I quite liked the "YOU.........YOU WORK ALL DAY" part of Party Hard but that's about it. It was oddly compelling.
― Ronan, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Dan Perry, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Sean, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
THEN THAT MEANS HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER. Like I said over on ILM, if the man appreciates pop, then demonstrate that! Bah!
― Tom, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― jess, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
Your explanation vis-a-vis unrelenting noise that achieves transcendence in repetition certainly makes sense when it comes to the comparison with Lightning Bolt, say. I like that thought, I may take it as my own. ;-) But I like Lightning Bolt and think WK is go-nowhere codswallop. So they may have similar intents, but terribly different results.
(I think Andrew WK is funny, though I could only tolerate about 10 seconds of his SNL performance.)
― Andrew DK, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
The $64,000 question. ;-) Mostly it's because of the semi-assumption above I vigorously protest, namely that it is instantly catchy dumb pop/rock. WRONG, at least in my ears. His sin is not attempting his approach, his sin lies in doing so and failing miserably.
― Mark C, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
Well, why not?
― Brian MacDonald, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― geeta, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Kris, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Ron, Monday, 15 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― maura, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
Yes; I don't think a record has ever made me laugh so much in my life. It feels so good!
― Sean, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― maryann, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― bc, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
It seems that not to like WK is apparently a sign of being anti-pop, being anti-dumb fun, being a snob, being humorless, being too serious, being a poor sport, etc. I find all these assumptions wanting.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 16 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― bc, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
You, Ned, don't like Andrew WK because he's unmemorable - this tells me nothing about you except your ears work in v.different ways from mine (which I knew anyway) and that you make a lot of fuss about a property (unmemorableness) that doesn't bother me. In fact it's you who's applying an assumed framework to WK - he is pop therefore he must be catchy. I happen to think he is catchy and pop but more than that I love him for the noises and textures: WK tracks make me think of cross-section pictures of the earth's crust, this vast layer of magma and rock (the guitars) with this tiny pretty layer of trees and grass perfectly balanced on top (the keyboards).
― Tom, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― geeta, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― di, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
It's basically a heavy sugary Devo, with a wrestler's voice. And maybe a little Elton John/John Tesh on the piano bits. The whole metal image seems to be a non-clever rue to make Mr. WK to be some sort of rock god, where in fact, I enjoy the music for all the reasons BUT.
― Brian MacDonald, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
he is pop therefore he must be catchy
*scratches chin* Now this makes me wonder...can it be possible to create something intentionally uncatchy but aimed at a pop audience? Nothing to do with Andrew WK now, more thinking about what pop 'should' be.
― celebrity scoop, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
Then maybe the answer is WK is the new Vanilla Ice.
― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
― Maria, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
What Tracer said about "not selling out enough" is how I feel about the whole Electroclash thing. I want one of those opportunistic aging club kids to do something totally vulgar and flashy and feelgood--create a new Ru Paul or Deelite--and shoot it into the Top Ten. It's just so classy and blah right now, at least the stuff I've heard.
― Arthur, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
I adore it unto my bosom. And then cast it from me like a bad taquito.
― Mr Noodles, Wednesday, 17 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
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 (11 years ago) Permalink
― geeta, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink
lol
http://twitter.com/#!/AndrewWorKs
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, 1 August 2011 03:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
my kid watched destroy build destroy every chance I get, budding WK fan now.
― akm, Monday, 1 August 2011 05:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
still a completely bewildering cultural phenomenon to me (mr wk). what kind of weight do people give the steev mike thing? elaborate hoax? was wk a noise artist hired to be a manufactured artist by the studios or what? i still don't fucking get it. I think about this more than anyone cares to know.
― akm, Monday, 1 August 2011 06:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
(above post was meant to say: my kid watches DBD every chance HE gets. sorry I have had no sleep)
There's a theory that the "original" AWK is not the same guy that it is now, but I'm not sure if I believe it. There was a site that detailed all this that had some very convincing evidence, but it also had some weird ties into the Illuminati and junk like that, so I think a lot of it is your standard conspiracy stuff.
I'm guessing there's something weird going on with it all since it's effected things like the US release of Close Calls (4 years late) but I do thing AWK is purposely making things ambiguous and vague
― frogbs, Monday, 1 August 2011 14:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
― Duane Barry, Wednesday, 17 August 2011 22:24 (1 year ago) Permalink
I was at an Andrew WK gig last month and it was really quite disappointing. That Alisteir X guy really needs to get off the stage. And the audience needed to be allowed ON the stage. Oh well, never mind. I was lucky enough to be in this video and my pals and I all had a great time. It's a new thing that Andrew did with the Evaporators.
― everything, Monday, 9 January 2012 19:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
I saw him twice last January (one full-band, one solo @ keyboard and playing classic radio jams for audience members to karaoke to) and both were great; the audience were all over the stage. One 120kg-looking hairy sweatball got upset when the crowd started moving out of the way the FOURTH time he tried to stagedive.
― Θ ̨Θƪ (sic), Tuesday, 10 January 2012 00:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
Previous experiences with him have been wondrous but this one was at a shitty venue with terrible sound, too big and too high of a stage which created this distance between him and the audience that I have never experienced before. And Aleister X was onstage with him the whole time, mugging like a maniac and generally dragging things down. I must say that the crowd were as enthusiastic as ever but I just wasn't feeling it.
― everything, Tuesday, 10 January 2012 05:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
Touring the 'I Get Wet' anniversary and coming to the UK in April - including Glasgow on 14th April! Really excited!
― only NWOFHM! is real (krakow), Thursday, 19 January 2012 09:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah he's comin to Milwaukee in March, can't wait also pretty excited about this new album he's doing. his recent stuff has been really great.
― frogbs, Thursday, 19 January 2012 14:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
Has this been posted? I assume its AWK on keys and uh ---- he's not a bad jazz pianist IMO!
(that said this album is kind of boring to me mainly because its alot of guitar noodling)
― Frobisher (Viceroy), Thursday, 9 February 2012 21:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
Amazing tonight in Glasgow on the 'I Get Wet' anniversary tour.
It was a fantastically fun show; ceaseless energy and a phenomenally positive vibe to everything, right through both AWK's music and the sold-out, ecstatic, fist-pumping, pogo-ing, crowd-surfing, good-natured audience.
Andrew WK @ Garage, Glasgow by krakow81, on Flickr
― only NWOFHM! is real (krakow), Saturday, 14 April 2012 23:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
was there too. pretty decent. ive more or less abandoned watching live music as a thing but it was very enjoyable and im glad i went, tho i wasnt partying partic hard and i left before the end, when he played a new song.
― zverotic discourse (jim in glasgow), Sunday, 15 April 2012 00:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
You missed his drum solo finale then.
― only NWOFHM! is real (krakow), Sunday, 15 April 2012 00:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
unfortunate! though his bit of soloing on his pizza slice guitar early in the evening was less than virtuoso i must say.
― zverotic discourse (jim in glasgow), Sunday, 15 April 2012 00:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
The London gig was hilarious and glorious, it was probably the most up-for-it crowd I've ever seen at a gig. Like there were more people up on the stage by the end than there were in the audience. One of the first people to invade the stage was in a banana suit and Andrew WK was hitting him on the head with an inflatable banana in time with the drums.
― Homosexual Satan Wasp (Matt DC), Sunday, 15 April 2012 09:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
He shouldn't have upgraded the venue in London. Upstairs at the Forum was very sparsely populated indeed, though it didn't feel like a dead gig because of the energy from downstairs.
― Viva Brother Beyond (ithappens), Sunday, 15 April 2012 14:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
I was there too! I briefly appear in the video on the bottom right about 10 seconds in grinning like an idiot. Hilarious and glorious sums up the experience, can't remember a rock gig when I've seen so many people just smiling.
― fun loving and xtremely tolrant (Billy Dods), Sunday, 15 April 2012 15:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
haha i went to this too, it was awesome
― just sayin, Monday, 16 April 2012 00:43 (1 year ago) Permalink
Does he straight-up run through I Get Wet in a Don't Look Back fashion, or does he play other material?
― etc, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 07:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
Put on "Close Calls" and "Mother of Mankind" again. Those are both killer. At his best he's got this awesome Sparks/Cardiacs vibe, but a little heavier. I observed the same thing that someone upthread did about "Kicks and Bricks" - when placed next to everything else, it does really sound like a different person. Of course, maybe he's the same but he just decided to stop singing like that to preserve his voice...?
I admit to being really baffled by the guy. For someone who writes 800-word responses to simple questions in interviews it's crazy how little actual information we have on him. All the stuff contenderizer and co. posted on CCWBW were totally OTM - there's something very sinister about this record, and it doesn't feel contrived or put on or anything, just really bizarre. I wonder if he'll do another one like it.
To answer etc's question, in Milwaukee he played all of I Get Wet, with some interludes of him banging on a piano, then a few from the Wolf, and only one tune from Close Calls ("You Will Remember Tonight"). "Head Bang" from the new EP was played and it's as awesome live as you'd expect.
― frogbs, Thursday, 17 May 2012 21:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
I mean this raises so many questions:
http://hangout.altsounds.com/features/143838-lowdown-andrew-w.html
― frogbs, Thursday, 17 May 2012 21:15 (1 year ago) Permalink
no it doesn't
it is highly entertaining though
― ┗|∵|┓ (sic), Thursday, 17 May 2012 22:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
repping for multinational junk food IS pretty sinister, even if he's being ironic/over-the-top:"Andrew W.K. - I eat all the best food! Taco Bell, always! And lots of candy, obviously. And I eat tons of Pringles chips, and cheese crackers like Cheese Nips, and I eat lots and lots of microwave meals, like frozen burritos, Hungry Man XL dinners, and Stouffer's meals. And I also love Chunky soups - just all the best tasting food. It's my joy! I eat this food at home too, not just on the road. My goal is always to just eat as much good food as possible, all the time. When we stop at gas stations and truck stops, it's like an amusement park for me! I'll buy three of every single candy bar they have, and then lay them all out on the table in our bus so you can really appreciate the spread and their awesome wrappers. You can have any of them that you want! It's like our own personal candy store. I also get lots and lots of pizza and cheese burgers, french fries, fried chicken. And like I said before, I eat at Taco Bell whenever I see one, even if I'm not that hungry. Sometimes I'll eat at Taco Bell three times in one day. It's all part of my heavenly life. It's just pure happiness. "
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 17 May 2012 22:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
i really feel like he and alice waters and michael pollan should have a sitdown.
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 17 May 2012 22:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
http://www.factmag.com/2012/11/26/andrew-w-k-recruited-by-us-government-as-cultural-ambassador-to-the-middle-east/
― Matt DC, Monday, 26 November 2012 11:34 (5 months ago) Permalink
This should go in the 'shit that looks like an Onion article but isn't'.
― fun loving and xtremely tolrant (Billy Dods), Monday, 26 November 2012 11:48 (5 months ago) Permalink
Next series of Destroy Build Destroy to be filmed in Gaza.
― studge_siren.gif (onimo), Monday, 26 November 2012 15:09 (5 months ago) Permalink
If all else fails, dude! Party on!
― frogbs, Monday, 26 November 2012 15:25 (5 months ago) Permalink
Bah, State Department have pulled the plug http://www.avclub.com/articles/andrew-wk-seriously-named-us-cultural-ambassador-t,89082/
― fun loving and xtremely tolrant (Billy Dods), Monday, 26 November 2012 19:51 (5 months ago) Permalink
strange things are afoot with the W.K.
― del griffith, Monday, 26 November 2012 20:23 (5 months ago) Permalink
http://peterslarson.com/2012/12/02/andrew-wk-how-he-almost-became-the-us-cultural-ambassador-to-the-middle-east/
In the days since the cancellation, I’ve received inside tips that there was a passionate debate in the State Dept. about my going at the last second. It’s possible that someone outside of the State Dept. who wasn’t aware of the trip initially became incensed that they weren’t informed before. Apparently some of these unknown higher-up officials were on my side and others were deeply offended by the idea of me going.
― How do you say Dedéckenbauer, Dedélícia, Dedélíte? (onimo), Tuesday, 4 December 2012 17:55 (5 months ago) Permalink