I'm told that today's youngsters really dig this guy.
I'm unconvinced about him, however. I hated his previous band Fleet Foxes -- a thoroughly derivative folk-rock outfit that looked more miserable at being onstage than any other act I've ever seen -- and this new shtick of his just seems too clever and ironic by half.
That said, there was a PROFILE of him in a recent issue of the New Yorker, and I gotta admit -- as Jack Nicholson famously said of Bob Dylan -- "This guy's a riot."
My favorite bit:
Tillman and [his significant other] Emma recently moved to Laurel Canyon, to a two-bedroom house at the end of a cul-de-sac. He’d lived in the neighborhood when he first moved to Los Angeles, and critics drew the inevitable line back to fabled predecessors—Gram Parsons, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, and Nash. “Yes, that ‘unmistakable Laurel Canyon sound,’ ” Tillman said. “The sound of Laurel Canyon is entertainment lawyers screaming at their dogs.”
Plus he does a lot of drugs, which at this point in time I find endearing.
11 comments:
I read the thing in The New Yorker, and this clip is my first experience with the guy.
He can write a song and has clearly got something.
Fleet Foxes, eh? The local indy radio in Philly really hyped that bunch early on. Like you, I was less than impressed. While this guy seems to have a sense of humor and all, this tune never really takes off (disclaimer: I only listened to about a minute and a half of it)
Agree with you on Misty, disagree on Fleet Foxes. I listened to Pure Comedy twice on Spotify, and listened to I Love You Honeybear when it came out, and currently have zero desire to listen to his first, Fear Fun. Is he doing a Bill Murray-type lounge act that only folks under 40 get? I guess I could say 60 here, but I could be off.
As for Fleet Foxes, Hopeless Blues is a Class 1-A album, Fleet Foxes (the band's first) is a bit of a snooze), and I ask you to give their new one, Crack-Up, a listen. It sounds to me jazzy in a Tim Buckley-Happy Sad or Goodbye and Hello sort of way, only with MUCH better production values.
I saw Tim Buckley once in the late 1960s, but have yet to see Fleet Foxes, and have little desire to see FJM.
IMO, the guy's a wack job in a world where adolescent passes for mature, dull for brilliant. nihilism for profundity. The fucker's trying too hard. A poster child for entertainment being stupid, while thinking it's smart. Just another turd in the toilet smearing brown streaks against the bowl on its way down the vortex. He can't make up his mind whether he's Nick Cave or Jackson Browne. Well, he's neither.
Worst thing ever for a Molly comedown.
VR
VR: Bahaha! *ahem* Agreed.
If Vicky hates him, that's reason enough to love him for me. Besides, his new album is brilliant.
Well, at least he didn't reveal his hideous belly like he did on SNL. But I find him pretentious, boring, unwatchable.
The only way to "get" this guy is to realize he's an insufferable douchebag.
VR
Takes one...
Don't give up too soon. I first discovered the guy on the soundtrack to "True Detective, Part 1" -- his song there was a "Everyman Needs A Companion," and it's a very moody, effective number. You can find it on his "Fear Fun" album. I don't think he's dismissible. He's challenging.
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