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Cemetry Gator posted:I really love this interview for some reason: My favourite is the Paul McCartney interview, because as bad as he makes some people sound, Paul sounds like such an incoherent lunatic I'm not sure what he was supposed to be talking about in the first place. I watched that Al-Music special so many times I wore the VHS tape out. I think I still have most of the "K. Blgaga" letter memorized. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqP1FEpoBG8 MikeSevigny fucked around with this message at 08:16 on Jul 15, 2014 |
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Jul 15, 2014 08:05
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One other thought....the polka medley really shows how moving away from full albums is a great idea. It has Sexy and I Know It on it, for god's sake.
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Jul 15, 2014 08:08
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It's 3AM in my country; I should go to sleep, but here I am, listening to the album on Spotify. So far, I love it. I loved the polka medley and Word Crimes
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Jul 15, 2014 09:03
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ComposerGuy posted:Even forgetting the actual straight-up parodies, his originals that instead take the "style" of a certain artist or band are often so good that he out-does them (Mark Mothersbaugh once commented that Al's "Dare To Be Stupid" is the perfect DEVO song and he wished he had written it). Dare to be Stupid is totally a song that Devo could have written. I always thought it was funny that Devo wrote a song called "Nutty Buddy" that featured Mr. Goodbar references in the lyrics, and played it a few shows in the 70s (but never released it). Then Weird Al throws in a line about Mr. Goodbar in his song, and it was likely just a coincidence.
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Jul 15, 2014 14:58
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Bown posted:One other thought....the polka medley really shows how moving away from full albums is a great idea. It has Sexy and I Know It on it, for god's sake. Yeah. Pumped Up Kicks is 4 years old at this point. He could easily release independently a Summer Jamz Polka every year.
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Jul 15, 2014 15:09
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This Fancy parody is god drat brilliant
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Jul 15, 2014 15:33
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Well, it has finally happened after 30 years of being a Weird Al fan. He has released an album where I don't know a single one of the songs he's parodying. I've heard OF a couple of them, but (other than some stuff in the polka medley) I didn't recognize any and had to look up what each original song was. I guess hooray for me for escaping from awful pop music, but some of the humor is lost on me now, and it's kind of a bummer. Fortunately, the originals are great as always. I'm a huge Pixies fan, and First World Problems is spot-on. Jackson Park Express is great too - it just keeps going on and on and getting more ridiculous. I lost it at "...I like your boobs".
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Jul 15, 2014 15:54
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The video for Word Crimes is up on weirdal.com. It's very basic, but also very good.
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Jul 15, 2014 16:18
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WhiteHowler posted:Well, it has finally happened after 30 years of being a Weird Al fan. He has released an album where I don't know a single one of the songs he's parodying. I've heard OF a couple of them, but (other than some stuff in the polka medley) I didn't recognize any and had to look up what each original song was. Having gone the last year without hearing Happy or Blurred Lines is impressive.
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Jul 15, 2014 16:22
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howe_sam posted:The video for Word Crimes is up on weirdal.com. It's very basic, but also very good. Yeah, it was also my first exposure to the track, and it was pretty awesome 
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Jul 15, 2014 16:28
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Henchman of Santa posted:Having gone the last year without hearing Happy or Blurred Lines is impressive. It's not that hard to do, I've heard Happy on a commercial or two, and maybe the credits of a movie, I have no idea. Never heard Blurred Lines though.
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Jul 15, 2014 17:12
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Being familiar with popular music is a good thing and contempt for it like this:WhiteHowler posted:I guess hooray for me for escaping from awful pop music is really lame, not to mention dumb. By your own admission you don't even know what you're escaping from, stop fronting. edit: I got a kick out of the "'WEIRD AL' YANKOVIC HAS A BIG DICTIONARY" at the end of the Word Crimes video, nice callback to the Blurred Lines video
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Jul 15, 2014 17:15
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I'm just happy that I got to hear Weird Al say 'cunning linguist'. Is that a callback to anything?
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Jul 15, 2014 17:27
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I really liked the new video. So far it's a pretty good album. I prefer to know the songs being parodied, I think it pays off to know how the originals go, even if you hate them. I can't hear "Sexy and I Know It" but the version in the polka medley was great and I could listen to a complete version in that style.
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Jul 15, 2014 17:28
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Boinks posted:I'm just happy that I got to hear Weird Al say 'cunning linguist'. Is that a callback to anything? He used "master debater" in the I Need A Nap book.
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Jul 15, 2014 17:32
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howe_sam posted:The video for Word Crimes is up on weirdal.com. It's very basic, but also very good. 
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Jul 15, 2014 17:46
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Steven Hyden, always prone to over-analyzing but fun when you're in the mood, wrote an interesting piece on Al's relevance. As someone who just got an English degree and spent four years on the college newspaper staff, that Word Crimes video is great. Henchman of Santa fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Jul 15, 2014 |
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Jul 15, 2014 18:12
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I thought the interview Al did with NPR covered the same ground, but minus Hyden attempting to be cooler than Al, which is impossible of course.
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Jul 15, 2014 18:32
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This "behind the scenes" write up by the creator of the Word Crimes video is pretty interesting. There are a lot more hidden jokes than I thought there were. http://spaceparanoids.net/wordcrimes/
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Jul 15, 2014 18:37
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Henchman of Santa posted:Having gone the last year without hearing Happy or Blurred Lines is impressive. het posted:Being familiar with popular music is a good thing and contempt for it like this:
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Jul 15, 2014 18:43
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TheNinjaScotsman posted:This "behind the scenes" write up by the creator of the Word Crimes video is pretty interesting. There are a lot more hidden jokes than I thought there were. 
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Jul 15, 2014 18:58
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Maybe it's because I was at a liberal arts college and therefore the duration of Blurred Lines' popularity was amplified by endless discussion of rape culture, but that poo poo was ubiquitous and I never listen to pop radio. I first heard it during the NBA Finals when it was the Beats Pill song.
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Jul 15, 2014 19:28
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ComposerGuy posted:Because even strictly from a pure musical standpoint, Al is near the top of working musicians in the entire business. His arranging chops are stellar, and his band might be the best there's ever been, or at least in the discussion (their ability to seamlessly shift through such radically different styles and nail them is a constant wonder). Even forgetting the actual straight-up parodies, his originals that instead take the "style" of a certain artist or band are often so good that he out-does them (Mark Mothersbaugh once commented that Al's "Dare To Be Stupid" is the perfect DEVO song and he wished he had written it). This is so true. He is a genuine musical talent and gets right to the core of pop music and pop culture like nobody else. The fact that he does silly parodies makes him I guess seem childish or uncool to a lot of people but he's quite brilliant.
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Jul 15, 2014 19:50
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Henchman of Santa posted:Maybe it's because I was at a liberal arts college and therefore the duration of Blurred Lines' popularity was amplified by endless discussion of rape culture, but that poo poo was ubiquitous and I never listen to pop radio. I first heard it during the NBA Finals when it was the Beats Pill song. I'm sorry, what?
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Jul 15, 2014 19:57
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Xoidanor posted:I'm sorry, what? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/18/robin-thicke-blurred-lines-rapey_n_3461215.html
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Jul 15, 2014 20:00
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Xoidanor posted:I'm sorry, what?
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Jul 15, 2014 20:01
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Huh, I guess I never actually did listen to the lyrics the few times I've heard that song.
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Jul 15, 2014 20:03
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I honestly think the poo poo in that song isn't much worse than like half of Prince's back catalog but I guess it's a good thing that people are starting to take notice of suspect lyrics.
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Jul 15, 2014 20:10
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Blurred Lines is more really creepy* in its lyricism than actually offensive. If anything, the parody is more offensive, because he uses the word 'spastic'. * really really really really really creepy, but yeah
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Jul 15, 2014 20:12
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Is that Windows 95 in the Word Crimes video?
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Jul 15, 2014 20:44
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Bown posted:If anything, the parody is more offensive, because he uses the word 'spastic'.
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Jul 15, 2014 20:50
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het posted:I thought that was a surprising choice. I know that word doesn't carry nearly the baggage in the US that it does in the UK; I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's unaware of how it's perceived outside the US? I know it's a loaded word elsewhere, but what does it actually refer to? It's derogatory for cerebral palsy patients, right? Something like that?
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Jul 15, 2014 21:05
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het posted:I thought that was a surprising choice. I know that word doesn't carry nearly the baggage in the US that it does in the UK; I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's unaware of how it's perceived outside the US? I had absolutely no idea that word had any big connotations outside the US. I have learned this fact literally just now. So in fairness, he probably didn't.
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Jul 15, 2014 21:24
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In the US it's usually shortened to "spazz" and refers to socially awkward kids who freak out over small things. The only time I've heard about it having any connotations beyond that is tumblr "ableist scum!" posts that also criticize people for using "stupid."
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Jul 15, 2014 21:57
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Yeah, "spastic" in the US is just something 8 year olds call each other. That and "spaz." I was surprised to hear it because it's actually super outdated over here. I haven't heard anyone say it since the 90's.
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Jul 15, 2014 21:59
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"Spastic" is an offensive term? Huh, you learn something new every day.
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Jul 15, 2014 22:13
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In the UK the term spastic is linked strongly with cerebral palsy thanks to the charity the Spastics Society founded in the 50s, which eventually changed it's name to Scope due to "spastic" becoming an hugely popular insult in playgrounds across the UK.
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Jul 15, 2014 22:53
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Al has always used words like that, which may or may not be offensive. He's got a history of kinda toeing the line. Finally giving this album a proper listen, and even though I don't recognize some of the parodies, I'm digging it a lot. Going to have to go back and check out the last few albums now, to see what I've been missing out on.
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Jul 15, 2014 23:33
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OK, I'm liking-to-loving most of the tracks here, but I got to "Jackson Park Express" and this poo poo is just perfect. It's so Cat Stevens I don't even know where to begin. Absolutely amazing send-up and I was laughing through a good chunk of it. SO glad he came back to the 9-plus-minute track to end albums. I'd put this one right in there with "Albuquerque" and "Genius in France". Hard to pick a favorite. ...of course my heart will always belong to "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota".
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Jul 15, 2014 23:50
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Word crimes is the schoolhouse rock of the new generation. That was a great song, and I only know the original because I'm a huge fan of boobies and that vid had them. Only watching the one video a day and so far Al is two for two.
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Jul 16, 2014 00:02
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