― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 6 May 2004 00:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― CJR, Friday, 28 April 2006 13:53 (seventeen years ago) link
Before you shift into automatic hate mode because of who he's affiliated with, just check out this song, one of my favorites of this year: John Maus - Do Your Best
It's off of his forthcoming album, Love is Real.
Like Ariel Pink, who he plays keyboards for, John Maus makes the kind of mid-80's romantic synth/weirdo pop that seems to really piss people off. I'm assuming this is becuse it's hard to tell if Maus is joking or not. He can sabotage his own music with the most cliched, dated, reverb-soaked guitar solo in the middle of a gothic dirge, but when he plays it straight, like the song linked to above, he's capable of creating unabashedly beautiful songs (the comparable Ariel Pink moment here would be "New Trumpets of Time", a serene coda at the end of the frustrating mess that is Lover Boy).
― Z S, Sunday, 18 November 2007 18:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Holy shit the coda of tenebrae
― calstars, Friday, 8 January 2016 03:38 (eight years ago) link
THEY CALL ME THE BELIEVER
BTW PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO SPOTIFY Y’ALL, DANIEL EK NEEDS SOME DOUGH
― markers, Friday, 8 January 2016 03:52 (eight years ago) link
Apparently "No Title (Molly)" is the only song of his I can tolerate the vocals on. So much better than the other songs of his I've heard. I mean yeah the lyrics are silly but at least the vocals are low enough in the mix.
― viborg, Friday, 8 January 2016 11:02 (eight years ago) link
Missiles are headed toward your house
― calstars, Sunday, 10 January 2016 16:22 (eight years ago) link
is there any update on a new album?
― dynamicinterface, Sunday, 10 January 2016 17:58 (eight years ago) link
Is anyone going back to Screen Memories? I haven’t
― Random Shitposter (calstars), Friday, 29 December 2017 00:03 (six years ago) link
I love Sensitive Recollections, but that's about it :(
― Frederik B, Friday, 29 December 2017 01:45 (six years ago) link
it was really underwhelming but I probably should give it another try
― ufo, Friday, 29 December 2017 02:23 (six years ago) link
Feel the same way
― Random Shitposter (calstars), Friday, 29 December 2017 02:55 (six years ago) link
I've played it a fair amount, as much as most any album this year, but then Pitiless Censors is my most listened-to album this decade. I was kind of surprised how forgotten SM seemed to be on year-end lists. But maybe the rigorous, slow DiY approach to building synths and controlling all elements of production in this case resulted in this hermetically sealed sound world that's cool to be in when you're there but doesn't really invite you back in. The dark ardor of the lighthouse versus the creepy grey interior and TV screen. I like it when I turn that TV on, though, and love several of the songs (Teenage Witch, Find Out).
― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Friday, 29 December 2017 03:15 (six years ago) link
Yes, Pitiless Censors is great ... not sure about dis one doe
― Random Shitposter (calstars), Friday, 29 December 2017 03:19 (six years ago) link
"Touchdown" is great (as is the video) but yeah I havent replayed this album since I first listened to it
― Well bissogled trotters (Michael B), Friday, 29 December 2017 10:26 (six years ago) link
Mr money bagsMr brand new shoes
― calstars, Saturday, 10 November 2018 04:24 (five years ago) link
So "Cop Killer" only referred to the cops guarding the Capitol?
― Bellend Sebastian (S-), Tuesday, 2 August 2022 04:18 (one year ago) link
i saw him once and he blew. he just like punched himself a lot and his band was boring. people are such marks.
― kurt schwitterz, Tuesday, 2 August 2022 05:31 (one year ago) link
sure he is as bad live as you say, and it's turned out he's a truly terrible human being too, but Believer is still an astounding piece of music, and the reason people went to see him play is probably not because they are "marks" ffs
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 2 August 2022 06:47 (one year ago) link
Is the terrible human being status solely predicated on his attending the Trump rally? Feels like Ariel Pink doubled down on that whereas Maus backed away from it quick smart.
Or is there other stuff? I think I remember a bit of uncomfortable correspondence with the subject of Bennington.
Like most, I have found it fairly easy to set the music aside as the vibes are bad and it feels a bit edgelordy to try and push past the badness of the vibes. But I did enjoy his records a lot back in the day, and his ridiculous live show too.
― the life of a rebo band is always intense (emsworth), Tuesday, 2 August 2022 09:52 (one year ago) link
It does frustrate me that I really like that album he did and especially "Believer"
― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Tuesday, 2 August 2022 09:58 (one year ago) link
"Terrible human being" just based on the Trump rally, yes, not sure how successfully he has backed put of this one.Agree with you emsworth and dog latin, unfortunately our opinions count for nothing as we are marks, and most likely rubes too.
― link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 2 August 2022 10:13 (one year ago) link
his first three albums are still quite good. my impression is getting an actual backing band made him worse live but i've never seen him.
re: the january 6 stuff, he just made some kinda weird evasive disavowals of the far-right (as he had in the past when pressed on his association with MDE), not quite backing down but also certainly not doubling down like pink did. idk if he's at all truly a trump supporter but at best still he's like, a credulous moron who overthinks things until he's arrived at some bizarre and pretty stupid perspective.
i did just learn though that maus & pink fell out last year because maus asked pink to be his sound engineer for a festival set, the festival said "sorry we're not having ariel pink here" and maus refused to cancel the set because he needed the money which made pink mad.
I think I remember a bit of uncomfortable correspondence with the subject of Bennington.
iirc there are also some creepy blog posts or something similar from back in the day on the same topic
― ufo, Tuesday, 2 August 2022 10:19 (one year ago) link
never forget
http://i.imgur.com/XXOS4qM.jpg
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Tuesday, 2 August 2022 12:38 (one year ago) link
lol perfect
― Critique of the Goth Programme (Neil S), Tuesday, 2 August 2022 12:45 (one year ago) link
Songs and Screen Memories were (oof past tense?) my favourites. Particularly as the latter is/was one of the only unabashed darkwavey/synthpoppy pastiche albums of recent years I've been able to get into - matched only to such an extent by LoneLady's Former Things.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 2 August 2022 12:55 (one year ago) link
“Mr MoneybagsMr brand new shoes”
― calstars, Saturday, 20 August 2022 22:41 (one year ago) link