For the British members

Get with the beats, the riffs, the harmony, or if you wanna go to hell, Phil Collins.
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succotash_54
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For the British members

Post by succotash_54 » Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:33 pm

You guys ever hear of a group called the Birthday Party? They've been around for about 30 years now. And on another forum, there's a British guy who's trying to tell me they are the pinnacle of brilliance. So I checked out a couple of their videos of YouTube.

What.

The.

Fuck?!

Talk about your cacophony!! I just cannot get through a single song of theirs. The music... ugh. To me, they sound like a Tijuana-style donkey show taking place at a Ford motor production plant during the dayshift (before all labor cuts that is). Just absolutely painful.

That's to say nothing of the videos... I'm sorry, I don't like skinny, pale guys strutting around shirtless and leaping around the place. It isn't attractive when Iggy Pop does it. It isn't alluring when David Bowie did it... and it sure as hell isn't pretty here either.

But I gotta know... is this a British thing? Do you have to be from England to love this kind of thing? The other guy called it "excellent, drugged-out, tight avant-rock" music. Maybe that's it right there. The Birthday Party: proof that some guys should just NEVER do drugs. And if I want avant-garde, I'll listen to They Might Be Giants and Yoko Ono. Even Yoko's screaming isn't this painful.

So I put it to you Britons now. Is this an English thing? Like hair-metal is for the midwest USA?

joeychevron
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For the British members

Post by joeychevron » Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:55 pm

...don't look at me, I like Tears For Fears...have just enough of a clue about the current music scene to not care in an informed manner.

Have only vaguely heard of them myself :-P

succotash_54
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Post by succotash_54 » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:10 pm

Ugh. I can't stand Tears For Fears either... or Simple Minds, or Human League, or Thompson Twins...

Fish Of Doom
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Post by Fish Of Doom » Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:58 pm

Hahaha, the birthday party is fucking awesome.

It's not just a British thing. They're obviously inspired by early punk rock, bands like Suicide. There's a hint of European industrialism too, I suppose, which itself is derived from punk music. Even some of that dissonance is derived from stuff that composers like John Cage did in the 60's and 70's.

Plus, without The Birthday Party, my favorite band ever The Blood Brothers wouldn't exist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGovcXvmbU0

It's also pretty ridiculous to call Yoko Ono or TMBG avant garde.

succotash_54
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For the British members

Post by succotash_54 » Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:28 am

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>Fish Of Doom</dt><dd>Feb 7 2009&#44; 11:58 PM</dd></dl><div> It's also pretty ridiculous to call Yoko Ono or TMBG avant garde. [/quote]
Really? Why is that? Just about every article I've read about Yoko's artwork, both musical and visual refers to her as avant-garde.

And TMBG... I'm going by what I've read others call them. Although, the word "pop" has been attached to that.... avant-garde pop, if there is such a thing. I just call them kickass.

Ry_Trapp0
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Post by Ry_Trapp0 » Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:48 am

wow, these guys are terrible&#33; kinda like velvet underground wannabes or something. except they dont have a famous avant garde(might as well jump on the bandwagon) painter to help them out.

panicattacky2k
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Post by panicattacky2k » Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:57 am

who

Birthday Party or Blood Brothers?

succotash_54
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Post by succotash_54 » Sun Feb 08, 2009 1:23 am

Pretty sure he means the Party. Honestly, I think they sound more like MC5 wannabes than VU wannabes. But I tried watching them again... they're a little less painful when they're live, but I still can't understand a fucking thing they're singing. Drugged out is right... but drugged out clearly doesn't always mean good.

Ry_Trapp0
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Post by Ry_Trapp0 » Sun Feb 08, 2009 1:39 am

i just listened to one sing('deep in the woods' i think, since thats about as much as i could take), so i may be wrong on with my original conclusion. either way, they aren't that great, lol.

Fish Of Doom
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Post by Fish Of Doom » Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:58 pm

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>succotash_54</dt><dd>Feb 8 2009&#44; 05:28 AM</dd></dl><div> <blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>Fish Of Doom</dt><dd>Feb 7 2009&#44; 11:58 PM</dd></dl><div> It's also pretty ridiculous to call Yoko Ono or TMBG avant garde. [/quote]
Really? Why is that? Just about every article I've read about Yoko's artwork, both musical and visual refers to her as avant-garde.

And TMBG... I'm going by what I've read others call them. Although, the word "pop" has been attached to that.... avant-garde pop, if there is such a thing. I just call them kickass. [/quote]
I'll give you Yoko Ono, but when I think of Avant Garde I usually think of guys like John Cage, Merzbau, or Christian Marclay.

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