the "I don't get it" thread

frunobulax said:
or I'm beyond hip, and have the testicular fortitude to proclaim "the emperor has no clothes!". food for thought.

tell me, in your own words, why it is so 'good'? should I like it because I am supposed to?
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i never said it was 'good'. i was just being sarcastic.

i can't stand avant garde jazz. it just noise as far as i'm concerned.
maybe there one has to have spectacular musical talent to be able to put all the notes in just the right order to sound like complete chaotic crap. i dunno.
 
Peen Simmons said:
They were definite critical darlings with Summerteeth and the project where they were Billy Bragg's backing band. And they were playing the largest theaters in Chicago before the label thing. And they're still playing large theaters afterwards. Their ceiling is "festival headliner," just like the Flaming Lips who continue to get away with murder because Warner can't bear to lose them/look dumb after the Wilco kerfuffle.
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Theater and arena are two different things. Theaters before Warner silliness. Arenas after Warner silliness. It had a huge effect on their popularity, whether you want to believe it or not.
 
BlockInlay said:
I can't get past the album title. is it a statement that brewing is done by bitches? or a typo that meant to indicate the brew belonged to bitches (i.e., bitch's brew)? or is it not a typo and the possessive of bitch or bitches does not require an apostrophe for some esoteric grammatical reason?
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I remember I listened to Bitches Brew with my (present) bassist in the early -70s. We thought it was quite boring. There was two things back then that was interesting, though. One was Mclaughlins guitar, it sounded just strange, and we liked it a lot. The other thing was the tune Sanctuary, made by Wayne Shorter, which was just incredible. Miles playing there is over the top.
Recently I saw a documentary on Zawinul, where he claimed that the record was made from different fragments in the studio, put together by him to a quite strange product. That made the record more interesting for me.
 
Wilmer X said:
I remember I listened to Bitches Brew with my (present) bassist in the early -70s. We thought it was quite boring. There was two things back then that was interesting, though. One was Mclaughlins guitar, it sounded just strange, and we liked it a lot. The other thing was the tune Sanctuary, made by Wayne Shorter, which was just incredible. Miles playing there is over the top.
Recently I saw a documentary on Zawinul, where he claimed that the record was made from different fragments in the studio, put together by him to a quite strange product. That made the record more interesting for me.
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No claim necessary. You can hear all of it, as recorded. About 8 hours worth of recording.
 
smurfco said:
I still don't understand what's good about the blues in general. I mean it isn't bad music and it seems important to learn, but don't people get sick of the same progression in every song? (Spoken from a shocking level of ignorance regarding the blues - just what I have observed.)
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as someone who has recorded a blues album in the last few years I'll say that it's only as good as what you put into it. If you're only going to regurgitate the oldies or do some hacky blues rock beer commercial than it can be (IMO) a boring contrivance. If you use the form to do something different than it can be very cool.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
Theater and arena are two different things. Theaters before Warner silliness. Arenas after Warner silliness. It had a huge effect on their popularity, whether you want to believe it or not.
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The never really consistently became an arena act on their own. The Warner mess boosted their profile, but they're still a cult act. Indie-type acts occasionally sell out the Garden for "big event" shows, but it's not like they're headlining the Horizon or UIC when they come through town. They're still basically a theater act.
 
Peen Simmons said:
The never really consistently became an arena act on their own. The Warner mess boosted their profile, but they're still a cult act. Indie-type acts occasionally sell out the Garden for "big event" shows, but it's not like they're headlining the Horizon or UIC when they come through town. They're still basically a theater act.
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They play MSG here and toured with Bob Dylan. That's about as mainstream as it gets.
 
dodgechargerfan said:
Hallucinogens.
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Trust me, do not play Bitches Brew while tripping. It will damage your soul.

I like Bitches Brew a lot when I'm not tripping (which is almost always). I can understand why it may not be everyone's cup of tea though, and I'm not in the business of trying to talk people into liking it.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
They play MSG here and toured with Bob Dylan. That's about as mainstream as it gets.
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Baloney. They don't even have a legitimate hit. They're an NPR band. They do good tour business; their numbers have been an industry bright spot for little bands that could, but they're AAA radio all-stars at best.

And Bob is the most perverse of all the '60s living legends. Even his bookings make no sense...I've seen him in basketball arenas and in 3,500 capacity rooms. He plays ballparks and state fairs.

LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire have played MSG...but they also have no hits and are famous on the Internet.

I'm not saying Wilco ain't big fish, but their pond is smallish and they were pretty much on pace before the label thing. For example, I saw them play the Riv a couple months/weeks before the YHF news...and then after they became a big story, I saw them at the Riv. And on the first tour with Nels, I saw them in a Riv-sized room in Milwaukee. A lot of this is possibly because (like Dylan) they saturate the market vs Radiohead who make their live shows more exclusive/event-like because they take 5 year long breaks between tours whereas Wilco will pretty much play your backyard BBQ if you live within 2 hours of Chicago.
 
Peen Simmons said:
Baloney. They don't even have a legitimate hit. They're an NPR band. They do good tour business; their numbers have been an industry bright spot for little bands that could, but they're AAA radio all-stars at best.

And Bob is the most perverse of all the '60s living legends. Even his bookings make no sense...I've seen him in basketball arenas and in 3,500 capacity rooms. He plays ballparks and state fairs.

LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire have played MSG...but they also have no hits and are famous on the Internet.

I'm not saying Wilco ain't big fish, but their pond is smallish and they were pretty much on pace before the label thing. For example, I saw them play the Riv a couple months/weeks before the YHF news...and then after they became a big story, I saw them at the Riv. And on the first tour with Nels, I saw them in a Riv-sized room in Milwaukee. A lot of this is possibly because (like Dylan) they saturate the market vs Radiohead who make their live shows more exclusive/event-like because they take 5 year long breaks between tours whereas Wilco will pretty much play your backyard BBQ if you live within 2 hours of Chicago.
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Phish plays MSG. I consider them mainstream as well. Internet Famouse is the new mainstream.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
Theater and arena are two different things. Theaters before Warner silliness. Arenas after Warner silliness. It had a huge effect on their popularity, whether you want to believe it or not.
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I've seen Wilco 6 or 7 times. Never in an arena all after YHF mostly small outside amphitheaters about 3,500 capacity.
 
Mark Wein said:
as someone who has recorded a blues album in the last few years I'll say that it's only as good as what you put into it. If you're only going to regurgitate the oldies or do some hacky blues rock beer commercial than it can be (IMO) a boring contrivance. If you use the form to do something different than it can be very cool.
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Again it may be my own ignorance but I never get surprised by anything in the blues, even if it's enjoyable to listen to. But there are people who are "huge blues fans", I guess that's what I don't get, disciples of the blues etc. It all sounds so similar to me, I don't see how anyone can dig that deep into it (aside from the history of it) or really push boundaries with it. But maybe that's not what it's designed for.
 
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