Play it loud!The Polyphonic Spree. This is just great for a bit of Friday distraction. It sounds as if it's right out of the Sixties. Enjoy!
posted by essexjan (37 comments total)
Yay! I saw the Polyphonic Spree in Edinburgh last year, and they were fantastic. The only downer was I Am Kloot, the frankly rubbish support act, who decided to slag them off royally before wandering off stage.
Definitely worth checking out. posted by bwerdmuller at 3:19 AM on July 9, 2004
I Am Kloot are great. You sack. Although I cannot vouch for them live.
That game is charming. Thanks. posted by ed\26h at 3:25 AM on July 9, 2004
the "light and day" video for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is pretty nice--check it out here (winamp required). posted by lotsofno at 5:13 AM on July 9, 2004
I saw them opening for Bowie a few months ago and was unimpressed. The musicians were very good, and the arrangements interesting, but the singer seemed a bit out of his depth, i.e., just not very good. I didn't get that cohesive "band" feeling from them.
But I am always willing to to give another listen, and will do so... posted by SNACKeR at 5:14 AM on July 9, 2004
I saw them open for Bowie as well (in Philadelphia)--after two songs the audience turned on them. It wasn't pretty, but they kept soldiering on nonetheless. posted by Prospero at 5:44 AM on July 9, 2004
Who else thinks they all sleep with one another? posted by Blue Stone at 6:32 AM on July 9, 2004
I got news for you: They don't really sound like anything from the sixties. The reason the word "sixties" pops into people's minds when they see or here them, is because they don't immediately fit into any of the rigid, formulaic, and highly generized popular music categories of the moment -- either by look or music. They harken back to a time of loose playlists, musical tolerance, and light-hearted exploration. Their look is not sexually exploitative, and they quite frankly reach for joy. Like a lot of successful American pop music, they borrow the forms of gospel (in this case, the robes, the big choral arrangements) for secular ends. I don't think their songs are all that great, but I'll live with them for a while and see if they'll grow on me. Formulas like punk, reggae, heavy metal, blues, rap and hip hop have been in office for more than 20 years, refusing to go away. There should be term limits for pop musical formulas. At least these guys are something different. posted by Faze at 6:38 AM on July 9, 2004
I got news for you: They don't really sound like anything from the sixties.
I dunno, Faze, I definitely heard some Pepper-era Beatles, Move, and Left Banke in there.
And I must say, it was pretty damned good.
yes, jonmc is praising a contemporary band. If you tell anyone, I'll deny it posted by jonmc at 6:49 AM on July 9, 2004
it's nice that someone has taken up the mantle of the free design and taken it to its logical extreme... posted by pxe2000 at 6:57 AM on July 9, 2004
Oh, god, the Free Design, masters of lighter than air pop. And I do mean lighter than air. They made The Association seem like Deep Purple. posted by jonmc at 7:02 AM on July 9, 2004
pxe2000 -- That flash was great. The Free Design site, however... I have a strong stomach for sunshine pop (and dearly love Keith "98.6", the Sunshine Company, Peanut Butter Conspiracy, "Daydream Believer," "Sunday Child of a Maybe Man," etc.), but Free Design (as jonmc might agree) is wa-a-a-ay too light. Pop music has to have at least a whiff of testosterone to work. Polyphonic Spree has that. Van Dyke Parks, Harpers Bizarre, and half of "Pet Sounds" do not. posted by Faze at 7:22 AM on July 9, 2004
Pop music has to have at least a whiff of testosterone to work.
Most of the time, I'd agree with that statement, but sometimes you just wanna float away on a puffy white cloud. Free Design and Sunshine Pop was good for that. posted by jonmc at 7:42 AM on July 9, 2004
Nice stuff. I agree with jonmc: sounds '60s to me. To the sources he mentions I'd add the Kinks, plus a rip from the chorus of "Different Drum." I miss that pop sound, though at the time I was much more into Stones/Creedence. posted by languagehat at 7:44 AM on July 9, 2004
Without Free Design, we'd have no Stereolab!
/Not sure if I'm lamenting or celebrating posted by dhoyt at 7:56 AM on July 9, 2004
I knew nothing about The Polyphonic Spree when I saw them live. (I was there to see The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, who were the opening act.) Left after two songs. I thought they were insufferably annoying. It was like a community college production of Godspell got out early, and they wandered down to the club we were in. Or that all of them dropped out of art school at the same time, and said, "WHat are we gonna do.......Let's form a band!" posted by emptybowl at 8:04 AM on July 9, 2004
...all of them dropped out of art school at the same time, and said, "WHat are we gonna do.......Let's form a band!" Uh, let's see, that's how the Beatles started, the Stolling Rones, Talking Heads. Someone else can continue this list... posted by Faze at 9:20 AM on July 9, 2004
It was like a community college production of Godspell got out early
That's IT! I couldn't put my finger on it, but you've nailed it, emptybowl. posted by thanotopsis at 9:43 AM on July 9, 2004
Bleh, this group started in Dallas, and I never "got it." There have been so many great groups that never make it nationally, that it is a bit annoying when a sub-par concept band does.
But the fact remains, that our Mr. Vaughn was the best there ever was, and no band was cooler than the 13th Floor Elevators. Except, arguably, SDQ. posted by Seth at 9:47 AM on July 9, 2004
You should play the the game if you want a proper Flash Friday distraction posted by O9scar at 10:33 AM on July 9, 2004
I've always kinda thought they managed to tap into some repressed childhood memories of sitting in church basements in the seventies listening to stories about the dangers of cults. Someone was always running away to join some cult or another in the seventies.
Plus Mr. Show should be getting royalties, it seems like someone missed the point of Jeepers Creepers and decided to take the whole thing on the road. posted by Keith Talent at 10:57 AM on July 9, 2004
...no band was cooler than the 13th Floor Elevators
And no moment in modern American cinema is cooler than the beginning of "High Fidelity," where the turntable needle comes down on the record, and the opening notes of "You're Gonna Miss Me" come rattling out over the theater. Too bad the rest of the movie blows (except for the second greatest moment in American cinema: Tim Robbins getting clobbered with an air conditioner). After that 30 seconds of greatness, the film loses all right to call itself cool, by truncating the song by about eight bars -- and why? Why even bother having the rest of the film? It would have been a hundred times cooler simply to have the audience sit in a darkened theater listening to "You're Gonna Miss Me" in its entirety, then sitting for an hour and a half meditating on it's greatness. There is only one thing cooler than the opening bars of "You're Gonna Miss Me," and that is the opening bars of "Shake Some Action" by the Flamin' Groovies. But no one would dare put that into a film, because it would be so cool that everyone in the theater would have to go home and kill themselves because they would know that they would never hear anything cooler in their lives and there was no point in going on. posted by Faze at 11:50 AM on July 9, 2004
no band was cooler than the 13th Floor Elevators. Except, arguably, SDQ.
What about The Sonics? posted by jonmc at 11:56 AM on July 9, 2004
Faze: I'll agree on the greatness of the opening scene of High Fidelity. When I first heard the 13th Floor Elevators, I knew the movie was all down hill from there. Though it did have more good moments than you give it credit for.
(speaking about Little Latin Lupe Lu)
Barry: What's wrong with the Righteous Brothers?
Dick: Nothing. I just prefer the Mitch Ryder version-
Barry: Bullshit!
Rob: How can it be bullshit to state a preference?
[Rob's retort could apply to much of the arguing that goes on here on Mefi...]
But High Fidelity also had is bad moments: i.e., the pimping of the Polyphonic-esque Beta Band; Jack Black's over-acting is too much at times; the crappiness of the music by the Kinky Wizards (the two skater kids). posted by Seth at 12:49 PM on July 9, 2004
What about The Sonics?
posted by jonmc at 1:56 PM CST on July 9
jonmc: I was referring to local Texas musicians that I think never got the national recognition they fully deserved (hence the "our" Mr. Vaughn...). I was lamenting the sucess of the Polyphonic Spree and their out of whack bang-to-hype ratio while so many never got the recognition they deserve. posted by Seth at 12:50 PM on July 9, 2004
Who else thinks they all sleep with one another?
That's like ABBA and Fleetwood Mac and Bowie and Jagger and Faithfull. And a Snickers bar. And Peter, Paul, and Mary.
Too rich for my blood to even imagine.
And I always thought the group sounded like the Brady Bunch. posted by WolfDaddy at 12:57 PM on July 9, 2004
I was referring to local Texas musicians that I think never got the national recognition they fully deserved
faze: i'm hoping against hope that when you said "testosterone" you meant "nerve" or "adrenaline". cos i can think of plenty of artists who fucking rock and would be excluded from that description on the basis of having matching x chromosomes. leave the gender out of it, kthx.
also? anybody who wants to get to van dyke parks has to get through me, first. his persona as the max fischer of rock might not be identifiably masculine for you (and maybe this was your point, but song cycle isn't exactly "rock" in the stones/elvis, three-chords-and-4/4-time definition of rock), but discover america is a fantastic bootyshaker. some of the political satire on it (uh, well, "fdr in trinidad") ranks with the clash in terms of current events you can dance to. posted by pxe2000 at 2:18 PM on July 9, 2004
Having grown up in the Sixties, I can say with assurance that they'd fit right in during that time period. Like Sgt Pepper with the Cowsills. posted by konolia at 6:56 PM on July 9, 2004
i'm hoping against hope that when you said "testosterone" you meant "nerve" or "adrenaline". cos i can think of plenty of artists who fucking rock and would be excluded from that description on the basis of having matching x chromosomes. leave the gender out of it, kthx.
Not that I don't see what you're getting at, but women have testosterone in them, pxe2000. It dosen't make you male, just aggressive. posted by jonmc at 7:02 PM on July 9, 2004
in smaller doses, sure. i just wish faze had used a more neutral word. adrenaline can also make you aggressive, right? or am i just being a tool here? posted by pxe2000 at 10:40 PM on July 9, 2004
pxe2000 -- Van Dyke Parks' miserable, reedy voice destroys everything it appears in. His songwriting skills are nil. He came onto the scene over-rated, his whole career has been overrated, and he remains overrated to this day -- most especially for "Orange Crate Art," his nowheresville "collaboration" with Brian Wilson. His mafia connections must be impeccible to have allowed him to stay in the business as long as he has. As far as testosterone is concerned, you cannot get away from the fact that there are precious few good girl rockers -- and I suspect that those that are any good are simply the products of a male svengali/pimp who calls all the shots, and studio musicians who play all the instruments. The only exception seems to be the Bangles, who are not only as good as, but better than 90 percent of the male groups in their genre, and who -- I have been assured by someone who'd seen them in their early days -- actually played their own instruments. (Their latest album, "Doll Revolution" is -- astonishingly -- among their best.) Don't tell me about Joan Jett -- an actress who played a rock star -- or Sleater-Kinney, a bunch of pudgy rich girls acting out. (Forget Sheryl Crowe and Melissa Etheridge -- I'm pretty sure any male garage-band MeFier with a guitar could blow them off the stage. Lucinda Williams had one good song, "Passionate Kisses," so I'll give her a bye on this one.) Not to worry. The total cheesiness and phoniness of women pretending to be rockers is part of their appeal. posted by Faze at 7:22 AM on July 10, 2004
As far as testosterone is concerned, you cannot get away from the fact that there are precious few good girl rockers
[ahem]
What about Janis Joplin, Laura Nyro, Kim Gordon, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, L7, Babes In Toyland, Girlschool, Rock Goddess, Suzi Quatro, Amy Linton (from Aislers Set), Tammy Ealom (from Dressy Bessy), Carla Thomas, Tina Turner, Laura Cantrell, Ann & Nancy Wilson (from Heart), Ann Peebles, April March, Kate Pierson (from the B-52's), Barbara Lynn, Donna Godchaux, Lisa Kekaula (from the [amazing] Bell Rays, Tanya Donnelley, Kristin Hersh, Mo Tucker, Betty Wright, Betsy (from Bitch), Debbie Harry, Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Nelson, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Poly Styrene (from X-Ray Spex), Carole King, Wanda Jackson, Margo Timmins (from Cowboy Junkies), Bonnie Bramlett, and yes, Joan Jett.
Just to name a few. Sorry, Faze. Thank You For Calling. Here's a copy of our home game. posted by jonmc at 7:50 AM on July 10, 2004
jonmc -- Okay, I'll give you Tracy Nelson. And maybe Carole King, except for the fact that the obliterated all the good she did for humanity in the first half of her career, by the apalling horrors of Tapestry and everything that followed. Definately not Screaming Mimi Janis Joplin, who had no intrinsic feel for rock, or what her own talent might consist of, not Aretha Franklin, or any African American singers because none of them are rock (except Tina Turner, who is a near-total no-talent). Dusty Springfield's a bore. Laura Nyro was a unique genius for two albums, but not especially rock. Debbie Harry is just a face with a great band and great songs. Kate Pierson doesn't even deserve a put down. Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie are from the 70s. You would think you could include people like Suzi Quatro and Wanda Jackson, but neither of them came to rock spontaneously. They were svengallied into it, just like Joan Jett, and most of these other people. (Since I haven't heard everyone on the list, I'm going to have to do some homework.) In any case, women just aren't committed to music. They're always there because of some guy. posted by Faze at 2:58 PM on July 10, 2004
Faze, meet Ms. Ciccone. posted by WolfDaddy at 4:14 PM on July 10, 2004
you know what, faze? you are a sexist pig. you put down astonishingly respectable and amazing female musicians with jabs at their looks and you say that women only make music "because of some guy". you know what, faze? i make movies. i'm sure there are quite a few girls on metafilter who make art of some sort, and not out of any interest in male attention. some of us -- male, female, or horse -- have something to say or some aesthetic innovation we need to put into the world. on some occasions that intersects with romantic interest, but in many cases it doesn't,
judging from the other comments in music threads, your ad hominem attacks on incredible musicians further shore up your credibility. (for all of the aesthetic disagreements i have with jonmc, at least he can back up his opinions with a well-thought-out, non ad-hominem attack on the musicians in question -- he has, for example, sidestepped mocking robert smith's weight when dressing down the cure.)
i can only assume that you are a frustrated artist or musician and express my deepest sympathies for your inability to create.
::puts on discover america, walks away from thread:: posted by pxe2000 at 7:13 AM on July 12, 2004
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Definitely worth checking out.
posted by bwerdmuller at 3:19 AM on July 9, 2004