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Live Performance Analysis: Is Salem the worst modern buzzband?
Published on Thursday 3/25/2010 @ 10:30 AM by the ALT REPORT, Buzzband Memes, Live Performances Robot
After reading reports that Salem was booed off stage at the Fader Fort during SXSW, seemed like it was time to search youtube for their performances 2 see if they truly ‘suck.’ I think I have read about Salem in blogs and web magazines, but probably tried to listen and ended up turning it off when it got weird. I think they have some sort of ‘goth’ brand.
You can see in the above video that the band is ‘really boring’ as one bro drums on a pad, then the other bro plays minimal keys on a synth. The lead singer lady just sort of half asses vocals and sways back and forth. I wonder why they were booed off stage. They at least look ‘kinda cool.’ Also look like they might turn into vampires and murder u in a modern Lost Boys remake [via Corey Haim and Corey Feldman].
Did the Fader Fort fans want some1 who was going to ‘put on a better show’? Did they want some1 who took their job as a buzzband artist more seriously? Did they want some1 who ‘acted like an indie band’ who was happy to be there performing 4 them, trying to expand their tribe with word of mouth marketing?
Do most modern buzzbands really ‘do that much’ on stage, or are they just pressing buttons and pretending to be into it?
In this video, you can watch the bro rapping. Seems ‘very terrible’, like u would be confused for 2 songs, then go get a drink, then urinate, then leave the club, then turn to all of your bros and say ‘what the fuck was that?’
Wonder if they are a ‘think piece’.
Seems like this Salem bro is some sort of Pagan / Satanic bro / anarchist. (not sure what his necklace means), but I can confirm he is really into college sports.
Photo via gorillavsbear
Is this part of some sort of reverse marketing scheme to get us to think that Salem is ‘the best band in the world’ because no 1 else ‘gets’ why they are geniuses?
Should Salem convert to the chillwave movement instead of staying goth wave?
Do u think Levi’s gave them free jeans for playing at the Levi’s Fader Fort, but then asked for them back after the show?
Does n e 1 know what it sounds like when a buzzband’s bubble bursts?
Should some bands only exist on the internet so that they don’t ruin their brand?
Will tweens get into boring/uninspired art goth rock?
Did Pitchfork ‘overrate’ Salem?
Is Salem a cult or a buzzband?
Is Salem ur new fave band?
Published on Thursday 3/25/2010 @ 10:30 AM by the ALT REPORT, Buzzband Memes, Live Performances Robot
After reading reports that Salem was booed off stage at the Fader Fort during SXSW, seemed like it was time to search youtube for their performances 2 see if they truly ‘suck.’ I think I have read about Salem in blogs and web magazines, but probably tried to listen and ended up turning it off when it got weird. I think they have some sort of ‘goth’ brand.
You can see in the above video that the band is ‘really boring’ as one bro drums on a pad, then the other bro plays minimal keys on a synth. The lead singer lady just sort of half asses vocals and sways back and forth. I wonder why they were booed off stage. They at least look ‘kinda cool.’ Also look like they might turn into vampires and murder u in a modern Lost Boys remake [via Corey Haim and Corey Feldman].
Did the Fader Fort fans want some1 who was going to ‘put on a better show’? Did they want some1 who took their job as a buzzband artist more seriously? Did they want some1 who ‘acted like an indie band’ who was happy to be there performing 4 them, trying to expand their tribe with word of mouth marketing?
Do most modern buzzbands really ‘do that much’ on stage, or are they just pressing buttons and pretending to be into it?
In this video, you can watch the bro rapping. Seems ‘very terrible’, like u would be confused for 2 songs, then go get a drink, then urinate, then leave the club, then turn to all of your bros and say ‘what the fuck was that?’
Wonder if they are a ‘think piece’.
Seems like this Salem bro is some sort of Pagan / Satanic bro / anarchist. (not sure what his necklace means), but I can confirm he is really into college sports.
Photo via gorillavsbear
Is this part of some sort of reverse marketing scheme to get us to think that Salem is ‘the best band in the world’ because no 1 else ‘gets’ why they are geniuses?
Should Salem convert to the chillwave movement instead of staying goth wave?
Do u think Levi’s gave them free jeans for playing at the Levi’s Fader Fort, but then asked for them back after the show?
Does n e 1 know what it sounds like when a buzzband’s bubble bursts?
Should some bands only exist on the internet so that they don’t ruin their brand?
Will tweens get into boring/uninspired art goth rock?
Did Pitchfork ‘overrate’ Salem?
Is Salem a cult or a buzzband?
Is Salem ur new fave band?
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50 comments to “Live Performance Analysis: Is Salem the worst modern buzzband?”
subetaks
March 25th, 2010 at 10:32 am
1st!
March 25th, 2010 at 10:35 am
carles i want to see ur interview with washed out at sxsw.. i know its somewhere!
franz_kafka
March 25th, 2010 at 10:35 am
second, didnt read article
March 25th, 2010 at 10:40 am
They’re the leaders of the douchewave movement
March 25th, 2010 at 11:03 am
that drumming is too intense for me.
March 25th, 2010 at 11:08 am
salem vs. die antwoord = _____ wars of 2k10
March 25th, 2010 at 11:13 am
its sad when u can go on daily swarm and already kno wat crls is gunna post the next day
kinda like gothwave
brian
March 25th, 2010 at 11:37 am
witchtrials-core
March 25th, 2010 at 11:51 am
i fucks with salem heavy, theyll get better for sure./they splashed early, but theyre going to be major
Scott Curtis
March 25th, 2010 at 11:59 am
jj was/is the worst
http://www.livingears.com/2010/03/jj-live-at-sxsw/
AstroCandy
March 25th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
@chong, feel the same way bro. Carles is losing his edge.
Jifdang
March 25th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
this band makes any one that tries look like a idiot.
they are really good if i was rich i would get all their vinal but hey im depressed..
March 25th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
whatev, salem are not a live band, they are in-your-eardrum fuckery. they are seriously ridiculously good.
chill murray
March 25th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
i think the title of their EP ‘yes, i smoke crack’ says it all. i’m more entertained by artists addicted to alcohol coke/weed/pills/cough syrup.
surprised that LEVI’s signed them on as spokespeople instead of going with a buzzband generating higher than a p4k 6.1. washed out seems like the perfect mascot for pre-faded denim.
Brandon
March 25th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
worst.buzz.can.ever.
aaron
March 25th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Hipster goth 4 life (death)
uruk
March 25th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
SALEM iz tah SALEM ov buzzkore!
porkbelly
March 25th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
buzz doesn’t mean better.
Salem
March 25th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Hey fuck you carles! Your site is shit anyways, you try to act like you know everything you fucking post about and you don’t get us. But you don’t need to be saying we’re a shit band. We’re minimalist, it’s our ‘aesthetic’ if you will. So if you don’t ‘get’ that then you’re retarded.
btw yes I worship satan, no i’m not ‘real into’ college sports.
March 25th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
lol @ drummer in first vid
looks like he’s tripping so hard it
only sounds good in his own
head
Andrew
March 25th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Last year’s SXSW I lived by the Fader Fort. It kind of sucked and was kind of cool. I don’t know. Progress Coffee is just across from there, and I’d go there every day before riding my bike downtown to work. Bummer that I moved from Austin. Southby, the yuppie condos constantly under construction, and the endless marathons of springtime make living in Austin really lame, but the rest of the year it’s pretty cool. Now I’m in Dallas. ugh.
Fader Magazine is pretty lame… it’s for “maltstreamers” and is corporate, always late to the game musically. Read the Wire or the internet or go to a cool record store and buy vinyl at the suggestions of the clerks (advice directed at the 17 year olds who read this blog).
Paul
March 26th, 2010 at 4:10 am
They like to do drugs get over it if you don’t like it. If you want to impressed see another live band. I enjoyed the Fader show. I like them even more that people booed them. The guy wants to wrap like a screw rapper. No one really does that live.
frt
March 26th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
I like how FADER is trying to retract their statements about the show. ahaha. LAME!
http://www.thefader.com/2010/03/26/sale ... /#comments
dw
March 26th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
dude, i was at that show & they didn’t get booed off at all, true they played a twenty min. set and walked off w/out a word, srrsly pissing off the few non-industry hacks in the crowd,
my favorite part BTW was the crust punk chick who just sat on the stage smoking cigarettes the whole show
(http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q439 ... hoto-1.jpg)
March 27th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
i saw them thursday night of south-bi… it was quite possibly the worst thing i’ve ever seen.
please
March 27th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
awww did a band not sing and dance for you?...
March 28th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
I love Salem, and now Hippo Wankoff is talking shit of it, selling it to every fucking mainstream hipster, who will either tweet ’bout it or spread hate of it. Not only them, but the readers of Guardian too! Why are u all ruining good underground scenes? But they kind of are ruining it for themselves too. The bands playing at such mainstream events like Levis Fader Fort and SXSW
I liked it when only a small bunch of people liked it, and it were a small scene. When nobody were making money of it, and you’d have these groups of outsiders you could rely yourself to, ’cause they were liking the same unknown bands as you. Lots of people probably don’t get it. Is there anything underground left? It doesn’t seem like it for me, and it’s killing me.
Why do i like the music, you ask? Because it’s dancy, eerie and different from what you’ll hear on the radio (well, at least here in Norway).
Miniam from Norge
March 28th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
“I liked it when only a small bunch of people liked it, and it were a small scene.”
That sounded stupid, but what i meant was that i liked that there were just a bunch of people liking it.
And um.. my grammar isn’t great, but i’m not a native, you know?
April 12th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
I just came here to ask who the better rappers were Insane Clown Posse or Salem???
awk
June 21st, 2010 at 1:00 pm
carles huge misfire on promoting the WITCH HOUSE genre
subetaks
March 25th, 2010 at 10:32 am
1st!
marisol//////////Reply by scrotie mcboogerballs
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
@subetaks,
not ‘gothwave’, it’s ‘witch house’
March 25th, 2010 at 10:35 am
carles i want to see ur interview with washed out at sxsw.. i know its somewhere!
franz_kafka
March 25th, 2010 at 10:35 am
second, didnt read article
Anonymoose//////////Reply by Elle
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 11:40 am
@franz_kafka, you weren’t second, either
March 25th, 2010 at 10:40 am
They’re the leaders of the douchewave movement
//////////Reply by x
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 10:51 am
@Anonymoose,
douchewave died in 2k5
welcome to the post-douchewave era
//////////Reply by Carles's older sis
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 11:20 am
@Anonymoose, gonna name my babay Corey to insure Douchewave (or perhaps post-douchewave) success
meow//////////Reply by skybeard
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
too late. this genre was already named witch house
bands like salem, oOoOO, //∆∆∆\ etc are all really awesome on record… very post-ironic take on Houston/DJ Screw hip hop that sounds so fucked, fractured, scary, and chill at the same time. sucks that their performance isn’t as engaging as their records promise.
I think we’re in an era now where it will be common for music to not translate well ‘live’, because these people didn’t have to have good stage presence to get the exposure that they have.
I mean, come on, Washed Out kinda fucking sucks live too no matter how hard to justify it.//////////Reply by Will
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
@skybeard, washed out were great live! i like salem’s music and all but this is just terrible//////////Reply by please
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
@skybeard, no one calls it witch house what a fukkin dumb name//////////Reply by lee
//////////Posted March 26th, 2010 at 3:00 am
@skybeard,
DUH, THIS IS CALLED DRAG MUSIC
don’t you read the GUARDIAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicbl ... heard-drag
March 25th, 2010 at 11:03 am
that drumming is too intense for me.
Nipslip//////////Reply by bro noir
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
@meow, the passion and intensity was overwhelming. i came twice.
March 25th, 2010 at 11:08 am
salem vs. die antwoord = _____ wars of 2k10
chong//////////Reply by 17 year old girl
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
@Nipslip, feel like daft punk (via tron legacy sountrack) will ‘drop a fucking nuke’ on these punks, start world electro war ‘II’
//////////Reply by gottabeanony
//////////Posted March 27th, 2010 at 1:55 am
@17 year old girl, daft punk owns and they along with justice will bring electro back into the limelight can’t wait.
March 25th, 2010 at 11:13 am
its sad when u can go on daily swarm and already kno wat crls is gunna post the next day
kinda like gothwave
brian
March 25th, 2010 at 11:37 am
witchtrials-core
sunkd//////////Reply by \\\\\
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
@brian, oh, duh I thought they were named after the cigarette brand
March 25th, 2010 at 11:51 am
i fucks with salem heavy, theyll get better for sure./they splashed early, but theyre going to be major
Scott Curtis
March 25th, 2010 at 11:59 am
jj was/is the worst
http://www.livingears.com/2010/03/jj-live-at-sxsw/
AstroCandy
March 25th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
@chong, feel the same way bro. Carles is losing his edge.
Jifdang
March 25th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
this band makes any one that tries look like a idiot.
they are really good if i was rich i would get all their vinal but hey im depressed..
Paul//////////Reply by ftherfcker
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
@Jifdang, lol
March 25th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
whatev, salem are not a live band, they are in-your-eardrum fuckery. they are seriously ridiculously good.
chill murray
March 25th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
i think the title of their EP ‘yes, i smoke crack’ says it all. i’m more entertained by artists addicted to alcohol coke/weed/pills/cough syrup.
surprised that LEVI’s signed them on as spokespeople instead of going with a buzzband generating higher than a p4k 6.1. washed out seems like the perfect mascot for pre-faded denim.
Brandon
March 25th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
worst.buzz.can.ever.
aaron
March 25th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Hipster goth 4 life (death)
uruk
March 25th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
SALEM iz tah SALEM ov buzzkore!
porkbelly
March 25th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
buzz doesn’t mean better.
Salem
March 25th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Hey fuck you carles! Your site is shit anyways, you try to act like you know everything you fucking post about and you don’t get us. But you don’t need to be saying we’re a shit band. We’re minimalist, it’s our ‘aesthetic’ if you will. So if you don’t ‘get’ that then you’re retarded.
btw yes I worship satan, no i’m not ‘real into’ college sports.
//////////Reply by please
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
@Salem, please don’t pretend to be someone ur not. and salem u r not.
//////////Reply by Salem
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
@please, sorry bro, am totes into college sports//////////Reply by fuok
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
@please,
agreed, the real ‘salem’ would’ve rapped and/or moaned that comment and posted a link to a zany gif to drive home the point
kumquatparadise//////////Reply by ////
//////////Posted March 25th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
@Salem,
is your song ‘all blurred out’ about drug induced depersonalization?
March 25th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
lol @ drummer in first vid
looks like he’s tripping so hard it
only sounds good in his own
head
Andrew
March 25th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
Last year’s SXSW I lived by the Fader Fort. It kind of sucked and was kind of cool. I don’t know. Progress Coffee is just across from there, and I’d go there every day before riding my bike downtown to work. Bummer that I moved from Austin. Southby, the yuppie condos constantly under construction, and the endless marathons of springtime make living in Austin really lame, but the rest of the year it’s pretty cool. Now I’m in Dallas. ugh.
Fader Magazine is pretty lame… it’s for “maltstreamers” and is corporate, always late to the game musically. Read the Wire or the internet or go to a cool record store and buy vinyl at the suggestions of the clerks (advice directed at the 17 year olds who read this blog).
Paul
March 26th, 2010 at 4:10 am
They like to do drugs get over it if you don’t like it. If you want to impressed see another live band. I enjoyed the Fader show. I like them even more that people booed them. The guy wants to wrap like a screw rapper. No one really does that live.
frt
March 26th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
I like how FADER is trying to retract their statements about the show. ahaha. LAME!
http://www.thefader.com/2010/03/26/sale ... /#comments
dw
March 26th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
dude, i was at that show & they didn’t get booed off at all, true they played a twenty min. set and walked off w/out a word, srrsly pissing off the few non-industry hacks in the crowd,
my favorite part BTW was the crust punk chick who just sat on the stage smoking cigarettes the whole show
(http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q439 ... hoto-1.jpg)
dub//////////Reply by please
//////////Posted March 27th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
@dw, true, booed off stage implies that they finished the set earlier which is simply not true
March 27th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
i saw them thursday night of south-bi… it was quite possibly the worst thing i’ve ever seen.
please
March 27th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
awww did a band not sing and dance for you?...
Miniam from Norge//////////Reply by william s. bro
//////////Posted March 27th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
@please, I think it’s because they don’t have a pulse. zombie core?! that’s probably already taken..
March 28th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
I love Salem, and now Hippo Wankoff is talking shit of it, selling it to every fucking mainstream hipster, who will either tweet ’bout it or spread hate of it. Not only them, but the readers of Guardian too! Why are u all ruining good underground scenes? But they kind of are ruining it for themselves too. The bands playing at such mainstream events like Levis Fader Fort and SXSW
I liked it when only a small bunch of people liked it, and it were a small scene. When nobody were making money of it, and you’d have these groups of outsiders you could rely yourself to, ’cause they were liking the same unknown bands as you. Lots of people probably don’t get it. Is there anything underground left? It doesn’t seem like it for me, and it’s killing me.
Why do i like the music, you ask? Because it’s dancy, eerie and different from what you’ll hear on the radio (well, at least here in Norway).
Miniam from Norge
March 28th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
“I liked it when only a small bunch of people liked it, and it were a small scene.”
That sounded stupid, but what i meant was that i liked that there were just a bunch of people liking it.
And um.. my grammar isn’t great, but i’m not a native, you know?
craig//////////Reply by chocoloc
//////////Posted March 31st, 2010 at 2:35 pm
@Miniam from Norge, goddamn local natives
April 12th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
I just came here to ask who the better rappers were Insane Clown Posse or Salem???
awk
June 21st, 2010 at 1:00 pm
carles huge misfire on promoting the WITCH HOUSE genre