Red Mosquito

tragabigzanda wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:wow

FWIW, I've mostly been turned off by marketing imagery for nearly all musicians for a long time. It's probably why I've gravitated towards the anti-image bands like Shellac, Fugazi, and early PJ. In the absence of marketing, how good is the actual music? In this particular case, I just don't think it's very compelling.

I have no issue with an argument about the quality of these new songs. That's subjective. I can agree or disagree or whatever and who cares. I happen to be quite moved by each of the new tracks and I have high expectations for the full album. But I can totally understand why someone would disagree and/or feel differently on that score.

Some day, my friend. Some day.

tragabigzanda wrote:

Kevin Davis wrote:I gotta confess, I'm just not feeling anything about the rollout for this new album. The songs are okay but just aren't sticking with me, and all the art and fashion and gimmickry is starting to feel overwhelmingly like clutter; it's just not something I understand or am drawn to at all. I'm going to unfollow her on Facebook and hope that tuning out some of her marketing makes for a purer experience with the album when it comes out -- I gotta imagine there will be at least a few showstopping tracks on it worth fighting for.

Same, except I don't use FB. Annie Clark has always struck me as a forward-thinking visionary. But my own tepid reaction to the new songs coupled with what feels like her increasing grasp for fame and recognition have begun to turn her into just another boring, derivative musician my eyes. The overarching message I'm getting is "You've heard these songs before, but now my internet presence has nearly tripled!"

i agree with this. Thats what i mean back then in this thread. I still want to hear the new album, but i fear it wont be anything special.

tragabigzanda wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:wow

FWIW, I've mostly been turned off by marketing imagery for nearly all musicians for a long time. It's probably why I've gravitated towards the anti-image bands like Shellac, Fugazi, and early PJ. In the absence of marketing, how good is the actual music? In this particular case, I just don't think it's very compelling.

I'm not really attracted to bands like Shellac and Fugazi, either -- it's just not my style of music, and I especially don't relate to the idea that it's inherently more virtuous for its noncommerciality. Making a big deal about how noncommercial and principled you are has always struck me as an equally deliberate form of image-making, only directed at a different type of person. I dunno -- I think for me there's just a threshold. For some people, the whole multimedia spectacle that so many artists try to create is simply part and parcel of that artist's experience, but music is really the only art form my brain understands, and in general I become less capable of comprehending (or perhaps just less willing to indulge) weird artsy shit with each passing year. Sometimes an artist's gimmick-to-music ratio just tips to a point where I they feel like they add more distraction than value to my life (though whether or not the music resonates with me is of course a huge variable).

I will add that I think St. Vincent is a major talent and I'm fully prepared to eat crow if the album blows me away. But my excitement level is a lot lower than it was before we started getting previews.

I guess... no, you know, what...? Never mind. I'll echo Kevin's post like four posts up and leave it at that.

This is probably a good example of the kind of thing you guys are fed up with and/dubious about but I kind of love it. And it makes me sick that I wasn't a part of the experience. This would have been amazing. A St. Vincent escape room?! Are you kidding me?! Awesome.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.billboar ... -interview

Ha, yeah, I'll file that one under "the many art things Kevin Davis does not understand" (could be its own thread series!).

Kevin Davis wrote:Ha, yeah, I'll file that one under "the many art things Kevin Davis does not understand" (could be its own thread series!).

But the things you do understand, you understand better than most.

That's nice of you to say, Joe. I hope in two months we're having a conversation about that amazing new St. Vincent album with those two advance tracks that I didn't love at first but that totally made sense in the context of the album.

The event, part of Spotify's Fans First program, invited the lauded singer/writer/instrumentalist's most devoted listeners on the streaming platform to a warehouse close to Times Square, with the promise of a sneak peek at St. Vincent's upcoming Masseduction (out Oct. 13) -- and a chance to meet the star born Annie Clark herself. But first, we'd have to join forces with strangers to solve six puzzles inside the dystopian-themed warehouse, each completed challenge unlocking an iPod loaded with one unreleased Masseduction track.

In one "room," we scrambled to fill fake prescription bottles with doses of "libido," "sadness" and "anxiety" before listening to "Pills;" in another, we blushed while blindly identifying various sex toys, a task that unlocked the album's title track.

Look I tend to like it when artists do stuff like this as an extension of their musical expression-- Björk did that whole virtual reality exhibit, for example, which is dope -- but c'mon, this Escape Room thing seems super tacky and gimmicky. From the description in this article, it sounds like a promotional tool and very little else-- a thing for people to splatter all over social media with the #MASSEDUCTION hashtag. I won't hold it against the album, but her media campaign surrounding this rollout seems unrelentingly thirsty

Kevin Davis wrote:That's nice of you to say, Joe. I hope in two months we're having a conversation about that amazing new St. Vincent album with those two advance tracks that I didn't love at first but that totally made sense in the context of the album.

Me too. I was so late to this party. I missed out on all the good conversation with everyone back when people all loved her stuff. It would be a bummer never to have that experience with other RM fans.

theplatypus wrote:

The event, part of Spotify's Fans First program, invited the lauded singer/writer/instrumentalist's most devoted listeners on the streaming platform to a warehouse close to Times Square, with the promise of a sneak peek at St. Vincent's upcoming Masseduction (out Oct. 13) -- and a chance to meet the star born Annie Clark herself. But first, we'd have to join forces with strangers to solve six puzzles inside the dystopian-themed warehouse, each completed challenge unlocking an iPod loaded with one unreleased Masseduction track.

In one "room," we scrambled to fill fake prescription bottles with doses of "libido," "sadness" and "anxiety" before listening to "Pills;" in another, we blushed while blindly identifying various sex toys, a task that unlocked the album's title track.

Look I tend to like it when artists do stuff like this as an extension of their musical expression-- Björk did that whole virtual reality exhibit, for example, which is dope -- but c'mon, this Escape Room thing seems super tacky and gimmicky. From the description in this article, it sounds like a promotional tool and very little else-- a thing for people to splatter all over social media with the #MASSEDUCTION hashtag. I won't hold it against the album, but her media campaign surrounding this rollout seems unrelentingly thirsty

I never thought I see the day that you and trag were on the same page with this stuff.

I'm not dismissing your criticisms, either. Just surprised that you take that point of view. And I guess I can understand WHY you take that point of view. It just doesn't all read that way to me. *shrugs*

I lean that way too, Joey. But if there's anyone I give the benefit of the doubt to, it's Annie Clark.

Welp, there you go, then.

It's literally just me.

I guess I'm just blind to it. Sorry, team. I won't keep posting about all this stuff here. We can just talk about the music here in a week or two.