Successful producers/musicmakers who are douchebags

  On 5/2/2012 at 10:59 PM, Face Culler said:

  On 5/2/2012 at 10:05 PM, Cryptowen said:

In time most electronic musicians will die

 

I like the Kurzweilian implications of this statement...

Only to rise again the third day after, according to the Scriptures.

  On 5/3/2012 at 1:56 AM, david said:

  On 5/2/2012 at 11:39 PM, joshuatx said:

Also, Salem are actual crackheads who've supposedly seen a lot of shit. I have to admit I actually found an interview with one of the members quite fascinating. The whole thing with witch-house is that a lot of it is terrible, but most of the producers are essentially anonymous and don't give a fuck about self-promotion. It's more of a self-centered subgenre circle jerk. So in that sense, I can see why this producer is especially annoying. Still, fuck him. Not worth your time at all.

 

do you still have a link to the salem article?

Yes, the article is here, in gay publication called Butt Magazine. It's been cited and referenced a lot elsewhere (pitchfork and allmusic reviews, other interviews, etc). Even though I liked a lot of witch-house/drag (Balam Acab, oOoOO, etc), I actually was one of many who really, really didn't like the group initially, based on the overly-violent lyrics and this hilariously godawful (so bad it's entertaining)

http://vimeo.com/29062356

i still don't see any redeeming qualities in Salem's music or 'hard' image whatsoever, but hey that's just me. I don't think just because someone does crack (which i honestly don't even believe) and they've seen 'hard' shit how it would magically turn god awful music into something good. Why are we talking about Salem in this thread? They don't fall under the category of 'successful producers'. they do fall under the category of 'hilariously bad performance goes viral'

marketing is a hell of a drug

i just ended up reading that magazine site for like 2 hours...

  On 5/3/2012 at 7:53 PM, Awepittance said:

Why are we talking about Salem in this thread? They don't fall under the category of 'successful producers'. they do fall under the category of 'hilariously bad performance goes viral'

 

marketing is a hell of a drug

Someone said the artist that spurred this thread sounded like Salem and witch-house. That's why. And yeah they're more "successfully hyped" versus "successful"

  On 5/3/2012 at 9:20 PM, slightlydrybeans said:

i just ended up reading that magazine site for like 2 hours...

hah, work prevented me from doing the same thing

maybe it's because i'm not from the south, but even the hip hop aesthetics that most of the witch house artists use, those really blaring generic rap/trance leads mixed with the very plodding expected 808 beat with the rapid fire hats, its just so hard to take. Not to mention it's distorted and overdriven more than an early LIL B track. That track you posted above, its actually shocking to me that any human soul would actually put HD video that's semi artistic over a song that bad/lazy

it is a super chunky style. I have nothing with it. But I suppose I'm not a 17 year old gothy d-bag in north dakota either.

I know it's terrible in just about every regard production wise, and I understand anyone who thinks it's absolute garbage. Yet I'm not embarrassed to say it appealed to me. When I saw that video (there are actually fan ones with horror film footage that have more views btw) it made absolute sense. There have been occasions when I drove on I-35 for hours at night, in the rain, in the middle of December between Austin and DFW. With the CD player in my VW broken and my heater barely working, I would navigate traffic trying not to get a wreck with drunk drivers and psychopathic rednecks in lifted trucks and muscle cars with whatever I could tune into for the longest- usually the hip-hop stations. That track evokes all of that for me personally. They clearly pushed the volume way into the red on purpose and what can I say, between those overdriven beats and the sloppy cut-up "O Holy Night" sample it worked for me and a plethora of other listeners.

It's a hell of a fluke, I can't even think of another Salem track I listened to and remembered. I know it's shit but in thist instance I get it.

mehhhh tracks.tell him so

michael gira... he hasn't accepted my friend request!

  On 5/4/2012 at 4:49 AM, joshuatx said:

I know it's terrible in just about every regard production wise, and I understand anyone who thinks it's absolute garbage. Yet I'm not embarrassed to say it appealed to me. When I saw that video (there are actually fan ones with horror film footage that have more views btw) it made absolute sense. There have been occasions when I drove on I-35 for hours at night, in the rain, in the middle of December between Austin and DFW. With the CD player in my VW broken and my heater barely working, I would navigate traffic trying not to get a wreck with drunk drivers and psychopathic rednecks in lifted trucks and muscle cars with whatever I could tune into for the longest- usually the hip-hop stations. That track evokes all of that for me personally. They clearly pushed the volume way into the red on purpose and what can I say, between those overdriven beats and the sloppy cut-up "O Holy Night" sample it worked for me and a plethora of other listeners.

 

It's a hell of a fluke, I can't even think of another Salem track I listened to and remembered. I know it's shit but in thist instance I get it.

ah but did you stop at the Czech stop? That's the real question. That track really reminds me of Kolachies.

Fucking love Czech Shop! No back then I usually stopped at Flying J in south Waco for cheap gas, a shitty energy drink, and nuts.

somewhat off topic, but why does everyone hate the flashbulb? i got laughed out of a soulseek room once for mentioning him. i really like his music and he seems like a good guy, but i don't know what he's really like.

well I guess flashbulbs are kinda obsolete, since digital photography has gotten so big. Maybe it was just that?

You WATMMers are so witty! I know Flashbulb has a huge reputation as a douche bag primarily because of the way he comes off as pretentious, his music is cheesy most of the time, how he twiddles his midi guitar like a ham, his song/album titles are cringe worthy etc. etc. There was a big thread about why people do and don't like him. Search that.

I will honestly can say I really just get the cringe whenever I hear his stuff. It might seem harsh or that I'm following the hate train but it's just my knee jerk response. I was at a local festival, got there at 3am and I heard pseudo IDM blasting at the main stage, I was shocked, I couldn't believe their was non-mainstream-ish electronic music being DJed. I go up the stage slightly drunk and after about 20 seconds of watching him I was just increasingly annoyed at how cheesy and boring it seemed. I didn't find out till 2 nights later that it was Flahbulb.

  On 5/7/2012 at 11:13 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

after about 20 seconds of watching him I was just increasingly annoyed...

lol

I wonder if any producer can be successful while behaving like some kind of scumbag. Its a contradiction in terms

Well, this was one of a few stories I've read about Crystal Castles being scumbags - I'd say they're a successful act. Maybe not very well respected outside of indie hipsterism circles, but still successful to a certain degree.

i don't ness think that it's the artist doing the smooching of arses. I'd say he has a with it manager, getting him on festival line-ups and writing good press releases which he sends to editors he's on a first name basis with. Everything after that is gravity. Clueless music press grabbing around for something to write about, festival organisers reading the press and hoping to push ticket sales with hot new commodity. Punters that go to festivals to get drunk and pick-up buying merchandise to illustrate their lifestyle choices.

Also, from 01:11 of that morning dreams song it's alright for a few seconds and at 2:18. Song just doesn't have enough funk to make the dunk.

  On 5/7/2012 at 12:57 PM, o00o said:

I wonder if any producer can be successful while behaving like some kind of scumbag. Its a contradiction in terms

Actually, it seems pretty common.

Phil Spector once pointed a crossbow at Leonard Cohen during a session and then locked him out of the studio so he could finish the album without Cohen's influence.

Later he killed his wife.

Timbaland stole a tune from a demoscene guy and when confronted had this to say:

  Quote

It makes me laugh. The part I don't understand, the dude is trying to act like I went to his house and took it from his computer. I don't know him from a can of paint. I'm 15 years deep. That's how you attack a king? You attack moi? Come on, man. You got to come correct. You the laughing stock. People are like, 'You can't be serious.

Kanye West is notorious, as is Zombi.

  On 5/7/2012 at 12:26 PM, Gocab said:

haha + 1

If we're talking about more than electronic acts, then I'd say that the main dude from Mice Parade is a bit dickface. I saw them play in Denton a few years back. The show was great, even Beth from Mum was there unannounced, but the main dude (not even going to google for a name) was literally yelling and counting off the beat to his keyboard player during the show like he was a fucking piano teacher or something. Yelling at the sound guy repeatedly, during songs, etc. What a choad.

  On 5/7/2012 at 9:04 PM, DerWaschbar said:

Timbaland stole a tune from a demoscene guy and when confronted had this to say:

  Quote

It makes me laugh. The part I don't understand, the dude is trying to act like I went to his house and took it from his computer. I don't know him from a can of paint. I'm 15 years deep. That's how you attack a king? You attack moi? Come on, man. You got to come correct. You the laughing stock. People are like, 'You can't be serious.

Absolute ignorant dumbass. Here's the full interview, if you can manage to listen to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTvY3wZrHrQ

Here's him being brilliant and adding, get this, a kick drum to Kanye's track "Stronger" - take notes Kanye and Daft Punk, that bass hit Timbaland added makes the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b403L53gc38

I guess the demoscene issue was sorted out of court, he didn't go into the legal details in the same interview which is probably code for "yeah I fucked up and flat out stole a tune a was caught." He also claimed to start dubstep. He also remixes songs (usually with a tribal beat loop and him going 'yeah' or 'hey') and re-releases them as "Timbaland feat. [insert original artist here]" on his solo "albums." On the bright side, his jewelry was stolen a couple years ago and as a result he threatened to kill himself in an embarrassing quasi-melt down.

I was working at a UK studio when Timbaland came in to produce one of his latter records. He was using a cracked version of Nuendo, which I thought was a bit odd. He was a friendly enough guy, asked me to go buy a record for him at "HIV".

Michael Jackson is the god of douchebags

i can't believe people whoreship this disgrace of humanity

still lol at overdosing out on the whole tour and bankrupting thousands and ruin lives

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4XXztVuczU&feature=player_detailpage