Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You? - Idolator Comments

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

NoNewYork — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:43:49 EDT

what the fuck does any of that mean? tough twee? TOUGH TWEE?

NoNewYork

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

Homage — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:33:33 EDT

You know, I started out thinking he was muddying the boundaries between twee and choochy, went through having no fucking idea what the strangle little glyphs were that he appeared to be arranging into some sort of structure to try and convey meaning, and ended up loving this comment board more than anything.

I still see Twee as pretty much exemplified by Donovan. This does not make the Vines twee.

Homage

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

slowburn — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:59:05 EDT

If this guy thinks these examples are how twee is "toughening up," then I think we need to bring back the draft.

slowburn

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

AL — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:11:00 EDT

@Al Shipley: YES. But, I think it's more like "90% of college educated, middle class, suburban-raised, white people". Or better yet, "a bunch of self-important, naval-gazing pricks".

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

Lax Danja House — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:49:46 EDT

He makes a couple of reasonable points, which would have been a little more credible had he not felt the need to wrap everything up in this bullshit "twee" concept. But still, I'm confused about whether the article was supposed to be about Barack Obama or Gwyneth Paltrow. Or if he just wanted to point out a bunch of instances where people: a) were naive and then stopped being naive, or b) are naive now. In which case well done.

Lax Danja House

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

punkybunky — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:51:53 EDT

I have no idea what all that was about.

As it happens, I don't like Carrie Bradshaw, but I think that's more out of dislike for her clothes & whinyness than anything else.

punkybunky

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

Michaelangelo Matos — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:58:21 EDT

I'm so glad someone finally called out musicians and movie actors for not being politically astute, since that's their job, just like hard-hitting analysis is the New York Observer's.

Michaelangelo Matos

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

mike a — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:45:08 EDT

He must be talking about a different "twee" than the style I've been listening to all these years. I sure don't recognize the one with hobbits.

What's often forgotten about '80s/'90s indiepop is how funny it often was. Folks like Edwyn Collins, Stephen Pastel, Amelia Fletcher, Calvin Johnson - even Morrissey and Stuart Murdoch - were constantly poking fun at themselves. Orange Juice's "Consolation Prize" is more than a gorgeous song: it's a nonstop self-critique, culminating in a mock-histrionic "I'll never be man enough for you!" It's as if the band was anticipating and pre-empting its own criticisms. As far as defense mechanisms go, it's every bit as "punk" as Lydon's arrogance and the Clash's martial poses.

But there have always been those who overlook such layers of content and just focus on the baby barrettes and Hello Kitty accoutrements - which is how we got into this mess, I think. It's a lot like reconciling Rites of Spring with today's "emo," or the Specials with third-wave ska.

mike a

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

Al Shipley — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:22:06 EDT

I think we've finally gotten to the point that most of the aesthetics and traits attributed to musical subcultures like "indie," "emo" and "twee" are just standard issue shit that's common to 90% of all white people.

Al Shipley

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

RaptorAvatar — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:52:00 EDT

He fails because he wasn't high enough to figure out a way to make this article also be about "Juno," LA's all ages scene, Vampire Weekend, "Speed Racer," and how music blogging is going to save us all. I kind of know what he's talking about, but then it's also a little like watching someone try to hit a home run with a tennis racket.

RaptorAvatar

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

whoneedslight — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:43:59 EDT

I don't even feel like I'm reading English.

whoneedslight

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

Dick Laurent is dead. — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:12:05 EDT

This shit depresses me.

Dick Laurent is dead.

Twee Gets Tough Thanks To Barack Obama, Arcade Fire, Iron Man, You?

Audif Jackson Winters III — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:09:54 EDT

FDR totally had a big indie heart, too.

Audif Jackson Winters III