this guy doesn't seem particularly earnest as much as painfully self-conscious and hiding behind layers of irony which is more obnoxious
that seems to be the difference JD was wondering about
― Dinsdale, Tuesday, February 10, 2015 11:48 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
bingo
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 16:58 (nine years ago) link
He doesn't seem to be hiding behind irony as much as he just really enjoys irony, moreso in interviews/persona than in the music itself tbh, which is mostly pretty straightforward
― Simon H., Tuesday, 10 February 2015 17:15 (nine years ago) link
I think that's my main issue with it - he's not committed to it. As a result the context, to me, seems less Bonnie Billy and more I'm Still Here or something. It's neither compelling nor especially inscrutable in a way that makes you wanna peel the layers. It just feels like a bad gimmick. Which would be fine if the music he was producing wasn't bland as bread.
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 17:35 (nine years ago) link
hmm Oldham is an interesting point of comparison - particularly "Sings Greatest Palace Music". I'm not interested in peeling layers in general though. it's the songs that count.
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 17:36 (nine years ago) link
he does have an I'm Still Here beard
― It's strange to me too. But we're talking about praxis, man. (Sufjan Grafton), Tuesday, 10 February 2015 17:40 (nine years ago) link
and I see that he pooped on my spotify as I slept last night
― It's strange to me too. But we're talking about praxis, man. (Sufjan Grafton), Tuesday, 10 February 2015 17:41 (nine years ago) link
xp Do they, though? There are far, far better songwriters who put out records last year that don't seem to get the same attention, mostly because their music doesn't lend itself as easily to lifestyle reporting. I also don't think it's a coincidence that Kozelek's star seemed to rise in proportion to his trolling.
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 17:44 (nine years ago) link
kozelek's trolling better described as "bread bowling"
― It's strange to me too. But we're talking about praxis, man. (Sufjan Grafton), Tuesday, 10 February 2015 17:53 (nine years ago) link
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Tuesday, February 10, 2015 12:44 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
If you make yourself equal to a compelling character in an indie flick people start to care. Your backstory or whatever else on the outside needs to fuel your musical output and is more important than how interesting the music itself is.
― Evan, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 18:05 (nine years ago) link
with FJM the persona and all its attendant bells and whistles ultimately benefit the music & lyrics, so it isn't bothersome to me
― slothroprhymes, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 18:30 (nine years ago) link
yeah I find it a compelling character, much like Bonnie Prince Billie (or Dylan or any other number of "I can't tell if this is a joke" ironists) in that respect
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 18:38 (nine years ago) link
I think most importantly the songs are confident and colorful, and the arrangements are big but detailed and not boring. Also it's very well-sequenced. "Holy Shit" and "I Went to the Store One Day" are a great closing pair.
― Simon H., Wednesday, 11 February 2015 00:59 (nine years ago) link
Just got the vinyl, which came w a cassette of demos (incl a cass mccombs cover)
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 11 February 2015 01:39 (nine years ago) link
What song did he cover?
― Evan, Wednesday, 11 February 2015 20:13 (nine years ago) link
nobody's nixon
― mizzell, Wednesday, 11 February 2015 20:18 (nine years ago) link
Great choice. Love that song, love the EP it's from.
― Evan, Wednesday, 11 February 2015 20:31 (nine years ago) link
lol @ the canned audience in Bored in the USA - figured that was just a Letterman gag
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 11 February 2015 20:59 (nine years ago) link
on first couple listens - this has a more uniform sound than the previous one (dude sure loves his string section), and I don't hear anything as immediately catchy. it feels v langurous, albeit in a predictably bitter and mysanthropic way. the last few songs seem like the peak.
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 12 February 2015 17:44 (nine years ago) link
(not in terms of jazz-rock chops obviously, but in terms of juxtaposing slick, pretty music with bleakly cynical/ironic lyrics)
steely dan lyrics way more oblique than this dude. the juxtaposition you identify here is literally everywhere in music
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 12 February 2015 18:56 (nine years ago) link
well I didn't say it was unique
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 12 February 2015 19:03 (nine years ago) link
agree that the Dan's stuff is more oblique
I think I probably find the persona more interesting than I would've otherwise because I was already very familiar with his much more po-faced output as J. Tillman.
― Simon H., Thursday, 12 February 2015 19:08 (nine years ago) link
I guess the other reason I brought up the Dan is because the sonic territory FJM is mining here sounds p explicitly LA 70s, albeit from more of the country-rock end then the jazz-rock end
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 12 February 2015 19:13 (nine years ago) link
can't escape this dude's music playing in coffee shops
― Rave Van Donk (jim in glasgow), Thursday, 12 February 2015 23:13 (nine years ago) link
Have started enjoying this more once I have stopped worrying whether it is any good or not, if that makes sense?
― djh, Wednesday, 18 February 2015 21:46 (nine years ago) link
Sometimes self satisfied, undeniably, but this > "and then he drops a song that is just plain beautiful like I Went To The Store One Day".
― djh, Tuesday, 24 February 2015 20:31 (nine years ago) link
http://www.citypaper.com/music/music-boxes/strum-und-twang/bcp-strum-und-twang-fuck-father-john-misty-fuck-bob-dylan-listen-to-zane-campbell-20150303,0,6672882.story
Guy who has produced unknown Maryland artist Zane Campbell writes guest article for Baltimore City Paper ripping into Father John Misty and others
He starts like this:
First things first: There is no more room in the United States for even one more Father Chode or Father John Misty or whatever the fuck the newest know-it-all trippy sensitive white yuppie songwriter rehashing the ’60s is called. Will the bros and rich kids please stay the fuck out of country and folk music, for crying out loud? You have fucking ruined it beyond all repair with your literary allusions and private-school educations and insecure fake tough-guy shit. Don’t come back either. You aren’t funny or tough or witty and you are clogging up the inboxes of all the booking agents and critics with your reverb-drenched non-singing guitar-noodling ass horseshit and creating more traffic on the roadways while “going on tour.”
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 15 March 2015 22:05 (nine years ago) link
I know this dude has a clear motive, but he's not wrong.
― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 15 March 2015 22:37 (nine years ago) link
laughable authenticity policing bullshit
― slothroprhymes, Sunday, 15 March 2015 22:48 (nine years ago) link
Yup
― Οὖτις, Sunday, 15 March 2015 22:58 (nine years ago) link
Fjm is the worst tho
― got a long list of ilxors (fgti), Sunday, 15 March 2015 23:03 (nine years ago) link
This is narcissism of the smallest difference.
― Tay-Tay Brooklynpants (Murgatroid), Sunday, 15 March 2015 23:11 (nine years ago) link
No bros or rich kids in country music! Enough is enough amirite
― Οὖτις, Monday, 16 March 2015 00:17 (nine years ago) link
Anyway Holy Shit seems to be the standout track to me now. Album ends strong.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 16 March 2015 00:27 (nine years ago) link
Down with this kind of artifice! Up with the kind of artifice I like!
― fuck me, archipelago (Simon H.), Monday, 16 March 2015 00:45 (nine years ago) link
this is literally a concept album about a coffee-shop intellectual falling in love with a hipster party girl
― it me, Monday, 16 March 2015 06:11 (nine years ago) link
That article's embarrassing. What relevance does FJM have to country anyway?
― Minaj moron (Re-Make/Re-Model), Monday, 16 March 2015 09:47 (nine years ago) link
zero
― Οὖτις, Monday, 16 March 2015 16:03 (nine years ago) link
your literary allusions and private-school educationshttp://www.nndb.com/people/908/000023839/KrisKristofferson.jpg^^^rhodes scholar
― tylerw, Monday, 16 March 2015 18:02 (nine years ago) link
^^^bro
― Οὖτις, Monday, 16 March 2015 18:03 (nine years ago) link
I like how the subeditor of that article clearly thinks there is a real artist called Father Chode
― Reader, I murder dem (DJ Mencap), Monday, 16 March 2015 19:22 (nine years ago) link
http://concert.arte.tv/fr/soiree-de-poche-father-john-misty
― djh, Tuesday, 31 March 2015 20:27 (nine years ago) link
ILYH has grown on me a lot since it came out. One of my faves of the year now.
― Immediate Follower (NA), Wednesday, 20 May 2015 18:32 (nine years ago) link
there's a couple missteps but yeah it's good
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 20 May 2015 18:37 (nine years ago) link
i generally have an aversion to stuff like this but this album is excellent.
― tayto fan (Michael B), Monday, 1 June 2015 18:38 (nine years ago) link
Finally heard this. Adam Green did the kind of nice singing w some cuss words thrown in for shock better imo. The production is really nice, you can tell he wants to be Harry Nilsson, but doesn't have the bite or wit or gift w a melody of any of the aforementioned.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 30 June 2015 14:29 (nine years ago) link
He killed it at Glastonbury. Reminded me of Nick Cave as a performer. Honeybear, Bored in the USA and Ideal Husband were particularly great. iplayer link for UK Ilxors:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02v3j54/glastonbury-2015-father-john-misty
― A swarm of antipathy (Re-Make/Re-Model), Tuesday, 30 June 2015 15:56 (nine years ago) link
Saw this on Facebook today:
Father John Misty1 hr · I’d like to briefly clarify my comments to Billboard about duality, and “where I belong” etc.In the past year or so the question of where I’m going to go in terms of a label, publishing, etc and what I want for my career has been up in the air. I’ve never been in a position to field interest from major labels and publishers before and I’ll admit it can make you nervous and raise existential type questions like “Who am I? What do I believe in? What kind of artist am I?” etcDrawing a line, recognizing certain dualities, or making a distinction, like I’m talking about to the interviewer, is important in terms of not becoming totally misguided in a process like this. While pragmatism is good, sometimes ideals are important too, and perhaps even more useful in making a decision with real consequences on your ability to survive creatively. I personally think I am more likely to thrive outside the major label thing and my minor brushes with mainstream levels of attention have left me with totally bewildered how anyone habitually lives with it.I don’t harbor any delusion my music is too radically unique or subversive to be appreciated by the masses, and there are more than enough examples of iconoclast major label artists to make a case that as a rule pop art is more frequently progressive where artists like me are relatively provincial.As a consumer of music, I only have the things that I instinctually do and don’t like, like anyone else. I tend to intellectualize, to my peril, the reasons I don't like the things I don’t like, but that’s just for cheap thrills (or at worst to sanctify my taste). I won’t bore anyone with a comprehensive list of pop artists that I like, or contrarily the non-mainstream music I don’t like.As far as “objective judgments based on beauty” and whatever, I’m in the habit lately of blindly attacking a post-modern strawman that may or may not exist. It’s my current hobbyhorse, what can I say.All in all, I’ve kind of lost my sense of humor with the whole enterprise of press, which is unfortunate for anyone with an internet connection.Yours eventually,JT
― schwantz, Thursday, 5 November 2015 21:10 (eight years ago) link
the sort of self indulgent waffle one might gladly expect from this bad artist
― twunty fifteen (imago), Thursday, 5 November 2015 21:13 (eight years ago) link
forgive me but one should never have to clarify anything, especially not like this
I am perhaps uncharitable but I have endured the gentleman's music
― twunty fifteen (imago), Thursday, 5 November 2015 21:19 (eight years ago) link