Built To Spill: I enjoyed their first album (Ultimate Alternative Waivers). I don't hate hearing them. But I am not engaged by them, even a little bit. I saw them live years ago, and my favorite part of their set was their cover of fucking "Freebird".
Beck: I think I like what Beck does conceptually, but his music always sounded too slick to me even though it was presented as this anything-goes thing. I still want to check out Sea Change so I can hear dude try his hand at doing Gainsbourg. Also, Scientology is retarded. (I was heartbroken to find out that Isaac Hayes was one of them.)
The Flaming Lips: Maybe this group has suffered from overexposure. I don't need to hear The Soft Bulletin ever again, because for a about two years, I couldn't spend more than an hour or so in a bar without it coming on. (An exaggeration, duh, but you know.) Regardless, "Race For the Prize" is still the jam. Since I originally wrote this post, I heard them do a tune from their newest record on some late night talk show, and it sounded pretty cool. That said, that was a month or so ago, and I haven't rushed out to pick up the new LP. Or download the track, for that matter.
REM: I liked these dudes as a kid, circa Green. By the time Monster came out, I could barely stand to listen to them. They became a Big Music Making Machine, just like U2, and I didn't really care about anything they had to say. Remind me to tell you my weird meeting with Michael Stipe story sometime.
Nirvana: I still like to listen to Bleach every once in a while. Nevermind Nevermind. Again, this band suffered from crazy overexposure. In the 90s, when the grunge thing was happening, I liked Nirvana a lot, but I was way more into Alice In Chains and Soundgarden. Ultramega OK still totally fucking rules! Remind me to tell you my weird meeting with Krist Novoselic story sometime.
X: I've never been able to pin down quite what it is about this band I don't care for. My first thought is that it's the vocals, but then I think maybe it's because the songs sound indistinguishable from each other to me. I saw them at SXSW a few years ago, and while their performance was good, it did nothing to make me want to listen to them more.
Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson: I totally appreciate the cultural import of both of these guys. But man, I'd be totally ok not hearing either of their songs ever again.
I don't hate any of the acts I've listed. None of them make me feel physically ill or agitated upon hearing them (see: Celine Dion, Nickelback, Creed). I just never go, "Hey! I really want to hear Live at San Quentin!" or "Man, isn't Odelay a rad record? Let's listen to it again!" There are records that I do that with.
(Originally posted 06/14/07, revised 12/29/09)
