Most tedious thing said by worthless VHS idiot JOHN MAUS in p4k interview

I don't disagree with any of his obvious and portentously made points, he just clearly had no idea that he was in completely the wrong forum to make those points without coming off like a solipsistic fool. Given the tone of his apologies I have the sense he had no idea how obnoxious he would come off.

xp If you're a record-store employee I think you have every right to be pissed off. That was the only bit that made me angry because it was so ignorant - the rest varied from interesting to comically pretentious.

if this guy is doing a bad parody of tortured philosophy grad student speak applied to an innocuous form questionnaire in order to get a brief rise out of people, it's annoying

if he's expressing actual deeply held feelings, in this sort of language, on the subject of the pervasiveness of ringtone discussion vs. the paucity of war atrocity discussion in popular online war atrocity discussion outlet pitchfork, it's annoying.

p.s. never heard this guy's music, suspect i'd want to claw my eyes out if i even bothered.

p.p.s. given the vagaries of xposts, basically what hoos said.

my point is that this whole thing is so stupid and harmless! and pulling his records seems silly and reactionary, regardless of whether or not he actually meant what he said

― a lagoon par la mer (psychgawsple), Thursday, August 4, 2011 4:19 PM (49 seconds ago) Bookmark

as a small business specializing in used records and reissues of old, rare LPs rather than new records, we have the choice to stock what we want--and in this case, the choice has been made so much easier. this also sort of answers whiney's question--there is nothing i have been outright like "i will not order this record for the store" aside from skrewdriver bootlegs & john maus. there are, however, plenty of things we don't stock because we don't have the room and our staff doesn't have enthusiasm for them.

don't forget that the guy has lyrics where he asks us to kill every cop in sight, maybe we should get the police department in on this too

how can i forget something i never knew? there's also a big difference between his lyrics (exposure to which is limited to his fans or those that purchase or hear his music) vs. saying dumb bullshit in a public forum. otoh, i'm fine with anti-cop sentiment.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_u6klgYL8n0g/THEXyuyFmiI/AAAAAAAAAq8/M2Px3HPitNY/s1600/MDC1.jpg

It seems weird to me that this guy, who mere months back was just a minor oddity I liked with a pretty cool synth sound and some minor songs, is now making so many people so butthurt

maybe we can get Charleton Heston to picket Upset The Rhythm

there is no way this maus character is as good as mdc

i dont want to shut down record stores and i like the ones i go to obviously, but the difference between now when the internet means i have access to music compared when I was growing up andthe shitty safe selections made by the crappy record shops in my hometown stymied my fandom so much. like it generally felt like record shops were barriers to the music i wanted to hear as opposed to gateways. its a point that resonates with me in the context of the presumed cosmopolitanism of pitchfork etc.

by taking his dumm anti-record store comment seriously you end up kinda legitimizing it

i don't get you folks--are you so wrapped up in a world of irony and lols that you don't take things people say at face value?

i feel like i'm the only one that actually *gets* this

well even if you take it at face value not one person reading p4k's 'guest list interview' with JOHN MAUS is going to stop buying used blues records at your store because he said he h8s record shop clerks so

no of course not, but i still don't want to support someone who thinks record stores are a toxic environment.

i honestly just can't fathom anyone making an honest or well reasoned argument for getting rid of record stores. maybe it's cause of the type of people i surround myself with or the fact i am a frequent supporter of those stores, but i automatically dismiss the 'physical music is irrelevant' type arguments, and in this case i do believe he was quoted out of context (i could be wrong but kinda don't care either way)

These questions are difficult because they're part and parcel with a situation that would define us as a list of cultural commodities we've consumed. This is a very banal idea. Facebook doesn't seem to have our genetic code on it-- it has the list of books we "like." That's how we define ourselves today. I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound like a douchebag making an obvious point. One can't help but sound like a douchebag when talking about the books you like.

tell, don't show

lovin ian itt

it's rare that i get passionate about posting on ILM, but for some reason this whole thing has gotten me kinda pissed off.

I doubt this guy could find a $20 vinyl record for free on the internet, come on. There would at least be shipping and handling!

TS john maus vs. ian

(I gotta go with maus, only cuz I've always wanted to firebomb something, and it might as well be an independent record store)

i am always so charmed by apologies.

i have purchased a john maus record at a real record store in the past fwiw

don't know if jokes on you or the record store.

(I gotta go with maus, only cuz I've always wanted to firebomb something, and it might as well be an independent record store)

― swaguirre, the wrath of basedgod (bernard snowy), Thursday, August 4, 2011 4:42 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

thanx bud, just give me a heads up so i can get into my bomb shelter in the basement.

i have purchased a john maus record at a real record store in the past fwiw

haha yeah i bought his newest at a record store, for about $20, like a month or so ago

its a point that resonates with me in the context of the presumed cosmopolitanism of pitchfork etc.

― ℗⎣▲✘ (ico), Thursday, August 4, 2011 4:27 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

the filter bubble

hadn't thought of that

interesting point

A response via Marathonpacks:

http://marathonpacks.tumblr.com/post/8475820060/a-defense-of-john-maus-and-bratty-artists

Great response imo

can't believe one of the dudes from spoon is on tumblr

Man, the shout-outs to classical music and Jean Luc-Nancy are kind of hilarious! It reads like the perfect satire of overly educated unemployable grad students.

With the record store thing though, saying you're happy there's little closed signs on their doors might be harsh, but I'm with ico. Most record stores in my city growing up DID feel more like barriers to music. I'd have bad experiences dealing with staff all the time, and it was crazy how expensive records were. I wouldn't say that I'm glad people are out of job, but to be honest, that kind of exclusive access to music was terrible.

Is dealing with "snotty" (minimum wage) record store clerks really that shattering an experience? Man, some people are so fragile.

most of the clerks around here rule so fuck that

Xpost This is a problem with people and prices, not record stores as a collective. I'm still not convinced by his back pedalling saying he only meant big chain stores. Big chain stores don't carry little signs that say 'closed' on them.

some of the most genuinely nice clerks anywhere over the years

On the Marathonpacks response: glad someone pointed out the disparity between the megastores and snotty record store clerks. Don't wanna put words in his mouth (he has enough there already) but aren't "snotty record store clerks" synonymous with indie stores? If megastores deliberately hire people who don't know anything about music, what are they being snotty about? His attempt to backpedal on his original statement only confuses things further.

i mean guys its pretty transparent to me here that he WAS talking about indie shop snobbery and is backpedaling by bringing in big box stores to defend himself, are we really talking about this like there's something else going on?

i hate when xps make my post irrelevant lol

i don't think ppl are complaining about snottiness so much as limited access? which, though i do sooorta *get* it, is ultimately an argument i don't care to engage much with. any independent record store is worth preserving these days (even the ones selling 'dare' for $30 or w/e) and nobody suffers from that lack of access anymore

xp yes this is why his "apology" is completely disingenuous; either that or he is actually a dumbass.

well we shouldn't confuse two things--i think he had no idea that 1) his aesthete routine would come off so obnoxious thx to a lack of self-awareness 2) that there would be such a backlash about his poorly phrased but not illegitimate bit on indie record store elitism

he made an honest mistake and is also totally tone-deaf

Really the part I agreed with him on is that all new vinyl shouldn't be 20 bucks or more.

I wish he hadn't back-pedaled on the record store thing tbh. I mean he sort of "had to" (via the internet) but I think what he said was provocative if poorly worded. I really enjoyed reading the Numero Group guy's "Record Store Day is bullshit" thing earlier this year. The romantic kneejerk defending of all record stores will die sooner or later, especially with the next generation of music consumers reaching maturity and not simply "not caring" about buying music in a store, but never having that experience at all. That shift will have profound consequences but the "OMG we have to save record stores or culture will die" reactionary bit hear from some corners is a really naive way to look at things.

Record stores are never going to completely die. They're going to dwindle in number and become very specialist, but I don't see them ever completely disapearing.

we're a hair's breadth away from the death of CDs (once best buy takes 'em out it'll be game over) but it's naive to think record stores are going away anytime soon, in my area there are several and a new one just opened up

xp what jon said

like used bookstores xp

there's no question in my mind that his whole rant was about independent stores. it's interesting that he goes right from that straight to talking about how awesome "free" music is. no mention of itunes or buying direct from labels online. definitely an ill thought rant and he deserves any blow-back he gets.

that said, i voted for the ringtone rant as his most tedious.

I didn't read this thread but I will