taken for a ride
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I'm pretty open minded and can usually appreciate if not like the buzz band of the moment. but give me a break with Cold War kids. I think any rational person would say they're barely alright. Brooklyn Vegan just gave them their first lukewarm review which just raised my opinion of that blog considerably.
Am I way off? I restrained from leaving like 30 comments all over the blogosphere since they would have been all so negative -
I haven't heard them yet (though I have seen them plastered hither and yon)...you make me curious ;-)
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if i wouldn't drive hundreds of miles out of my way to go see a band, i can't call them great. it shows you the power of music blogs to create a buzz and successfully promote things that even other music bloggers dislike.
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i saw them open for Akron/Family and was really impressed, but i haven't heard any of their recordings.
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i've seen them live twice, and i'd say they're pretty damn good. and i consider myself a rational person. if you don't like Hospital Beds then they probably just aren't your thing, Craig.
or maybe you're just too old. -
hahahaha
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Had I been a member back in January I would have started this thread re: Morningwood and We Are Scientists.
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Ha ha ha... Yeah, neither of those albums were worth much buzz. Haven't actually heard Cold War Kids yet, but I've sure heard about them.
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I am too old that's true but it's not like they're punk or anything. maybe live they tear it up but still it's all a little too much for me... the fake hype, the glowing reviews, the gigantic virtual pr campaign. It's stange too because in the real world nobody's ever heard of these guys so I probably shouldn't let it get to me.
I even listened to Hospital again (3rd time!) and I still don't get it. Morningwood's a joke and I wouldn't even put CWK's in that category but you are dead on Sean! -
I guess I am too old too, because with all due respect, I think they suck bad... But will say never saw them live so....
And also agree with songsillinois, never got the Morningwood thing and the other band that doesn't come to mind ...-marathonpacks wrote a nice one on them and Morningwood...
And I am still trying to figure out that Gnarls Barkley thing... oops probably should not have brought that one up... -
the gap between the whole "virtual pr campaign" thing bloggers and online music writers are so wrapped up with and what people actually think is going on is always so funny to me.
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i was just messing w/ you craig.
but i can assure you, there is no "gigantic virtual pr campaign", other than just people that like the band. they don't have a label, they drive around in a shitty tour van, etc. but they play a hell of a live show, and i think that's where the "buzz" (ahem) is coming from.
i just think it's funny that you guys, who admittedly know nothing about the band other than an mp3 or two, are saying they're overrated or pure hype. think about where the hype is, or isn't, coming from -
your'e right Chris.. I never heard them live and am basing an opinion on only a couple mp3's... My mind is open even for an old guy.
The blogging medium does work and it is good. Bands that would have never ever been heard (especially ones driving around in shitty tour vans which the majority of indie bands do) can now be heard via the power of the internet and blogs. I guess we are all too technology spoiled and take that for granted sometimes.
The only criticism I have is that there tends to be a follow the buzz thing in the mp3 blogs. The top blogs like yours rightfully talked about a band they like and have heard live. Then a 1,000 others are all writing about the same band without putting their own thought to it. It's good I guess for the music but it tends to saturate the blogwaves so to speak. It gets redundant and more and more like commercialism...
But I guess I would rather have it that way than nothing at all... -
I take full responsibility for perpetuating so called blog hype. Any blogger who hasnt fallen pray is lying through his/her teeth, but when I find a band like cold war kids who make me excited abt music again i want to tell the ENTIRE WORLD. I have seen them live over 15 times now. They played our Hell Ya! SXSW showcase in Austin and blew every other band outta the watter. when people ask me what m favorite band is I say "cold war kids' because its the god honest truth
there is no gigantic virtual online campaign behind this band. unless you consider excited bloggers telling their friends abt a band they like a "campaign" -
Jax is responsible!! BURN HER!!! BURN HER!!!!
i've seen them live...I was not blown away, but I was also not repulsed. i even posted on them last year/early this year(?) sometime after Jax sent me some tracks. They aren't warranted the hype, but it's no reason to get your panties in a bunch. the bands that are deserving seem to last and those that aren't (Morningwood & We Are Scientists for example) are quickly forgotten and the blogoverse moves on.
if we started a thread for every band undeserving, we;d be writing about stuff like this for months.
and really craig, how many of the bands on Swedes Please REALLY deserve it...I mean, there are only so many bands in Sweden. They can't all be good ;)
BUT!!! this is an exciting opportunity for you to write about it! A little point/counterpoint for blogoverse readers...an excellent opportunity to share an informed opinion that doesn't fit with the "let's be so sweet and great and only write about things we love!" SHRED THEM!!! NEGATIVO!!!!! CRUSH THEM!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
oh! oh! did I just change threads again?! -
Maybe I'm nitpicking, but: "It's strange too because in the real world nobody's ever heard of these guys."
What does that mean? A lot of people (I'm assuming "real world"=non-blog readers?) don't know about a lot of the bands/musicians who are posted on blogs. I was at a wedding on Friday in Tucson having a great conversation with a guy who was really well-versed in a lot of stuff. But he hadn't heard of Jose Gonzalez (gasp!).
I guess what I'm trying to say is, it shouldn't matter if the real world has heard of Cold War Kids or not. That's one of the primary functions of mp3 blogs -- to introduce bands to these very people. Just because a certain set of people hasn't heard of Cold War Kids doens't make them any less reputable.
But I do agree that some of these hyped bands are best approached with caution.
--Kevin -
Amen to that, Chris. That is why I am *probably* going to be welcoming aboard a swedish/scandanavian correspondant in the next couple weeks.
I agree with Dodge on CWK. They weren't *great* but they werent awful. Which is in and of itself an achievment nowadays. -
Swedes Please is great. Just the name itself is fun to say.
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aren't we easy to entertain?! ; )
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I still am in love with the Shout Out Louds.
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last time i started a thread and said let's all just get along towards the end I was roasted so I won't do the same thing again. I'll stick to my guns on this one and I won't even say let's agree to disagree cause I'm right and most of you are wrong ;)
thanks for the nice comments about swedesplease but as a correction there is a lot of drek coming out of Sweden but hopefully I haven't written about any of it. For instance nameing names. How about The Sounds? yuck! or The Ark? yowzah! But the best of the worst has to be Crucified Barbara (http://www.crucifiedbarbara.com/) with a new record out on the US label Liquor and Poker Records (http://www.liquorandpokermusic.com/).
for swedish music I'm loving what I've heard of Lancaster Orchestra including the cover of "Please Pleasse Please Let Me Get What I Want" that I've got up and the band from Sweden called I'm From Barcelona (also on my front page). -
The Sounds are okay-ish. And wtf kind of Swedes are they? Both girls on the cover have jet-black hair!
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Then the are ashamed-to-be-swedes posers hiding behind the dark locks of "models".
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I would like to state for the record that I am fully in favour of dark-haired Swedish models in any context.
That is all. -
Hahaha. I suppose that does make the album look more appealing. Just ask merz...
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I don't like Cold War Kids either. Or Tapes n Tapes. Or Sufjan. Or Beirut. Or Radiohead. Or Bishop Allen. Or Gnarls Barkley. Or Feist. Or The Flaming Lips. And so on.
That said, that isn't entirely fair as I like odd songs by a lot of those bands, but just don't like the majority. I've certainly never got the mini cults that have seemingly appeared around all of them though. -
damn eddie, now you're just getting out of hand. who do you like?
It's ridiculous to just assume that because some artist gets buzz or hype, then they're automatically no good. as i said before, in the case of tapes 'n tapes, cwk, beirut, etc., the hype is not being generated by some label or PR person, it's being generated by people like you that happen to love the music. saying, "i don't like Cold war kids either, man, yeah! *high fives other dorks*" isn't some badge of honor, like, "hey, look at me, i avoided falling victim to hype, i'm awesome."
it's a matter of personal preference. if you don't like it, fine, but no one is setting out to "hype" them for the sake of creating some buzz. -
*high fives other dorks*
hahaha -
ha, dammit brian, that looks kinda mean taken out of context. oops. sorry, as a fellow music nerd, i didn't mean to offend any of you other dorks.
but you guys should totally go check out the Tapes 'n Tapes/Cold War Kids summer tour, i hear it's going indie-riffic. so much buzz my head might explode. -
"damn eddie, now you're just getting out of hand. who do you like?"
Haha, yes, it seems like I hate everything based on that, which obviously isn't true. At least I don't think it can be as I still find things to blog about regularly.
"it's a matter of personal preference. if you don't like it, fine, but no one is setting out to "hype" them for the sake of creating some buzz"
I couldn't agree more, and my post above certainly wasn't an anti-hype comment. I'm a massive fan of Voxtrot, who have followed the same hype pattern as any of the others. Same for Oh No! Oh My!, Camera Obscura and a bunch of others I can't place at the moment. Hell, I even like the Arctic Monkeys a hell of a lot. I know that the posts about all of the above bands are genuine and aren't just puff pieces. If people are liking them, that's great. Those particular ones just aren't doing all that much for me. So I'll just wait for the next little blog storm to come along and hope it's something more to my taste. -
I don't like Tapes 'n Tapes or Voxtrot, really. Sorry guys.
This Beirut stuff is the jam though. -
I was overwhelmed by the Band of Horses onslaught and never listened. The other day I gave it a try (coincidentally, every single track can be easily downloaded via hype) and I'm in love. I guess I shouldn't be so skeptical of the hype, at the worst I'll get Morningwood and never give it another thought. And at the best I'll get Band of Horses!
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I adore the Arctic Monkeys (and no, we don't work for them ;-)
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i hate a lot of bands with hype. i really do. some i will like (cold war kids, gnarls, arcade fire, etc.), but the VAST MAJORITY of hot indie bands i don't like (that includes voxtrot and tapes n' tapes, though i do love the blondie cover garrison posted.)
but i have a set of bands that i really do love and i listen to a lot of other bands that are much more deserving of praise than some bands, but it's all good.
and for the record, i don't care for sufjan that much. in fact, illinois was horrible. (to me at least.) -
I loved Illnois, my most listened to album of the year by far
can anyone recommend a Beirut track? -
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Like:
Tapes n Tapes
Arcade Fire
Band of Horses
Radiohead (eh)
Dislike:
Gnarls Barelay
Voxtrot
Sufjan
Tool
Beirut
I HAVE SPOKEN.
; ) -
I dig all of these "buzz" bands.
all sept Gnarls.
It'd be great if there was some of bloggers chart on Hype or Elbows, eg Most posted track of the week/ most posted about artist etc. That'd be really cool - hype already has a sort of popular list - but that just gets dominated by random single artists and covers it seems. -
elbows has a top ten bands thingy goin on.
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