I recently watched this video of some old broad interviewing the popular 2k9core buzzband Neon Indian. (Note: Neon Indian has also been lumped into the now defunct “chillwave” genre by web pundits and blogzines.) It’s kinda weird to see this old lady in a position that so many younger alts would love to be in. I feel like since MTV created the VJ (video jockey), there has been a demand for ‘a person who looks like they are kewl/’in a band” to interview the actual band. The interaction of two ‘interesting/kewl’ personal brands are meant to create synergy, making the interview seem ‘really kewl’, like two inherently-fascinating people who genuinely respect one another interacting to build a scene/brand.
Feel like this ceremony of bros between Bradford Cox (indie musician) and John Norris (MTV alt journalist) is sort of ‘the gold standard’ in two bros simulating a stimulating convo, inspiring ‘common-folk’ to connect with their brands.
2 bros // laughing // sharing // being relevant
makes me yearn /// 2 be close to ‘the music’/’scene’/'city’
becoming bros with musicians // and learning the stories behind the music
///creating the stories behind the music ////
I have always read that being a ‘music journalist’ is sorta a coping mechanism for not being a talented/buzzworthy musician, therefore you should always take any sort of reviews/widely-read opinions with a ‘grain of salt.’ Music Writer Bros use the opportunity to let the world know that they understand what makes a ‘great band’, even though they don’t necessarily have the technical skills or personal connections to legitimize a music career on a level that they would find to be respectable. Fortunately, in our modern world, the music journalist/blurber/blogger has an important role in ‘creating content’, and sometimes can be more (self-)important than the actual musician. I am not sure if it is still ‘romantic’ 2 be connected to artists, since most of them end up being shitty/uninteresting/boring/strategic/simple people, and the ones ‘worth getting to know’ usually end up talking about charity/global causes.
I wonder if the old_hag interview is more/less ‘compelling’ than if some other alt person interviewed Neon Indian. It seems like when some standard alt ‘talking head’ interviews a bro, it sort of takes away from the artist for participating in such a hokey procedure just to get ‘press’ —> get attention from lesser-connected people. I possibly find the old_lady+neon_indian_bro video ‘refreshing’, because it shows how disconnected and lost old people are. Maybe it kinda says ‘Interviews are rlly stupid and no1 asks original questions’, so it might be a better format to have clueless old ppl
Worried about growing older, losing relevancy, but this sorta gives me hope that I can still find a way to be appreciated by young, trendy ppl even when I am old. Worried about getting dementia/alzheimer’s and losing all of my memes/memories. Going to start taking life more seriously, appreciating NOW. There is no guarantee that the dementia-core genre will take off when the Neon Indian bro turns 72 and releases his 24th EP.
Wonder if AnCo will still be able to ’show growth’ as musicians past age __, or if they will plateau?
Will we live 2 experience alzheimer-core unintentionally lofi retirement community bedroom rock?
What do u look for in a ‘good interview’?
Who is the greatest living music journalist/indie-writer/weblogger/zine-page-creator?
Do u want to be a music journalist 2 get closer 2 the music?
Is it kewl to ’stand in the front’ at shows since u r legitimately ‘close 2 the music’?
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65 Comments
first!
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//////////Reply by Maxwell
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
@silverstar, carles, you are at your best when contextualizing issues that are complex and ambivalent in nature, such as the state of music journalism—stay away from all the obvious, gimmicky shit that’s been mocked endlessly already—you don’t have passion in those posts
I enjoyed this post :)
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//////////Reply by xavier de roxey
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
@Maxwell, I understand the character play – charles, mike, becca…but the contents of charles posts are kinda hard to grasp whether it’s for real or supposedly satiristic. this post i think is half/half real charles and not
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//////////Reply by lilers
//////////Posted December 6th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
@xavier de roxey, who is the real charles? is he in charge?
//////////Reply by Cambridge
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 2:05 am
@Y’all,
Vote TEAM BECCA!!!
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//////////Reply by dan-onymous
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
@Cambridge, Old Ann = the new Becca, maybe?
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//////////Reply by Pushingmyluck
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 4:37 am
@silverstar, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MICQZrdM8I
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2nd!
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//////////Reply by keith
//////////Posted December 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
@dr., Think John Norris looks like a skinnier less ghey Prz Hilton
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Think Reginaldbro should be HRO’s in house “indie” band reviewer.
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//////////Reply by Brommar al-Gaddafi
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
@funky_rutabaga, ‘feeling’ the concept of Regbro/Becca/Mikebro. Miss them already.
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:)
<3
~@~
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<3 you guys – Carles I need the zine page tia
<3 Carles
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//////////Reply by monster
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
@Carles, Post alt butts
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//////////Reply by OhNoOhMy
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
@Carles, I am a ‘winner’
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//////////Reply by Carles
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
@OhNoOhMy, c u at l’keg
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//////////Reply by CrassLOVER
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
@Carles, DARK BLUE??? wtf
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//////////Reply by Cambridge
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 2:07 am
@Carles,
Maybe it’s mike postng as carles because Carles NEVER comments his posts.
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damn brad was fuckin stoned for that shit… also, bring back becca
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//////////Reply by u go mikebro!
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
@Gregg G., totally missin on mikebro…
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adam palonoaenamg is very personable, but the rest of neon indian are like the three most awkward ppl ever.
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h8 ann
<3 joe
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Old as shit
and still legite
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neon indian is so shitty, how are they popular but actual good bands rnt?
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//////////Reply by b4hc
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
@Gregg G., feelin u dawg, neon indian appeal escapes me 2. seems like it is bullshit.
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bkfst at sulimays is the best damn music show on the internetz. period.
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//////////Reply by b4hc
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
@yvynyl, listening to clipse/the blood bros/YOUNG FOLKS/white collar boy
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carles I love you thank you for coming back
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can’t wait 2 experience Panda cancer-core post-intentionally nofi expirement village bower breakbeats.
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//////////Reply by Fsjal
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
@RobbiePattinpaulson, pre-cadaver core … amidoinitrite?
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//////////Reply by RobbiePattinpaulson
//////////Posted December 7th, 2009 at 1:47 am
@Fsjal, s0 rite that i miss pre-cadaver core alrdy.
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Think Anco may have already hit their plateau. Will soon be old kings of indie via spoon.
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//////////Reply by DaveyTareCat
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
@Yes, spoon is definitley not the old king of indie. WTF. Maybe sonic youth.
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//////////Reply by Yes
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
@DaveyTareCat, Everyone knows Spoon. Spoon is old news. Spoon is old indie.
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Someone should dig up Kurt Loder and get him to start interviewing “Alt Buzz Bands” that have a somewhat psychedelic cassette pop feel to them… Iron Butterfly she said haha… That would have been so funny if Adam had said “Chillwave”…
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//////////Reply by dan-onymous
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
@ThePopeIsAlt, I half-expected that Adambro to say ‘chillwave’ (especially as the pause grew before his answer). I prepared to cringe.
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ODDSAC yal
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wtf
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im gay
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carles, glad to have you back in your original form.
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//////////Reply by anonymous
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
@ari, ‘original form’
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//////////Reply by Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
@anonymous, Ha YEAH “OrIgInAl FoRm”
Ha
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i couldn’t listen to the interview. The sagginess of her old saggy wrinkly skin kept me entranced and disgusted.
old ppl ‘ftw’
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Epic blog is epic… Wilkommen back Carlser
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‘maybe like the iron butterfly’
That chick is so heavy.
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i think ann and the neon indian bro got it on.
it looks like they got it on before and after the interview.
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asdfghjkl
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//////////Reply by Carles
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
@Carles, sigh
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All I have to say is that Norris has been killing it on Noisevox. Original questions with probably the who’s who of artists for 2009. Everyone thinks they can do anything these days. Let’s be reminded it takes skills to conduct an interesting interview and artists have seen it all. Wanna bro it up with an artist? First impress them with an interesting, informative original interview.
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that ronald guitar boy motherfucker asked to cut in front of me in the bathroom line; the nerve
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//////////Reply by Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
@no fish today, Ha you let him you little Faggot? Ha, what a pussy.
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i like oldies who interview. saw 1 where some old hobo interviewed fuck buttons, it was weird.
i think cause they’ve ’seen it all’ they rlly put a band into context. younger bros are 2 caught in the moment 2 decide what’s good and what isn’t… but maybe that’s the point.
feel like this was a weak comment
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Kind of feel sad and nostalgic. D0es NE1 else think that neon indian bro’s legs are “too thick” for the size of jeans he is wearing?
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//////////Reply by Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
@sadnostalgicbro, Yeah I think he needs to get some plaid shorts. Hahaha
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//////////Reply by Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
@sadnostalgicbro, I just got some at Am Eagle.
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I miss Becca. :(
Stop being such a meanie and give her the blog back, Carles. I want to hear more ‘tales of a perfectly troubled hipster girl’
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old people have personal brands too. i think its kind of cool, the contrast of relavant/irrelevant makes neon indian seem even more relevant than they would be interviewed by altbros. just like having ugly friends makes you look better by comparison.
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//////////Reply by zombiescan'tdance
//////////Posted December 7th, 2009 at 2:49 am
@wannabe, just wait 20 and SO MANY old peoples will have personal brands… I dream of a day when 8 year olds and 80 year-old will compare personal brands.
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Was hoping that Reggie and the ‘H.R. BrO.s’ would be a 2,010 buzzband. Feel like Carles has ’squashed’ his/their dreams.
Miss u Reg E. Nald. :(
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John Norris is an insecure, drug-addled, wife beater (and by ‘wife’ I mean ’starry-eyed, 18 year old altbros’.) Take it from one who knows…
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//////////Reply by David
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
@David, PS thank you for coming back carles – and BTW here’s how ALL interviews should be conducted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOzIq2D5mZk&feature=related
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//////////Reply by Stoned jjj
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
@David, His brand choices make him who he is.
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‘There’s nothing I enjoy more than nostalgia and stuff like that.’
Feelin’ it.
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//////////Reply by Carles
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
@jjj, go to l’keg next to pehrspace
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when is this blog gonna stop sucking?
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//////////Reply by DayGlowwed
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
@michigan, when you stop taking everything for face value and try to understand the actual meanings of the posts
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//////////Reply by Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
@DayGlowwed, Yeah I definitely am feeling that statement man. It’s kinda like what we think about Perez Hilton, here at UCLA.
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//////////Reply by karlheinz
//////////Posted December 6th, 2009 at 11:16 am
@Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI, :/
NEON INDIAN SUCKS, has anyone seen them perform live, its hilariously bad, like a jew reciting torah at batmitzvah,
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//////////Reply by Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
@HeStompedTerra, HA Dude, that’s so funny. Know whatcha mean. Jew at a Barmitzvah. Yo I’m totally gonna start saying that now. Hope it’s not trademarked. Yo, you smoke? just bought a RooR. Fuck it’s SICK!
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//////////Reply by chilisfan
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
@Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI, lol just made my own vape lol. smoking is big in 2k10
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NEON INDIAN SUCKS, has anyone seen them perform live, its hilariously bad, like a jew reciting torah at batmitzvah
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want richard dunn to interview relevant artists
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I was just checkin out “Da Perez” As we say in my building. PHI SIGMA WHAT?! LOL. Yo, Can you guys believe the Tiger would biz? That bitch needs to stop that noise.
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//////////Reply by Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI
//////////Posted December 4th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
@Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI, *Wood, my bad.
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//////////Reply by Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 9:55 am
@Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI,
oh and did i mention i go to UCLA? and im in a frat? im so fucking cool. i shit on hipsters.
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could also call that interview “two bros who look really unhealthy”
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PS. Is this guy the Jonas Brothers?
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carles you’re a bore and your comment base is a drag
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//////////Reply by Derrick_PHI SIGMA PI
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
@ol strato , Take a drag from my RooR Bong bro, you won’t be disappointed anymore.
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my penis is out and it is large!
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//////////Reply by hmm,
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 9:55 am
@MikeBroFan#1,
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//////////Reply by hmm,
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 9:56 am
@MikeBroFan#1,
lawl/damn.
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I just found out that Bradford Cox has a rare disease that gives his chest the appearance of a hollow where his heart is, and it also has a lot to do with why he is so skinny and generally dead looking. This made me feel much closer to his music, because I was able to project suffering on him using my innate humanity. I am so glad I am able to feel this. I have not felt that way since times gone by, when I was young and unafraid. Please support his music!
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People, I think Carles just got vulnerable
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Should we all connect 2 this story just a lil bit more since Carles ‘anointed’ Neon Indie-an [via blog coverage/term coinage]?
Is it authentic to ‘cover’ the ‘news’/'rumors’ that ‘u urself create?’ [via FleetFoxNews/ESPn/Choose.Your.Own.Media.Source.]
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solid post, carles.
can’t wait for dementia-core.
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Gunther says a good interview is read like the ‘artist’ is on a shrinks bench. Who cares what school or city they’re from? Relevant cities/scenes sound similar and that makes sense to their relevance. Niche bands brand themselves. Scenes brand bands. An interview deciphering the origin of their oringinality or background that causes them to standout amongst the crowd, I believe, would be largely beneficial to the scene they are brought up in. The separation from the pack defined. Not so much the “how was the relationship with your parents”(though intriguing) but ‘how were you guys with(band b?)’ or ‘ what did you think about the scene that made you unique’ types of questions would make, at the least, myself inerested in an interview. Too many times I’ve seen the ‘where are you from/who are you doing’ interviews. Let’s see some background checks on these (guys). What makes them tick? If merely influences, then writing styles would be the same. However, someone stands out amogst the crowd. Scenes brand the band but what makes the band the brand of the scene? Is it not because they were taught or learned different? It must be something else that lead them to notoriety above their peer community. An (outside the scene/inside the person) influence that creates better material to be consumed by the writing process that creates a subject worth [singing] about through the 50 states or the EU and consumed by musicophiles. There’s a whole lot more to be learned about (any band) than what influences them. Their lives are what separates them. Digging into their personal and not public [lives/opinions] could possibly create a more relative artist to the scene rather than a relevant artist. Gunther says, “its food for thought, maybe not much for thinking.”
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//////////Reply by d00dz
//////////Posted December 6th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
@Gunther, tl;dr
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 7th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
@Gunther, I agree. I would like to see actually caring about SOMETHING come back into style. It seems interviewers like to treat the band/musician like someone they just ran into on the street. Obviously if your taking the time to do an interview you must care about them at least a minuscule amount. Would it kill you to act like it or are we so scared to death to look like fans? (perhaps.)
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Sulimays has the best (pumpkin) pancakes in philly by far
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I CANT BELIEVE THE POPULARITY OF NEON INDIAN, THEY REALLY SUCK! AWFUL GUY WITH AWFUL SONGS. I MEAN, COME ON.
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come on guyz where’s the jeffbro love?
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//////////Reply by brobro
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
@Malt, I voted 4 Jeffrey
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really interestin question carlesy. 2 b honest old ppl scare the shit right out of me. my grandma for instance has some kind of voice like a lil ghoul or somethin. my mom is always like “stop calling her ghoul”, “be nice to her”, “stop hitting her” etc. you get the idea…anyway there is no way she knows about Wash Out or Neon Indians. She barely even knows what an ipod is. She always thinks its a phone or sumptin and puts it by her head and goes “hello hello”. crazy lady. Personally I kind of want to keep old ppl out of music in general.
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i lol’d so hard @ demenshia core omgaw
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//////////Reply by altina
//////////Posted December 5th, 2009 at 8:55 am
@jess, samesies
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I put Kasabian in my top 40 ‘best’ ‘new’ ‘bands’. I suck.
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bloggable news.
damn.
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/23/crimesider/entry5751594.shtml
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john norris is carles
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it’s snowing outside
it’s awful, and depressing
i looked out at the snowfall
through a window
and thought ‘heavy snowfall’ and my jaw tensed
i watched the wind shift
from east to south-east
and thought tiny, imaginary things
similar to snowflakes, but more abstract
i went outside
and there was this sound of ice
falling from space
romantic rhetoric
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//////////Reply by d00dz
//////////Posted December 6th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
@romantic rhetoric, cool story bro
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john norris has an aspergers face.
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missed ya mikebroadbeccarlesiepants
old is the new bold.
dennis black, intstant classic
http://omg.ly/payB
dark moment
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Hey you guys, Becca here! Check out my awesome photo! http://p1.hotornot.com/pics/HE/HE/H8/KZ/REN8AEEYCKPA.JPG
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i hope i can still stay relevant [via aarp/retirement] when i age.
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AS A FAITHFUL HRO READER I DEMAND NEW POSTS ASAP
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I fkng luuuv Braddie Cox. Thx 4 embedding that interview/vid Carles. Very ‘relevant’ post.
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It’s fun to see old people like bands full of young people. Will this also be true when I’m old? I hope so! If so, I will use being old to push my personal brand. I will interview young bands and use the fact that I’m old to indulge in some inappropriate jokes and the like. I’ll also mispronounce the bands’ names in order to make it seem like I ‘don’t get it’.
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I’ve noticed that a lot of “alt” folks and “hipsters” like to do things that we all used to do when we were really little, like in elementary school. First, they brought back foursquare, and then they brought back kickball, and then they brought back ’slumber parties’. Kickball I understand, but fuck foursquare, and when you’re twenty and you have a ’slumber party’ that doesn’t involve ‘getting laid’ or ‘passing out on a trampoline’ because your ’schwasted’, then its kind of weird.
Anyways, what I’m really wondering is when hipsters run out of “retro-little kid” stuff to do, will Oldster-steez become the new ‘alt’ thing? And what exactly do old people do, besides hang around in nursing homes, and die, and stuff like that?
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ew
atlassound are kinda ghé
this bro is uggerz
what do i make out of 2 becomeing one?
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