Indier Than Thou: Again, How Much Is Too Much?

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Again, How Much Is Too Much?

Handclaps in songs, baby. Handclaps in songs.

Rilo Kiley - The Frug
Viva Voce - From The Devil Himself
Lo-Fi-FNK - A. D. T.
El Perro Del Mar - I Can't Talk About It
Maps & Atlases - Every Place Is A House

Give me a moment please, to get over an almost crippling desire to make a really bad pun about my 3rd favourite STI.

Okay thanks, I'm ready.

Anyway: are there far too many songs with handclaps in them? I claim there are! I find handclaps annoying and ugly!

I sort of liken them to an old fat bald man walking into my photographs. I've got this perfect scenic framing all worked out, and the camera's settings are all just right (for once), but then I push the button and, damn, it's Horatio the Janitor all up in my memories. It's damaging, you know. And all I want to do is show my mommy the badass shot of the bean in Chicago with all the reflections lined up the way I want them to be, but this guy's mug is in the way, always in the way, with his pockmarked scalp and you can just SEE from the way he's blurred at the edges how RUDELY he must've been darting around, getting in EVERYBODY's pictures--

Besides, you see that shit in the liner notes, "thank you to so-and-so for your delightful handclaps", and it's like, wow so-and-so, you've amounted to so much, this is the life you chose?, etc.

Also I beg you to consider what exactly the handclap is: when you clap, the flesh and bone in your palms are knocking against one another. Try it! It's like if you were beating a rug with a flyswatter, but your rug and your flyswatter are MADE OF MEAT. Only nothing like that I would assume, but it's still gross.

What's more, all three bands mentioned in the first "How much is too much?", use handclaps! Coincidence...?

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2 Comments:

Blogger Mosey said...

O.K....I TRIED to get past the rilo kiley song, but I just had to listen to it again and again. At first I was going to write: "This song must be from More Adventurous, cause she's singing so fake-like and uber-pretty" but the fact that I couldn't stop listening to it means...maybe it's good? (or I can imagine it's goodness if it was a little more lo-fi?) but I don't know where it comes from! Please tell me...
and, I guess, for me, these handclaps aren't too much...(they made my head bop uncontrollably, and make me want more!!)

9:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, I know this was posted a while ago, but just so Mosey knows, the Rilo Kiley song is from the Desert Blue soundtrack, an old movie.
And I've had soo much trouble finding it! Thanks for posting it.

1:03 AM  

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