John Maus

so i am going to see him tonight

i have been led to expect *crazy things*

is this going to be like bauhaus + soul junk or what

also tropic of cancer is opening but they are not really my thing (death to false techno)

can we please mandate that the right John Maus thread is the one where Whiney calls him a "worthless VHS idiot"

i love this guy and think that thread is dumb.

and i know none of his backstory which seems to make people annoyed, cos i have a life.

hmm that's an odd slur coming from a guy that fucks w/ pre-biggie rap and dope 77-85 reggae

so you're telling me to expect a worthless vhs idiot

:-(

at least i didn't pay for these tix

whoops that was xpost to aero

i learned about three completely-new-to-me musicians today: frank ocean, twin shadow and john maus. i think i liked john maus' music the best.

i wonder if he'll do something stupid in honor of comic-con

i recommend keeping john maus in mind for christmas 2012, that album is burnt into my mind for christmas 2011. "believer" actually sounds like some hipster "last christmas" shit, amazing.

you know i think i like that type of stuff the least!

but i really like the muy dramatico tracks like "cop killer" and "don't worship the devil" and i like devo-type things like "navy seals".

i am hoping it will be more a.r.e. weapons and less twin shadow, is that a false hope?

that was sporadically awesome and he def punched himself a lot

What do you think of "rights for gays"?

there was some classic whiney g vitriol in that other thread, also pics of cute rodents

I still like the one john maus record I have I gotta say

he played rights for gays! it was awesome and my mormon friend was pumping the fist to it.

I used "mastering to VHS" to describe Maus itt, as a compliment, though.

Rereading that other thread I can't really say there's much distinction between Maus' "inside voice" and Whiney's, get Whiney talking about a nacho or about Canadian rap and he'll say some flaming things too

He punches himself during live performances?

Briefly saw him in Peckham last year for the Upset the Rhythm fest (Dan Deacon was playing upstairs, think No Age did the second day etc), his mic broke, lol it was like Barry from Eastenders in Extras in that he carried on not giving a fuck.

Ronan's right about 'Believer'.

The new rarities comp is pretty, pretty wonderful too.

people used to master to 1630 all the time actually

all he does live is punch himself and hit himself in the head w/ the mic, he's great, v tall

that was sporadically awesome and he def punched himself a lot

― the late great, Sunday, July 15, 2012 3:54 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Saw him live last week ... pretty awful/hilarious. Like, I understand if you're a press-play-&-karaoke-your-own-songs performer and feel the need to maybe compensate by "losing yr shit onstage" and "going bananananans" etc., but someone needs to sit him down for a bit and explain that his stage persona undercuts like 95% of his show and maybe consider toning down the pacing around / intense-hair-grabbing / GRRRR INTENSE stuff?

Sounds entertaining. But I think I'd rather just listen to his records.

i don't understand how him jumping around and being intense undercuts the performance when that is the performance?

i don't understand how him jumping around and being intense undercuts the performance when that is the performance?

If I'm parsing you correctly, it's because the "intensity" seems like so much of a put-on (ie, pre-meditated / disingenuous) that it was unintentionally funny, which almost never happens? Thrashing around on stage and looking like you've got bees in yr pants is a pretty standard performative pose; usually, as someone in the audience, you either buy in or watch w/o much interest in the physical performance. Out of the thousand different ways a singer can look intense onstage, he found some sweet-spot where he looked silly enough that I was perma-chuckling/cringing for the whole 30+ minutes. It probably didn't help that he was kind of running through the same four or five physical ticks throughout the whole show.

There was other stuff not to like -- same echo effect on vox, bad skip-track transitions -- but I thought his stage presence was irl lol. Then again I didn't spend any money on the show, so can't really complain that much.

This is coming from someone who likes his music fwiw.

i bought in pretty easily

i admit i did go outside during the last two because i felt like i had seen all of his poses by then but i also just wanted fresh air

i liked his unamplified screaming parts too because there

Huh, I might be in the minority then, although I saw a few people around me who were lolling as well (I was kind of on the outskirts though, rather than down front w/ people who were a little more amped). Was just disappointed since I really like the tracks he puts out; but, if other people are connecting to it, I guess, more power to him.

i liked his unamplified screaming parts

Agreed, which is always good!

i was lolling too, i think inside john maus was lolling at times, the only people who never cracked a smile were the girls from tropic of cancer, who i was surprised to see were unaccompanied by silent servant, who was also lolling

it was lolling with rather than lolling at

my friend regifted to john maus a carpentry and paint build-your-own-toy-pirate-ship kit that i had given him, john maus lolled at that but i think that was lolling at

http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2012/12/05/john-maus-we-must-become-the-pitiless-censors-of-ourselves-round-41-toms-selection/

That album has only gone up and up in my estimation since last year. It's a record I can just have on repeat and not notice it's been looping for about three hours. Helps that it's nice and short.

no one's been talking about it here but the 'rarities & unreleased material' record is a party & absolutely worth your time.

It certainly is a grower and I find the sound of the album - that deliberately 80s sounding synth cheese with doomy vocals thing - to be really intriguing...it should be awful!

now on his wikipedia:

Underground Releases
1984: Maus
1985: Maus Time
1986: Baumaus
1987: Man or Maus?
1988: Maus and the Gang
1989: Maus and the Gang 2: Return of the Maus
1990: Maus and the Gang 3: This Time It's Mausy
1991: The Janitor's First LP, with Sam Anderson and Cory Boik
1992: The Janitor's Second LP, with Sam Anderson and Cory Boik
1993: A Janitor's EP, with Sam Anderson and Cory Boik
1994: Early Songs 1, with Cory Boik
1995: Early Songs 2
1996: Early Songs 3
1997: Early Songs 4
1998: Mass Appeal, with the Tony Alonso Ensemble
1998: The Mystery Molasses LP, with Ian Stahl, Jay Jensen, Gabe Schlake and Jess Bednar
1998: Early Songs 5
2000: Fish With Broken Dreams
2000: Love Letters From Hell
2001: Snowless Winters EP
2003: I Want to Live
2011: Demos

"Believer" is some next level shit

pretty much

All-time break down

Psyched to hear that he's planning new music for next year.

We Must Become has to be one of the most surprisingly enduring records I've heard in recent years. I didn't expect to give it more than just a cursory listen when it first came out, but I ended up just having it on repeat for weeks and I still play certain tracks on a fairly frequent basis.

^^ otm. It's in my top ten of the last ten years probably. Never expected it because his previous work was so scruffy and scrappy, but We Must Become is a stone cold classic start to finish.

Great news that he's going to make music again, was afraid he'd stick to lecturing.

I just got my first Twitter follower who's not a member of my family - John Maus!

just realized new gold dream by simple minds feels like a total blueprint for the john maus vibe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzMgfi9y-nc

https://t.co/NebtrtwBRF
Aug 19th

— John Maus (@JOHNMAUS) May 18, 2017

Aug 19 at moma?

Hope it’s something to do with Spotify.

I can sort of understand the New Gold Dream comparison in terms of the kinds of chord changes used.. I'm always thinking in terms of arrangements/sonics

when's he dropping a new album?

^^^^^^^^^^

i think he said in an interview a few years so he wanted to have a live band for his next album