I still listen to this album from time to time. I first heard about them when they were featured in a CD magazine, i.e. a magazine you'd buy at the newsstand but that just consisted of the CD in a box. All the rage in the mid nineties. I had just bought my first CD-ROM drive so this was extra cool. Really loved the song so I bought the album.
It’s funny, I’ve never really gotten into MBV. By all accounts, I should really enjoy their music. I love YoLa Tengo, Sonic Youth, Luna, PJ Harvey, The Sugarcubes, KNOWER (similar insofar as the vocals get kinda buried back in the mix and are breathy and high), Unwound…my bloody valentine should definitely be in my wheelhouse. But…no matter how many times I’ve listened to them I just haven’t been grabbed by any of it.
There have been plenty of bands that this had happened with, and I finally listened at the right time and fell in love—who knows, that might still be possible. But after many years MBV just never did anything for me.
Can anyone recommend one song that they just feel is their go-to to recommend? It’s weird, I feel like when I listen that I could enjoy it, but…it just bores me? I don’t know why, that’s not usually a feeling I feel often with music that isn’t just standard pop fare. Still feel that way, though.
My picks from Loveless would be Only Shallow, When You Sleep, Come In Alone but basically most of the album.
They can't be everyone's cup of tea, so it's fine if you don't get into them. I'm the same with a lot of bands. I came to MBV at a formative time in my life and they were pretty much the first "famous" band that I ever saw live, but even now, I can't say that I listen to them all the time.
Edit: I just finished watching the main part. I think they could have gone further. I assume some people will be curious about Nicotine gum/lozenges after this video. And wonder if it’s an ideal alternative.
Otherwise, the way they show all the downsides is really effective IMO.
Sure. There's a lot to it, so I'll copy/paste (with some minor modifications) an explanation from elsewhere.
It started when a YouTuber whose channel is called Coffee Break reached out to Philip of Kurzgesagt as part of a video he was doing into the flaws of popular science communication. Specifically, about some significant errors in K's video on Addiction. Instead of agreeing to collaborate, or even giving a simple "not interested, sorry", K took an instant accusatory tone, claiming CB must have been making a "gotcha" piece. CB and K agreed that they would talk more about the matter to try and assuage K's concerns, but K kept stalling while working on a retraction video, at which time K took down the video that was the impetus for this discussion (shortly after, as one of those aforementioned stalling efforts, having said "I never could bring myself to take it down", claiming it would be "cruel and unnecessary" to do so—funny, considering in his AMA attempting to spin the story, he said "I was really stressed out about the addiction and the refugee video for years. Being finally open about my mistakes and deleting them felt like weight leaving my body."). The Refugee video was also taken down along with the Addiction one that CB was interested in.
K claims to be interested in science communication. But here, he decided to make the selfish decision to do what he thought would protect his own personal brand through duplicitous means. He got ahead of the story that falsely assumed was coming, and put up a pre-emptive response to that. Now, CB isn't entirely blameless. In response to the above, CB put out a rather hot-headed reaction to the whole incident. He didn't follow up with K to try to understand what had happened; he lashed out in anger at K's self-righteous arse-covering video.
And then CB started getting harassed. K called out CB, and many of K's friends (other very large, powerful YouTubers such as CGP Grey and Philip de Franco) made very public statements to their audiences attacking CB. It ended up forcing CB into taking down his video, deleting a whole heap of tweets explaining what happened, and putting out an apology. Perhaps it was an apology that CB should have indeed made, but the need for an apology from K was much, much greater. And one never came. K used his larger platform to spin the narrative so that his large audience, and now also the general public who becomes aware of this, almost all take his side.
And as a separate thing that came out a while after this, Both Kurzgesagt and CGP Grey were early members of Nebula. Today, Nebula is fairly well-known as a creator-owned streaming service. Creators literally have an ownership stake in the business, and are paid out a slice based on their viewership (I don't think the exact formula is public, but presumably some function including number of views, view hours, etc.).
But early on, when it was still taking the shape we know it in today, Grey and Kurzgesagt were members with an ownership stake. They left it a long time ago citing "creative differences" (or some vague nonsense like that). From little pieces that have come out on the rare occasions that existing Nebula creators have said something about it, apparently those two were less interested in the vision of Nebula as a place where multiple creators support each other in growing their collective revenue; instead they wanted to take more of a parasitic approach where they could profit off of the backs of other, smaller creators. Because the then-co-owners weren't interested in that, Grey and Kurzgesagt ended up leaving.
Yeah it sucks. Though for what it's worth, I'm definitely not suggesting other people should stop watching him. It would be hypocritical of me to do so.
I don't watch Kurzgesagt, but then I never did much. I watched a video of theirs here and there but never got really into it. But I was a huge fan of CGP Grey. The above was only a minor part of it, but some of Grey's other actions have upset me to the point I can't say I really like the guy any more. But I still watch his videos...when he actually puts one out. They're high production value and usually on interesting subjects.
I fucking love Lanterns on The Lake. Been kind of obsessed with them ever since I heard a demo track of theirs on an indie music podcast years before they even had a proper album out. I'm very jealous of your friend getting to see them live.
Beings - which this track is from - is probably their best album, although picking the best LotL album is largely an exercise in madness. I personally have a deep love for Until The Colours Run. The track "Another Tale From Another English Town" basically lives in my brain permanently.
Funny story: Lanterns on The Lake got a pretty meaningful exposure bump from being featured on the soundtrack to Life is Strange, specifically in the prequel set in 2010. In the scene the characters actually listen to Through The Cellar Door together, while fantasizing about running away from the shitty nowhere town they live in.
This annoys me for two very stupid reasons; Through The Cellar Door didn't come out until 2015, so the characters listening to it is an anachronism. But they could have been listening to This Year, which was around in 2010, and is literally about fantasizing about getting out of the shitty nowhere town you live in.
I'm well aware that giving a shit about any of this makes me a massive nerd.
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