The Fabulous Pleasure Manifesto

The Fabulous Pleasure Manifesto

Congratulations, you've found your way to Fabulous Pleasure, the blog music has been waiting for. Not music listeners or musicians, I'm talking about music as in:

"the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity. "

Fabulous Pleasure is the curious lovechild of long-time friends and former roommates who each have a burning desire to a) find new music, and b) force it upon the people around us. In the past my co-blogger, Barr!, was known to bring a stash of burned cds along in case we ended up at a house inhabited by people with listening tastes apart from his own. He’d commandeer their stereo, assuming they wouldn’t mind. Me? I’m less aggressive in my methods. I try to respect the opinions of people who enjoy bad music. Snide remarks are reserved for after the offending party has left my presence. Occasionally a mix is handed out amongst friends but it often ends up neglected or feigned (how come no one loves the band Boat as much as I do?), leading me to harbor a tiny bit of resentment towards the people I passed it to. What I’ve come to realize is that the vast majority of people have no interest in what others listen to and it’s quite uncomfortable to be the target of or even witness an outpouring of uninvited passion.
That being said, where does all this unwanted passion go??? The blogosphere of course, the dumping ground for unadulterated narcissism and pretense. So here we go, knowing full-well that Barr! and I may open fall into new realms of self-important buffoonery. Even so, we do not intend to hold myself back in the slightest. Fabulous Pleasure is for the .1 percent
a) with internet access, who have exhausted the human capacity for myspace/facebook/pitchfork/the onion/onion avclub/daytrotter/youtube.
b) who are genuinely curious about topics like Stephen Malkmus’ obsolete side-projects (the Crust Brothers) and the little-known psychedelic movement in 1970’s South Korea.

As blogs are the absolute height of self-indulgence, we feel it's appropriate to give a manifesto as our first entry. How many manifestos do you read these days? We want to present a few of our central beliefs about music, that way you who you're dealing with. Believe us, we’re not ones to read editors' notes, prefaces or introductions, as they're usually chock full of dull and self-important posturing. But really, how can you trust our taste without a clear and honest statement of our convictions? So here they are, the three tenets which make up The Fabulous Pleasure Manifesto. . .

1. Snobbery is natural.














Music is ultimately subjective and each person is entitled to their own opinion. That’s the mature line of thinking but it’s not much fun. Those with poor taste should be ashamed and Fabulous Pleasure is not above shaming them.

2. Robert Smith is unlovable.


















Look at him. He's in his late forties and still dressing like the community college film student who delivers pizza in a Dodge Neon with tinted windows. Oh, and he's also responsible for some of the most maudlin music of the eighties. Initially, Barr! may disagree with me in this aspect, but he wouldn’t hold out for long.

3. Stones over the Beatles.
Is it too late to weigh in on this? Never. It’s the ultimate litmus test for rock and maybe for people themselves. Let us begin.

The Beatles are nice guys but rock stars are best when they’re brash. While the Beatles made fantastic music, I can't help but thinking they're rather boring individuals. Now I know their personal lives shouldn't come into play when we're talking about music, but as the music goes the Beatles and the Stones are neck and neck. What separates them is how they carry themselves in the public eye.

If you were looking for roommates, the Beatles would be an excellent choice. They’re polite and genuine; they have access to great drugs but know when to cut themselves off. They take care of the bills and deal with the landlord, too. But their parties are kind of lame. Everyone sits around smoking dope, talking about world peace while “Yellow Submarine” plays on the TV and people finish the last of the hummus. They ask people not to smoke inside, which, though prudent, bring the mood down a bit. It’s a Thursday night kind of thing.

The Stones, on the other hand, would be make terrible roommates. All their rent money goes towards drugs. They treat your stereo and furniture like shit. They’re always asking to borrow your car, and when they get drunk they either hit on your girlfriend or end up needing you to put them to bed. But if you’re gathering people to go to the bars then there’s no one better.
Have I not proven myself yet? If you think rock should be dangerously loud, raw, occasionally funny, often poignant, and a little on the scummy side (and how you could you not?) then you’ll the ditch the Beatles every time. If you appreciate someone who, although often clichéd, fulfills every requisite of the rockstar myth with tongue firmly in cheek, then the Stones are it.

Visual Evidence (in doubles for your viewing pleasure)

Ringo Starr on Shiny Time Station

Keith Richards in a hotel

That concludes The Fabulous Pleasure Manifesto. Come back next week (month?) for some Korean Psychedelic rock from the 70’s.