# "Cult" Artists You Don't "Get"... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207 "2008-03-29T22:10:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/121 "2008-04-03T06:28:07Z")
[QUOTE=sleestak] Those are from a song called “Aerial”. I am not sure what the exact Websters Dictionary definition of “Witchy-bitchy-airy-faerie” is but I think the lyrics quoted above fit. I mean seriously, ‘All the birds are laughing. Come on let’s all join in’? [/QUOTE] So you look at just one song and judge her entire output that way? That’s like calling The Beatles an Isley Brothers cover band after hearing Twist and Shout. [QUOTE=woodstockbirdybird] I want to second _Trompe Le Monde_, the most underrated Pixies album, IMO. In fact, I think it’s better than _Doolittle_ (I think _Surfer Rosa_ is, too - in fact, if it wasn’t for _Bossa Nova_, I’d call _Dollittle_ their worst. I don’t think it’s much of an album, aside from 2 or 3 excellent songs). [/quote] I kind of agree about Doolittle. As an album it is a little weak, but it has a number of great songs: Debaser, Tame, Here Comes Your Man, La La Love You (just because it’s fun), Gouge Away. Actually most of the reason Surfer Rosa is great is the first half; every song up to and including Where Is My Mind is fantastic, after that I’m not as interested. I think the reason Trompe Le Monde is overlooked is that it’s a musical retreat. It’s not as daring as their other albums, but the songs are still good. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if it’s not their most consistent album. I’ll have to check those Husker Du albums out, too, because I only have NDR and ZA. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/122 "2008-04-03T06:38:04Z")
Are The Decemberists cult artists? Everyone says I should like them based on my tastes, and they keep coming up in Pandora and other algorithms spit them out at me as well. But I have yet to like any of their songs that I’ve heard. I mean, they’re not bad songs. There’s just nothing… I don’t know, special? compelling?.. about them. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/123 "2008-04-03T06:44:33Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] I hate the bullshit idea that Phish and other such jam bands instantly become entertaining to listen to when you’re high. [/QUOTE] They don’t become entertaining when you’re high - they just become barely tolerable. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/124 "2008-04-03T09:28:04Z")
[QUOTE=Talon Karrde] I’ll have to check those Husker Du albums out, too, because I only have NDR and ZA. [/QUOTE] Try _Warehouse: Songs And Stories_, their last album : it’s often dissed by diehard fans because it was released on a major label rather than an indie and moved away from their “recorded in a friend’s bathroom” sound - _ie_ the production makes it actually listenable, which equates with “selling out” to some people - but the songs are first class. It shits on Nirvana. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/125 "2008-04-03T12:28:43Z")
[QUOTE=GargoyleWB] [Regarding Sonic Youth albums] It is their follow-up albums that have been disappointing, with only a track or two per album where the magic happens, but everything else seems tired. [/QUOTE] Agreed… and even 50% listenable would be too kind to some of those albums (looking at Experimental Jet Set there). It’s a sad commentary that I was excited about Sonic Nurse because it had perhaps two decent songs. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/126 "2008-04-03T13:16:22Z")
[QUOTE=Enter the Flagon] The second was a group known as “Cowboy Mouth”. Now this is easlily the most “earnest”-sounding band I’ve ever heard, and when I asked a friend who knows everything about modern music, I was surprised to learn that this is a real band with real albums: they sound for all the world like a parody band from a parody of a city - Minneapolis, maybe - providing a soundtrack for a Will Farrell parody vehicle. Did I mention that they’re earnest? Hoo-boy, are they ever earnest. [/QUOTE] They really don’t translate onto recorded media very well. They give fantastic live show, though. I swear! ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/127 "2008-04-03T15:00:45Z")
Music: Radiohead: It’s a combination of the tunes that go nowhere, the off-key singing, and the pretentiousness of the fans. “Wuthering Heights”: I listened to this song on recommendation. I clawed my ears off and had to have them reattached. If I listen to Kate Bush again, the doctors won’t be able to save my ears. Television: Joss Whedon: I think his shows are dull and his fans are overly rabid. Also, why must every show he guest writes for have vampires? A little stuck on ideas are we? ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/128 "2008-04-04T02:41:18Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] Try _Warehouse: Songs And Stories_, their last album : it’s often dissed by diehard fans because it was released on a major label rather than an indie and moved away from their “recorded in a friend’s bathroom” sound - _ie_ the production makes it actually listenable, which equates with “selling out” to some people - but the songs are first class. It shits on Nirvana. [/QUOTE] I’ll put that on my mental list. I think I’ll actually hold off on buying their albums because they’ll probably get rereleased sooner or later and I don’t want to buy them only to have to buy them again. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/129 "2008-04-04T06:38:08Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] I’ll add another: Dave Matthews Band. I saw them live numerous times and they’re great people and great musicians, but I just don’t like the music. Also the long jams I think are more fun for the musicians than the audience, unless the audience is under the influence of something. [/QUOTE] “So I really am important? How I feel when I’m drunk is correct?” “Yes. Except the Dave Matthews Band doesn’t rock.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/130 "2008-04-04T18:33:39Z")
Bright Eyes. Connor Oberst can write a little bit, but his songs always strike me as really self-absorbed and I can’t fathom how anybody could enjoy his whiny singing voice. There music just doesn’t have any life, to me. And when I saw him in concert, he seemed really contemptuous of his audience because of the way they adore him, which was a turnoff. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/131 "2008-04-06T04:27:19Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] Phish sucks, recoil in horror if you potheads like, but Phish still sucks. [/QUOTE] Oh holy jesus I’m feeling the insulted fanboy anger rise inside of me. Honestly though, which of their albums have you heard before coming to that conclusion? I just wanna know what makes you say they suck (cause they dont 😛 ). [QUOTE=Argent Towers] I hate the bullshit idea that Phish and other such jam bands instantly become entertaining to listen to when you’re high. No. Being high does not make me enjoy shitty, aimless music. It makes me enjoy music that I like more intensely. It just makes jam band drivel more boring and irritating. Cannabis is not some magical herb that causes divine secrets to become revealed in the music of “moe.” or the String Cheese Incident. Their stuff is just not musically interesting. It’s so noodly-doodly, just musical masturbation. [/QUOTE] Oooh youre driving me closer and closer to a burst aneurysm. I guess what you’re saying is kinda right, though–jam music is ALOT more fun when you’re the one playing. really, when a jam with your buddies just _clicks_, there are few more satisfying things in the world. and phish does (did) that CONSTANTLY live, which, if you’re a musician in the audience, gave you a kind of second hand jam-high. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/132 "2008-04-06T04:41:01Z")
[QUOTE=SpazCat] Joss Whedon: I think his shows are dull and his fans are overly rabid. Also, why must every show he guest writes for have vampires? A little stuck on ideas are we? [/QUOTE] He has fourteen writing credits on IMDb and nine of them have nothing to do with vampires while four of the other five are all set in the universe of Buffy. The last, a supernatural thriller, hasn’t been produced yet so I have no idea if it will include them or not but trying to say he only writes about vampires is obviously false. Amazon women, on the other hand, is certainly a hallmark of his. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/133 "2008-04-06T05:45:13Z")
Patton Oswalt. Not funny. Not even in the slightest. His bits are a combination of tortured obvious observations without punchlines and jokes about esoteric geek trivia that no more than the 5 people on this board who like him could find even interesting. I was watching a special of his with a cousin of mine. At one point he said, “I can’t believe I’m still funny.” We turned to each other and simultaneously said some variant of, “Don’t. Your not.” Oddly enough, I loved everyone else on his **Comedians of Comedy** tour, especially [Maria Bamford](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku9JkjzTbRw) and [Zach Galifianakis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q86EdrAj5m8). ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/134 "2008-04-06T06:48:34Z")
I can’t get into LOTR–not the books, not the movies. (Although I loved The Hobbit–the book, I mean.) Same for Harry Potter. I mean, I liked HP when I was 12, but I just don’t get the appeal now that I’m not in middle school. IMO, Rowling is an excellent _writer_, but a piss-poor _creative writer_–her stories are exciting and captivating to an extent, but they’re all cliche-ridden Absolute-Good-vs-Absolute-Evil pap. I can’t stand the animated lovefests Disney and their ilk pump out every other week, for the same reasons. I like the concept behind the Grateful Dead–I love watching rock musicians jam. But I just can’t get into the music. And I’ll throw my vote into the Star Wars box, too–Logan’s Run was much better than the original Star Wars and they’ve only gotten worse since then. The appeal of The Office is also lost on me–the UK version is good for the occasional laugh, but watching the US version is like reading the Onion: every joke would be a lot funnier if it were about 5 times shorter. > [@gaffa](#): > > I suspect that nothing is more subjective than comedy. I watched that uncut Mitch Hedberg special and laughed myself sick. It was one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen, bar none. And it is impossible to explain why. Me too, although it helped that we were high and Hedberg was obviously _really_ high, and really struggling to stay focused. I don’t think it was a shtick at all–I think it was totally unintentional, but comedy gold. I think of it as a highly unusual manifestation of natural talent. Also, that guy who sings “Twee Twee Dee” can disappear from the Interblog any day now. (Hopefully he already has–I don’t pay enough attention to it to know; I just happened to stumble upon an assload of posts about how great he is and an NPR special on him a few weeks ago.) He’s trying _way_ too hard, IMO. Speaking of which, I can’t wait for everyone to forget Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The dialogue was overwrought and positively _reeked_ of trying-way-too-hard, and the worst part is that a bunch of my friends in high school actually started talking like the characters in that show. I couldn’t figure out what the hell had gotten into all of them until I was forced to sit through an episode of Buffy with them and the horror set in. Plus, that episode about how they all couldn’t talk and had to find other ways to communicate was pure garbage. It was talked up to me like it was the greatest screenwriting achievement since Citizen Kane, and then it turned out to be 30 minutes of people holding up flashcards to each other. What a load of crap. I also agree with **It’s Not Rocket Surgery!** about Wilco. > [@Sitnam](#): > > Phish sucks, recoil in horror if you potheads like, but Phish still sucks. I actually can’t stand most of the young-white-pothead crap that’s come and gone through the ages, including Phish, the Grateful Dead, (hed) P.E., etc., despite having been quite the young white pothead myself in my day. > [@Baldwin](#): > > I’ve never made it through a Cormac McCarthy novel because of his awful prose style, even though he tells some strong stories. Similarly, I can’t slog through William S. Burroughs. I really wish I could, because I love the stories. This all sounds like I’m unsophisticated and unable to get into anything except the popular stuff, but I make up for it with my taste in movies, I promise! 😉 Plus I’m the only person I know who actively seeks out jazz music. And I _love_ the Pixies. I was introduced to them with “Where Is My Mind?”, which evokes a feeling of epic ego-destruction in me rivalling my first DXM trip. Of course, not everyone got their kicks from a bottle of Robitussin Coughgels in high school, so I can understand why somebody wouldn’t like the Pixies either. But to me, the song perfectly wraps around Tyler Durden’s plea to “stop controlling everything and JUST LET GO!”, a mantra I’ve tried to live by in the last few years. > [@Crawlspace](#): > > Patton Oswalt. Not funny. Not even in the slightest. His bits are a combination of tortured obvious observations without punchlines and jokes about esoteric geek trivia that no more than the 5 people on this board who like him could find even interesting. I first saw this guy just last week on a Comedy Central special and then on Root of All Evil. I love the way he thinks, and his harsh, condescending delivery. Basically, he sounds like I do when I feel smug about something I don’t like (which isn’t as often as it used to be–IOW, if you want Patton Oswalt to drop off the comedy scene, you should slip him some anxiety meds). And I love that, because I’m a raging narcissist. (I’m quite serious.) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/135 "2008-04-06T07:14:22Z")
[QUOTE=Mojo Pin] Oooh youre driving me closer and closer to a burst aneurysm. I guess what you’re saying is kinda right, though–jam music is ALOT more fun when you’re the one playing. really, when a jam with your buddies just _clicks_, there are few more satisfying things in the world. and phish does (did) that CONSTANTLY live, which, if you’re a musician in the audience, gave you a kind of second hand jam-high. [/QUOTE] I played in a “band” for about a year and a half in which two of the guys just wanted to jam, and two of the guys (me, and the drummer) wanted to play focused songs. There were times when we would just have a jam and it would click and you’re right, it was extremely satisfying. For a while. For me, it got old really fast. I wanted to write real songs with bizarre things like verses and choruses, and I couldn’t put up with my cohorts’ endless jams (and arrogant refusal to sit down and approach the music in a focused way because of a bunch of bullshit about diluting the purity of the experience and all that other shit that people say as an excuse to avoid actually doing work.) Eventually I stopped playing music with them. Every now and then I will still get together with one of those guys and we’ll try playing music, and every time, it will degenerate into an unfocused mess after 15 minutes. All of this has left me with a pretty embittered hatred of “jamming.” I can’t bear jack-off guitar noodling or any bullshit like that. I really prefer instrumental “post-rock” bands like Tortoise that are composition, rather than improvisation, oriented. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207/136 "2008-04-06T11:03:16Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] I played in a “band” for about a year and a half in which two of the guys just wanted to jam, and two of the guys (me, and the drummer) wanted to play focused songs. There were times when we would just have a jam and it would click and you’re right, it was extremely satisfying. For a while. For me, it got old really fast. I wanted to write real songs with bizarre things like verses and choruses, and I couldn’t put up with my cohorts’ endless jams (and arrogant refusal to sit down and approach the music in a focused way because of a bunch of bullshit about diluting the purity of the experience and all that other shit that people say as an excuse to avoid actually doing work.) Eventually I stopped playing music with them. Every now and then I will still get together with one of those guys and we’ll try playing music, and every time, it will degenerate into an unfocused mess after 15 minutes. All of this has left me with a pretty embittered hatred of “jamming.” I can’t bear jack-off guitar noodling or any bullshit like that. I really prefer instrumental “post-rock” bands like Tortoise that are composition, rather than improvisation, oriented. [/QUOTE] Haha cool, nice of you to explain. It sounds like your distaste for jamming came from mates who weren’t very familiar with give and take, which is really what you need for an awesome _and_ productive jam. But you have to admit Phish ARE a very cohesive unit that know their instruments and each other through and through, and can pen decent-to-great songs while keeping that spontaneity alive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-artists-you-dont-get/443207.md?page=6)