Suddenly two thirds of the people I know are full of boundless praise for Mumford and Sons. It's okay with me. I like the album, and I'm always happy to find myself aligned with the tattooed kids. But I'm curious to know what happened. It seems to me that I heard this music about a year ago. And now -- as in the past month -- seemingly everyone I know has experienced a Mumford and Sons epiphany. This is a band that has indeed "gone viral" (I hate that phrase; it makes me want to throw up and/or visit a doctor), and friends are telling friends who are telling friends about this "great new band."Does anyone know what might have happened? Are M&S played on the radio? Castaway holding CD on Lost? I really don't know because I don't follow these things. Has anyone else seen this, or is this a phenomenon limited to hip, tattoed Christians in Ohio?
No clue but they are playing at the Wexner Center on 5/22.
ReplyDeleteMeh.
ReplyDelete"What the world needs now is another folk singer, like I need a hole in my head."
Hey Andy,
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this little post came after my tagging you in a Mumford and Sons related Facebook note? I have not known about the band as long as you have, but I have seen how they have become hugely popular on the Calvin College campus, and that happened, seemingly, overnight. I do know that Irishman Steve Stockman came and give a lecture a few months ago and showed a Mumford and Sons video, telling all of us that they are very popular right now in the UK. None of the audience, including me, had heard of them. The next thing I know, many of my students were talking about them, sending me e-mails about them, asking to see their videos in class, etc. And most of these students had not been to Steve's lecture--but word spread fast. It does seem that not long after, they were on NPR and Letterman. And now one of their collaborators, Laura Marling, is playing at Calvin. So that's my perspective--the popularity of Mumford and Sons in the US is mostly due to one Steve Stockman. Well, maybe not. But he certainly help start the craze at Calvin.
I was not crazy about the record when I bought it, although I thought it was quite good. Some of the lyrics seemed very young--and I don't know what I mean or how to explain it. But just not the most mature, developed, complex lyrics. But now I am really, really appreciating the CD.
Steve Stockman is responsible for much good in the world. :-) I love that guy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary. And yes, my post was prompted by the video you posted a little while ago. Thanks for that as well.
By the way, Mary, if you like Mumford and Sons and Laura Marling, you'd probably enjoy Noah and the Whale and Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit as well. They're all buddies (well in the case of Noah's Charlie Fink, ex-boyfriends), and they've been known to hang out and record together. I like the lot of them, although I might be most partial to Johnny Flynn, who is a Royal Shakespearian actor, and who does the Dickens Urchin as Cockney Folksinger routine really well.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I understand that Laura Marling's ditching of Charlie Fink for Marcus Mumford (of M&S, naturally) is quite the tabloid scandal in the rarefied world of International Folk(e) Inquirer.
I've loved them for over a year...but I'm not really a hip Christian (I wear Polo shirts and teach for a living). I just love good music and think they are one of the best I've heard in a while.
ReplyDeleteI'd heard of them, but caught them on Letterman relatively recently... and then the strange explosion seemed to happen. Reminds me a bit of how the Flobots got super (?) popular about a year after their first album. Odd.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the Johnny Flynn tip, Andy! I REALLY like him. Funny that you mention him--Laura Marling actually mentioned him at her show tonight. And they were playing his CD in between acts. This is certainly a brilliant collective of very young folkish musicians coming out of London. And I mean YOUNG. Laura Marling's drummer and bassist both looked as if they were about 15 years old. And she did not look much older. The show was very, very good--her voice really wowed me.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the show, Mary. And Johnny Flynn.
ReplyDeleteLaura Marling IS young. She's only 20 years old. Her new album "I Speak Because I Can" is superb, and features Mumford and Sons as her backing band.
Sorry. Don't get the buzz.
ReplyDeleteNothing special. Faulty harmonies - slightly amateuristic but with the sense of taking themselves too seriously. Songs that have a little too much repetition and no real lyrical weight.
Ho-hum. Sorry.
Bart is a huge M&S fan and has been since the middle of last year. He can't remember which blog he read about them on but he was hooked. On the contrary to some of the criticism in these comments, the Wang finds many of the lyrics to be of considerable depth and poetry and thinks their arrangements and harmonies are fantastic. He saw them live and they were incredibly energetic and engaging.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they popular now? Not sure. Bart doesn't listen to the radio so he's not clear if they are getting any play up in Canada. Although they use a significant amount of Biblical symbolism in their lyrics so that could explain the Christian hipsters' interest. Bart just thinks they are good. And given they are one of the few artists (aside from Rosie Thomas and Denison Witmer) that Mrs. Wang will listen to as well, he's going to continue to enjoy them.
I have to agree Peter Niswander - when I heard Mumford's album, the first thought that came to mind... Fleet Foxes wannabes.
ReplyDelete