I used to hate The Fall, and be massively irritated by Mark E Smith's voice whenever I heard it.
Sometimes now, I can't get enough.
With this is mind, I would like all 'Spillers to help me compile a Top Ten of the most marmite artists/bands out there - please!
I'll say: The Fall obvs, and maybe Jens Lekman...
Over to you!
45 comments:
*** *****
Would think that Grateful Dead, Genesis & Bob Dylan would all be Marmite. Mrs. Shoey finds The Fall & Mark Stewart to be toxic. Sigur Ros is a useful repellant for the Shoe Teens ("Oh no Dad, not that weird Iceland music again") & they get their revenge with the appalling Jonas Brothers.
Some that initiate an internal Marmite effect:
Joanna Newsom - heard This Side Of The Blue, loved it, downloaded a few more, couldn't stomach any of them, still like This Side Of The Blue.
Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson & the song Valerie -
really like Rehab and noncommittal but tolerant of much of her other stuff, adore The Zutons original of Valerie - absolutely detest the lazy, affected pseudo-soulful drawl and tinny, dinner party Funk Brothers pastiche of the Ronson/Winehouse cover.
Alicia Keys - what's not to like about this beautiful, intelligent, talented woman with an impeccable musical education backing her Positive Black Woman attitude and socialist leanings? Um, her music. Some People apart, it just doesn't work for me. Given that I love Marmite, this one would be Vegemite.
Timbaland - he's an extraordinary producer. You can't deny it. Can I claim never to have danced to one of his mixes even though my dancing days are largely behind me? Of course not! But whenever I listen to his trademark sound (for those who aren't familiar, listen to Madonna's 4 Minutes and Flo Rida's Elevator back-to-back) and find it just plain nasty. And enough with your slack-jawed raps. And please get the hell out of every music video on my television.
Two of my favourite bands are definitely Marmites - both King Crimson and the Grateful Dead seem to arouse strong opinions in many people.
I think most people here know my opinion of The Fall, definitely more Marmite there, but negative for me.
For me Arcade Fire are most definitely a "YUCK" although I know they are hugely admired but I adore both Spiritualized and The Flaming Lips who seem to divide people into two opposed camps too.
bob Dylan and joanna newsom donded. I think the marmite factor can definately hinge on a singing voice over most other things.
blimp
Make some room for Prince in that list, and I think in a couple of years, we could add The Beatles to that too.
Wild Beasts?
Neutral Milk Hotel seem to rouse strong feelings of aversion in some people (though not me, I adore them).
On the other hand, I've walked out of Animal Collective twice now (second time I went to see the superlative support band).
Magic Markers are another one to adore or loathe. Just how entertaining is it to see a re-enactment of your primal scream therapy sessions on stage? (Think Arthur Janov rather than the band Primal Scream here).
I quite enjoyed seeing magik markers.
Walking out of AC??!! That's marmite madness!!!! Proves the point of this list, eh wot?
Bands that I like that mrs mcflah shouts at me to turn off:
Lightning Bolt
Animal Collective
Neutral Milk Hotel
Um, and nearly all the rest of my record collection come to think of it......
Blimpy - are you going to reveal what those asterisks were at the top? My guess is either The Verve or Tom Jones. Not sure why...
Wild Beasts is a good shout, as is Animal Collective. I love AC but can understand why others (Mrs Frod, too...) wouldn't. Jury is out on Wild Beats yet.
If a difficult voice is part of it then I think early Bright Eyes is a big one. The quiver can really put some folk off. Same with Daniel Johnston.
And I reckon Ben Folds alienates quite a few with 'comedy capers' and the odd bit of rinky-dink.
But can I just say that I REALLY like marmite and have just had it for lunch on the strength of this thread. Crusty, fresh white bread, loads of butter, marmite. And I'm done.
A friend of mine is a fan of Mercury Rev. His wife isn’t. She can’t abide Jonathan Donahue’s singing.
Animal Collective are excellent on record, but they’ve always disappointed me live (as, curiously, did Peter Bjorn and John).
Spiritualized are good in small doses, but Jason, yes, we get it that religion is big, and so are drugs, and so is that near-death experience. Now, how’s about a song about bunny rabbits, eh?
Arcade Fire are consistently one of the best things I’ve seen live (but Neon Bible is too bombastic much of the time), and Wake Up makes me blub like nothing apart from dropping an anvil on my little toe.
If you can’t enjoy, or at least appreciate, a Flaming Lips gig, check your pulse is still there.
What May1366 has for Alicia Keys and Timbaland, I have for… Nick Cave. It’s not that I don’t like him, I just feel I like I’m missing something and that I should like him more than I do (aside from The Boatman’s Call, Where The Wild Roses Grow and The Proposition).
*** ***** = Bob Dylan, i wanted to see how long it would take for his name to crop up...
One hour and 41 minutes, it was.
Bob Dylan is definitely my Marmite (and I hate Marmite btw).
Artists I love that have the Marmite factor:
Prefab Sprout
Divine Comedy
Badly Drawn Boy
Steely Dan
...and number one my list has to be:
Dean Friedman
Donds for the Wild Beasts (or Wild Beats, as Snadfrod would have it) because the first time I encountered "marmite" as an adjective was the week Blimpy nominated the Wild Beasts over on RR.
On the jazz front, maybe Jamie Cullum: I know people - serious jazz fans, not just the (apologies for sexist caricature) Radio 2 housewives brigade, who don't want to throttle him with Diana Krall's tongue. Intellectually, I can see the possibility of an argument that he is the Nat King Cole of our days, only white and annoying, but musically he just brings me out in a rash.
I'm with you CaroleBristol about Arcade Fire, tried to listen to them, reminded me of Talking Heads who I equally don't get, tried again and decided silence was better. Good to hear I'm not alone in the opinion.
How about Rufus Wainwright? Like his Dad well enough but he irritates me deeply. His vocal mannerisms drive me mad, in a bad way.
Still, I once endured a rant from a stranger about how annoying she found the Cure, we're all different I guess.
Bob Dylan, Rufus Wainwright, Joanna Newsom, The Fall (apart from Hit The North, Folding Money and his bit on the Inspiral's I Want You).
Robbie Williams makes me want to kill.
Donds to Bob Dylan. Some people think his poetry is in the same league as Keats, I think his singing is in the same league as William Shatner.
Morrissey is similar - a lot of people love his arch lyrics, but I cannot stand his vocals.
Prog-rock is pretty marmite as a genre, bands like Yes particularly. I love their best stuff, but I know a lot of people hate them.
What about Akira the Dog?
Have to throw in Coldplay, Moby, Snow Patrol & Toto for consideration by the jury. Probably all more marzipan than marmite though.
I seriously hate Coldplay.
Also;
Razorlight, Keane, Travis, Snow Patrol, The Magic Numbers, Starsailor (who should be impaled on spikes for stealing a Tim Buckley album for their name) and all manner of other second rate whingers.
is there anyone who would actually defend Robbie Williams here though? Or all those landfill indie bands (it seems an appropriate term for those you mentioned carolebristol)? I wouldn;t defend any of them.
This reminds me of the Sacred Cow column that Uncut used to do. Now, someone will probably shoot me, but I've never liked more than two songs by Joy Division even though everyone assumes I'm a fan, which I find very irksome.
Blimpy, you've stumbled into a sticky, black, yeasty minefield with your latest poll. There rages (as I type, breakfast tables are quivering in Southland) a never ending debate down under about the relative merits of "Marmite" (slightly saltier) and its more spreadable rival "Vegemite". That's without recalling my vegetarian phase dabblings with the yeast flake purists...
Vegemite is that weird stuff that only Australians eat, isn't it?
I think I've had Vegemite, in Sao Paulo actually, and the first taste was horrendous. The second was weird. The third was bad. Marmite's alright though, but come to think of it, I think I last had it 10 years ago.
Cats really like marmite. Bet none of you knew that!!
Donds for Dylan, Fall & Sigur Ros as artists who provoke Marmitian reactions. [Mar-mee-shan? WTF?! - Ed.]
Of those three only the Icelanders get a positive nod from me.
I'll stand the same side of the Joy Division line as Beth, but suspect I'm WAY out on my own by saying "Yes, I'll defend Robbie Williams" albeit only for Let Me Entertain You. Beating seven shades out of DarceysSis' drumkit to that is one of the best forms of frustration release known to man. End of ...
I'll get me coat & sticks, shall I?
Sigur Ros are a band I keep thinking I really ought to like, but I find they just don't do anything for me at all.
What about The Mars Volta? The one gig I've been to this year where I'm still wondering WTF it was all about six months later.
Will defend Robbie, Amy & Mark Ronson all in one go as I still enjoy "Version". It's the sound of an English summer for me - maybe it's not being there. The shoeteens love it too.
I am not going to defend Robbiw Williams, but I will admit to liking Take That when he was part of them - not enough to actually own any of their discs - but to dance to when the opportunity arises (i.e. when I am pissed enough).
I think that Relight My Fire is disco genius.
Oops - that should be Robbie, not Robbiw.
yes, but cats like ear wax too, so they have odd taste.
Oh, such defence for Robbie, how interesting. I think I just got allergic to him when Angels got played everywhere forever a few years ago.
I recently had a jar of marmite fall out of a high cupboard and smash on the floor as I was about to serve out dinner. It's no fun trying to pick gooey broken glass, so I haven't bought another one.
When the dads-to-be in our NCT class were given a doll with which to practise changing a nappy, marmite was the substitute substance used. Cleaning away baby poo turned out to be a breeze by comparison. You'd have thought that would have put me off eating the stuff (marmite, that is) but it looks like it's with me to the grave.
Retrospectively, don't have much of a problem with Take That, Robbie Williams' presence notwithstanding - I like Pray; Relight My Fire is fine (though I'd reserve the disco genius tag for Dan Hartman in this context); overall, they were never Westlife.
But Williams! If I was doing a poetry workshop with 8-year-olds and one of them came up with a rhyme as weak as "She offers me protection/ A lotta love and affection" I'd just about bring myself to let it go without suggesting a re-draft but anyone else...for reasons I can't sufficiently articulate (which I suppose is the name of the Marmite game), I find it uniquely terrible.
My cat likes Marmite, so do I, Mr Munday hates it.
Pet HATEs that other people love
Beautiful South
Meatloaf
Smiths / Morrisey
Whitney Houston
Pet LIKEs that other people hate
The Cure
Talking Heads
Roy Harper
Beck
Chris7572 here: I may join this as it seems much more lively than the new RR thing.
@TracyK: White Chalk is wonderful. I loved the passion and originality of the first few albums but was bored by 'Songs from...' I didn't bother with Uh Huh Her. But White Chalk is beautiful and haunting, adding another major string to her bow of talent (?!)
Grateful Dead studio albums have never caught the GD essence but Built To Last takes that one stage further. They managed to record it without actally being in the same studio at the same time. The Dreadful Dead.
Who's going to take the blind marmite / earwax taste challenge?
I'm getting this strange sense of deja-lu...
@Carole:
"Wok live"? You mean they're really cooking? ;)
(Sorry, couldn't resist that one)
@Chris7572 - Yes, Built To Last is pretty poor, but so is Go To Heaven as well, although both contain songs that work live.
The problem is the drug dependency thing, isn't it?
Jerry's addiction in the 80s really tore the heart out of the band, I have heard some terrible live sets from that period too, not only Jerry playing badly but also Phil.
@Tim - sorry, I deleted the original post with "wok", because I wanted to add something as well as remove the typo.
@carole: strangely, I find I can listen to Go To Heaven. Even the Brent songs are OK and I, as you know, am not his biggest fan.
My analysis of the Dead these days splits them roughly into Jerry drug/keyboard player segments:
1965-1972. Acid & Pigpen. Raw and fearless.
1973-1979. Cocaine & Godchaux. Spiky, jazzy & adventurous.
1980-1990. Heroin & Mydland. Bland with occasional flashes. 'Doobie Dead'. Start of the sympathy vote.
1991-1995. Heroin & Welnick. Sloppy, too fast, unimaginative. Pathos by the bucketload.
No Age. I liked Weirdo Rippers the first time I heard it but the second time I wondered what I'd been thinking. Haven't bought their second album and still don't know where I stand.
I like No Age. I thought Boy Void was an amazing song.
Their second LP is well worth a cheeky illegal download, then if you don't like it, you don't have to buy it!
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