Tell me about: Ian Svenonius

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.

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/ian-svenonius-i-have-been-completely-inappropriate-to-women/

Ian S has now deleted referenced Instagram post he made re being “completely inappropriate to women”. On twitter some are critical of “apology “ for just being written in same over the top manner as his writing on capitalism and communism, and thus not being sincere or really taking responsibility.

Oh, the above is on the “ me too” thread as well

ironic hipster in looking and acting like moron shocker
― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, June 25, 2004 3:31 AM (sixteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Supernatural Strategies is a fun read, Nation of Ulysses was a great band, and the Make Up was a pretty good band too. But this guy's schtick wears thin after a while and he seems way too old to be doing it now somehow.

from the way he writes, i was half expecting his apology to end with the announcement of a new album

The Make Up are one of my favourite bands ever and I really do not have the energy to mentally deal with this right now.

This is off-topic, but a few years ago I looked up someone mentioned in this thread (not Svenonius, another musician he once played with) - I had come across some of this guy's old messages in a Royal Trux email group, and was curious what he was up to. As far as I could tell from his Twitter feed, he was living in (South) Korea, and relentlessly tweeting pro–North Korea (and anti–U.S./Western) rapid-response content/propaganda/whatever. Like, people joke about "tankies," but this guy was apparently so devoted to NK and its leadership that he had fervently dedicated himself to the cause. It was pretty bizarre and unsettling... especially because his old messages were so mild-mannered.

Ned Raggett?

heavens!

;-)

posting live from the Irvine/Costa Mesa DMZ

I'm of two minds about the Svenonius post. On the one hand, it could be good a sign of sincerity that he admitted to being "completely inappropriate to women" without being specifically prompted by an accusation. But there's a more cynical interpretation, which is that this is just preemptive damage control, so that if someone does accuse him of something he can deny it while pointing to this statement as a mark of his credibility. I'm a fan of his, so I really hope it's the first one.

xp not to get caught in a sidebar but weirdly, i used to be friends with a US musician, extremely mild mannered hippie folk guy, who also moved to South Korea and got super into posting & tweeting violent pro-North Korea stuff. no way its the same guy but... wtf

Is it possible their accounts are hacked?

In my case, I scrolled back and checked out replies, etc. (b/c I was so shook by the feed's content), and did find something fairly recent relating to indie music or a record store; so it seemed to check out. But of course I can't be totally positive it was the same guy.

Followed him on IG but he was always posting photos of his Escape-ism collaborator (I think?) Alexandra Cabral that were off and creepy somehow.

yeah i unfollowed him bc of that - definitely a gross weird vibe to a lot of that.

(xp my north korea guy def not hacked because i used to get into arguments with him on facebook until i blocked him. he would be talking about how the days of us decadent western dogs were numbered, and i'd call him out for his, shall we say, less-than-revolutionary lifestyle when i knew him stateside.)

Followed him on IG but he was always posting photos of his Escape-ism collaborator (I think?) Alexandra Cabral that were off and creepy somehow.

― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Tuesday, July 28, 2020 1:05 PM

That's his girlfriend. (Not sure whether that'll make it more or less creepy.)

less, since she could presumably object to them if she had a problem with it