Let Us Anticipate Interpol - El Pintor 9/9/2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RdCBpCeJZQ

Lord help us all, Kessler has learned how to do YouTube comments.

(Also, whoever filmed that has not got the memo that the bassist is no longer the most popular member of the band.)

((I am ashamed to admit that I did spot the back of mine own head in the video.))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u6DvRyyKGU

song sucks

You suck.

anagramwise, they really missed out by not naming the album Porn Lite.

damnnnnn true

https://38.media.tumblr.com/62d7265b8a4360bd549c3c41a6961c56/tumblr_n8hdgftqCU1sr0iqdo3_500.jpg

Dan, true.

Interpol quotes, out of context:

http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzyzosbkDD1qlz7h1o2_500.gif

Seriously, they are just a preposterously good-looking band. (Even their behinds.)

song still blows. i bet they'll just be the stones of....interpol now

The surfing is distracting. I expect Eddie Vedder is an advisor.

I still haven't seen the video and probably won't get to until Thursday, but the surfing is all Paul Banks. Dude is really, really into surfing. (Why do I know these things? Who puts all these Interpolfacts in my head? *narrows eyes*)

And here's Paul on playing bass and the divorce from Carlos, as usual (I ship it, I totally ship it):

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/interpols-paul-banks-previews-el-pintor-were-a-new-band-again-20140711

https://38.media.tumblr.com/ff4c2a9fd26fbf65bb15a7a1b1729c9e/tumblr_n8klad7O4V1qgze9ho7_1280.jpg

Hello, mi'lady, may I talk to you about bitcoin?

Speaking of acronyms, is the tracklist supposed to be one? amasmebatt?

Ok so surfing love is sincere. Still think it is a lazy device to put into a video. Apart from that as a first impression I thought the song was not bad. Hooky like something off Antics.

bit chilly, no? DK seems to be the only reason they're still together

& money. the other two especially paul seem really just so not into it eh?
meant to post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNt47gp_84

thumbnail aside...

Am I really gonna be all Captain Save-A-Pol? I guess I am.

There have been a ton more interviews (Quietus, DiS, even a standard text interview on Billboard - that was just a promo for the photo shoot, which is a weird thing to have done, but hey, Billboard, I guess?) recently that have shed a lot more light into why they stayed together and did another album. (To most people's surprise, in those interviews, it came out that Paul, not DK, was the driving reason it happened.) I should go dig them out, but I don't have the links right now, just text saved on the laptop. They're a lot more chatty and forthcoming when interviewed separately (especially Sam) than together. (Though I don't think Paul has ever been either chatty or forthcoming. He just seems like an awkward interview. DK seems like a shy person who has had a ton of media training; Paul just comes off like he does not enjoy the interview process and would rather not be there at all. When the other two let Sam talk, Sam is great!) They just have an odd interpersonal dynamic (which seems a lot more noticeable now that the garrulous one who dominated interviews has left?) but I actually think that the personality tensions which make their interviews chilly are the same ones that make their music interesting.

If you don't find their later music interesting, then you probably won't find that dynamic interesting. It's just frustrating, as a reader, that a band who are all so intelligent and well-spoken separately come together and just present this... deadlock.

(What I would really like at the moment is a GIFset compendium of the complete Shrugs of Kessler. It seems like he shrugs a lot. And his shrugs are highly expressive.)

Oh luckily I don't even have to go dig up those links because this just floated across twitter just now, yet another interview where they explicitly say "It was Paul; Paul made this happen. Paul. All Paul. He wanted it to happen so bad he even went out and learned how to play bass to make it happen. And DK didn't even hold a gun to his head or anything."

http://gehain.tumblr.com/post/94632752911/interpol-my-blue-supreme-this-kind-of-shit-dont

(I hate reading people writing about this band, though. I don't want to ever read drums described as 'resolutely tenacious percussion' I mean seriously, what is it about this band that just inspires such shitty fucking music journalism. Don't answer that.)

This adorable little man is a living embodiment of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

https://31.media.tumblr.com/24bfff327f9e0a6fc3155c154a4f49f7/tumblr_n9um99LoOa1solh11o1_500.gif

ah, i stand corrected. happily!

Speaking of my ethereal baebes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni9bLpflDCY

music sounds like MBV meets Burning Airlines

OK, I really have been hesitating about asking this question, but I'm in my third day now of having this image stuck in my head. And I do realise that ILX is less than 1/100 interested in this than if, say, Amanda Palmer or Lily Allen had done this - which is kinda the point.

But you know when you're caught between "I don't want to give the obvious attention whore any of the attention he is so clearly craving here" versus "come on, is not one even going to *acknowledge* the existence of this?" Like, I guess the entire fandom mostly just likes to pretend that it ~totally didn't happen~ (or maybe I missed any debate around this?) and if they do, it's like "LOL, a man in a dress" rather than "um, why is he in blackface?"

And there awareness that he's deliberately doing it to be shocking or provocative, like, duh, dumb goths who play with fascist imagery because they're trying to get a rise, and refusing to give them them the rise they are looking for. I mean, I'm mostly interested in the total lack of any kind of reaction of any kind to this. Maybe it's just a question of scale. (Though it's hard not to see a double standard, because I'd argue that this guy is way more famous than e.g. CocoRosie?) I acknowledge it's not very high on the endless list of racist things to get discussed when kids are gunned down in the street (but you could make the same argument about Taylor Swift twerking). But I didn't see this talked about or mentioned or acknowledged "hey this was kinda gross" anywhere. I mean, I'm wary of accusations of "looking for things to get offended about" by bringing up an admittedly unwatchably terrible 2-year-old art film with 3000 views you YouTube. (I mean, I'm bringing it up now because I have literally never seen it before, let alone seen it problematised.) But I'm just kinda perplexed about who and what seems to tip off pop culture outrage and a billion ILX threads and thinkpieces (without discounting the awfulness of things that do garner outrage) and what seems to get a total free pass.

I guess that's the question, not "is this bad?" but "why does this get a free pass?"*

http://31.media.tumblr.com/4cbeceb58816141a4f91b4ebb46c0936/tumblr_mlowh68Sny1r6cs0zo1_500.gif

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTWwZT96gZY

*I guess the answer could easily be, "no one gives a shit about Interpol any more, even to hate on them." That's a valid but unsatisfying answer, I guess.

Ugh, I didn't mean that video to embed, sorry, I didn't realise the S thing had been fixed.

Can you imagine what ILM's reaction would be if, e.g. Amanda Palmer did this?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bvj_s6NCAAAM6pf.jpg

(Some people have told me they can't see the video or the GIF)

((This was originally in reply to another ILX poster contacting me privately to say it wasn't really fair to compare Interpol to Taylor/Miley in terms of fame/exposure. But I think Interpol were actually bigger than Dresden Dolls, and the level of indie fame/notoriety between Carlos D and Amanda Palmer is fairly analogous.))

is that someone in blackface? I can't even tell.

Mr Dengler's natural skintone, when he's not portraying a "baddie" in a film is normally more like:

http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/Carlos-D-interpol-58666_876_584.jpg

(I really had to struggle to find a photo of him *not* in that nazi-esque uniform which I thought might be, well, prejudicial, but it actually makes me rethink the whole "oh, it's just a fashion thing" excuse when a guy who spent a great deal of time walking around in jackboots turns up in blackface.)

I don't want to get bogged down in accusations of "is this act racist or not?" (sure looks like it!) but what I am curious about is what it is that triggers the scrutiny of a celebrity's behaviour, what triggers ILX opprobrium. And not just ILM, but generally, in what cases is "Indie-rock celebrity turns up in blackface" a media event and in what cases is it "nobody even mentions the blackface"?

Especially the dude isn't actually even in the band for the album this thread is about, maybe I should have taken this to a different thread. But I felt like taking a picture of an indie-rocker in blackface to the rolling "Is This Racist?" thread would be, I dunno. Provocative in the wrong way.

He is not in "blackface." He is in "body paint." There is a difference. Blackface is not just painting your skin in a dark color. It's the lips, the eye-rolling, it's a whole thing. He looks more like an alien from a very low budget sci-fi show/movie to me than anything else.

You've watched the film, then? Because I tried to pick a frame that highlighted the lips, the eye-rolling, the exaggerated gestures (did I mention the Vogueing at one point?) This is not just a guy painted a funny colour. This is a guy performing race in a very stereotypical way.

i have no problem with anyone saying 'fuck you carlos d' over this video. i also have no problem with the world continuing to ignore carlos d altogether.

if a former celebrity makes a questionable video in an attempt for attention, and it's ignored entirely, i think the punishment fits the crime.

and i'm being nice by using the word "celebrity"

I mean, I do not expect anyone to sit through a 20-minute cybergoth art flick to prove my point. But this is not "a guy painted brown to look like an alien." This is a guy doing blackface.

I dunno. "Continuing to ignore Carlos D" is definitely an option. But why does ILM never take that approach with Amanda Palmer?

You've watched the film, then?

Ha, nope; life's too short.

(I've heard the new Interpol album, though. It's very good.)

because she has a large fanbase, a presence in the media. judging by the numbers and comments on that youtube, carlos does not.

when carlos d does a ted talk, i'm sure ilx will take note

I mean, I did think, several times, while watching it "this is trolling, this is a fading celebrity trying to get attention" but, like, even in the *fanbase*, who still pay attention to this dude and his (fnar) antics, like, not one person problematised or even mentioned the blackface? I found it weird.

(I'm glad the new Interpol album is very good; I've only heard about half of it at this point.)

I mean, this is going to turn into a tautology soon enough.

"People pay attention to her, because people pay attention to her."
"People do not pay attention to him, because..."

Frankly, I take the lack of outcry as a hopeful sign for society. Maybe we collectively don't have to "problematise" every fucking thing on Earth. Maybe we can ignore worthless bullshit. Like, as a life strategy.

It doesn't feel like that, horse. It feels like "a woman breaths in a room: WE MUST PROBLEMATISE IT" as opposed to a guy does an overtly terrible thing "Oh, I'm sure he's just pretending to be an alien or some other perfectly reasonable excuse, let's give him the benefit of the doubt and just ignore it."

like, if you genuinely think an active singer/songwriter who gets large amounts of money through dubious kickstarters selling her toenails and does ted talks at bono's behest and a former indie rock bassist who makes a tasteless artfilm to a total of 5,000 youtube views over 2 years are THE SAME THING and that there's something to ilx ignoring the latter (and again, this video is two years old) and commenting amusedly on the former, i don't know what to tell you

if carlos d sang "makin' whoopie" with neil gaiman to a cheering crowd, i'm sure we'd lol

it's frankly an insult to the relative effort amanda palmer puts into trolling and getting attention to suggest that sexism is the only reason she gets more attention then a far less notable figure doing a far less notable thing

I dunno; I think that ILX's hate-crush obsession with Amanda Palmer is weird and kinda unhealthy and her importance is exaggerated because ILX is obsessed with hating her.

I mean, I don't know how many records Dresden Dolls sold as opposed to Interpol (1.4 million, the latter, I think? Has Palmer sold that many?) but I think they occupy pretty similar niche habitats in terms of, well, my Mum hasn't heard of either of them.

But, I mean, I pretty much think of Amanda Palmer as a nobody that ILX is just weirdly and unduly obsessed with.

I dunno; I think that ILX's hate-crush obsession with Amanda Palmer is weird and kinda unhealthy and her importance is exaggerated because ILX is obsessed with hating her.

this is a fair statement, however the fact that ilx has joined the rest of the world in not paying attention to a short artfilm from a guy best known for a haircut and having herpes ten years ago doesn't confirm the sentiment's validity.

like yeah, ilx and the world probably care too much about courtney love, but if a hypothetical bassist from a b-level seattle band yells racist shit about obama in an unpromoted youtube and no one notices, it'd be kind of weird to claim this is revelatory evidence of anything

Thank you so much! You've made my day!

#RelevantToMyInterests

http://www.factmag.com/2014/10/23/interpol-my-desire-factory-floor-remix/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FactMagazineMusicAndArt+%28FACT+magazine%3A+music+and+art%29

(Maybe I should have put this on the Factory Floor thread instead because it sounds like FF are hitting their Technique phase rn)

OK, I fully understand that the interface between "Interpol fans" and "people who are interested in weird little wibbly SAW type noodlings" is precisely ONE, but we have a release date for Big Noble*?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWEwGG2SVNE

*Kessler's ambient side-project with Joseph Fraioli, which is basically big reverb-laden shoegaze guitars over the top of ambient electronic textures because: because he is trying to kill me, that's why.

Release date of February 3rd. I'm kind of excited. Because of all the boys I adore, the one I thought least likely to ever come out with an album of SAWs, Kessler was probably the least likely.

i would much rather read PB's poetry, i don't mean that sarcastically, i would buy like 3 copies of his poetry book if he wrote one to give to friends

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/interpol-interview-theres-something-about-new-york-its-still-pure

Fogarino: God, oh, yeah. Carlos had his pants pinned with the seams together. It all looked good in the photographs, but when you got up close to it, it just, like, whew. Everybody thought, Oh, they’re in their Prada suits. No, it’s just this vintage-store stuff, pieced together—J.C. Penney jacket, Sears pants. It was all crap.

<3 so much <3

(They still looked 10x better in shitty JC Penny suits than most dudes will ever look in Prada. Sigh.)

http://38.media.tumblr.com/010e19e8dc8e90fc6f237c961e0c0902/tumblr_nez7zsaw411qllbb8o1_1280.jpg

I recognise at this point that absolutely no one cares about this but me, but... two pieces of news in the past few weeks.

1) Kessler finally released his long-threatened Shoegaze / Selected-Ambient-Works project, Big Noble.

http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/big-noble-first-light

It is possibly the most Branwell-friendly collection of music ever made, so much so that I'm slightly suspicious and feel like I'm being pandered to. Of course I love it. How could I not? I'm still not recovered from him eating ice cream and helping old ladies across the street.

2) Carlos D is writing a book. Sorry, 'writing' is far too pedestrian a term for what Carlos is doing. Carlos 'has begun drafting a book of autobiographical essays'. It will be the most annoying book ever written. I will no doubt read it eight times. Oh, and he's written and has been performing a one-man-show performance art / talk at the audience about himself monologue called Boy, Interrupted.

https://40.media.tumblr.com/c1a3c1f0810a76f87a5274ccebdf738f/tumblr_njewx0GV6A1qgze9ho6_1280.png

Promo photos like this make me suspicious that Mr D might be getting into ~evolutionary psychology~ and I know that he is on a 15-year quest to become the most ANNOYING human being in the history of annoyingness, but I really will beat him about the head with Mary Midgley books if that's the course he's chosen to go down.

http://40.media.tumblr.com/574dc62e816235d8b495bf977c06cc27/tumblr_njb342bfsB1rjw8sqo1_400.jpg

(Yeah yeah, I know, there is a dedicated ILX Carlos D thread I should be putting this on, but it's full of herpes and Jon Williams and I'm not sure which is a greater impediment.)

damn I think this might be my fave Interpol record now, flab-free and rich with detail. also a surprisingly good summer album. probably all the surfing mentions help.

"my desire" isn't terrible but boy do i miss carlos