Andrew WK: C/D?

He is what is wrong with the world.

His 'music' is a fucking pile of tripe, no matter what rehashed sentiment he bolsters.

Take the cash and run, yo.

And Andrew WK totally did this Jerry Lee Lewis piano-playing bit in the middle of a new song - it was rather odd to see him turn away from his fist-pumping cheerleading and lay into these fucking super- speed piano riffs. great great GREAT!

cool!

awk's voice is so enervated and propped up (background vox, more production), he sounds sort of fatigued, where on IGW, he sounded like he was actually going to kill you. maybe its just a production change, in which case he should change back. maybe he wrecked his voice touring nonstop between the records. in either case, i hope he gets everything back where it belongs on the power never stops forming. or else does something different but awesome. whatever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdPB-hi26Yk

"Close Calls With Brick Walls" is such an amazing record. Much more diverse than what he's known for but just as much fun.

AWK is seriously underrated, imo

Still going w Steev Mike controversy:

http://awilkeskrier.homestead.com/

that page been around a loooong time

Hahaha. Homestead.

i have him on FB and he just linked it even though i don't think it's been updated in years. he's definitely enjoys bringing it up

hell my AWK review page mentioned the Steev Mike thing and his twitter linked to it right away. I wondered how it got 1000 hits right off the bat.

"Close Calls" has a real Roxy Music vibe.

I'm trying to reconcile everything I've read about him with his kids show with Jack Black and Stampy that my 7-year-old likes. Maybe it's better if I just don't bother finding out about Andrew WK. Good show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IhSjrfSt7k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q-tS27EqFc

just found out he's coming to Milwaukee with a full band in October, I'm beyond pumped

"Close Calls" has a real Roxy Music vibe.

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, January 11, 2014 2:56 PM (three years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ive been listening to the Close Calls/Mother of Mankind set again. still feel the Roxy vibe only to be more precise it is a Bryan Ferry goofy crooner vibe ("Can You Dance With Me?" like some weird metal version of "Do The Strand").

some of those tracks feel like 70's Sparks to me, particularly "I Want Your Face" and "This is My World"

feel like you could combine the best stuff from those two discs to make an incredible hour-long album that would be (imo) one of the greatest albums of the decade

Apparently I haven't yet mentioned on this thread that I'm in this video - in the cd library at the very beginning and then jumping up and down on the couch holding a paper mache parrot. This was quite the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnzGF0wkeTc

Sorry, wrong link. This is the one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXnmNFHNOuQ

the conspiracy rabbithole with this guy is intense

best to stay away from imo

took me a full day to recover from that live show but it was totally worth it. consider my life affirmed again

yeah i saw him last night, holy shit, so good!

Glad to hear he's still got it. Seen him twice, both times were incredible. Dude puts every ounce of himself into the performance and gets it back from the crowd. My body might be too old to handle his show nowadays though

I saw him the Sunday before last, I left exhausted and covered with bruises but smiling. An amazing, joyful live experience.

hahah yeah you keep waiting for him to do a slow song so you can breathe a bit but then you remember he doesn't really have any

Never Let Down is slow! So um he has one.

well ok yeah but I was shouting that one at the top of my lungs along with everyone else so it doesn't count as much

I never said it was quiet. It doesn't feel slow, even on a stereo.

hah he did do a 2-3 minute solo synth improv piece, that was a nice break. but yeah a totally unrelenting show of pure joy! the band had the biggest grins on their faces the whole time but esp during dueling guitar solos.

it was a pretty great set, he hit all the high points, stuff from all three albums. took me by surprise when they played "Pushing Drugs" as a first encore! "Party Hard" was the last song they played and he had the crowd count down. the count-down started at 93 so by the time everyone was yelling "ten!....nine!...eight!" the room was about to explode in anticipation

"Take It Off" was so awesome. always liked it as an album track but played live that chorus is like going to church or something.

the opener was a local punk act that had also done stuff in the early 2ks and had reunited so it was very nostalgic. i felt like i was on the verge of flashbacks to the old hardcore scene days RIP

we got the synth break too. he also gave a little speech about...god I can't even remember, I was too worn out. it was cool that nearly all sides of AWK came out at some point (besides the weatherman I guess), including a part where he just stood still on stage alone with his eyes rolled back for a solid minute.

I think the set list must be the same from night to night. I didn't recognize the first song they played (maybe a new one?), other than that it was what I expected. really glad to hear "We Want Fun" too. "Take It Off" was great but "Totally Stupid" was even better. I decided to purposely avoid listening to any of his music when the show was announced so yeah it kinda hit me all over again what an insane amount of hooks IGW has on it. it's basically a perfect album.

yeah i think the first song was a new one! reminded me a little of "Long Live the Party" so that's a good sign.

So jealous of you guys btw

heh i slept on seeing him a few times before (and now i feel very stupid for this) but when i heard he had reunited his full band i just had to go.

it was kind of weird timing, the show i went to last night actually got cancelled and postponed. it was supposed to be the first show of the tour and ended up being the last!

Next year, Andrew W.K. will release his first new album since 2009. Today, he’s revealed the record’s title: You’re Not Alone. It arrives March 2 via RED/Sony. W.K. has also shared the tracklist and cover art, which was painted by Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell. Check those out below, and watch W.K., Vallejo, and Bell discuss the painting here. This past September, W.K. said of the album: “I’m going for the sound of pure, unadulterated power; every emotion, every thought, every experience, every sensation, every fear, every joy, every clarity, every confusion, every up, every down... all extruded and concentrated into one thick syrup of super life-force feeling, and then psychically amplified by the celebratory spirit of glorious partying.”

You’re Not Alone:

01 The Power of Partying
02 Music Is Worth Living For
03 Ever Again
04 I Don’t Know Anything
05 The Feeling of Being Alive
06 Party Mindset
07 The Party Never Dies
08 Give Up on You
09 Keep on Going
10 In Your Darkest Moments
11 The Devil’s on Your Side
12 Break the Curse
13 Total Freedom
14 Beyond Oblivion
15 Confusion and Clarity
16 You’re Not Alone

https://pitchfork.com/news/andrew-wk-details-new-album-youre-not-alone/?mbid=homepage-more-latest-and-video

i really want to hear "The Devil's on Your Side"

jk i want to hear the whole thing

That album artwork is incredible

also the posts at the start of this thread (all the way back in 2002!) really confound me. How could anyone dislike andrew wk!? even if you don't like his music, it feels impossible to dislike his spirit and positivity

I think "Music is Worth Living For" was the song he opened his show with last month

anyway I'm definitely springing for the vinyl on this, just cuz I want to hang it on my wall

XXp if you can't believe that then you're in for a feast of incredulity here - https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/184-i-get-wet/

what a fool schreiber is/was

that album got a lot of shit from a lot of (stupid) people

man, I remember reading that review way back in the day and thinking "hell, that sounds kind of awesome"

didn't actually hear the album until 5-6 years later, but hey I was right

I'm glad they gave it a reevaluation:
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16836-i-get-wet/

hahahaha

I have friends in a band who opened for Andrew W.K. and he was reportedly kind of shitty to them. They were fans and happy to meet him and he basically refused to interact with them or address them in any way, until they left. I think there might be a difference between the public and private personae.

Partying takes its toll

But he was a total sweetheart when I saw in like 2003. Stood outside in the freezing cold and entertained the kids with pics and autographs and general friendliness after the show for a long time.

Classic album.

hah I've heard the exact opposite, that he's exactly the same in private

that said don't forget there are two AWKs, maybe your friends met the grumpy one

isn't he famously something of an anguished existential philosopher type, and partying his chosen lifestyle to dispel the doom

he's a man of mystery. he loves midtown.

Where do you go for a drink?
Any and all bars that don't have dress codes. The best one is Gabby O'Hara's on 39th Street—because they have the best bartenders. I also really like Kabooz's in Penn Station because of the atmosphere and location.

isn't he famously something of an anguished existential philosopher type, and partying his chosen lifestyle to dispel the doom

the track listing above reads like the chapter titles from a selp-help book for sure.

isn't he famously something of an anguished existential philosopher type, and partying his chosen lifestyle to dispel the doom

party

partying

never stop partying

can't stop partying

must not stop partying

one of the featured entries on wikipedia yesterday was for the song habits (stay high) by tove lo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=59&v=1_HFVg6TvDw

this little mini-doc on the artwork for the album is very good

don't know if y'all caught this, Andrew did a little piano-only set for Stereogum. Played the new single, a little Bach piano piece, and obviously PARTY HARD. I liked the single a lot more after I heard his piano version.

https://www.facebook.com/Stereogum/videos/10156157190531979/

holy shit I never noticed how thick a Midwestern accent he has

Ann Arbor native, baby

Dude is a treasure.

new video later today

how much later

I bet these dudes are big fans of AWK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFUKsthR-Ts

dang he hyped it up all day yesterday.

Steev Mike strikes again!

wow, that stereogum piano live is FANTASTIC !
thanks for posting that !
I love that performance of "Party Hard"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_EupMUsb50

hah this is just "Everybody's Raging" with a different verse

pretty good though

not really sure what the lyrics are getting at here but I'm sure the AWK conspiracy theorists will have fun with it

Somehow I never listened to the Party All Goddamn Night EP. And I'm someone who's listened to both The Japan Covers and Gundam Rock.

did we ever discuss this video, this is brilliant(ly creepy).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZyexSqR-cc

jesus

lol so good. it sounds like they were playing the moaning vocals in the room while they did the interview.

imo the most creepy stuff he did was in the "Who Knows?" video. it's mostly a tour video but it has a lot of in between segments including short wordless performance art stuff like him really slowly creeping around a doorway and stuff. i think at the end of the video there is a part where someone just follows him walking down the street in the dark while weird ambient stuff is going on in the soundtrack. really spooky shit! when you realize it's just one guy in a room acting like a weird snake or something it makes it even more special. heh i love it.

link?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SojYssRUoWI

lucky for us looks like someone uploaded the entire full-length video to youtube in 3 parts!

Wow, that was great. genuinely unnerving in spots but all the concert footage is great. I forgot how fuckin' gnarly his original band looked. Whoever here said this was kind of like a springboard to Close Calls With Brick Walls was pretty OTM. I still think that's one of the most fascinating albums I own, especially from a bait-and-switch/pulling the rug out perspective. I'm always floored by the first song, not just because of how bare and desperate it is, but also because it's the first time you really get to hear him sing without all the processing and extreme multitracking. Even the bonus live tracks on IGW/The Wolf all have several lead vocal lines, they almost sound like 2+ performances overlaid on top of each other. But on Close Calls its like his personality splits in two - I don't think there were ever really two Andrew WKs but the whole story of AWK being this manufactured and heavily coached 'character' that went sour and wound up leaving him on his own does make sense in this context. The fact that the record took an additional four years to come out in America does point to some real drama going on behind the scenes. I really have no idea what this new album will bring, but I do have pretty high hopes for it right now - I relistened to IGW/The Wolf/Close Calls this weekend and they've all held up remarkably well.

Going to see play a barn in Iowa, Codfish Hollow. Playing with full band. We're driving down and camping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHDCRsqQmKQ

Its here folks

https://www.npr.org/2018/02/26/587251882/first-listen-andrew-w-k-you-re-not-alone

geez, I remember when people used to scoff at the idea of this dude having classical training and being way into Bach and all that. those long instrumental bits on the second half are just outrageous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKjs4qoSZ0c

Cheap Trick - "Hello There"

this song makes me think of Andrew W.K. a lot! its that caveman robot motorik party pop stylee!

it really makes me think of Close Calls-era tracks like "Can You Dance With Me" ("Would you like to do a numb-ah with meeee? Would you like taaa? Would you like taaa? Would you like to do a numb-ah with meeee?")

replace the word "rock" with "party" and this could be a AWK song.

Or a cousin to "Birthday" by the Beatles.

heh yes "I would like you to dance!" that OTT rock insanity

Andrew WK just signed with Napalm Records which seems an odd pairing to me.

Does Breitbart not have a label?

*jerkoff motion*

Whatever gets u off.

i like the new song

Yeah, it's good! I've seen comparisons to Muse and power metal, both of which make sense. His voice seems especially strong. Is that him singing the high part at the end? Is he playing everything here?

2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees POLL [Started by avatar of a kind of respectability homosexual culture (Eric H.) in February 2021, last updated five minutes ago by Master of Treacle on I Love Music] 81 new answers POLL closes: April 29 (in 2 months)
Andrew WK: C/D? [Started by Shaky Mo Collier in June 2002, last updated six minutes ago by to party with our demons (Sund4r) on I Love Music] 2 new answers

four years and one month until he's eligible!

elect Andrew

video is premiering right now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI8y36733ag

ok that mannequin looks just like Tommy Wiseau

Looks like the answers are yes!

If he singing about a Crowleyan fertility goddess now, that does suggest he was probably not going all Christian with the last album.

it never occurred to me that there were any Christian themes on the last album but he sure as hell sounds like a Midwestern preacher on the spoken word tracks

There were lyrical references to God, Christ, and the Cross!

I thought that song was great. I'll bet Andrew WK is a big BÖC fan.

yeah maybe I should clarify, I know there were religious references on it but I never thought it was him going Christian, rather him grabbling with faith & existence & consciousness like he always does

I mean you can't come up with less Christian lyrics than this

I realized long ago
That all of life is one last waltz
I'd had enough of feeling low
I realized everything I knew was false

So I killed the place inside
That told me feeling good was a crime
So glad that place has finally died
Now here's to feeling good all of the time

Yeah, and he if anything seems to be identifying with the Devil in "Devil's on Your Side". It's an interesting question what his spiritual pov actually is. He makes sure that there's a disclaimer that he doesn't endorse evil at the start of this video. (Also, what is his struggle with psychological dissociation about? I didn't know about that.)

I thought that was actually a clever reference to the "Thriller" video..."Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this record in no way endorses a belief in the occult"

Oh lol, I missed that.

new song is fucking sick

there's a dropper of Adrenochrome on the sink in the beginning of the video, lmao nice touch

a guy with a pretty deep understanding of the occult chimes in here:

https://codexastarte.wordpress.com/2021/02/17/andrew-wk-revisited-babalon/

that deserves some sort of occult Pulitzer and also convinces me that AWK simply must work with Liturgy some day

surprised there's no chat about the new album yet. its definitely big on the power ballads but it's got a pretty thundering sound to it. it's probably his heaviest album overall. "I'm in Heaven" is pretty brutal

for ILXors there's a special surprise, the end of "My Tower" is a total Neu! groove which comes out of nowhere

The two advance singles and first two tracks were great but the album isn't close to his best thereafter

As in, the two advance singles are the first two tracks

I liked the first two singles (and I haaaaated this dude for years) but haven't gone back to the album.

I like all 4 singles, kinda wish the rest of the album was as diverse/powerful. in particular the last 3 tracks (on the LP, not the bonuses) are kind of a slog, but I've been digging them a bit more on further listens

also "Remember Your Oath" is about as meta as he's ever gotten with the whole industry plant/Steev Mike/two Andrew WKs thing

was able to score a copy of Close Calls off eBay, I'm in awe all over again at how cursed it sounds. so many bizarre decisions made on this record. like wtf with the crazy instrumental intro on "When I'm High"?? his weirdly on-point David Lee Roth impression on "Mark My Grace"? the mixing which seems to emphasize the wrong instruments all the time? truly a baffling album

btw he seems to have completely disappeared from the internet as of last week, all his tour dates are cancelled too