Tell me about: Ian Svenonius

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULx01IhtlsI&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLAA4DA8EE338ED155

Chain and the Gang live are not so good nor is his other current band Felt Letters. I may be in the minority with such beliefs though. I find his stage presence these days annoying and his vocals less than impressive. Sacrilege I know.

I see from pals on facebook that the Makeup just did a not-publicized reunion gig at tiny little Comet Ping Pong in DC tonight. Kid Congo(DC resident and former member of Gun Club, Bad Seeds, & Cramps) was doing garage oldies with Fugazi's Brendan Canty on drums. I was watching the Orioles beat the Nationals in baseball. Oh well.

ha, i almost went up there just for kid congo! welp

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2012/05/21/photos-the-make-up-and-kid-congo-powers-comet-ping-pong/

For some reason this dude "clicked" for me recently in a way that he never did previously. NOU and The Make Up were kind of in the ether when I was in college, and I liked a couple Make Up songs but was mostly never that into them.

Comet is really near where my folks live, wish I had been there. (Unless there's another Comet?)

Just the one Comet. He once kinda clicked for me but Chain & the Gang and Felt Letters, his current groups did not interest me at all when I saw them.

i stand by my bitchy opening one-two up there

his book last year -- 'supernatural strategies for making a rock 'n' roll group' -- is the best use of seance since 'the changing light at sandover'

ah thx fro reminding me been meaning to read that

looks good, think I will order

do yourself a favor

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/43510/rock-n-roll-a-manifesto-in-his-new-book-ian/

excerpt, I think

dan osborn's cover design is perfect

that excerpt is fantastic, and also a great explanation of one of the things that I think is so hard and so elusive and also just crazy about being a successful musician or artist -- you almost have to have this incredible discipline, really, about maintaining a persona/lifestyle apperance/attitude/style.

"You think of disco and electro-funk and funk music as being obsessed with space travel. Garage rock—they talk, maybe, about cars, but never boats. In gospel music they talk about the train. Psychedelic bands talk about planes. I’d say garage rock is usually very land-based."

This is so awesome.

the whole book is awesome. cannot recommend it highly enough

well, I ordered it, even paid the extra $4 to get it straight from akashic (sort of demonstrates the market power of amazon that they can undercut even the publisher's direct sales).

finally getting around to this, it is quite awesome

the book I mean

"because music is not for everyone. most people, in fact, shouldn't listen to it"

I love this:

To determine a group’s identity, one must first determine what the group is trying to achieve.

Is it the desire to be a) “famous,” or perhaps b) sexually popular? Is it c) to write some good songs in the style of another particular group? Or perhaps is it d) to advance a particular ideological system?

If the intention is a), then we urge you to find another avenue. Fame in a group is fleeting and even when it is attained—which is fairly uncommon—it is subject to the vagaries and whims of an ignoramus public. The group member or singing star is a clown, occasional comic relief for his or her listener, but more often entirely ignored or the subject of ridicule. The fame begotten is so momentary as to be almost like a hallucination, and there is typically little money associated with it. There are much more solid ways to find notoriety, the most reliable being a political career.

Politics don’t require talent, intelligence, or good looks. In the beginning, you won’t even need to own a suit. Just announce some “provocative” (creationist, bigoted, or otherwise reactionary) vitriol into a microphone, and you’ll attract financial backers who will arrange television appearances, fundraising events, and bespoke finery. Your notoriety will be more long-lasting and more pervasive than any fame you could achieve in music. Truly, someone like Donald Rumsfeld, a mediocre government functionary with no discernible talent, intelligence, or charm, is a greater international celebrity than rocker Mick Jagger, who has reached the apex of his craft. Rumsfeld, despite being a has-been, is known in every corner of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa for his insanity and arrogance, while Jagger is admired by a mere couple hundred million music enthusiasts, huddled mostly in the first world.

If b), to be an amorist, is your goal, give up the group as a means to carnal buccaneering. The best thing for you is to pursue a job in advertising, medicine, or the field of “law.” These professions are celebrated by televised propaganda (in programs such as Law & Order, Grey’s Anatomy, and Mad Men), and will provide you with the financial incentives—in the form of real estate, luxury cotton sheets, and perceived stability—required to seduce your prey in the capitalist society.

If your goal is c), to write songs in the manner of another group, this might not be necessary. The group that seems to beg homage or emulation may have disintegrated, but their legacy is probably with us, either on cassette or record—or in video form.

He's got quite a collection of vinyl records. Heard him and Kid Congo alternating on the turntables awhile back playing soul and garage rock 45s

the whole tone of the book is pitch perfect

Dude is underestimating the value of "provocative" vitriol in music, and overestimating talent & intelligence.

i don't think you're reading that excerpt right

and also if you read the rest of the book, he isn't

dude is dead-panning like a motherfucker

Sometimes his deadpanning bugs me. It sometimes comes across as smug or something

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAq0RcKL45Q

it is undeniably smug

it is also pretty hilarious

His "Soft Focus" interviews are great too. I think they get brought up upthread a bit.

I love his writing. I can't read it without hearing the voice of David Candy which makes it even funnier.

The powerful associative effect of names is often misunderstood. While fondly thought of, mammalian names are a mistake--unless one chooses a mythical beast. A wild animal is a graceful creature that needs no clothes or grooming to look spectacular, and your onlookers--their expectations heightened--will inevitably be disappointed by the oafish onstage display of whatever crew of humanoids you've managed to muster. "Oh dear," they will say, "they are nothing like wolves/foxes/etc." If one hangs sucha name on one's group, one is raising the bar too high.

Male groups with "Girls" in their name have a similar problem. In literature and film, the "girl" represents the reader's/viewer's pure self-image. The audience is supposed to identify with the "girl," who is innocent, brave, artless, attractive, and clever (e.g., Chihiro of Spirited Away, Pippi Longstocking, and Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz). Film noir is predicated on the opposite idea--that audiences like to identify with cynical, morally bankrupt, been-there done-thats. These roles are typically played by middle-aged men with five o'clock shadows (Humphry Bogart, Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum). Most groups now resemble the stars of the noir genre, physically if not sartorially. Bands with "Girl" in their name are almost invariably these kinds of hairy and less attractive men. As a rule, then, males should avoid group names with "Girl."

man I really have to get this

hah

book kind of trails off toward the end (the bits about "conversation" etc.), but he sustains the thing for an admirably long time

"The internet simultaneously made all music accessible while taking away the necessity of listening to any of it."

http://thequietus.com/articles/12648-ian-svenonius-interview

Supernatural Strategies book does not disappoint

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/film/2013/12/12/ian-svenonius-is-a-movie-director-now/

apropos of nothing (well not really hah) but i love this pic

http://musformation.com/scenonious.jpg

can find nothing of its context

Loves Castro: http://www.avclub.com/article/indie-rock-statesman-ian-svenonius-why-he-loves-fi-203930
Hates Tipping: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2013/09/against-tipping/

Well, I couldn’t leave
Unless the old man chased me out
’Cause I’d already promised
That I’d milk his cows
I had to say something
To strike him very weird
So I yelled out
“I like Fidel Castro and his beard”
Rita looked offended
But she got out of the way
As he came charging down the stairs
Sayin’, “What’s that I heard you say?”

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/46905/xyzs-xyz-reviewed/

XYZ’s spiffed-up, very Francophonic electro and cool temperature are a surprising backdrop for Svenonius’ deadpan-radical shtick. (Spiv supplies the vocals, Balducci the beats, guitars, and throbbing, unsettled electronics.)

says the reviewer. I haven't heard it yet.

I saw Chain and the Gang recently at a DIY venue in Seattle. The audience was largely awful; lots of entitled squares getting dropped off in Ubers who loudly talked through all the bands sets and kept throwing food and trash at the stage; whole thing had a "rich kids trying to act punk but just coming off as assholes" vibe to it. Band was good though, and Svenonius spent most of it admonishing the audience. Looking foward to checking out the XYZ record.

Anyone read "The Psychic Soviet"?

Both of his books are funny and brilliant!

The Psychic Soviet was great! Wish I could find my copy to reread it!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/going-out-guide/wp/2015/03/18/cocktails-disco-and-the-bill-of-rights-national-archives-to-hold-its-first-after-hours-party/?postshare=3661426685486570

$50 to hear Ian S. dj right near the constitution and such after hours, plus other stuff

the upcoming party for the National Archives' new "Spirited Republic" exhibit, to be held on Saturday, April 18, might just be the best yet.

Imagine Ian Svenonious of the Make Up spinning raw soul and punk right in front of the Declaration of Independence, and Derek Brown of the Columbia Room leading TED-style talks about the history of booze in America. Picture a "National Treasure"-themed scavenger hunt through the galleries, while comedians host a screening of the film with live commentary. And in honor of "Spirited Republic," which traces the history of alcohol in America, bartenders from 2 Birds 1 Stone, PX, the Partisan and Bourbon Steak (among others) will whip-up original cocktails as part of the all-night open bar.