The future is so bright - at times I feel the need to cover my eyes with my hands for fear of being blinded. But, as quickly as I can cover them, something will tear them away, and I'm forced to momentarily gaze into the explosion. What I see is almost too much to bare - I see the absolute truth. That there is nothing to be afraid of. There is nothing that can hurt me or anyone else. That my place in this room is the same as my place in the universe. That these things are not to be looked down upon, but to be looked up to. And suddenly, all that ever once was is not any more. And all the stuff that I was worried about is no longer upsetting, and all the things that I was afraid of seem safe and warm. The truth has everything inside of it - EVERYTHING. And it is O.K. and it is good.
I will work everyday to feel O.K. To truly feel O.K. is to accept everything as such and that you have a place inside of it all. And that place is a miracle, not something small. We can do so much, so easily, so fast. We have so much power, and so much ability. Human beings are one of the greatest achievements in the history of the world. We are our own achievement. So many people have dedicated their lives to working for our benefit. So many things that we have now came from people before us. We owe to them to make the most of our times now. We can create things of such beauty and magnificent dimensions, and we have the potential to destroy and tear down and deplete as well. This is so simple and so clear. The future holds everything. In my life I want to feel as good as possible and help as many people as I can to feel the same. I want to do everything and I want to help as many people do everything too. Everyone is invited. No one is turned away here. This music is about freedom and this music is much bigger than just me. I don't own it - I couldn't try to keep it all to myself even if I wanted to. It belongs to human beings. It belongs to you. The music is perfect. All it wants is for people to be happy. It doesn't even exist except as a moment of time. The more you believe in it, the stronger it gets and the stronger you get. The music is your best friend, and it will never turn its back on you or let you down. It loves you unconditionally and thinks that you're great. It wants to do whatever it can to make you smile and feel good. You can do no wrong. There is nothing you could ever do or say or feel or think that would make it leave you. It will always be there for you - from the first time that you hear it to the last time before you die. In the morning when you wake up, and right before you go to sleep. And it will visit you in the dark, in your dreams and it will make you're happiest wishes come true, and in your nightmares it will protect you and fight for you and keep you safe. The only thing happening here is acceptance and excitement. This is real and true. It is the truth. I will work everyday, and be patient, and have endurance, so that I can give to others what has been given to me. It is not instant. It will take time, and when I'm dead it will continue on without me. This is not mine alone, and I did not begin it. It was begun when the first baby smiled and it will NEVER END. NO ONE CAN STOP THIS - this is still just the beginning. The start of the beginning. This has never happened before. We have never happened before. You have never happened before. There are new horizons and new frontiers that belong to us. These are our trails to blaze. THIS IS OUR TIME. I LOVE YOU.
------
i have to admit, that makes his schtick exponentially more delightful.
he's due to appear on politically incorrect on april 29th. i am eagerly anticipating this.
― bc, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― geeta, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
OK, more seriously, even as an Andrew WK fan I'm not quite sure how you get from that to "Party Til You Puke".
― Tom, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― maura, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
VINDICATION!
― Dan Perry, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― maryann, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
So maybe his music is NOT that bad, eh?
― Maria, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― some guy, Tuesday, 9 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Andrew R.J., Wednesday, 24 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― gareth, Wednesday, 24 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
If I came across most people I suspect they'd have a right to complain. Depends on the context, though.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 24 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 24 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Yeah, I am going to damn the torpedoes and make the comparison. This album is very "Ramones-y." This a good thing. A VERY good thing. Songs with little lyrical merit, yet still make you feel good to be alive. Peppy and pointless. This is what I expect from musicians I like. Stay away from "art." Art is rarely good. I don't want to have to think and ponder. I want to bounce around, slam into the concert goer next to me, wind up bloody, and go home feeling snazzy.
The last time I felt this good about music was at the final Ramones show, and listening to his album, I get the same feeling. It's a very good thing. And that's what music's really all about, isn't it? Making you feel something. Good, bad, whatever. It's all good.
Kevin Buffington made some very good points in his review (http://www.culturedose.com/review.php?rid=10002497), and I'm not saying he's wrong. Do the songs sound alike? Yes. Is there a recurring theme here? Quite. Do they blend together? Of course they do. Will these songs change the world as we know it? Probably not, but all I'm saying is that this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Agreed, I won't call this metal. I'm almost afraid to call it Punk, but it definitely doesn't fit any of the other genres. I can't really call it rock, since I'm not feeling the need to airguitar. What I WANT to do is to violently slam my 270 pounds into someone, watch them "ooof!," turn around and do the same thing to me.
Loud guitars, screaming madman, no solos, AND keyboards on occasion, this album has everything I could hope for. No, he's not reinventing the wheel, he's not worried about difficult chord progressions (barre chord central, folks, have I made the Ramones comparison? By George, I think I did!), but he is having a blast doing it and I'm having a blast listening to it. Over and over and over again.
The songs are all pretty upbeat, a quick tempo with a driving beat. No, there's not much of an edge. Is a good portion of each song a repetitive chorus? Yes. Again, not a bad thing. The Ramones' "Beat On The Brat" is a perfect example. And while they seem to go by fast, the average song is about 3 minutes. This is the only flaw in my opinion. 12 tracks, yet the album only lasts 35 minutes. I want more, dammit.
Songs of note include "Ready To Die," a very peppy happy song about killing you (with cheerful keyboards, no less. OK, so maybe art isn't dead on this album.) and "I Love NYC," which would make a decent anthem, and is sure to get tons of airplay, after all, not doing so would mean that the terrorists win. We can't have that, no sirree bob.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this piece of auditory magic. If you're tired of being spoon fed the latest crap MTV hands out, and really want to feel good about music again, this album will do it for you. I'm going to end this now. My cats need to learn how to mosh with the big boys. Pray for them.
-Kevin Carlson
― Shell, Saturday, 30 November 2002 11:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― chaki (chaki), Saturday, 30 November 2002 11:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tom (Groke), Saturday, 30 November 2002 12:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― chaki (chaki), Saturday, 30 November 2002 12:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― chaki (chaki), Saturday, 30 November 2002 12:03 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Saturday, 30 November 2002 12:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 30 November 2002 12:20 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tad (llamasfur), Monday, 6 January 2003 01:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― j.lu (j.lu), Monday, 6 January 2003 02:18 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tad (llamasfur), Monday, 6 January 2003 05:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
― sundar subramanian (sundar), Monday, 6 January 2003 06:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
1. Japanese gameshows (misapprehension thereof)2. The 1936 Olympics, Berlin3. Stephin Merritt4. George W. Bush
― g.cannon (gcannon), Monday, 6 January 2003 14:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 6 January 2003 14:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 6 January 2003 14:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
Thing is, I don't think poor Andrew could really be remniscient of any of those things, to me at least, since there is this sickeningly-sweet-or-just-sickening INOCENNCE to him that is probably beyond calculatiom, something none of the decadent hair-metalers he appears to be aping (like Van Halen, etc.) ever had. Maybe this is what is so beguiling and off-putting to some people. He truly believes the abstraction of his own mythified construction, that he is some sort of good and noble savior figure who can inspire happoness in everyone through his simple, easy, catchy music - lije that website entry up above on this thread proves. More than a hippie, his naivete propels his infantilism towards wide-eyed idealism, which is repeatedly getting confused with either hedonistic stupidity or irony-free nostalgia. Andrew is just a kid at heart, an organ Tommy Lee never even had.
― Vic (Vic), Monday, 6 January 2003 15:17 (twenty-one years ago) link
― g.cannon (gcannon), Monday, 6 January 2003 15:28 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 6 January 2003 15:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Vic (Vic), Monday, 6 January 2003 15:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Vic (Vic), Monday, 6 January 2003 15:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
Eh? Ya lost me.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 6 January 2003 16:20 (twenty-one years ago) link
you also would get your ass beat by him if you ever came across him in real life If I came across most people I suspect they'd have a right to complain. Depends on the context, though. -- Ned Raggett (ned@kuci.org), July 24th, 2002.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Why do you always have to ruin Thanksgiving???" - Ellen Degeneres -- Dan Perry (djperry@post.harvard.edu), July 24th, 2002.
-- Ned Raggett (ned@kuci.org), July 24th, 2002.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Why do you always have to ruin Thanksgiving???" - Ellen Degeneres -- Dan Perry (djperry@post.harvard.edu), July 24th, 2002.
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 6 January 2003 16:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 6 January 2003 16:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gershy, Thursday, 8 March 2007 07:59 (seventeen years ago) link
― gershy, Thursday, 8 March 2007 08:00 (seventeen years ago) link
Andrew W.K. brings himself, and his "thoughts" back to The PIT, for an encore three-part series of weekly lectures. Mondays, March 12 -- March 19 -- March 26. Andrew has decided to open up the playing field up even wider in order to converse even more directly with members of the audience. "I guess you could say, I'm reaching out and pulling in," says Andrew. Each night will be dedicated to a question and answer format, where those present may ask Andrew questions and collaborate in the night -- it will be an evening of ? Andrew has insisted this forum be broad enough to include every possible topic and every possible person. Participants are encouraged to come. NOT A CONCERT - speaking engagement only!
― eater, Thursday, 8 March 2007 15:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― Steve Shasta, Thursday, 8 March 2007 16:50 (seventeen years ago) link
― gff, Thursday, 8 March 2007 17:07 (seventeen years ago) link
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 8 March 2007 17:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― onimo, Thursday, 8 March 2007 17:20 (seventeen years ago) link
The moment continues. Met a fellow traveller the other day. There only need be 12 of us
― President Evil, Monday, 4 June 2007 10:19 (seventeen years ago) link
*SECRET HANDSHAKE SHAKEN*
― Abbott, Monday, 4 June 2007 18:43 (seventeen years ago) link
this album is still monumental
― strongohulkington, Monday, 4 June 2007 18:46 (seventeen years ago) link
At shows, he plays a 3-minute version of the Kit Kat jingle he recorded (available here). He also plays and growls Blueberry Hill as an evil dirge on keyboard sans bandmates.
He is also surrounded by super insane and detailed conspiracy theories (NSFW) and his possible alter ego Steev Mike.
― Abbott, Monday, 4 June 2007 18:56 (seventeen years ago) link
AVAILABLE WHERE???
― strongohulkington, Monday, 4 June 2007 18:59 (seventeen years ago) link
I thought this place would be a good resource for interesting AWK discussion since a lot of the themes relevant to his music are often covered here. What a shame.
I came to AWK late. I always knew who he was but thought his music was either fun but something only acceptable to rockout-to in an ironic sense on good days, or retarded sounding meathead music on bad days. I started seriously listening to AWK's stuff only recently but am blown the fuck away now. "I get Wet" is the most intense thing since the first bad brains record (like I was around for that)and the more melodic songs on "The Wolf" rock hard. "Never Let Down" may be the greatest Camaro song of all time. The lyrics are cliche but he delivers them with soo much heart it's like he really sincerely believes it and that makes you believe too...or something.
There of course is the question of whether it's "schtick" and obviously to some degree it is. It's clear from researching his background and some of the other bands/projects he's been involved with (Bowie Covers while in the Pterodactyls) that he's a lot more musically cultured and pop aware than he lets on. How could you hear those synths and NOT know something was up? Yet there doesen't seem to much if any winking involved. I think he just really likes big grand piano riffs, Journey-esque solos and lyrics consisting of little more than stunted threats against invisible authority figures and directives to rock on. He may be the most unpretentious musician ever.
AWK = singer-songwriter of a generation
― DustinR, Wednesday, 18 July 2007 06:53 (seventeen years ago) link
AWK = serious bro.
― Drooone, Wednesday, 18 July 2007 07:00 (seventeen years ago) link