Music Chatter: bambi get over it darla farmer elbow hotpipes its a buffalo raconteurs rem supergrass
by Matthew
9 comments
Toad 2.0
Jesus Christ That Was Fucking Boring
Fuck me, I’m glad that’s over with. Did you find that as dull as I did? Four consecutive posts about major bands on major labels that you could all just as easily have read about in Q Magazine. I even liked the Elbow and REM albums, but I still felt slightly dirty writing about them, although I don’t know why.
This blog is supposed to be a record of my thoughts on music, and I was genuinely interested to hear the new Supergrass and REM, and really excited to hear The Raconteurs and Elbow so why do I feel so flat after writing about them? Why has it suddenly become so unsatisfying to write about bands of that stature?
I don’t think the answer lies in snobbery, per se. I have no shame in enjoying the really big and famous bands that I like, nor do I think anyone else should apologise for liking famous music – or fluffy, superficial pop for that matter. Music is there to be enjoyed, and really doesn’t need to be dissected much more than that*.
Maybe it’s the club-ism; the exclusivity. We share something that They don’t have their hands on yet so it feels more special, like a secret or something. There’s also the issue of making a contribution, I suppose. Me bigging up the new REM album is utterly irrelevant to the band whereas when I write about really small groups I might just double their sales if a few of you go and buy something. And they are much more delighted to see a positive review of their music of course, and that always makes this a more satisfying thing to do.
Ultimately, I think it’s about ownership, really. Pop culture is not something most of us get to participate in in any meaningful way whatsoever, so by writing about smaller bands it almost forces REM and Supergrass to become Pop Culture, whereas the little unsigned acts become Our Pop Culture – more personal, more involved and, crucially I think, a smaller community to be a part of. One which may be global in reach but is not global in numbers. It’s a more comprehensible size, something you can actually feel a part of, something you feel you can come to terms with and something which gives a little back when you go and say Hi at the end of a gig. The global audience for REM is just too big for that. The global audience for Bambi Get Over It is not.
So I guess it’s no real surprise that it just feels so much better to have a tiny unsigned band to write about, or to get some friends in and post their live performances on YouTube. They are people we know, people we can be a bit more emotionally invested in, people whose fans could conceivably all get together for a big piss up in the same place. I think a lot of what is perceived as indie snobbery is not quite as much to do with snobbery and perhaps more to do with feeling part of a community whose edges are still close enough to touch, and where you actually feel like an important member rather than a single album sale amongst millions.
So I’m not going to stop writing about big famous bands, because I am genuinely interested in them, but I am finding myself more and more drawn to the grassroots of the music world – small projects where people are having a go and I feel like I really can help bring their work to a wider audience. It just feels nicer.
Bambi Get Over It – That Girl
Darla Farmer – History
Hotpipes – Born in a Bomb
It’s a Buffalo – Outlines
* I could pretty much delete this whole blog on the basis of that one comment alone!
It was so not boring. Whilst I have no intention of buying REM or Supergrass I found the reviews interesting and whilst you’re talking out your ass about the Raconteurs album :O) it was also an interesting read and interesting to see the various points of view on those guys. Elbow, well, I am shocked and disappointed that you feel they are a big band – I would never ever consider them to be a massive band, for all I hope their music gets out there to everyone, I do still love the fact that there is still something quite underground about them and that their fanbase is loyal and has been around since the beginning. Anyways, I guess my point is that whilst I love the fact you pay more attention to the unisgned artists and introduce me and others to a world of new music, it’s important that you do review the more commercial stuff as well as it always generates interesting chats.
Interesting stuff.
No, it wasn’t boring, but while it felt rather unsatisfying to write, it felt rather unsatisfying to read. And maybe most of us felt it unsatisfying to listen to!
Maybe we could ask ourselves; Did the author, reader and artist (therefore, everyone involved) in question get more out of, for example, the Bear Country post or the REM post?
It sounds like the author gets more kicks from it and, as a reader, Toad’s recommendations of beautiful bands I am unaware of, fronted by a voice I’ve never heard makes my evenings more enjoyable and interesting. Discovery (even if someone else has mapped the route for you) is great fun.
And, I don’t want to stick my neck out here, but I’m gonna guess Bear Country benefited more than REM did from an appearance on Song, By Toad.
And then after he publishes the above, Mr W. Sheriff drops by for a cuppa. I wouldn’t be surprised if Toad-o received thanks from certain ’smaller’ bands. From other bands, he gets hassle. Is it any wonder we experience the feelings that Amphibian-Boy writes of above?
I think I’m simply regurgitating what has already been said in the main post. Oh, including Elbow being a big band (come on, Euan!).
I know I know. Stop being as smart as toad!!
And I agree with what you say in your post – as a member of a band who has been reviewed by Mr Toad I feel very grateful to him and it clearly benefits me more than REM! And I also agree, Wave Pictures, The Low Lows (sort of, Bart really introduced me) and a number of other bands – all discovered via this site. I use if every day and it since I started I feel a lot better for it. Matthew also kind of kicked off my obsession with trawling myspace to find new and interesting bands. So all in all I respect everything the man does and stands for. Keep up the good work Matthew.
WEB SHERIFF
Protecting Your Rights on the Internet
Tel 44-(0)208-3238013
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websheriff@websheriff.com
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WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Hi Matthew / SBT,
On behalf of ourselves we would kindly ask you not to post music by Bambi Get Over It, Darla Farmer, Hotpipes, or It’s A Buffalo any more because it makes us feel threatened and unsure of our future place in the market and makes us want to cry ourselves to sleep at night and perhaps even consult the services of prostitutes because our wives are so disgusted with us that they can’t even look us in the face any more, much less at our crabbed, chapped organs. Oh, and the shame our children feel!
We do appreciate that you are fans of / are promoting / discussing Bambi Get Over It, Darla Farmer, Hotpipes, and It’s A Buffalo, but we would nonetheless appreciate it if you stopped talking about them so that people do not become aware of the grotesquely inferior product we spew onto the shelves of your local HMV on a daily basis. REM’s Accelerate is particularly embarrassing, but we intend to sell it like soapflakes notwithstanding.
Many thanks for respecting our wishes in this regard.
As you will appreciate, this e-mail is written on a without prejudice basis and, as such, all of our clients’ accumulated, worldwide rights and remedies remain strictly reserved : please excuse this required formality.
Regards,
WEB SHERIFF
Kiss-ass.
DC – I think it’s okay, but no better. But I’ve not listened to it often enough yet, so I wouldn’t go so far as to insist I was right, for a change.
I think you may have something there Gav. I’d never really associated the hassle I routinely get when writing about really big bands with my fading interest in actually doing so, but it does make sense doesn’t it.
I think the big thing for me is that writing about big bands seems so pointless, because there is just so much guff out there about them already. What possible benefit is it to anyone to hear what I think about the new REM when a million other people have already had their say? I only do it because I genuinely am interested in the album and, more importantly, because it gives context to my other stuff. If you don’t know what this site is about, reading a couple of quick reviews of REM, The Decemberists, Nick Cave and the Arcade Fire should give you a pretty good idea of where our respective music tastes might or might not overlap. It just grounds all the more obscure stuff, in my opinion.
I missed all those modern Q-mag band music posts – but might be in keeping w things for me since I finally bought an acoustic last Sunday. so i am in danger of getting more recognisably grassroots than i was when employing a busted electric – even if i was playing to deaf children (true! – they like it loud! vibrations see) and pitching up and taking anyone willing to jump onstage on other occasions
and selfaggrandizing because i am at work kept late in an industrial estate at 12.30 am
it’s sabotaguing my gigs
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Darla Farmer and Paper Garden deserve a lot of credit…
Hmm. The Hotpipes album actually left me a bit cold. I was hoping there’d be some blistering tracks right though & out of the whole I can only muster 2 or 3 corkers. I was really looking forward to it, especially after the or 3 crackers I’ve played over the past few months, but it was a bit of a dud for me
( What think you, Toad?