Comment Archives: stories: Music
Re: “Live”
@Destiny - The box set sells for more then 100 bucks constantly on e-bay, so if you look at it that way its a steel (AKA defiantly worth it on a dollar per dollar basis since you like to break down things in this way). Also a vinyl has been "in" for the last 15 or so years again, just a heads up for your knowledge base. The money is relative, you sound kind of cheep but thats ok, to each their own. I cant even imagine trying to enjoy any concert while thinking how much I have paid per minute and if its a good deal.. What a way to really waste my night. You pay for a show if its worth it, it should not matter how long the band plays or if they contort to all your standards. This should not even be an excess since you can find out how long any show is on the net now , set lists are posted daily so you can reference that and figure out "exactly" what you are paying for and take the element of surprise out of the equation. The band runs the show but alas everyone is a critic. I hope I never have friends with the kind of standards that you have, bleh.
Re: “Live”
This was the first article I've read in the Weekly in quite some time. I'm glad to say I haven't missed anything. Not only does this article structure its asinine opinion around completely false information, it paints one of the most gifted songwriters of the generation in an absoulutely unnecessarily negative light. God, to let such filth be published in your magazine is inexcusable. I don't even blame the writer; shame on you Tucson Weekly.
Re: “Live”
Your article is rediculous. I can't imagine what a miserable person you must be to have had that experience at Jeff Mangum last Friday night. I feel sorry for you.
Re: “Live”
@ALL: This essay is a damn good exploration of who Jeff Mangum is as a human being, I think you will understand his motives better after you read it. This is what music means to him, I think.
******
True, that Jeff Mangum is touring again may feel like a risk--but it is the best kind of risk an artist can take. He's been compared to JD Salinger, who's career was defined by a similiar myth, but frankly all this tour proves is that Jeff has 10 times JD's guts. Judging from his interviews and statements he has made about his own creativity, his attitude has always been to value AUTHENTICITY in his art above all else, and that is why his performances have inspired authentic awe in those who have been lucky enough to hear him sing. What Jeff will choose to do next is still anyone's guess, but nothing his heart allows him to do can possibly damage his myth or his legacy. His return to the stage might be the best artistic risk he has ever taken. Jeff has been doing, truly, a most beautiful thing. All he has to do is continue to follow his heart.
*****
From: http://www.neutralmilkhotel.org/faq.htm
when i wrote aeroplane, i spent 90 percent of my time screaming nonsence
into my little tape recorder, or chopping up sounds with my sound blender, or
just making noise, and 10 percent of my time writing songs. it was very liberating,
because i never thought about what i was doing, and a week before we went to record i didnt even think we had a half finished album. but i didnt care. i figured if we went the studio,and only recorded one finished song, then that would be fine. creating just one minute ofsomething inspiring is an incredibly fun thing to do. so next time you hear that neutral milkis recording, dont get your hopes up. it may only be one minute of music.
major organ was just a bunch of friends putting music together for fun. it was a project
that changed hands at least a dozen times, and most of the time you didnt even know who was working on it,and you never knew where it would go. released mostly to inspire other dreamers and home recorders to do the same with there friends. we weren't trying to create a masterpiece. trying to do anything is the of death of creativity, and if we can encourage people to not try, but to just do, then we have accomplished our goal.
*****
"I think what Elephant 6 meant for us is very simple: there's something pure and infinite in you, that wants to come out of you, and can come out of no other person on the planet. That's as real and important as the fact you're alive. We were able, at a really young age, to somehow protect each other so we could feel that. The world at large, careerism, money, magazines, your parents, the people at the rock club in your town, other kids, nothing is going to gvie you that message, necessarily. In fact, most things are going to lead you away from it, sadly, because humanity is really confused at the moment. But you wouldn't exist if the universe didn't need you. And any time I encounter something beautiful that came out of a human somewhere, that's them, that's their soul. That's just pure, whatever its physicality is, if the person can play piano, if they can't play piano, if they're tone deaf, whatever it is, if it's pure, it hits you like a sledgehammer. It fills up your own soul, it makes you want to cry, it makes you glad you're alive, it lets *you* come out of *you*. And that's what we need: we desperately need *you*."
--Julian Koster, circa 2005, from the book about the making of Aeroplane. Julian has appeared with Jeff on many of the recent tour dates.
*****
Comments made during his Fall tour, From: http://blog.beatgoeson.com/2011/08/15/mang…
JM: Anybody have any questions? Not that I have any answers, but . . .
Fan: Will there be a new album?
JM: I don’t have any fucking idea. I didn’t think I’d be doing this.
Fan: We’re glad you are.
JM: I’m glad I am too. I think it’s good for me, I dunno . . .
Fan: Have you been writing new songs?
JM: I go through periods of writing. I mean, if something came out of my heart naturally I’d put it out, but I’m not gonna make another record because of . . . whatever . . . all the other bullshit.
[applause]
*****
Comments on his creative process in a 2002 interview: http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/5…
Pitchfork: Is this reframing process something you use in your songwriting in general? Do the songs come out of fragments?
Jeff: Yeah, usually I create tunes that are fragmented. I think the biggest obstacle for people with their creativity is that they feel they have to sit down and create this finished, polished product. Especially nowadays, it's so easy to have a library of two thousand CDs, books and records. So many things. We're used to having all of these finished works of art in our life that seem to arise out of nothing. I think that so much of the creative process is a fragmentary one, and then it's about just allowing your intuition to put it together for you. It's funny how you create something and you think you're going in a million different directions, and then the thing you end up with is the thing that you wanted to create your whole life, but you're just as surprised by it as anybody else.
*****
The only thing the myth has done for Aeroplane is, perhaps, given the album more exposure. But time and time again, the album justifies its own stature in the ears of a new listener. When I saw Jeff perform I brought a close friend who knew nothing of the songs and nothing of the myth. After the performance my friend was glowing, saying it was one of the most amazing concerts she has ever been to. Many in the audience knew all of the lyrics by heart, even though most were probably in preschool when Aeroplane was first released. Such a following is not gained through luck alone--Jeff is a rare talent, and I hope the myth of Aeroplane does not stop him from taking the next great risk and daring new material.
report
Re: “Live”
As a woman who benefits from the generosity of discreet gentlemen or what some people call "johns," I take issue with the last paragraph. Though there is some entertainment that justifiably comes at a high price, I find the selling of an overpriced boxset (in this digital age of all times) and a concert ticket price that approaches 1 dollar a minute, well below my and my colleagues standards. Frankly, I'm offended by the comparison.
Re: “Live”
This review only really makes sense if you are *not* a Jeff Magnum fan and went to this show. If you are a fan I can not understand how you feel like you were overcharged or whatever trite complaint you are trying to file through your pseudo-journalism above. I used to be a big neutral milk hotel fan like many others and thought this was an amazing show. All us fans thought we would never see Jeff play live ever again so the fact that he ever played at all is amazing. Yes, it was a short set but so are most NMH songs and albums. There are really only 2 full length albums both being fairly short (50 mins and 38 mins) . Jeff played nearly all of the more popular album (minus 2 songs) and half of his first album, nearly 75% of all released songs.
Really, what more could you want? This was a intimate evening with Jeff Mangum and anyone could have figured this out by reading other reviews of the tour (and maybe the fact that the show was billed as "Jeff Mangum" and not "Neutral Milk Hotel") I went with a few fans , we are all in out early 30's and we all thought that it might be a rip-off and who knows what we would think all these years after we ate up neutral milk hotel. We all came to the same conclusion: The show was amazing, his voice has held up amazingly and he was full of love and was having a good time. We were plesently surprised and all walked away having a great night.
Like I said, if you are already not a Jeff Mangum or NMH fan then I don't think this show would have done it for you. If you were/are a fan then I can not fathom how this show did not do it for you. Granted you don't seem like a fan since you have no idea why he sipped out on the music scene for so long (its easy to find this out , there are letters written to fans by Jeff that explain his not so mysterious (at all) absence)..
Also, there is no NMH tour planned, not sure where you get your information from but you should fact check it as it is wrong.
ANYWAYS.. Figured some of the weekly readers might want a more accurate review of this show from someone who actually likes the musician, kind of makes more sense to have someone write about a show who likes the bad.. but maybe that common sense is unique to me alone...
Re: “Live”
So instead of turning to his fans who love and want to support him, he should've sold out to Target? No one there had a gun to their head when they bought their $30 ticket or their $100 box set. I'm not positive, but I'd dare to guess Mangum has never called himself an 'artiste', and who can really know about his honesty or integrity. He's a musician who needs to pay the bills just like everybody else, so why not let his adoring fans do that for him if they so please? If there were no call for it, he wouldn't be on tour & he wouldn't be selling someone a $100 version of something they already own.
Re: “Live”
Great satire, Joshua! I got a good laugh out of your last paragraph. I bet you can hardly wait to see him play again. :)
Re: “Just In: KFMA Day 2013 Lineup Has Been Announced”
Minus the bear!!! GETCHYA OMNI ON YALL!
Re: “Just In: KFMA Day 2013 Lineup Has Been Announced”
$41.00 after that date. Just went and bought 2 of them ! :) can't wait.
Re: “Isaiah Toothtaker: The Tucson Weekly Interview”
Has anyone actually looked at his criminal record? Unimpressive.
Re: “Live”
Wolf was wonderful and Sweet Ghosts is a great new collaboration capturing a piece of the "Tucson sound."
Re: “Isaiah Toothtaker: The Tucson Weekly Interview”
Hi, I knew your dad I was with Will (the native one not Asshole Will). I just wanted to say congrats on all your accomplishments. Gotta check you out at a show sometime but I live in Phoenix so I just gotta keep checking for upcoming shows.
Marlaina
Re: “Isaiah Toothtaker: The Tucson Weekly Interview”
I would woop his ass
Re: “Attractive Nuisance #4: Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris”
Michael, since I have returned to Arizona, where I was born 65 years ago, I have been looking for a quiet way to contact Linda. We briefly were enrolled at Catalina high school at the same time and, although my sister was an friend of Bob Kimmel, I was never introduced to Linda. If she would like the yearbook that she has a picture of her prior to leaving for LA I would be more than happy to give it to her. Post your email on this thread if she is interested (it would be a gift, as one tucsonian to another)
Re: “Isaiah Toothtaker: The Tucson Weekly Interview”
Hey I'm proud to see another young Xicano brother make it through life's curves by carving out a productive, positive life for himself!!!!!!!!!!
Re: “To 'HELL YEAH' and Back With Molly Hatchet”
OK, this article, and my original response, are months old, but I've come back a few times to see if there were any additional comments. Every time I look at my original reply I realize I forgot a couple of other points.
Your "humor" about original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd being "eaten by alligators" after the plane crash, is tacky and tasteless. If these were musicians you held in higher esteem, I doubt you would make such a remark. Whether you like their music or not, human beings with families and friends died in the plane crash. It's not something to poke fun at.
You make comment of how with all your musical training, you wish you could be as dumb (you dont use these words but might as well have) as the audience so you could appreciate the music. Well, the members of southern rock bands are trained, knowledgeable musicians. They didn't just wake up one morning and decide to pick up a guitar and play. I obviously can't speak to each band member's background, but I know for instance that Billy Powell, the original keyboard player for Lynyrd Skynyrd, was classically trained. This "well *I* know SO much more than anyone else, and only people who know nothing about music could enjoy this" crap is absurd elitist garbage. Open your mind a bit and don't judge people who play and enjoy music you don't happen to like. You aren't better than them, really.
Re: “Isaiah Toothtaker: The Tucson Weekly Interview”
This article lacks substance and depth. It also lacks proper perspective. If the author has known the subject for over ten years then there would have been no true apprehension about meeting. This piece is not informative, but more celebratory. So what are we celebrating? A bully? Because that's who Isaiah is -Not a tough guy. Mr. 400 bare knuckle brawls. Gimme a break!
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Re: “Live”
I had never heard this Jeff Magnum guy before. After reading all the hoopla in this comment section, I had to check him out. My two word review - shit sandwich. You people are really taking a music review of some two bit, hipster has been a little to personal. Bravo, Joshua Levine, bravo.