Franz Ferdinand and the Return of Coolness in Music

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So, in the opening medley at the Grammy Awards, you had Black Eyed Peas, los Lonely Boys, and Maroon 5 do their bits. Then, they cut to Franz Ferdinand and suddenly there was the sense that you were seeing something OTHER.

Say what you will about Franz Ferdinand's abilities--suffice to say for this thread that they executed their song fine. Whatever you think of them, I think that this sense of otherness about them was palpable. The Beatles had this sense about them when people saw them on Ed Sullivan.

When was the last time something like this happened on the Grammys? Do you have to go back to the original punk/new wave era?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:25 (twenty-one years ago)

What, this is the year punk broke America again?

― Alba (Alba), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

http://indierock4eva.blogspot.com/

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

"A rilly big SHEW...FRAZZ FERDELBANG!"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I suppose I'm leaving myself open to jokes about Franz Ferdinand's abilities, though I tried to quell them in the original post. Question was meant in earnest, tho.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

james' answer was meant in earnest too!

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Tim I understand what you're getting at. I just don't think FF being cool is significant, cuz unlike the Beatles they're not the vanguard of anything in particular. It's a shame though, artists today are too nice to be cool.

― Lukas (lukas), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

maroon 5 are "other"?

― stockholm cindy's secret childhood (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:37 (twenty-one years ago)

No, they're the boys next door or something.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:38 (twenty-one years ago)

what about the white stripes last year? or even outkast last year? i think there's probably some band you can say this about almost every year.

and as for "otherness" last night, the band that looked and sounded the most unlike all the others, i'd vote for lynyrd skynyrd, not franz ferdinand.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Did I miss anything (except the mighty fine Franz Ferdinand)?

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry dudes, there's no such thing as "other" at the grammies.

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Franz Ferdinand's "otherness" stems from their influences being entirely different from all the act they shared the medley with (i.e. they have taste).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:42 (twenty-one years ago)

When was the last time something like this happened on the Grammys? Do you have to go back to the original punk/new wave era?

Half-page photo of Gwen Stefani's legs in today's LA Times entertainment section. Put lead in the pencil.

― Harry Klam, Monday, 14 February 2005 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I think Franz Ferdinand come from a more obscure place than the White Stripes. If you were to say Outkast, you'd have to also say...I don't know...Prince? Beck?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

they looked like they stepped out of a time machine. i don't think they looked that cool. i didn't think their song was that cool. but then, maybe, i'm just a little tired of the 80's thing after what seems like a decade of revivalism. i mean, the faint's revivalism 5 years ago seemed old to me 5 years ago. not that it really matters if the music is any good, but i guess i haven't heard franz ferdinand's good stuff.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

i think I made the same "coolness" argument about beck in high school and about bono saying "fuck" in middle school. Doubt I'll be doing it again anytime soon.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

acts, that should've been.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

i mean, yeah, they didn't look or sound much like gwen stefani and the black eyed peas, if that's what yer getting at.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:44 (twenty-one years ago)

No, I'm saying that there was a bizarreness to them that transcends the wackiness of Beck or Outkast.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

ties?

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, it's more that they seem to harbor no desire to incorporate anything that generally feeds American top 40 Pop into their music. No bullshit hip hop posturing, no stupid lingo, etc.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:46 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, they didn't seem that bizarre to me.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:46 (twenty-one years ago)

(x-post)
i *would* say prince if he appeared on the grammy awards anytime in the early- to mid-'80s (i have no idea if he did or not).

i also have no idea what you mean when you say franz ferdinand comes from a more obscure place than the white stripes.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:46 (twenty-one years ago)

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Sorry.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:46 (twenty-one years ago)

you guys gotta hear this song called "all day and all of the night" it's the craziest thing ever

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:47 (twenty-one years ago)

in the bedroom

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

BIZARRE
http://www.bradcoweb.com/rockgroups/top1.jpg

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe more obscure than the White Stripes in the sense that true bizarreness is always more obscure than...whatever the White Stripes are.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

haha! this is great

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:49 (twenty-one years ago)

And the Raiders always kind of struck me as not bizarre, actually. The Beatles were more bizarre than the Raiders.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Unless you think Captain Kangaroo is bizarre!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:49 (twenty-one years ago)

OTHERNESS
ihttp://www.appalshop.org/headwaters/RalphBanjo.jpg

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

dammit. that would be ralph stanley, though.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh those Raiders- Goddamn they look so awesome. What positively kicky boots!!!!

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Keep these exotic boys, customs has decided that it can't be imported back into Europe.

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

anyhow surely franz ferdinand don't evoke the 80s or the 60s nearly as much as they do 2001, which in 2004 (don't hold yr breath on 05) is kinda bizarre! not sure about cool

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Captain Kangaroo is pretty bizarre, when ya really think about it. I mean, really. What sort've vessel does he commandeer? And why Kangaroo? He doesn't hop about. And he's not even Australian!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe more obscure than the White Stripes in the sense that true bizarreness is always more obscure than...whatever the White Stripes are.

that sentence is kind of obscure AND bizarre, i'll give you that!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:51 (twenty-one years ago)

i also have no idea what you mean when you say franz ferdinand comes from a more obscure place than the white stripes

Scotland is more obscure than Michigan.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

2002?

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought Franz Ferdinand looked dumb. That bass player did that stiff SS strut around the stage that the dudes from the Clash did. And I always thought the Clash looked dumb too.

Bizarre OTHERNESS at the Grammy's is Herbie Hancock with DJ Grandmaster D.ST

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Unless you think Captain Kangaroo is bizarre!

I was on it, so...

Bizarre OTHERNESS at the Grammy's is Herbie Hancock with DJ Grandmaster D.ST

Still one of the greatest things ever. Along with John Denver striking Travolta disco poses.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

The last time the Grammy's saw any genuine "bizarre otherness":

http://www.sidcolton.com/directoryOfSidShows/grammyDylanSoyBomb.jpg

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 20:59 (twenty-one years ago)

"Scotland is more obscure than Michigan."

Gimme a break, that's not what I'm saying. Iggy and the Stooges were from Michigan. The White Stripes are a bore.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, who's the old dude getting the way of the performance art?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

haha and franz ferdinand are more exciting????

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Also: I don't think Captain Kangaroo was all that bizarre in the general context of children's television bizarreness. Maybe Soupy Sales or someone was...

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

"haha and franz ferdinand are more exciting????"

Yeah, personally, I think so. They're certainly more bizarro.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

They always manage to put one more critically acclaimed artist in the Grammies. A more typically "indie" kind of thing. A mid-level band that's had some airplay of their video and seen their song chart mildly.

The current indie trend is post-punk revival. It was garage rock revival before that.

If say, Wolf Eyes or Animal Collective played that would be pretty bizarre. If Steve Reich played it'd be more so. If it was Anal Cunt, then I'd admit to the otherness.

― David Allen (David Allen), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

tim there's this band you gotta check out called the strokes. they will BLOW YOUR MIND. ahead of their time too - they were doing this stuff way back in 2001! can you even fathom how other that musta been? ponderous man, ponderous.

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Great senses of otherness in music history, episode 17:

http://www.cavalierdaily.com:2001/.Archives/1996/January/18/aemens.gif

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I just thought Franz Ferdinand came across as a good, no-nonsense rock & roll band, and a welcome change from the rest of the medley (although Los Lonely Boys weren't bad, just not my thing). In the context of other stuff I like, Franz Ferdinand are an OK band with admirable influences. But in the context of the Black Eyed Peas and Gwen & Eve's Vegas pirate act, they came across like the fucking Beatles.

Elliot Smith on the Oscars was a far more jarring moment, though.

― mike a, Monday, 14 February 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

ihttp://forelcka.hp.infoseek.co.jp/GeneMemory/Portsmouth99Poster.jpg

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:07 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.darlingbudsskullfkcrew.freeserve.co.uk/JJ72%20NME%20Janu%202001%20.jpg

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I just thought Franz Ferdinand came across as a good, no-nonsense rock & roll band, and a welcome change from the rest of the medley

OTM. That's it in a nutshell, really.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Tim, you gotta get this CD, it'll blow your mind, and not in the uncool Gwen/Eve way either:

http://www.kompaktkiste.de/cd/mag/mmbtdib0010.jpg

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:09 (twenty-one years ago)

that CD cover is . . . really fucked up

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:10 (twenty-one years ago)

So Tim, you don't think there were Grammy viewers last year who had never heard the White Stripes who were scratching their heads and saying "Where is the bass player??"

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:10 (twenty-one years ago)

perhaps not as much as they were scratching their heads this year and saying "boy, julian's skin has really cleared up"

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

(By the way, can we PLEEEASE get out of the habit of making every halfway-decent new band "the return of" this or "the new" that? Sometimes a catchy single is just a catchy single, not the harbinger of a new musical age. Not accusing anyone, just sayin'.)

― mike a, Monday, 14 February 2005 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I just thought Franz Ferdinand came across as a good, no-nonsense rock & roll band, and a welcome change from the rest of the medley

though not necessarily much of a change from, say, lynyrd skynyrd. or green day. or u2.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

"tim there's this band you gotta check out called the strokes. they will BLOW YOUR MIND."

HAHA I BOUGHT THE FIRST SATISFACT ALBUM IN '97 YO. I'VE GOT THE CRED.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:13 (twenty-one years ago)

ALSO: ORANGE CAKE MIX!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)

though not necessarily much of a change from, say, lynyrd skynyrd. or green day. or u2.

None of those other bands played in the medley.

And FF don't sound anything like Lynyrd Skynrd. Thank God.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

None of those other bands played in the medley.

true, but the underlying assumption of this thread's question is that they were intrinsically different than anything else the grammys had to offer. which i'm arguing is not the case. that's all.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Tim do you mean "coolness" as in "affectlessness"? Like nothing can rattle my cage man, unrufflable, dig? I agree that Franz Ferdinand kind of has that going on. But a lot of groups seem to have that going on. I'm not that into it, personally. I like it when people get all wild on stage, or at least get really into it somehow.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, but FF are similar to Skynrd in instrumentation only. Skynrd play hangdog, bloated, needlessly noodley Southern rock, whereas FF play taut, tight, dare I say "angular" rock. Yes, both rock played by white people, but the common threads end there.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:28 (twenty-one years ago)

well, yeah, FF and LS don't sound alike, that's for sure. but not different in a world-changing, beatles-on-ed-sullivan kinda way. more in the "and that was magnolia electric company; next up the white stripes" kinda way.

also, i don't believe LS noodled at all last night.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:33 (twenty-one years ago)

dave on angular rock, ca. Dec 2001: "Lack of reverb, emphasis on high midrange, closed hi-hat as opposed to ride cymbal, usually singer sounds like a pussy" - Spiky

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:39 (twenty-one years ago)

but not different in a world-changing, beatles-on-ed-sullivan kinda way

Agreed.

also, i don't believe LS noodled at all last night.

They breathe, thus they noodle.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Dave Q nails it again!

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

"Tim do you mean "coolness" as in "affectlessness"? Like nothing can rattle my cage man, unrufflable, dig?"

No, I meant they were doing something--and doing it well--that suggested a whole other world of music and culture.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Would this other world be called "Britain" by any chance?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

No, the world of MUSIC. Gawd...

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

May I remind you that U2 was on the fricking show.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

So out of five groups, you like one, therefore it happens to be the one to redefine space-time and provide a magical tunnel to the secret world of cool? I don't buy it. They almost redeemed a little bit of that intro before the jam/mash-up/hullabaloo at the end, though.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

May I remind you that U2 was on the fricking show.

Yeah, and they were FUCKING DIRE!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:51 (twenty-one years ago)

It WAS like a magical tunnel, though!

x-post

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, seems to me there's at least one act like this every year - FF, White Stripes, Ralph Stanley, etc. I didn't see this particular performance but I have a hard time thinking it signalled any significant cultural shift.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 14 February 2005 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not saying it signalled any significant shift. Just that it was A MAGIC TUNNEL.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

>Skynrd play hangdog, bloated, needlessly noodley Southern rock, whereas FF play taut, tight, dare I say "angular" rock. Yes, both rock played by white people, but the common threads end there. <

yeah, 'cause skynyrd are way funkier and more danceable, for one thing.

― chuck, Monday, 14 February 2005 21:54 (twenty-one years ago)

what was other..was melissa etheridge in full chemotherapy skull batting joplin back and forth across th stage and not doin a halfway bad job at it..given that joplin is impossible to imitate it was "bizarre" seeing sumone even do a passable hack at it..gogo chemo rock

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:54 (twenty-one years ago)

For whom was Maroon 5 a magic tunnel?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:54 (twenty-one years ago)

a magic tunnel up an ass to nowhere

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:55 (twenty-one years ago)

well why you think the FF "magic tunnel" to their influences/reference points (Gang of Four, Wire, Pop Group, etc.) is any more interesting than the White Stripes' "magic tunnel" to their influences/reference points (Beefheart, Zep, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc.) is completely beyond me. Their both using signifiers that are pretty far afield of the mainstream.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 14 February 2005 21:57 (twenty-one years ago)

if franz fertilenad could be more bizarre than that fuckin across th universe sing along ill eat a hat

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Magic Tunnel sounds like a great lost 60s psych band.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:57 (twenty-one years ago)

THE MAGIC TUNNELS
Redefining Space-Time
(Secret World of Cool; 2005)
10/10

review tk

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:57 (twenty-one years ago)

haha xpost!

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:58 (twenty-one years ago)

magic tunnel sounds like a butthole surfers album title.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Shakey, just because I think--personally--that they pull it off much better. That's all.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, 'cause skynyrd are way funkier and more danceable, for one thing.

Put on "Take Me Out" and "Freebird" back to back at a party next time, and see which gets more people a-dancin'.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

there is a british gerbil in that tunnel

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I turned the whole thing off and gave up after the Black Eyed Peas started singing their part FOR THE FIFTH TIME. arrrgh.

However, FF were teh coolness, and before this I wasn't predisposed to do much more than feel pangs of indie guilt over liking the song. In fact, given that they were playing in a medley at the Grammys I was strongly predisposed to think that the whole thing sucked, except the minute they started up it was just cool, point. I wonder what that song sounds like played forwards (er, backwards)? Anyway, I'd actually go see them live now.

― daria g (daria g), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Thank you.

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:00 (twenty-one years ago)

put fuckin gimme three steps and ff on and see whos dancin

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I agree with Matos that the CD cover posted up there is really fucked up. I think it sums up a lot of what I find fucked up about this thread i.e. haha layme ass R&Bers vanquished by white rock and roll geniuses! i.e. Beatles i.e. Franz Ferdinand i.e. etc. (and poor Beatles; poor Franz Ferdinand to get roped into such a point of view!) Sorry guys but Gwen Stefani and Eve - though their new song isn't nearly as good as "Let Me Blow Your Mind" - are far "differenter" musically, style-wise, whatever, to me, and I'd much rather see what's, er, up their tunnel.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:01 (twenty-one years ago)

I just find "the return of coolness" the most baffling, half-thought-out concept ever, so don't mind me

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:03 (twenty-one years ago)

"magic tunnel sounds like a butthole surfers album title"

the first thing it made me think of was Fudge Tunnel.

(I have this funny mental image of chuck as one of those hyperkinetic raver guys who just dances non-stop no matter what else he's doing: waiting in line for the can, getting a drink at the bar, writing nasty things about indie rock, etc.)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 14 February 2005 22:03 (twenty-one years ago)

coolness is perped by people who dont know they r cool..a hard tag on sumone who may show up at a grammys type event

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I just wanna hear the Magic Tunnels, damnit.

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:05 (twenty-one years ago)

"what I find fucked up about this thread i.e. haha layme ass R&Bers vanquished by white rock and roll geniuses!"

Oh for fuck sake. I thought Kanye was good and Usher was kind of nothing, OK? I don't see how either of them fit what I was saying about Franz Ferdinand, however.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:06 (twenty-one years ago)

"I just find "the return of coolness" the most baffling, half-thought-out concept ever, so don't mind me"

Maybe you didn't understand that I was half-joking.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Tracer: you pervert.

I'm a-gonna write up an AMG review here of that Magic Tunnel bunch...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:08 (twenty-one years ago)

corpindie rock has its day blah blah blah

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:08 (twenty-one years ago)

'magic tunnel' eh? Franz Wonderland...

There's nothing 'other' about them nor their grammy performance. it's just that the medley was a 'which of these is not like the other one' episode. That fact doesn't automatically mean FF is doing something that's setting them far enough apart to signify any kind of otherness.. Just means the Grammy folks didn't pick decent enough acts to give FF a run for their coolness money. (I dig FF by the way. But you're on your own.)

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

. "Skynrd play hangdog, bloated, needlessly noodley Southern rock"

alex, have you ever listened to a LS rekkerd? They could be as taut anf concise and....ah, what's the point.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Put on "Take Me Out" and "Freebird" back to back at a party next time, and see which gets more people a-dancin'.

blue state elitist! You know there's a whole world that exists outside NYC, right? ;) (PS: I don't like LS either)

I thought FF looked like they were going to lengths to be this "real" urban hip intellectual thang, sort of like college freshman after winter break.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Have the ratings for last night's show been released yet?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

i would want vanzants watchin my back in a barfight

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Just for the record, liking or not liking Skynrd has nothing to do with blue states, red states or political views.

xpost

Arrrgh! Rock is NOT back!

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:15 (twenty-one years ago)

You people just want to deny me the magic tunnel.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:16 (twenty-one years ago)

http://framer.barewalls.com/frames/bw/40/40101,40202/15/18/closeup/m3rs784c.jpg

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:16 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,418182,00.jpg
theres nothing more other than cancer

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:16 (twenty-one years ago)

*Real* return of coolness at the Grammys: Elvin Bishop's shirt.

― chuck, Monday, 14 February 2005 22:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I would never dream of denying anyone a magic tunnel. Uh...wait a minute.

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha ha. Nice posts about the returns of rock and roll mag covers. That shit's so funny. It's like fashion editorials in mainstream men's magazines and women's magazines- endlessly informing us in earnest tones that "denim is back", "the jean is back", "femininity is back"- all of these totally empty claims about the supposed return of something that never left. They must think people have the 5 second memory of a goldfish or something. I don't know what's more desperate- the hyperventilating tone in which these announcements are made or the real situation we're all in if we still pay attention at all.

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:18 (twenty-one years ago)

ts: elvin bishop's shirt vs. billy bob thornton's.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you think a magazine will use "Green Day: The Return of Coolness" on a cover?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Now someone's going to point out how being named Pigboy Crabshaw is very "other."

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:20 (twenty-one years ago)

(x-post)
no, but i can see a rolling stone cover line "The Magic Tunnels: They Remembered the '60s So You Don't Have To.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Nah, those "Sweet Home Alabama" riffs in "When I Come Around" scarred them for life. (Nobody buys that anti-redneck-agenda shit, right?)

― chuck, Monday, 14 February 2005 22:22 (twenty-one years ago)

but drew you forget the götterdämmerung!

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:24 (twenty-one years ago)

alfred the cover of entertainment weekly last week had green day on it with 'how green day saved rock n roll' as the hed

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:25 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.pawsandpets.com/jha/images/MagicTunnel.jpg

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:26 (twenty-one years ago)

which baldwin is that behind jonny greenwood?

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, as promised.

On their latest album Redefining Space-Time, the anarcho-psych-post-punk-rock Magic Tunnels prove once again to have a particularly fine combination of influence brought to bear. Lead singer Dan Zilge, having recovered from the bottle-brush accident that led their previous CDR What Ho! A Search on the Robodelix label to be regarded in some corners as their worst yet, suddenly turns on the energy in an example of what makes a good band great. Nonetheless, not all is well on Redefining -- an ill-advised bloozejam appears, entitled "My Animal Eats My Face (Oh Mama I Am Recontextualized)," which appears to be a salute to the neo-prog revival championed by the recent Dream Theater coverband phenomenon. Still, "When Hence One Sparkles," which tearfully recalls the recent mining disaster that killed band manager Artemus Pheeb (a colorful survivor of the 90s H.O.R.D.E. roadie squad) and "Burning Down the Burning Road with a Burning Car," a motorik/disco/groove/blip/glitch dancefloor filler that combines ethereal sonic harmonies with a gutbucket raunch attack, shows that the band's trademark focus, as shown in their motto of "Anything that gets us attention by somebody," is well in hand. Secret highlight: the chorus of "If only she hadn't SCRIBBLED ON MY HOMEWORK" on "25 and 8 on 1 (Conor Fucks Up in Texas)," a dub/emo crossover delight.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Tim leaving his magic tunnel
http://www.whatalovelywar.co.uk/misc/14.jpg

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I see the light!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Is there coolness at the end of the tunnel?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:37 (twenty-one years ago)

WHERE IS TEH COOLNESS??

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:38 (twenty-one years ago)

HELL YEAH!

X-POST

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Hidden by the Darkness

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:39 (twenty-one years ago)

My original envisioning of the magic tunnel was pretty close to that one in Willy Wonka (original with Wilder, I know little about this new one in the works). You know, crazy flashing lights, crazed man talking about how the rowers keep on rowing, possibly some scottish people with weird hair. The journey to the land of cool is fraught with peril.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:39 (twenty-one years ago)

All other conceptions are equally valid, though.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:40 (twenty-one years ago)

She stayed with me until
She moved to Notting Hill
She said it was the place she had to be.
Where the cocaine is Free Trade
And frequently displayed
Is the Buena Vista Social club CD

I thought she'd be back in 3 weeks
And we'd go wandering The Peaks
Sojourn in my Uncle Joe's ashram
For when you're in Matlock Bath
You don't need Sylvia Plath
Not while they've got Mrs Gibson's jam

Alas I'm brooding alone by the runnel
While she's in Capri with her swain
And the light at the end of the tunnel
Is the light of an oncoming train

Well we both grew up in Eyam
And strange as it may seem
Neither of us thought we'd ever leave
But the beak in Leek is weak
And she's moved in, so to speak,
With featureless TV producer Steve.

And now it's all Eva Cassidy
And aphids in Picardy
And so I can only ascertain
That the light at the end of the tunnel
Is the light of an oncoming train

No frills, handy for the hills
Thats the way you spell New Mills

So I'm brooding alone by the runnel
While she's in Capri with her swain
And the light at the end of the tunnel
Is the light of an oncoming train
Is the light of an oncoming train

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I always did think Craig David looked constipated on this album cover:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005EAXZ.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― Riot Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

He's born to do it!

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:42 (twenty-one years ago)

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:GNXcG3E22GcJ:www.sexwoordenboek.nl/assets/active/anus.gif

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:43 (twenty-one years ago)

ah yes, the magic tunnel

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm really glad that I started this thread. I thought twice about it!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:44 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.subcutaneous.tv/gerebil.jpg

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:44 (twenty-one years ago)

http://home.earthlink.net/~xr250rdr/avatars/lemmiwinks_av.jpg

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:46 (twenty-one years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002IQI8I.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

double entendre? never.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:48 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/LewisAndClark/images/gerbil.jpg
Franz Ferdinand from the cheap seats

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I didn't catch the Grammy's, but it warms my heart to think that a magic tunnel of coolness opened up between Franz Ferdinand and Tim during the show. Those moments are all too rare and should be cherished.

― o. nate (onate), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:50 (twenty-one years ago)

wow - I've got a copy of that SS album but I'd never seen the cover before. Truly hideous.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 14 February 2005 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

This thread is wonderfully entertaining ... which that medley was not. Neither was Skynyrd, for that matter. I was really disapointed ... after at first being thrilled to see of my fave bands make the Grammy line-up.

― Chris O., Monday, 14 February 2005 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

dancefloor filler that combines ethereal sonic harmonies with a gutbucket raunch attack

I MUST HEAR THIS!!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:53 (twenty-one years ago)

http://network.news.com.au/image/0,10114,418125,00.jpg
Gwen airs out her Magic Tunnel

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:54 (twenty-one years ago)

When I went to steal that SS pic from amaz0n, they gave me the option to:
"Buy this album with Franz Ferdinand ~ Franz Ferdinand today!"

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:55 (twenty-one years ago)

every single thread on ILX eventually returns to the same three topics: rodents, ass-fucking, and shirtless photos of male celebrities.

― Riot Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

1 Seikan - Tsugaru Strait, Japan
2 Channel Tunnel - English Channel, England–France
3 Iwate Ichinohe - Tanigawa Mountains, Japan
4 Daishimizu - Mikuni Mountain Range, Japan
5 Simplon (I and II) - Alps, Switzerland–Italy
6 Vereina Klosters–Sagliains, Switzerland
7 Shin Kanmon - Kanmon Strait, Japan
8 Apennine Bologna–Florence, Italy
9 Qinling I-II - Qinling Mountains, China
10 Rokkô - Rokkô Mountain, Japan

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

dan's gerbil/hamster pic is priceless.

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

http://network.news.com.au/image/0,10114,418122,00.jpg
Norah Jones and Stevie Wonder(kneeling)

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:57 (twenty-one years ago)

See, if FF dressed like Gwen does they would be 10x better overnight.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:58 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.musicroom.com/images/catalogue/fullsize/am980694.jpg

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Your are viewing the Super Magic Tunnel by Pel. The suggested ages for the Super Magic Tunnel is 3.5 - 5. Create active play indoors and outdoors. Kids will imagine crawling through a spy tunnel, exploring a secret cave, finding a pirate hideaway, or creating a secret clubhouse. Portable, lightweight tunnel folds flat for easy storage. 19” diameter and 71” long. Exercise for the body and the imagination.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 14 February 2005 22:59 (twenty-one years ago)

where's Marissa Marchant?

― Riot Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:00 (twenty-one years ago)

DJ SAMMY! YES!

― j blount (papa la bas), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:02 (twenty-one years ago)

http://network.news.com.au/image/0,10114,418110,00.jpg
Joss "Man Hands" Stone adjusts the entrance to her Magic Tunnel

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Jesus, Christina looks possessed in that pic.

I thought FF looked like they were going to lengths to be this "real" urban hip intellectual thang, sort of like college freshman after winter break.

In my oh-so-quotable blurb about them for the NY'er, I called them "the Strokes after a few semesters at the Sorbonne." Oh how we laughed.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:04 (twenty-one years ago)

http://content.grammy.com/gallery/arrivals2/01_FranzFerdinand.jpg
and u wonder why we return to ": rodents, ass-fucking, and shirtless photos of male celebrities."

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:10 (twenty-one years ago)

http://content.grammy.com/gallery/arrivals2/08_AliciaKeys_JamieFoxx.jpg
Someone better find a fuckin stylist in that tunnel

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:12 (twenty-one years ago)

if they had had those dragostea doodz start the show, THAT would have been cool! They played that song on the top 40 station today when i was in the car! That was the first time I had heard it outside of da noize thread. Sounded wonderful.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:21 (twenty-one years ago)

http://content.grammy.com/gallery/show3/09_EllenDeGeneres.jpg
Iggy plus Ellen is other

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Soy Bomb eventually went on to write and sing the pop music ditty "Run Like the Wind With Your Hands on My Timmy Tim Tim."

― George Smith, Monday, 14 February 2005 23:34 (twenty-one years ago)

The depressive rant would run something like this:

Let's face it folks: music as such just ISN'T "cool" anymore. The kids are into games now. It's over. You can stop handing out awards and pack up your things and go home to play Katamari Damacy. "American Idol" has debunked any mystery about the process by which stars on the Grammy level are marketed; the process of demystification has itself run its course and no one even cares about critiquing the demystification of the process (except for ILMer college roommates studying American Idol in school, omgwtf) So, um . . . . Bye bye "coolness", hello ragged survival and making do . . .

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.magic-hour.co.uk/days8b.jpg
ragged survival+making do=supercooooool

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, yes, exactly!!!

― Drew Daniel (Drew Daniel), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)

yoo can download "Raping Adrian Belew In The Dark Of Night (With The Aid Of One Large Alien Probe)" on the tapedeck website:

http://www.thetapedeck.com/

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

But I don't know why you would want to.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:48 (twenty-one years ago)

The Official Linda Manz Appreciation Thread

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:48 (twenty-one years ago)

http://fapomatic.com/7/photo4_1.jpg

― disappear into my loins (PUNXSUTAWNEY PENIS), Monday, 14 February 2005 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

yoo can download "Raping Adrian Belew In The Dark Of Night (With The Aid Of One Large Alien Probe)" on the tapedeck website:

The Tapedeck wrote the coolest promo letters ever, accompanied with wonderful caricatures and art. One of the Tapedecks was jailed by New York's finest, sued Rudy Giulani and won. They vowed to invent "supermetal" but fell short of that goal, breaking up prematurely.

― George Smith, Tuesday, 15 February 2005 00:00 (twenty-one years ago)

wait, even better:

http://img95.exs.cx/img95/4176/photo45su.jpg

― disappear into my loins (PUNXSUTAWNEY PENIS), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 00:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Hahaha. You watched the Grammys! Hahaha!

― fabio_gonzales, Tuesday, 15 February 2005 01:16 (twenty-one years ago)

lowest rated Grammy show in 10 years:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050215/ap_on_en_mu/tv_lively_grammys

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 15 February 2005 01:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Who gives a fuck about anything on this thread when Basement Jaxx won best electronic album, motherfuckers

― Stupornaut (natepatrin), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 02:10 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.bearshop.net/M-StrongFull.JPG

― RS £aRue (rockist_scientist), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 02:12 (twenty-one years ago)

TS: "Magic Tunnels" vs. "Otherness"

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 14:21 (twenty-one years ago)

every single thread on ILX eventually returns to the same three topics: rodents [rockism], ass-fucking [indie guilt], and shirtless photos of male celebrities [xgau].

― W i l l (common_person), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 16:01 (twenty-one years ago)

for ILM, that is

― W i l l (common_person), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 16:02 (twenty-one years ago)

for inspiring the mental image of a shirtless christgau you should only drop dead

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw 10 minutes of the show, and by far the coolest thing was Latifah copping a feel on one of her twin mincing top-hatted dancers.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Like you haven't read his sex column, Miccio

― W i l l (common_person), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Speaking of tunnels, there was a real through the rabbit hole thing going on, given how gigantic John Mayer and Joss Stone looked next to the people they were paired with. Either Melissa Etheridge is truly tiny, or Joss Stone is a giant.

A giant of soul!!!!!

Bwah hah hah .... heh ...

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh Lemiwinks! go the other way! this end of the tunnel has been blocked by the Great Sphincter!

― AaronK (AaronK), Wednesday, 16 February 2005 00:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Every couple of years Americans will be exposed to European weirdness (no offense) and be totally boggled by it. I'm sure to many Europeans Franz Ferdinand is nothing new in terms of fashion and taste, but to many Americans they are just totally out of place in terms of style.

― Cunga (Cunga), Wednesday, 16 February 2005 03:31 (twenty-one years ago)

What, this is the year punk broke America again?
The next time punk breaks, I'm not going to fix it.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Wednesday, 16 February 2005 03:33 (twenty-one years ago)

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