Game Theory / The Loud Family

interesting eulogy by a harvard poetry professor

http://www.salon.com/2013/04/19/game_theory_pure_pop_for_nerd_people_the_greatest_unknown_80s_band/

“Yes is one of those bands that are really good,” Miller told one fanzine, “and one day it became effective culture to hold a gun to people’s heads and say, ‘You can’t like them, you have to like punk because it’s unpretentious.’ And the world bowed down; I bowed down, to a limited extent.”

Some interesting Miller/Game Theory stuff in this Donnette Thayer q&a from '97. (Also interesting stuff in here for Church fans.) She seems as awesome as I would hope.

http://www.shadowcabinet.net/archive/dthayer/questions/dtself.htm

What's your favourite Game Theory album & song?

Favorite Album: Lolita Nation, favorite song: all of Lolita Nation. I played Lolita Nation for Steve shortly after it came out, and he liked it very much. He complained about how he would never be able to put out a sprawling record like that, much as he would have liked to. He said that his project was being restricted by Greg Ladanyi to the guitar song format, and he had to stick with archetypal pop songs like “Under the Milky Way” on his unassuming little record “Starfish”. Poor Steve. (To be fair, Steve also credited Greg Ladanyi at that time with having an amazing amount of music savvy, and had a sense that the work they were doing on Starfish would take him for quite a ride.)

Who or what is your greatest inspiration with regards to songwriting?

Scott Miller taught me how to write music that holds up in court (so to speak). Because of his direction, I don’t write lyrics that I can’t publish on their own, hoping that the music will carry them. Steve taught me how to groove; his objection to Game Theory was that the minute we caught a groove, we would be off on something else (and indeed most Game Theory songs had about sixty zillion chords, forty bridges and two hundred different verses). Grooving is hard for me. I like billions of chords, it makes me feel safe and accomplished, and in a way that creates a kind of a groove/nongroove Zen thing. But my main influences have always been my muses. I’ve given it some thought and have developed a list of methods of approaching your muse:

Thanks for nice words about the piece, Ned.

It was well worth the praise. Also why do I keep forgetting that's you!

That Salon piece is really interesting, and full of good insight and analysis. But I also wish it had been written by a really good journalist instead of a Harvard poetry professor, because it would have been half as long and a quarter as verbose.

So the journalist's word-to-verbosity ratio would have been higher? In its defense (and, with some disclosure, Steve's a friend, and former fellow college dj—our joint first move on getting access to our station's collection was to run for the Alternate Learning LP, which we'd never been able to hear before, this being 1992), the piece was written to another purpose. Doesn't quite work as a "eulogy"—and was never intended to—since it's almost as much about Steve as about Game Theory, and originally appeared in an academic journal. Not therefore surprising that it feels mis-focused for a piece seemingly in reaction to Scott Miller's death. Probably should have been adapted to its new purpose, then given a new ending. But Salon likely just leapt for the best thing out there.

someone's touchy, but still, that was a pretty interesting non-eulogy. the awkwardness of it sort of performs game theory/loud family's nervy/brainy appeal

xpost No, it was a good piece. I enjoyed it. And I knew it was written predeath. But I'm a journalist. I'm used to things being tighter and sharper. A good journalist might have done that, and it's a reasonable thing to say about its publication in Salon. But a good journalist wouldn't be able to teach poetry. I'm not calling your friend's worth into question.

Also, by ilx standards that's barely even criticism of a piece of writing!

Touchy? For pointing out the piece was written to ends other than journalism, and for suggesting that Salon might have handled that problem better? It probably wouldn't have made for a great Salon piece before Scott Miller's death, and it certainly feels a little odd just after, though yes, the awkwardness is performative.

If anything, I was agreeing that the piece was a little unwieldy and not a great fit for its current use.

Where did I ever suggest anyone was calling Steve's worth into question?

OK. No problem.

not touchy at all!

Well wow, Game Theory reissues finally on the way.

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

Very cool. Everything but the trash bag.... Would love to have seen Alternate Learning stand on its own, though, not as bonus downloads (and you can't quite tell if all the ALRN material will be included).

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too bad it happens only after Miller's death

This is great news. I've still never heard 'Plants & Birds & Rocks & Things' or any Game Theory albums.

nostormo otm. Still p stoked.

Plants & Birds is my favorite, even more than Lolita Nation.

Actually I think mine is Interbabe Concern followed by Big Shot Chronicles, though there's a lot I haven't heard

So excited for this! I've been reading the fawning praise for both bands for ages, it'll be nice to actually buy an album of theirs for once!

I used to have this Scott song that I loved and the title referenced a high school, I think, or has the word "High" in it (the title), and I have not been able to track it down despite several attempts over the years. Ring a bell to anyone? I think it was just Scott solo acoustic, not sure it if had GT or LF provenance, but I think it's pretty early Scott.

Do you mean "Where they Go Back to School but Still Get Depressed?" It's mostly Scott, a guitar and some ominous background noise. Not early, though; it's from Loud Family's Interbabe Concern.

Wonder what led them to present the Alternate Learning material this way—it really could have stood on its own.... Though after so many years of its seeming impossible to have any reissues at all, maybe it's churlish to quibble?

1. SOMETHING TO SHOW
2. TIN SCARECROW
3. WHITE BLUES
4. DATE WITH AN ANGEL
5. MARY MAGDALENE
6. THE YOUNG DRUG
7. BAD YEAR AT UCLA
8. ALL I WANT IS EVERYTHING
9. STUPID HEART
10. SLEEPING THROUGH HEAVEN
11. IT GIVES ME CHILLS
12. THE GIRLS ARE READY TO GO

Bonus Tracks:
13. ANOTHER WASTED AFTERNOON – Alternate Learning
14. WHAT’S THE MATTER – Alternate Learning
15. SCOTT MILLER TESTING LABORATORIES: RECORD TEST #1 – Scott Miller and Jozef Becker
16. IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT – Scott Miller
17. BAD YEAR AT UCLA (Reprise)
18. SHE’S A WOMAN OF THE WORLD – Scott Miller
19. SCOTT MILLER TESTING LABORATORIES: RECORD TEST #2 – Scott Miller and Jozef Becker
20. BEACH STATE ROCKING – Alternate Learning
21. ALIENS IN OUR MIDST
22. UNTITLED PIANO PIECE – Scott Miller
23. THE NEW YOU – Alternate Learning
24. SCOTT MILLER TESTING LABORATORIES: RECORD TEST #3 – Scott Miller and Jozef Becker
25. BAD YEAR AT UCLA (Live)
26. SCOTT MILLER TESTING LABORATORIES: RECORD TEST #4 – Scott Miller and Jozef Becker
27. MARY MAGDALENE (Live)

So furious with myself that when I did a big CD cull a couple of years ago I got rid of ALL the Game Theory albums.

http://www.avclub.com/article/game-theorys-80s-college-rock-masterpiece-finally--233837

There's a Kickstarter going to help complete/fund the new Game Theory record that Scott was working on at the time of his death. I'll be giving what I can.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bjwest/supercalifragile-by-scott-millers-game-theory

Just got this notice:

Thanks to an extremely generous backer, we are now at 110% funding! There's no longer any question of this album being made. We still have more than a month before the clock runs out though, so there's still plenty of time for people to get in on pre-roders! Keep spreading the word!

To thank everyone for their amazing support, here's a sneak peak of the album, a video shot during the recording session at Abbey Road. Please enjoy "I Still Dream of Getting Back to Paris."
https://vimeo.com/166671786

Do keep in mind that this is a preliminary mix, the version on the album will be different after Mitch Easter works his magic on it!

not really a fan of anton barbeau but otherwise that's pretty great

I was at Austin Psych Fest 2013 and Rain Parade was the last band playing that night. Afterward I got talking with their drummer, super nice guy named Gil. "Hey, what other bands have you played in?" "Game Theory"

*uncomfortable sound effects*

Scott Miller had just taken his own life just the week before and Gil said that playing with RP was just barely keeping his mind off things. We ended up talking for a bit - death, getting older, surviving, etc. Late night bar existentialism. Never said a thing about cancer. RIP

Wait, Gil Ray died? :O

Posted on http://www.loudfamily.com

Duet with Aimee Mann from upcoming posthumous album:

http://read.tidal.com/article/listen-to-game-theorys-first-song-in-20-years-featuring-aimee-man

And yeah, I choked up a bit hearing Scott's voice for the first time on a new track since his passing.

anyone heard the record? it's pretty wonderful so far

https://gametheory1.bandcamp.com/releases

heart breaking. also yes, Gil died a few months ago.

Complete show! (thirty years ago yesterday)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gjRk8ZRmXQ

Was it a double bill with Blake Babies?

Seems like he posted a bunch of videos with that same date on them.

Noticing some similarity in the singing to Alex Chilton right now

D'oh!
/JackieHarvey

listening to Lolita Nation I'm struck with the thought that these guys were far too smart for their own good

they also sound at least 5 years ahead of their time

i approve

Check out the first Loud Family album, Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things. It's even better.

will do at some point, need to get my head around this first!

'chardonnay' is a joy. there's an 8-minute version that didn't make the album? pity

The longer “Chardonnay” is on the LN reissue that came out a few years back.

I nom’d a couple of LN tracks (along with one from the first Loud Family album) in the sub-2 min songs poll, so if you’re inclined to vote...

yeah your nominations are how i found out about them!

i'll def vote for at least one of them

Yay!

Plants and Birds is my favorite of all of these albums. Just top notch.

Interbabe Concern is my favorite, you might get some mileage out of that too, imago

Seconding the Interbabe Concern recommendation, that’s my favorite too