OK Go rocks my socks
Or, if you prefer, they roxxxorz my boxxxorz. Anyway. Some of you may know OK Go by their unconventional music videos. Chris told me that Jack told him that when OK Go first went to a studio to record a music video, they were told how much it would cost, to which they responded, "Fuck that, we'll do it in the backyard." That's how this was born:
The trend has continued, with some videos (like Here it Goes Again) continuing the "ten-dollar budget" trend, others (like Invincible) following the more conventional route, and still more (like Do What You Want and Don't Ask Me) having two versions.
I consider them to be pop, but my definition of "pop" more or less equates to "simple and catchy." Chris classifies them as pop-rock, emphasis on the rock, and he defines pop in a way that makes it nearly categorically bad. I agree that most pop, consisting of boy bands and lip-synchers, is shit - but I try not to define genres into being "good" or "bad" in and of themselves, but instead define them by what differentiates them from other genres on a strictly descriptive (i.e. non-evaluative) account. Our discussion concluded with the two of us agreeing that most pop music is produced via processes we likened to a factory: there is research behind the installation, but no research is done in the installation, and nothing novel comes out. OK Go, on the other hand, is doing original research and creating artful, novel products (to continue the metaphor). Our professional disagreement has been maintained, though (I still think they're pop).
Anyway, I think they're awesome, and so should you. I got their second CD, Oh No, via entirely legal means, and it's got A Good Idea at the Time on it, which (as Jack told me a while ago) is their response to Sympathy for the Devil. Fuckin' great.
Click to viewThe trend has continued, with some videos (like Here it Goes Again) continuing the "ten-dollar budget" trend, others (like Invincible) following the more conventional route, and still more (like Do What You Want and Don't Ask Me) having two versions.
I consider them to be pop, but my definition of "pop" more or less equates to "simple and catchy." Chris classifies them as pop-rock, emphasis on the rock, and he defines pop in a way that makes it nearly categorically bad. I agree that most pop, consisting of boy bands and lip-synchers, is shit - but I try not to define genres into being "good" or "bad" in and of themselves, but instead define them by what differentiates them from other genres on a strictly descriptive (i.e. non-evaluative) account. Our discussion concluded with the two of us agreeing that most pop music is produced via processes we likened to a factory: there is research behind the installation, but no research is done in the installation, and nothing novel comes out. OK Go, on the other hand, is doing original research and creating artful, novel products (to continue the metaphor). Our professional disagreement has been maintained, though (I still think they're pop).
Anyway, I think they're awesome, and so should you. I got their second CD, Oh No, via entirely legal means, and it's got A Good Idea at the Time on it, which (as Jack told me a while ago) is their response to Sympathy for the Devil. Fuckin' great.