Why We Love John Maus

[LadyLazarus]

I apologise in advance if this topic has been done before.

Essentially we are all here for the same reason, but what specifically enthralls you?

I love John Maus because his music gives me a powerful sense of mystery and awe, just like hearing the sullen gong of church bells in the distance. He makes my head spin vivid pictures of neon skylines, cosmos and ruined cathedrals. Listening to his music is a near out-of-body experience of washed-out true pop bliss.
I love John Maus because he is an original in these times of image-conscious copycats; because he is as passionate about making the music as I am about listening to it, because he is genuinely intoxicated by meeting people and 'being seen.'
I love John Maus because he is endlessly fascinating in interviews, making no distinctions between high brow and low brow, adoring Handel and Robocop with equal zeal. His attitude that there is no dull herd and that everyday people are geniuses is something to aspire to.
Perhaps more superficially, I love John Maus because he is physically lovely, making him into the most unlikely of pop pin ups. It's undeniable that he has a face to make knees knock and faces turn pink everywhere.
I love John Maus because when I first heard his music my life was instantly changed and it drove me to seek out other fans like myself and share my stories and experiences with them.

Mausspacians, why do you love John Maus?

[ricky]

I wanted to start a thread like this. My ex-girlfriend would always ask why I liked John Maus so much (she hates his music) and I really couldn't give her a good answer. I'm attracted to strange things.. I love how he references songs and musicians I have no familiarity with but it makes me want to know about them now. I think his music is very honest and his interviews are really interesting. He has so much to say! Also, who else replies to a music blog with a 20k+ word response?

[dean]

This is my first ever post about John Maus, on another forum, before Mausspace... some really interesting conversation came back from people who heard it even then...

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 3:06 pm

It took this Ariel Pink cohort five years to write and record his debut album, and only five minutes to become more annoying than Ariel Pink.
- CMJ

For me, this is just too weird. The first couple of tracks make this the most skip-able album of 2006.
-Subba Cultcha

Apparently, Maus spent five years working on this album, which is a shame because, frankly, its awful.
-Vice

There isn't one song you could call 'good' on the whole album.
-Music Zine

Overall, I can't recommend this album even as a novelty listen. Maybe I just don't get it. It seems as if Maus sabotages practically any hint of an interesting melody, lyric, or instrumental part with a blatantly grating one at almost every turn.
-Indie Workshp

Maus's baroquely deadpan voice - and thats being polite - effectively spoils many a song. Some will hear a little Nick Cave in it; others will hear a man crapping out of his mouth.
-Drowned in Sound

If it is supposed to be funny, it is not. If it is meant seriously, then Maus needs some SERIOUS help.
-Another Zine

With recommendations like that, how can you not grab this??? oh, and for the record this is awesome with a capital A.

Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 11:56 pm

Amazing album. FIN.

(someone else posted this) - Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:51 pm - "i still don't know about this album. i'll be kind of digging it, and then it will make me physically naseuous."
(then later, the same person) - Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:20 am - "jesus, this album has grown on me so much, though i still can't stand how it makes me feel." *

Two pages later

Person a) Fri Mar 16, 2007 3:34 pm

I'm not as a big a fan of John Maus or Ariel Pink or Holy Shit as a lot of people on here but they've all made records that have some brilliant songs on

They're all fairly self-indulgent albums but from the way they make music I don't think you'd get the moments of genius without the parts that are a bit embarassing

Person b) Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:25 pm

yo you realize human behavior is based around narcissism and we live in an inherently selfish and hedonistic society right

Person a) Fri Mar 16, 2007 10:05 pm

I don't believe that
(a) our society is inherently selfish and/or hedonistic
(b) human behaviour is based around narcissism
(c) the basis of human behaviour or inherent values of modern society necessarily have a bearing on great art anyway

Person b) Fri Mar 16, 2007 10:07 pm

art = society in one form or another so therefore the values and thoughts which make society(define this as narrowly or as widely as you want) function are naturally important to art

Person a) Fri Mar 16, 2007 10:13 pm

Art is a creation of a society, whether it's reacting to or against it, but I don't think the nature of a society automatically justifies or even explains any given piece of art. Especially as the best art is often from people trying to actively step outside of that society in one way or another

(this went on for another few pages....)

Then, I came in a few years later.... Sun Jul 10, 2011 12:03 am

I love how this came up in a John Maus thread circa 2007. It's like you pre-empted Mausspace discussions before Mausspace existed. YOU GUYS!

* person from way up the page:

Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:26 pm

I loved Maus, but I don't think i fully fully appreciated him until I saw him live. Seeing where his energy comes from and his personality really elevated him to a new level for me.

TDLR; - basically, Songs was a curiosity. It had terrible reviews, and hey, who doesn't like an outsider?! On first listen I was blown away... the same on second...and third... that's when I started to talk to people about him.

[AppTrans]

After hearing Songs, I knew there was no turning back. I've never heard this level of sadness and humor juxtaposed in music. And we know that conflict is, in many cases, necessary to create great art. I tend to revisit this type of music when my emotions are juggled. John apparently questions himself as to how his music could be better; I sense that this dubiety enhances his already masterful approach...he knows what he'd like to hear. His energy is off the charts, and that gets me going as well. He's an individual and just all-around inspirational. There are so many facets as to why I love his music. Hard to figure out, which might be for the best!
go john go

[LadyLazarus]

I was worried this thread would come off all fan girly but now I'm glad I posted it. I can relate to all the things each one of you has said. I can't wait to see him live for the first time (only 11 days away now!). I'm sure I will only have much more to add here afterwards.

[dean]

PS Girly thread

[LadyLazarus]

PS Girly thread

You know what I mean, though. I didn't want this to be just some kind of grovelling sycophantic adoration thread. I wanted it to be more meaningful than that.

[MadamAnt]

I love John Maus because he's a mesmerising performer and seems an interesting person full of ideas, ideas likely to reinvigorate the stale pop format...Also I was impressed by him posting the bad reviews on his MySpace page to promote his work - I really admire that kind of pluck and cheek, the ability to spin something potentially negative to your advantage with a sense of humour. I like his contradictions, juxtaposing themes that would otherwise seem dauntingly pretentious alongside novelty items and guilty pleasures like video game music, RoboCop and Star Trek. I love how "Believer" name checks Jackie Chan and Hulk Hogan...I fell in love with "Do Your Best" as it was played over the PA at a Pulp show at Radio City, and at first I thought the albums had their share of filler (seems treasonous to admit that now!), but gradually they grew on me, the brazen lyrics that at times seemed almost like parodies - "Pussy is not a matter of fact", "Oh no, grandma's peed her pants again...and I got it on my hand", "Sex with Ringo Starr", the murky, reverb-drenched melodies... The world of MAUS is just a fantastically wonderful and eclectic place, which is always unpredictable and full of unexpected pleasures. And that is why I love John Maus.

[Anthony]

he surprised me.

[mtntwg]

I randomly watched a video on YouTube where some band (don't remember now...) showed their favorite LP's and one of the members brought up Love Is Real and just because I thought the front cover looked fantastic, I checked him out. After that I was in love. Thank fucking God for that random band.

Almost all of my friends I played Maus for, fell in love instantly. But those who didn't doesn't have the brain to see the greatness in it, and I'm sorry to say that I really can't explain it for them. One part of me says "Sure, I understand you, it's quite odd music and you have to understand it in some deeper way to like it", while the other part says "What is your fucking problem? John Maus is the best musician I've ever come across, he's a genius, a real genius."

Every song he has done hits me like a giant red boxing glove, with such power that it's sick. I haven't "felt" something like it with any other artist or band.
Sometimes I catch myself sitting with goose bumps and a smile when I listen to him just because I keep thinking what luck I had discovering him.
A real piece of gold.

His intensity on stage is marvelous. And surely the sweatiest man on earth.

For me, John Maus is the definition of music.

[Yam]

His philosophy gives me hope

[MysteryGuest]

Lordy that's a good opening post, LL. Not sure I can top that, so I'm not even going to try. Just going to keep it dry, I think.

One of the key things that I find so brilliant about JM's music is that it heals a particularly nasty split between high and low art that opened up around the late 19th/early 20th century. Bach, Beethoven, etc etc, wrote music of immense artistic greatness that nonetheless had chunes the barmaid down the tavern could whistle. Somewhere along the line that got a bit lost. Etiolated spindly plinky-plonk for the cognoscenti, and disreputable 'popular' music for the plebs. (Not all was lost, obvs, as the neoclassical lot (Stravinsky etc) managed to hold it together to some extent.) But John, having gone up the mountain, came back down into the world, and you can only do this out of love, with a fully-developed heart to go with that mega-intellect.

Human life has this tragic quality to it. But too often (imo) art is presented as an honest depiction of the awful problems that seem innate to being human, while actually merely being a further manifestation of the various awfulnesses in which we're immersed, and so just passing them on, just accentuating the grimness of it all, making us feel (even) worse. John's music, due to its heart-ful depth, with that compassion, can be about our predicament, but say something powerfully healing about it, something that can indeed give us hope. That turbo-charged intellect of his is working in harmony (so to speak) with his heart, with hugely powerful results. Not that common these days, I find.

Or something along those lines, anyway.

[irisdawn]

Lordy that's a good opening post, LL. Not sure I can top that, so I'm not even going to try. Just going to keep it dry, I think.

One of the key things that I find so brilliant about JM's music is that it heals a particularly nasty split between high and low art that opened up around the late 19th/early 20th century. Bach, Beethoven, etc etc, wrote music of immense artistic greatness that nonetheless had chunes the barmaid down the tavern could whistle. Somewhere along the line that got a bit lost. Etiolated spindly plinky-plonk for the cognoscenti, and disreputable 'popular' music for the plebs. (Not all was lost, obvs, as the neoclassical lot (Stravinsky etc) managed to hold it together to some extent.) But John, having gone up the mountain, came back down into the world, and you can only do this out of love, with a fully-developed heart to go with that mega-intellect.

Human life has this tragic quality to it. But too often (imo) art is presented as an honest depiction of the awful problems that seem innate to being human, while actually merely being a further manifestation of the various awfulnesses in which we're immersed, and so just passing them on, just accentuating the grimness of it all, making us feel (even) worse. John's music, due to its heart-ful depth, with that compassion, can be about our predicament, but say something powerfully healing about it, something that can indeed give us hope. That turbo-charged intellect of his is working in harmony (so to speak) with his heart, with hugely powerful results. Not that common these days, I find.

Or something along those lines, anyway.

He is a strong guy, literally, deep like the oceans too, that pisces emotionality, paired with the monkey energy, hah. There should be a poll to find out how many of us are compatible with Pisces and the year of the Monkeys, to see if there is any correlation to our attraction to his music. For instance, kinda a stretch and don't laugh at me, actually it is ok if you do, The Beatles members had one of each of the elements, Water, Land, Fire, Air, maybe their balance had something to do with their broad appeal? Just a thought. That said I am a Cancer/Snake and definitely find myself relating to John's subject matter and tone.

[halfaxicvvitch]

So I guess I’m the newest member to this website, I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was even such a thing but I guess John Maus and his music is truly that impactful to many people. I just discovered him 1 month ago and he’s all I’ve been listening to. He’s so intriguing and I guess I’m lucky that he so happened to make his come back last year. However I feel sad at the fact that I’m only 17 and I missed out on his old shows. Especially the ones after “ We must become the pitiless ....... “, I was only 10 or 11 then. In a way I’ve felt bittersweet that I’ve just found him and his music considering he’s been around for a while. None of my friends share my music taste so I haven’t been able to express how much I adore John and his music. I’m not really an idolizer of people but man I feel like I’ve fallen in love with John Maus or the idea of him and his music.

[thebeliever]

I love how "Believer" name checks Jackie Chan and Hulk Hogan...

Great thread ! Just wanted to point out that in the lyrics provided in the box set the line in Believer is "hong kong fighting all aross the world" ... no mention of Hulk Hogan.