I'm just going to cut'n'paste this exchange from the other Andrew WK thread on ILE because this was one of the best exchanges about this album:
cool thing about AWK is that it's still impossible to say why exactly he's doing what he's doing the way he's doing it. he's inscrutable. he presents this super-earnest, half-crazed motivational speaker/kid's show host front - all positive, all the time - but then he carefully creates this absurdly elaborate backstory/mythology with creepy occult-psycho overtones. his music seems like pop, but also like a ghastly parody of pop, and the tension there never comfortably resolves. there's a big andy kaufman streak in what he does, down to the faux (or is it?) quasi-autism shtick. all of which inclines me to respect him. i like jokes that never quite give the punchline away. and close calls w brick walls is a hell of a lot better than i expected. everything OTM abt the wonders of "hand on the place", "one brother", etc. but "pushing drugs" is pretty great, too.― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 22:26 (3 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, good post. I've never really been able to make much sense out of the various sides of his personality/art. It's a baffling persona that raises questions every time I listen to him - even more than Kaufman (of course in Kaufman's case we have decades of hindsight to help us sort out the facts/motivations/intentions). Like you, I really like the unresolved nature of it. The joke without a punchline as you say.
I took a friend of mine who's in his sixties to see Andrew WK this summer and he was blown away because it reminded him of "proper" showmen that he'd seen in ye olde days like James Brown etc. Afterwards my friend went off totally inspired, read all the weird stuff and then later said to me that he takes it all at face value and was loving the ride because the whole point is about entertainment. I honestly do find him to be an amazingly inspiring figure. The show I saw this year was about a life-changing as anything is likely to be at my advanced age. Just him, a keyboard and an ipod.
― everything, Wednesday, 16 December 2009 23:03 (3 years ago) Permalink
Just him, a keyboard and an ipod.
which is weird, because this is the same format he chose in his early solo career around 2000-2001.
― quiet and secretively we will always be together (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 16 December 2009 23:06 (3 years ago) Permalink
listening to this again, cuz i haven't thought of it in a while. i can't go so far as everything in loving EVERYTHING about it, but it's awful damn good, if somewhat bloated.
the songs that work best, imo, are those that wander a few steps from the aerobic motivational triumphalism that he's made his stock in trade. i get wet throwbacks like "not going to bed", "when i'm high" and "into the clear" get old fast, especially in comparison to the more varied & inventive material surrounding them. "i wanna see you go wild" & "you will remember tonight" are the best of that bunch: the latter's got cool & creepy messianic lyrics and the former just slays non-stop.
have the sense, though, that CCWBW would work better if there were just a little bit less of it to go around (which is probably the ultimate missing-the-point critique where AWK is concerned). the long set of mutated/inverted party jams that closes the album is a good example. they're all worth a listen, but collectively, they oversell the point. gems like "big party" and "we will boogie" struggle to stand out.
this seems to result from two things: 1) CCWBW is a concept album, and 1) most of lyrics are very simple and repetitive. so in order to make a point about the ghastly frozen emptiness of the scenario he's describing, WK needs an entire song like "we're not gunna get old". and it works, drives the point home w/ a sledgehammer - but it also drags the album down a bit. it's suitably grim & suffocating, but not very musically interesting. (i do like "las vegas nevada" though, which seems more cheerfully subversive than straight-up celebratory.)
and on that note, GOD this is a creepy fucking record. cryptic lyrics that read super-funtime-positive only on the surface, hopeless mirror-box solopsism, vaguely fascist calls to annihilation in the moment, not-so-vaguely homoerotic misogyny, digatally altered vagina-like WK mouths all over the insert art. it's more a subtle sort of psychological horror movie than the "party party" pep talk it pretends to be, and i guess i like that too. reminds me of BOC (touchstone for all music appreciation) and the flaming lips. creative, fearless and weird as hell. but you've probably gotta be something of a geek to really appreciate it.
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Thursday, 17 December 2009 07:24 (3 years ago) Permalink
point 1) and uh, point 1)...
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Thursday, 17 December 2009 12:16 (3 years ago) Permalink
It's a very good point.
― The reverse TARDIS of pasta (Niles Caulder), Thursday, 17 December 2009 12:32 (3 years ago) Permalink
What do y'all think about Nardwuar as bipolar hyperactive funtime with dark underbelly persona/artproject in comparison to AWK?
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 17 December 2009 17:30 (3 years ago) Permalink
It's a fair comparison I guess. They both have their uniforms. Both of them have formidable performance skills. They both share huge generosity of spirit and a fierce dedication to making sure everyone has a good time.Having seen them interact in person it's obvious that they are soulmates in certain ways. They are like brothers. Nardwuar seems more guarded because he comes off as really irritating at times (a trait that he has toned down in recent years, which I believe a natural result of being older).
For both, there is always a question of how much of their personality is "an act". To me, there's no mystery about Nardwuar. I've known the guy long enough to know that his regular personality is similar to what he presents on stage or on TV. It's a more obvious "punk" persona, with his addiction to obscure singles, all-ages shows and outmoded media, his challenging interview style and his songs which follow the fairly standard comedy punk tropes of light-hearted protest songs, homages to unusual people and of course self-conciously bizarre topics such as being addicted to cheese, having unusual rashes and that kind of thing.
Andrew WK's real personality is unknown but I suspect he is quite different - a more modern kind of guy. In interviews he can come across as earnest, focussed and very intelligent. It seems he is an astute businessman who knows how to create songs that will be appealing for ringtones, movie placements etc. Beyond that he really knows what he's doing with the branding of himself marketing his ideas, building his mystique (for example that piano album, touring with a string quartet), creating work for mass consumption (the TV shows and Japanese albums) while maintaining more underground connections (drumming with Boredoms, appearing with Fucked Up, doing split singles with obscure garage bands etc).
Andrew WK is perfectly natural and at-home appearing on TV. Nardwuar's forrays into mainstream media always come across like he's a gatecrasher.
So yeah. I don't really know where I'm going with this. They are alike but different.
― everything, Thursday, 17 December 2009 19:55 (3 years ago) Permalink
Okay, now to respond to contenderizer's epic post. You are listening to the US vinyl version which is made more bloated with the addition of the last five track. The regular version of the album has 18 songs of which three are really just breathing spaces between hurricanes. This version does not seem like too much to me, although at almost 50 minutes that's quite a long album. I'm not sure what the north American version will look like but I suspect that it will be 18 tracks long, with the bonus numbers moved over to the extra disc.
I agree that "Not Going To Bed" is an I Get Wet throwback, but not "Into The Clear" which is a very interesting song about personal transformation whose lyrics say a lot about whichever dark place AWK came from, and where he is trying to go. To me this song exemplifies the conflict between his confused personas and is one of the best songs on the album. It's also the song that is most similar to his Japanese stuff and was perhaps written with that in mind.
There is nothing else I can do but fight against all odds
Against the deadly soul that's living in my heart
I won't give up, I won't give in
I won't give out or fall apart
This is the mountain I must climb
This is my time
And all at once the shadows disappear
I move around the side and into the clear
That's pretty long distance from the party tunes on I Get Wet. From anyone else that might come across like a load of rock'n'roll feel-good redemption nonsense but from a guy with AWK's history it's an acknowlegement that the party persona is not necessarily natural and a recognition that the fun comes with a price, including a huge mental effort it takes be happy. As such I think this is a very important and honest song for AWK.
― everything, Thursday, 17 December 2009 20:58 (3 years ago) Permalink
what makes "into the clear" feel like i get wet is the spirit of triumphant, mountain-climbing maximalism (quite literally what the song's about in this case). that kind of thing's okay - it's arguably what AWK does best - but a little goes a long way in CCWBW's somewhat more musically varied context,and unfortunately the song just isn't that memorable.
yr right that i should distinguish between the album proper (ending w "the moving room") and its bonus tracks. the extra stuff fits in with & fleshes out the concept, so it's easy to blur the line, but the 18-track version of the album definitely feels more manageable. on that note, it's tempting to rope in the korean bonus tracks, too. though they're almost too literal about the MPD/insanity angle, "i want your face" and "this is my world" feel like necessary pieces of the puzzle, and the other two like interesting expansions. american tracks are less crucial wr2 the storyline, but i enjoy the more leftfield stuff like "i've got know fear" and "we will boogie".
it's a strange record, and though i like it, i don't know that it's a great one. AWK's primary "thing", his bigger-louder-moremoremore aesthetic - coupled with his steinman-esque ear for anthemic cheeze - is also his achilles heel. if the tunes & lyrics aren't up to snuff, it all starts to grate. in that spirit, i do wish the last 8 songs were a bit more fully developed. most of my favorites are in the opening 10 and the bonus tracks.
(fwiw, i think the lyrics to "into the clear" are neither feel-good redemption nonsense nor an important and honest statement. i read them as part of a disturbing fictional narrative about fragmented identity and the way different aspects of a broken personality move in and out of the foreground of consciousness. but that's just me, and one of the nice things about an album this sprawling & ambitious is that it can mean different things to different people.)
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Thursday, 17 December 2009 23:17 (3 years ago) Permalink
Isn't "clearing" cribbed from/referring to Scientology? (it feels as though both AWK and Scientology are fixated with eliminating barriers to expressing your "true" potential) I think he's a cool dude, but his "embrace everything to the max -- don't listen to those voices of doubt" message is kind of harmful and insidious. Sometimes those voices of doubt have sensible and principled advice!
― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 17 December 2009 23:28 (3 years ago) Permalink
okay, that's a real good point. part of the subtext/mythic "backstory" for CCWBW plays w tom & nichole in ways i don't quite understand. blurring the line between AWK & tom, implying that he slept with nichole, etc. which supports yr reading of "into the clear".
one read for the album is that it's about supressing aspects of yourself in order to become more marketable, and that the all the insanity & self-improvement stuff just supports that.
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Friday, 18 December 2009 00:17 (3 years ago) Permalink
and i take back my hedging about the album's greatness. it IS a great, and the 2nd half holds up just fine, but i'm kinda embarassed to admit how much i like it. which is lame, but so be it.
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Friday, 18 December 2009 00:18 (3 years ago) Permalink
Tom Cruise? I never really considered that aspect. Maybe that's what the final verse of "When I'm High" is about. The scientology connection has certainly crossed my mind. But only because of that one word. He's obviously no scientologist. I think the strongest theme is about his own mental struggles and the ways he's dealt with stuff in his own life (often described as "nightmares" or "shadows"). It's given an extra dimension because he's embraced this motivational role and so his stories are often presented in that context. It can be confusing as to who he's addressing or singing about, or who's voice he's speaking with. I guess that helps listeners apply them to their own experiences, but it sure makes it difficult to puzzle out AWK's personal story.
― everything, Friday, 18 December 2009 01:05 (3 years ago) Permalink
The recurring theme of cloth or fabric being removed or ripped to reveal light, clear sky or whatever - I think that's a reference to visualization techniques to do with self-empowerment.
― everything, Friday, 18 December 2009 01:17 (3 years ago) Permalink
I think the strongest theme is about his own mental struggles and the ways he's dealt with stuff in his own life (often described as "nightmares" or "shadows"). It's given an extra dimension because he's embraced this motivational role and so his stories are often presented in that context. It can be confusing as to who he's addressing or singing about, or who's voice he's speaking with. I guess that helps listeners apply them to their own experiences, but it sure makes it difficult to puzzle out AWK's personal story.
― everything, Thursday, December 17, 2009 5:05 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark
it's kinda weird to me that you read this as a personal story (not that i think yr wrong to do so, mind). the whole thing, including most of AWK's non-musical public presentation, seems like performance art to me. he clearly works hard to create doubt abt his sanity, his identity, his intentions, dark forces pulling the strings, etc - cryptic talk of nightmares & shadows being part of that. all of which tends to depersonalize the result. i like it, but more as a mysterious form of conceptual media play than as an earnest statement of self.
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Friday, 18 December 2009 01:23 (3 years ago) Permalink
x-post
the recurring theme you mention is very hard to pin down, though obviously present. sometimes it expresses itself as a simple clarity of mind & intention, related to self-improvement. but at other times ("the moving room", parts of "into the clear"), it seems to concern perception as a form of becoming, as though to see is to be, or to make things exist. at the same time, there's a sense that this becoming is conditional, and not really controllable - that one's existence is dependent somehow on a kind of seeing that arrives from outside oneself ("hand on the place").
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Friday, 18 December 2009 01:36 (3 years ago) Permalink