haha i was about to say the same thing
― suggest ban the subbest man (some dude), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 00:38 (twelve years ago) link
When I read "white dude in old man hat" I thought of Scatman John. Why?
― Leopard on the Cheetos Bag (MintIce), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 00:43 (twelve years ago) link
this guy is super popular around here. and he lives around here. and i like him better cuz he kinda reminds me of some blueeyed country rock soul 70's dude that i would like. but man it is a serious chord he hits in sensitive subaru white folks. he hits them where they live. a whole episode of parenthood - my fave white people problems show big time - had a major ray lamontagne sub-plot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LWpw3CMCEg
― scott seward, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 00:47 (twelve years ago) link
but the hat dudes in general - ugh - it seems like such a strange voice to emulate. but there really are a ton of these guys with that same voice/style. it always strikes me as really cloying and creepycrawly and just tooclose in general. but, hell, i'm sure they all get laid a lot, so maybe i'm just jealous.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 00:49 (twelve years ago) link
ray lamontagne is weirdly huge without seeming very famous. he's doing an episode of vh1 storytellers!
― suggest ban the subbest man (some dude), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 00:51 (twelve years ago) link
my wife has at least one of his albums but the only song of his i know is the one that was in a cute commercial with a dog and was i think sung by the super dorky american idol contestant with the curly hair and glasses a few years ago
― suggest ban the subbest man (some dude), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 00:52 (twelve years ago) link
threads like this make me wish i had the teevee, cuz i'm missing out on so much ;_;
― one dis leads to another (ian), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 00:54 (twelve years ago) link
okay, so dave matthews + john mayer, i guess. they are both going to hell. is there someone i'm missing?
― scott seward, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 00:57 (twelve years ago) link
jack johnson!!! he is like number-one offender.
― ban drake (the rapper) (max), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:28 (twelve years ago) link
well bruno mars too obviously, but that's kind of a given
― chilli, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:30 (twelve years ago) link
norah jones
― balls, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:32 (twelve years ago) link
is there an inverse of this, an old white dude in a young man's hat voice
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:35 (twelve years ago) link
what other kind of white age/hat voice permutations are there I am interested in songs rather than pictures but both will prob make me happy
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:36 (twelve years ago) link
not quite there but i feel somehow in the bloodline: mick hucknall
― balls, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:38 (twelve years ago) link
I like this dude's music but think he prob fits this voice?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdTL8Lmle3A
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:41 (twelve years ago) link
HAHAHAH
― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:45 (twelve years ago) link
that's not that bad. more of an indiequirky thing. the dude has probably read books or something.
― scott seward, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:46 (twelve years ago) link
great name too. is that his actual name or did he change it for maximum farmer hat?
― scott seward, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:47 (twelve years ago) link
dunno, he did strings for cat power or something, one of my friends from tennessee used to crash on his couch or he crashed on my friends couch but whatever thee were enough crashing and couch combinations for my friend to not shut up about this dude, I still listen to his albums once in a while
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:51 (twelve years ago) link
people love this dude around here. i don't think i'd actually ever heard him till i moved here. they have a radio station here called The River and they love all this rusticana stuff. he's an older dude though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm74Fi5ezqQ&feature=related
― scott seward, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:52 (twelve years ago) link
kinda sounds like not psychopathic gira
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:53 (twelve years ago) link
"the old man hat voice" -- thank you for this, I have been trying to come up with a way to describe it
― hated old moniker, too tired to think of a clever new one (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 01:54 (twelve years ago) link
oh sorry, I guess that's supposed to be read as the "white dude in the old man hat voice"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RxYhue726Q
this guy, this guy
― every time you touch me (I get hives) (unregistered), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:12 (twelve years ago) link
I wouldn't want to lump Cat Stevens in with these guys, but isn't he partly to blame for this aesthetic?
― every time you touch me (I get hives) (unregistered), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:14 (twelve years ago) link
I feel like Underrated Aerosmith must have opinions on Greg Brown. He's an Iowa dude, IIRC.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:15 (twelve years ago) link
chicken fried verson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yp40F93bw8&feature=player_embedded#at=19
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:17 (twelve years ago) link
version
I blame that fucking asshat minstrel G Love.
― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:21 (twelve years ago) link
slightly off-topic, but i was struck earlier by how eddie's thing here actually sounds like some 70's loner-folk thing. he kinda nails it. who knew?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3SxCph5I1Q
― scott seward, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:26 (twelve years ago) link
but you know i'm not letting eddie off the hook. he has some explaining to do in front of his maker when he shuffles off this mortal coil. this right here is a perfect storm of something something:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClQvD99aItg
― scott seward, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:31 (twelve years ago) link
m ward
― You're runnin' with the (Cheetah), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:46 (twelve years ago) link
Jerry Reed!
(j/k)
― every time you touch me (I get hives) (unregistered), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:48 (twelve years ago) link
but seriously, Jerry Reed.
― every time you touch me (I get hives) (unregistered), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:49 (twelve years ago) link
sean hayes was a cool guy when I met him playing around SF years ago. he had a song called alabama chicken with jolie holland (or at least, he did it with her when I saw him).
― akm, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:51 (twelve years ago) link
someone should make like an adam sandler-esque comedy about a smooth sean hayes type who gets hit in the throat with a golf ball or something and suddenly he always sings like a real weird old hat man like dock boggs
or even daniel johnston or that weird high-pitched goon from canned heat
― brio, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 02:59 (twelve years ago) link
i can't even really hear his voice in my head but isn't this jason mraz? i'm too scared to youtube him.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 04:48 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=9Ts&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1280&bih=647&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=jason+mraz+old+man+hat&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 04:51 (twelve years ago) link
Oh wait though where DOES M Ward fit into this? Is he too pitchfork indie to be lumped in with the "interesting" bro from the frat that plays guitar, which is basically the fanbase for the subject of this thread, besides the girls that are the only reason any of these guys started being musicians to get.
― Wacky Way Lounge (Evan), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:00 (twelve years ago) link
Confusing sentence, sorry. I'm saying the fan-base and the musicians are the same people basically. It's late, OK?
― Wacky Way Lounge (Evan), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:12 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFbNESAySRMmarc broussard
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:24 (twelve years ago) link
first thing i thought of was ben harper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYMYCUVuDYg
― jaxon, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:24 (twelve years ago) link
i would also like white women to stop trying to sing like billie holiday (wearing an old lady hat)
― jaxon, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:25 (twelve years ago) link
is there an inverse of this, an old white dude in a young man's hat voice― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Monday, May 16, 2011 10:35 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Monday, May 16, 2011 10:35 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
either me or my new OS are doing something wrong here.
soul singer in jughead hate youtubeᎾᏍᎩ 5,340 ᏂᏚᎵᏍᏔᏅ ( 0.30 ᎢᏯᏎᏢᏊ)
ᎾᏍᎩ 5,340 ᏂᏚᎵᏍᏔᏅ ( 0.30 ᎢᏯᏎᏢᏊ)
― immapresidentbitch (Zachary Taylor), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:30 (twelve years ago) link
this stuff is the worst but m ward shouldn't be mentioned as yes, he's too p4kian.
― popular gay automobile (a hoy hoy), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:44 (twelve years ago) link
did Eagle Eye Cherry 'break' in the US back when?
he was the first thing I thought of re the thread title
― puppetry of the pulis (DJ Mencap), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 06:33 (twelve years ago) link
Yes "Save Tonight" was a top 5 hit.
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 06:37 (twelve years ago) link
I think Ben Harper wins this.
― billstevejim, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 06:41 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk3sJmept3k
Hats across the water
― taking ilxers out with a flurry of butthurt (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 07:45 (twelve years ago) link
I blame Mississippi Gary
― Kim, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 13:18 (twelve years ago) link
i can't even remember what nelly furtado sounds like. feel like mentioning beth orton but she enunciated pretty clearly.
― scott seward, Friday, 16 December 2016 15:48 (seven years ago) link
but also amy winehouse. she was a big influence on amateurs. and adele obviously.
― scott seward, Friday, 16 December 2016 15:50 (seven years ago) link
especially if you watch amy doing acoustic stuff on youtube.
― scott seward, Friday, 16 December 2016 15:52 (seven years ago) link
hey this is a good thread
― marcos, Friday, 16 December 2016 15:57 (seven years ago) link
scott you mentioned a while back itt "the river" in western MA, it's like ground zero for this kind of stuff. "featureless" "ahistorical" "tasteful" very accurate. part of this intersects very neatly w/ "craftsmanship consumerism artisanal" craft beer gastropub single origin coffee
― marcos, Friday, 16 December 2016 15:58 (seven years ago) link
that pokey lafarge thing is bad, but people love this shit. americana. i think i would be quite okay w/ a band like that at our local farmers market, it would be fun and theyd be wearing costumes like that but this shit is EXTREMELY popular and i can't hang with that. i dont really know much about mumford and sons but bland white folk-based pop is very popular and everyone recommends them as like "hey you like music a lot dont you, these guys are really good... this woman can really sing ... this guy is a really good songwriter"
― marcos, Friday, 16 December 2016 16:01 (seven years ago) link
Phil - see here for another take:
birth of the flattened cool: the origins of the indie voice?
― sleeve, Friday, 16 December 2016 16:12 (seven years ago) link
this woman can really sing ...
i like saying this to people and then putting on lene lovich
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 16 December 2016 16:19 (seven years ago) link
― marcos, Friday, December 16, 2016 10:58 AM (twenty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Indeed the vocal style seems employed in a way that reminds me of the stuff at Pier 1 they force to look "rustic" if that makes any sense.
― Evan, Friday, 16 December 2016 16:36 (seven years ago) link
Sometimes I go into a youtube hole of bland, competent Americana and I feel sort of overwhelmed by how much otherwise not that interesting "talent" and "craftsmanship" there is out there, like there's an entire musical world that's the rough equivalent of the movie Cold Mountain.
― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Friday, 16 December 2016 16:38 (seven years ago) link
Like there are just so many people doing this sub-Gillian Welch schtick that are objectively *good*, like if they were a regular at your local coffee spot you'd think "This isn't my kind of music but damn, this person could be big." And most of them are b-listers, maybe getting a little play on FUV, a few second tent spots at festivals, maybe never to be heard from again in five years.
― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Friday, 16 December 2016 16:41 (seven years ago) link
the vocal style is as if someone described the word "lilting" and then the vocals are performed without lilt
― mh 😏, Friday, 16 December 2016 16:50 (seven years ago) link
Watching the launch concert for the Ken Burns Country doc on PBS rn, and this Ketch Secor guy's Old Man Hat Power is off the charts!
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 9 September 2019 00:16 (four years ago) link
http://www.tedxnashville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ketch-Secor-2-of-28-1160x700.jpg
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 9 September 2019 00:18 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3AHqcinzZ4
― Maresn3st, Monday, 28 December 2020 00:14 (three years ago) link
Buskers should be executed. Also if you gave that dude a belt he wouldn't use it for his pants.
― assert (MatthewK), Monday, 28 December 2020 01:10 (three years ago) link
he's wearing a belt!
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Monday, 28 December 2020 01:43 (three years ago) link
oops
― assert (MatthewK), Monday, 28 December 2020 02:18 (three years ago) link
Should be wearing suspenders instead.
― "what are you DOING to fleetwood mac??" (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 28 December 2020 02:34 (three years ago) link
sorry to say but the name of the man responsible for that is Tom Waits
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 28 December 2020 03:04 (three years ago) link
I always forget what those rectangular box drum thingies are called but nothing good ever happens when they're around
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 28 December 2020 03:06 (three years ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CajónI've seen them used effectively and with joy but there's definitely a strong wook contingent
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Monday, 28 December 2020 03:18 (three years ago) link
Very important in Afro-Peruvian music. Tempted to FP you two.
― Dog Heavy Manners (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 28 December 2020 04:14 (three years ago) link
you got a lotta cajones to do that
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 28 December 2020 04:27 (three years ago) link
very important in lots of music! but often awkwardly co-opted by us/uk artists unsurprisingly
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Monday, 28 December 2020 04:36 (three years ago) link
waits didn't invent this stuff or necessarily influence most it but he's important for combining so many of the quite different white guy hat styles that have been alluded to here. he lacks some of the soul and post-grunge elements that are important in some versions
the smoother coffeeshop/youtube style seems like the offspring of one strain of this stuff (the boho retro jazz/blues thing) and indie voice
― Left, Monday, 28 December 2020 14:38 (three years ago) link
^ worst comment section ever?
― budo jeru, Monday, 28 December 2020 15:18 (three years ago) link
Does this style of singing draw more on 70s beatnik Waits, or post-1980 hobo-in-the-gutter Waits?
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 28 December 2020 15:29 (three years ago) link
yes
― Left, Monday, 28 December 2020 17:23 (three years ago) link
ha. great thread btw. couple thoughts:
when did top 40 music become inundated with ukuleles and whistling? has that trend ever subsided? it’s almost as though there was — off on the sidelines, in car commercials and corporate coffeeshop playlists — a cynical approximation of "indie" music that inadvertently caught on, and then became a dominant mode of music production.
is there anything more embarrassing than the cloying faux-sincerity of the bon iver guy? what is it exactly about his delivery that seems to suggest we should listen in quiet reverence to his Deep Lyrics? just yuck
― budo jeru, Monday, 28 December 2020 17:29 (three years ago) link
I had never heard that guy until the Taylor Swift duets (which I think are great)... I tried checking out his own music, and it’s sort of like abstract indie r&b? Idk
― Qui-Gon's Noble End (morrisp), Monday, 28 December 2020 17:30 (three years ago) link
i like budo jeru's "off on the sidelines" thing, like this stuff was a lab experiment that was never meant to escape its carefully regulated environment, and has no natural predators in the wild. somehow this sonic palette became widely accepted as a means of conveying sincerity, creativity, wistfulness, old pain, new hope, individuality.... blah!!!
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 28 December 2020 17:46 (three years ago) link
I see this person has not been honoured in this thread:https://www.neweracap.co.uk/explore/new-era-music/ragnbone-man/(no old man hat tho, he’s got a young man cap to sell you)
― obsessed with quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Monday, 28 December 2020 18:20 (three years ago) link
for USxors: this has 1.2 billion views and counting:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3wKzyIN1yk
― obsessed with quality over quantity or the need to produce tracks (breastcrawl), Monday, 28 December 2020 18:23 (three years ago) link
As a guide to that track's bizarre reach and influence, my old man is in a 'rock' choir (he's 76 and the youngest by a distance) and they do a cover of Human.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Monday, 28 December 2020 18:30 (three years ago) link
was it hstencil who suggested an interesting answer to this question: kermit?
― ffolkes (map), Monday, 28 December 2020 18:32 (three years ago) link
Does Mac Miller (RIP) fit this category? I listened to his 2020 album out of curiosity, thinking he was some kind of rapper; but I guess either I had him confused with someone else, or else at some point he reinvented himself on the model of Sublime's "What I Got"
― handsome boy modelling software (bernard snowy), Monday, 28 December 2020 19:10 (three years ago) link
(see the song "Surf" for a most egregious example of what I mean)
I don't actually hate it, musicwise; I just find the vocal affectations really distracting.
― handsome boy modelling software (bernard snowy), Monday, 28 December 2020 19:17 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKguzLCV2NE
― budo jeru, Sunday, 24 January 2021 15:01 (three years ago) link
serious answerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA1VQxaRQOI
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 24 January 2021 15:09 (three years ago) link
lord buckley, for the record.
Excellent answer
― Next Time Might Be Hammer Time (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 24 January 2021 16:02 (three years ago) link
I want the name of the one person responsible for the white instagram lady with the ukulele chunk-a-chunk sound
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Saturday, 5 February 2022 17:59 (two years ago) link
Lol
― Tapioca Tumbril (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 5 February 2022 18:50 (two years ago) link
Nataly Dawn
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 5 February 2022 21:33 (two years ago) link
Was gonna suggest Shirley Temple
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/05/c8/e7/05c8e7735dafa19741c454aabbeecaf9.jpg
― Josefa, Saturday, 5 February 2022 21:55 (two years ago) link