I admire this more than I like it

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shamefully I've never really got late-period Scott Walker, even Tilt leaves me cold

― conditional random jepsen (seandalai)

absolutely nothing shameful about this

the 'major tom guy' (sleeve), Thursday, 28 January 2016 15:25 (eight years ago) link

This kind of dogshit thread has been posted on ILM about 50 times.

Alex in manhattan I thought you'd struggle with every piece of recorded music ever apart from MBV's last album.

xyzzzz__, Thursday, 28 January 2016 15:30 (eight years ago) link

i was looking for this kind of thread but couldn't find it, sorry.

actually i am not very convinced about many answers in this thread. as i said in the beginning i can hardly think of artists/albums belonging into this category. why the hell for example should i admire scott walker? i think he makes boring, unlistenable music and he cannot sing. what is there to admire about him?

bob dylan actually may belong into this category for me though i quite like him but don't listen to his music very often. his lyrics are outstanding, some of his tunes are quite magical, he is a genius. john coltrane actually may belong here though i like his music quite a lot but not "a love supreme". the intensity and freedom of his late stuff like "ascension" or "meditations" i really admire though i hardly ever listen to it. roland kirk belongs here, another genius obsessed by music. but when you listen to him playing three saxes somehow his virtuosity does not translate into music i love.

btw it is not manhattan, it is mainhattan, xyzzzz. also known as bankfurt or even frankfurt...

it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 28 January 2016 19:49 (eight years ago) link

oh shit you're actually in germany then? *updates worst_posters.xls*

bicyclescope (mattresslessness), Thursday, 28 January 2016 19:51 (eight years ago) link

are we supposed to be finding artists that YOU admire more than YOU actually like, because otherwise your previous post is nonsensical

its subtle brume (DJP), Thursday, 28 January 2016 19:52 (eight years ago) link

no. you should name artists YOU admire more than YOU like. but it would be nice if there was a reasoning behind. it is a serious question. what exactly is there to admire about scott walker?

it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 28 January 2016 19:59 (eight years ago) link

he is handsome

smoothy doles it (nakhchivan), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:00 (eight years ago) link

polite to journalists

smoothy doles it (nakhchivan), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:00 (eight years ago) link

he's alive

Chikan wa akan de. Zettai akan de. (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:00 (eight years ago) link

top bloke

bicyclescope (mattresslessness), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:01 (eight years ago) link

nice ballcaps

bicyclescope (mattresslessness), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:02 (eight years ago) link

better than a hitler

sarahell, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:02 (eight years ago) link

does not fornicate with household pets

sarahell, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:02 (eight years ago) link

loves his pasolini

smoothy doles it (nakhchivan), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:03 (eight years ago) link

stood up for Obama against Giuliani

Chikan wa akan de. Zettai akan de. (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:03 (eight years ago) link

loyal green bay packers fan

nomar, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:03 (eight years ago) link

Tilt is troubadoursmetal haha, of zoiets. meesterlijke plaat, ik heb meteen zin om hem op te zetten. maar dat kan natuurlijk niet grr
― rizzx (rizzx), Friday, January 20, 2006 10:18 AM (10 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

jaggered little poll (wins), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:04 (eight years ago) link

still very much involved with Lotus

Chikan wa akan de. Zettai akan de. (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:05 (eight years ago) link

good foil for Vin Diesel

Chikan wa akan de. Zettai akan de. (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:07 (eight years ago) link

i know i have a way to go here

― ZESTY O'PRIDE (imago), Thursday, January 28, 2016 6:44 AM (5 hours ago)

are you aspiring to a doctorate in musicology or something? It's okay to not like things.

sarahell, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:08 (eight years ago) link

troubadoursmetal haha

bicyclescope (mattresslessness), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:09 (eight years ago) link

otoh based on your aesthetic preferences in other genres, you might go in for John Zorn stuff -- Naked City, Painkiller, his game pieces maybe, esp. Cricket.

sarahell, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:13 (eight years ago) link

wait imago isn't already a zornian zorny for zorn. color me shocked. must be some third level contrariness math going on.

bicyclescope (mattresslessness), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:18 (eight years ago) link

or hipster fave Alice Coltrane

sarahell, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:20 (eight years ago) link

articulate ensemble of chicago

jaggered little poll (wins), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:23 (eight years ago) link

i don't remember ever having listened to john zorn. i must have though. naked city is on deezer. it sounds interesting. it has got enough complexity without being too tuneless.

it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:23 (eight years ago) link

that was a recommendation for imago tbh

sarahell, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:24 (eight years ago) link

xp i know i know. thanks anyway.

it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:28 (eight years ago) link

I find A Love Supreme totally accessible, but something like Carly Rae Jepsen ... don't like it, don't admire it ... it can exist as a cultural artifact without my approval and I feel totally good about it

sarahell, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:31 (eight years ago) link

A Love Supreme seems like a token name-drop album for people who've never really listened to any other John Coltrane albums.

braunld (Lowell N. Behold'n), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:33 (eight years ago) link

I think I love everything about Scott Walker since the 80s apart from some of his tastes (no interest in the films he curated)

Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:33 (eight years ago) link

Crescent is a much better gateway album for Coltrane than ALS anyway.

the top man in the language department (誤訳侮辱), Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:43 (eight years ago) link

For me, Giant Steps was a way easier way to get into than anything after. Really, if the only things Coltrane had done were his 1964-and-after records, I'd have added him to my list.

Dominique, Thursday, 28 January 2016 20:45 (eight years ago) link

I kind of worked backwards with Coltrane. My gateway was "Live" At The Village Vanguard. Next was the just-released 2CD The Major Works of John Coltrane (with Ascension, Om, and several other pieces), which was what I was looking for -- I'd seen a concert by Milford Graves, Charles Gayle, Hugh Glover, and William Parker that changed me forever, and I was on the hunt for more of that music. Ballads and Coltrane Plays The Blues didn't cut it for me (though I grew to love those, and the rest of his work, years later), but Interstellar Space and Live In Japan were perfect.

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:07 (eight years ago) link

the best way to get into Scott Walker is to watch 30th Century Man.

canoon fooder (dog latin), Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:16 (eight years ago) link

I like loads of jazz but Coltrane has always been hard apart from Love Supreme. Even Giant Steps I have difficulty enjoying very much.

canoon fooder (dog latin), Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:17 (eight years ago) link

but it would be nice if there was a reasoning behind. it is a serious question

My serious answer is that as a musician, I know how hard it is to make music that isn't immediately "likeable", and still keep with it. And not only keep with it, but reach out further and further, even though it makes life way harder than just going along with the program and producing easily likable music. As I get older, I find it much easier to admire musicians (and other artists), even if their art doesn't necessarily push all my personal aesthetic buttons. If I can recognize truth in their art, and see that they're dedicated to that more than anything else, I find it hard *not* to admire them. Furthermore, today I find it much more likely to actually *like* an artist that I first came to appreciate simply because I believed in their mission, and admired the choices they made not only in their art, but in their lives.

Dominique, Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:19 (eight years ago) link

xp. I think of giant steps as a very accessible album. nice and upbeat with interesting changes. although perhaps at times it veers a little closely to Coltrane trying to blow his way through all the possible permutations on each chord.

naima is p much an all time jazz ballad imo.

Cornelius Pardew (jim in glasgow), Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:21 (eight years ago) link

Bach. I saw some of his work performed at the LA Phil recently, and it was nice enough but I could take it or leave it. He was obviously a genius and innovator but I don't really have a place for baroque music in my life.

davey, Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:32 (eight years ago) link

Dominique said it better.

davey, Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:33 (eight years ago) link

yes jim in glasgow. I think Coltrane's style is too busy overall. the tunes are definitely there, especially on Giant Steps but it's like he's scribbling all over it. I admire the wildness but I feel like even someone like Ornette is somehow more nuanced or something? Coltrane makes jazz into a sport. I love his vision and his vibe but for 'free' jazz, I find Giant Steps claustrophobic.

canoon fooder (dog latin), Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:40 (eight years ago) link

Bach just seemed like intellectual games (ala Godel Escher Bach) until it finally clicked while I was watching 32 Short Films about Glenn Gould. Yes, there are inversions, transpositions, recursions and other tricks up Johann's sleeve, but you can also just hum along with it. The foreground is really, tuneful and memorable, its only the instruments/parts often exchange places in the spotlight.

Lurkers of the world, unite! (Sanpaku), Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:42 (eight years ago) link

I'm trying to think of acts that fit this description without them falling into 'overrated' or 'idgi'. I'm sure there are lots. maybe Bjork? like, I feel as though I should love her and I certainly like a number of songs, but in rarely in the mood, that's the thing.

Portishead, Massive Attack, lots of slow 90s alterna-pop I guess. I know these are important acts who accomplished great things but their insidious vibes just don't sit right with me. I like dark music. I love dub and hip hop. but these acts just make me feel gloomy.

canoon fooder (dog latin), Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:46 (eight years ago) link

Joni Mitchell. Although I do genuinely enjoy a number of her songs, overall I feel like she impresses me more than she actually moves or entertains me.

goodoldneon, Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:47 (eight years ago) link

alex in main - its xyzzzz__ not xyzzzz

i know i have a way to go here

― ZESTY O'PRIDE (imago), Thursday, January 28, 2016 6:44 AM (5 hours ago)

are you aspiring to a doctorate in musicology or something? It's okay to not like things.

― sarahell, Thursday, 28 January 2016 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I thought musicologists only liked certain things that map to certain ideologies, in which case imago...isn't aiming for one.

He should totally try the Merzbox - its all on youtube now, no excuses.

xyzzzz__, Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:50 (eight years ago) link

dog latin, try 'coltrane' if you haven't already esp. 'out of this world'

François Pitchforkian (NickB), Thursday, 28 January 2016 21:51 (eight years ago) link

Crescent is a much better gateway album for Coltrane than ALS anyway.

― the top man in the language department (誤訳侮辱), Thursday, January 28, 2016 12:43 PM (2 hours ago)

depends on from where that gate is coming from ...

sarahell, Thursday, 28 January 2016 23:26 (eight years ago) link

my coltrane gateways were 'soultrane' and 'cattin with coltrane and quinichette'

nomar, Thursday, 28 January 2016 23:28 (eight years ago) link

A Love Supreme is amazing wtf guys

reggae mike love (polyphonic), Thursday, 28 January 2016 23:32 (eight years ago) link


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