish there was a more reliable way of finding digital copies of music videos online. I know there are videos by bands I adore that I've never seen, and I wish somthing like iTunes would start selling copies of them. I'd buy a copy of the video for "Coin-Operated Boy" or "Transylvanian Concubine" if they were easy to get.
tommyrot - Jan 27, 2005 1:07:16 pm PST #7092 of 10003
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
The Replacements were just weird, as they intentionally shot themselves in the foot more than once. Mostly by getting really trashed and playing bad covers of '70s music whenever A&R guys went to see them perform. I suppose some of their "We don't wanna be rock stars!" attitude could have been a pose, but nowadays it seems like every indie band is calculating how to get a major label contract and a hit album.
Or so it seems to me. Although I don't follow this stuff as closely as I did in the '80s and '90s....
DavidS - Jan 27, 2005 1:09:02 pm PST #7093 of 10003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Oh, and as a tangent: I wish there was a more reliable way of finding digital copies of music videos online. I know there are videos by bands I adore that I've never seen, and I wish somthing like iTunes would start selling copies of them. I'd buy a copy of the video for "Coin-Operated Boy" or "Transylvanian Concubine" if they were easy to get.
I know what you mean. I think that'll get to be a bit more common. You can watch a bunch on Launch.com. Videos are still seen as occupying a kind of netherworld between tiny art film and television advertisement for the music. It's funny, because a lot of the 80s videos shown on The Altenative end with visual of the album the song came from. "You loved 'Dead Man's Party'? Buy the Oingo Boingo album today!"
tommyrot - Jan 27, 2005 1:09:04 pm PST #7094 of 10003
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
I know there are videos by bands I adore that I've never seen, and I wish somthing like iTunes would start selling copies of them.
Good idea. And you't think that the videos would sell for cheap, as online sales could be considered a form of marketing by the record companies.
Michele T. - Jan 27, 2005 2:11:14 pm PST #7095 of 10003
with a gleam in my eye, and an almost airtight alibi
Erin -- Andrew Bird also plays violin on one of my favorite Handsome Family tracks, "Up Falling Rock Hill." Highly recommended.
Frankenbuddha - Jan 27, 2005 5:18:48 pm PST #7096 of 10003
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
I was listening to Pretty Hate Machine the other day, and was struck by just how ... poppy it sounded. Sulky and angry, yes, but undeniably pop music.
Oh yeah - it sounds like a slightly surlier Depeche Mode. The real NIN style didn't come out until he was touring, and hoo boy, was that a surprise. NIN on PHM opened for Peter Murphy, and, unfortunately, the crowd seemed to be more NIN people. I was NOT prepared to deal with moshing at a Peter Murphy show.
Luckily, I'm really good at lowering my center of gravity and cutting people's legs out from under them. Uncool if you're slamming in earnest, but when you're suddenly trapped in a mosh pit you weren't expecting? Really quite, quite satisfying.