Maus Space

I remember watching a video interview in which John Maus complained about how, despite Ariel Pink's recent success with Before Today, the general music-listening public still didn't "get what he had done", and that he was simply "one of them" now. I think John meant that, after Pitchfork jumped on Ariel in 2009-10, he was suddenly elevated to the same sphere of seemingly universal critical acceptance as artists like Girls and Deerhunter.

But now John has received almost the same treatment from the heavyweight music criticism websites, and according to his own criteria, he is now one of them. How does John feel about this? It saddens me to think that the only way I can see JM perform in my foreign country is by enduring a festival bill featuring the likes of chune-Yards and Sun Araw (see below). I wish music critics would take a stand against mediocrity, though I hestitate to call the reviews of Pitchfork criticism-- they're more like a consumer guide, or a taste guide.

The only great musician on that list is John.
It is safe to assume that John wants to occasionally expose his music to general audiences, otherwise he would not subscribe to such endeavors.
I saw him perform for a 4th of July "bash" but not too many were there for John or Geneva. The people there were like gnats hovering over a cesspool, waiting for Diplo beats. Apparently those mad beats incite lots of gyrating and plenty of good times.
And the cutesy xylophone indie aesthetic. Music made for casual listeners. Songs that accumulate on an iWhatever for the sake of being hip.
You're right about Pitchfork...they are not critics. They have no true fodder to digest. I see nothing but fast food shits when I read their so-called reviews. Their novel ideas about what music should be...mountain man purportedly records an album in the woods, drugged-out juvenile records "punk" album in parents' mansion, samples and loops duke it out on seminal turdwave lp. bleh

Thank goodness for the likes of John.

I like OCS and Julianna Barwick on that list too!

Oh, but I can't believe that John is above Prince on the billing!







(this is a joke for those who didn't get it)

i finally get what the policing in 'cop killer' is all about

Holy ungratefulness Batmania! Quit your complaining - John Maus is playing in your town! A town almost close enough to me to justify a jaunt over!!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Melbourne isn't my town... But usually when bands announce festival dates they add sideshows later on to make it worthwhile.

Looks like that was a nice set..

I think chune-Yards is some pretty cool shit. But John is definitely who I'd go to this thing for.

Yeah, I shouldn't have said that about chune-Yards. She's super smart, I heard her being interviewed on the radio.

don't know what i had against julianna barwick, or any of these artists, actually.. sun araw is from the same strain as ariel, apparently.. girls and deerhunter are still boring, but the people behind those bands rule, so.. bradford cox is this angry dude who has listened to everything thx to the internet.. he is really pissed off at everything. the girls guy is good at making up stories. bah i'm an idiot with my stupid opinions.

It's cool, it's all subjective dude. However, you started this thread because you were wary of the politics in music, right? That always warrants discussion.

but my opinions are really obtuse.. i can't express them so well. i like to use an ugly facade of intentional typos, spelling mistakes and david brent-isms.. b/c it draws attention away from the stupidity of my argument...but i know sometimes i am right.

and music is almost always the politics, not the music... that's why music made by 18-25 yr olds is so often shite. they're just out of school, starting up drinking and goin out and all that. havin all these "profound" experiences that most ppl experience as they transition into adulthood.. and it affects the music and turns it to pure shite.

e.g. how do you explain the vinyl revival? i can't. the argument for buying vinyl records in 2012 is membrane-thin.. but i keep talking to people who claim vinyl sounds "better", or it has a curiously unexplainable "warmth", elusive to all modern science. WARMTH?!? WAT ARE U ON ABOUT, SON. no, i think you just want some nice trophies for ur flat. be good for when the gang is around pre-drinking on friday night, eh. good to show off. that's what i really think....

whenever i read an interview with someone like thurston moore or amanda brown, and they start harping on about how vinyl is "nice", how the surface noise, pops and cracks-- which, mind you, were once accepted as technical failures-- actually improve the recording (because every play is "unique"), i think, "WOAH, HOLD ON THERE GRAMPS HAVE U TAKEN UR MEDICINE THIS MORNING. SOMEONE INTRODUCE GRANDPA THURSTON 2 THE INTERNET, QUICKLY."

I'm stuck in my very 90s way of purchasing CDs. Not in vain, mind you, because people would laugh instead of being impressed with my collection. The chidees certainly are trophies of when music really excited me. Aside from materialism, I continue with this deliberate practice of acquiring compact discs so I can listen to entire pieces, an album proper and look over accompanying artwork. If only I had the strength not to shuffle on the ipod (which I used to have). The tendency was there, so I just eliminated that roadblock. I have the desire for intimacy when it comes to any listening experience, I just want one sense to be fulfilled. Though I have just as much fun finding music on blogs and on youtube though, I can't give up what I like. I'm an object worshipper. Might not be a justification in others' eyes. No more excuses from me; to each their own. Warped hisses n all.

I've been working on an animated music video for the last two months, and so far I listened to the song about 500-600 times while compositing. I can tell you that I haven't got bored of the song AT ALL. It's as fresh as the first time I've listened to it. I came to realize that this is the only way to actually "review" something. You gotta listen to it over and over again, and see how fast it gets old (or not). Blog reviewers usually listen to a whole album a maximum of 3-5 times, which is simply not enough to evaluate anything properly. Especially alternative albums which are more difficult to get into.
It depends on the genre these individuals are into. Youngsters who are into the dry, calculated, periodic-beat rock-style of music, will make copy-cat shit music. The genre itself warrants it. Youngsters who are deep into alternative instead, will surpass in "alternativeness" and ingenuity most indie artists over 35 years of age because their brain is still very young and so they're able to cultivate better what we consider "alternative" (alternative music is rather free-form in comparison, so it requires that kind of unshaped brain to flourish).
I can't either. There's no rational explanation behind it, other than being in fashion. If you're into hissing, you'll like vinyl, but if you're into modern electronic music (even when it's supposed to be "lo-fi"), then you won't like vinyl. Growing up very poor in Greece, we only had a radio at home, so I'm not nostalgically or emotionally invested into vinyls (or cassettes). These days, I only buy mp3s, usually from iTunes/Amazon/Bandcamp. The only CD I bought in the last 3 years was John Maus' "Songs" (import), since it ceased to be available in a digital form for some reason.

Quality-wise nothing beats a good super-audio CD or FLAC though, and most importantly, some good speakers. Everyone is talking on various forums about this and that format, but no one is taking the time to talk about speakers, which probably have a bigger impact on the sound than any of the other equipment used.

Eugenia, please post your video when it's finished