Matt Berry reads a truly brutal letter from Robert Crumb 

I will listen to *anything* Matt Berry reads. I'd listen to him read Terms & Conditions and be happy and enthralled.

"Am I a Squahre from De-la-whehre?" Matt Berry's diction defies transcription and it is magnificent.

Apparently Mats Gustafsson named his next album "Torturing The Saxophone" in honor of Robert and pasted the letter in full on the album sleeve :)

As a fan of Crumb, Berry and Gustafsson this feels like a weird fever dream.

This was absolutely brutal and hilarious. Good on Gustafsson for including it and naming his album that. That's just great.

Matt Berry could read me my sentence to death for something I did not do and I would still smile a lot.

Matt Berry could be the love of my life's attorney reading the divorce papers and I would still be delighted

As a person who loves free jazz, I can totally understand this reaction to it.

You've just gotta love both Robert Crumb for his honesty, and Mats Gustafsson for actually publishing the letter!! (I've been a Crumb fan since the 1970s. He is really my idea of everything a great artist should be!).

Crumb is such a character. You should watch his documentary, honestly scary.

He's one of my favorite things about What We Do in the Shadows.

Thank you for this. Matt Berry has a magnificent speaking voice.

So good. Love Matt. He could read anything and it would be incredible

Matt Berry is always fantastic and while I'm not a big fan of jazz, Mr Crumb does seem like a square from Delaware. Even so, I'm very glad that he chose to share his thoughts in such a forthright manner, however the real hero is Mr Gustafson for hilariously bringing the letter to public attention.

I just listened to some Gustaffson and Crumb was spot on.

This made me laugh so hard! It's a brilliantly scathing letter, and Matt's intonation and comedic timing is perfection 😂

"There's somebody at the door. There's somebody at the door. There's somebody at the door"

Every character he voices over is hilarious. I love animation with his voice.

Berries? Crumbs? These men are for the birds!

Lol. I just went and listened to a piece of Gustafsson's music. It sounded like swimming through a bowel movement. This letter seems to be on point.

Thing is - as someone who doesn't play the sax - I'd take this from Robert Crumb. I'd carry on playing exactly the way I was playing.

Matt Berry could read my eulogy and I’d love it. Oh wait!

If I may quote Nathan Explosion. "That was completely brutal."

Now I want to hear some Mats Gustafsson.

I hear Crumb's voice in my head as he reads and it's even more funny.

Playing the CEO Rheinhold in The IT Crowd - brilliant!

Matt Berry's sonorous voice is in the same class of great orators like Orson Wells, Sir Alec Guinness and Sir Richard Burton, regardless of what they're saying, its always interesting.

Zappa said, “writing about music is like dancing about architecture “. And your vigor for life appalles me, also, Mr Crumb

Crumb acting as if he hasn't hated the current state of jazz music, all music, and popular culture since the 1960s.

The only question I have is why Mats Gustafsson thought his music might be of interest to Robert Crumb. Anyone familiar with the cartoonist's preferences- and they've been comprehensively aired- would have known that his tastes are restricted to old 78s of 1920s dance-band and vaudeville style material, along with some 1930s country blues recordings. Incidentally, I've just been listening online here to "Defeat", a 2021 album by a band called "Fire!" which features Gustafsson on a variety of instruments. Have only heard the first track thus far, but am enjoying it.

Matt Berry could read an imaging report describing a terminal cancer diagnosis for myself and I would be delighted and die happy.

Roberts honesty is amazingly good.

the idea of crumb criticizing a work of art for being aesthetically unappealing is hilarious

This is how I feel about metal music, and *most* rock music.

I coulod listen to Matt Berry all day

“I’m Douglas Renham and I’m not a scientist, but I do have a better understanding of what space is then any scientist living today.”

I love both Gustafsson and Crumb and think this was hilarious.

I found a video of Mats Gustafsson and immediately regretted clicking it, this letter is absolutely right.

When you're too weird for Robert Crumb, you're really Out There.

Captured my thoughts on most jazz perfectly

Beautiful

This man can make anything poetry with the audible chocolate that is his voice.

This is funny material. Fan of Crumb’s work since the old days.

I met Crumb a couple of times, he and his wife Aline used to live in Winters which is next door to Davis where I went for undergrad. Crumb seems like he's very uncomfortable in his own body. I grew up reading his comics and love him even though he's very politically incorrect for our current era.

He's right too about modern jazz. Chaotic tortured incomprehensible noises.

Glob Bless Matt Berry.

It’s ... eerie how well the algorithm *gets* me

After listening to his music, I agree that Crumb was right.

This perfectly sums up my feelings about John Mayer's music

Master Berry!

I don't know if it's just me but just clicked the like button...and to my shock the like button just had a level up and had a psychedelic experience try it ya self👌

Hilarious but quite mean critique I thought, then I actually listened to it... it's pretty much spot on.

After hearing this, I had to hear the music. The album 'How to Raise an Ox' is now near the front of my playlist.

You are now reading every comment, in Matt Berry's voice.

“This noise” 😂😅😂

Had to search Mats Gustafsson for reference. Torturing the Saxophone is indeed an apt title.

This is exactly what I say about the modern jazz saxophone.

I need to hear this stuff!!!

Being unfamiliar with Gustafsson I had to check him out for myself having heard this evisceration of his music. To be fair I think Crumb was more complementary than I'd have been. Nah ... it's not for me either.

if crumb's comics had a soundtrack, it would precisely be gustafsson's saxophone

I'm with Crumb on this

Still the best speaking voice i have ever heard

I hardly recognized him without the fangs.

Steven this is Clem Fandango can you hear me?

Negative Unpleasent Experience... kinda like looking at any of Crumb's cartoons

I once watched/listened to Lol Coxhill play for an hour or so, 24 hours later he was still going. I didn't get it, but I liked it.

"That this noise could give anyone any aesthetic pleasure is beyond my comprehension" You've heard of manmade horrors beyond your comprehension, now get ready for manmade pleasures beyond your comprehension!

"Am I square from Dela-ware?" So so good

Toast personified 🍞 berry Berry good

Just fired up Mats Gustaffson on Spotify. Managed 10 seconds. I'm with you, Crumb, 100%.

I'm on Team Crumb here. However, Matt Berry's performance is exquisite.

I know the feeling. And I must confess, I do sit there politely and pretend to dig it, lest it come to light that I am nothing but a square from Delaware.

“Am I square from Delaware” I got to use that line sometimes

"FATHERRR!!!"

I love this man's voice, he reminds me of James Mason

Matt Berry would have been perfect as a member of Monty Python. 🐍

I was moved to go and find RU-vid videos of Mats Gustafsson and I am forced to agree with Robert Crumb. I listened to about 30 seconds before I gave up.

"Free Jazz" it is styled... I confess not even free would tempt me to listen to Mats again. i can only imagine it is the sound that the worshipers of Yog-Sothoth would utilize for their lamentations.

This man’s voice was created for a ‘lifestyle’s of the rich and famous’ reboot. Such an iconic voice. Funny AF to boot!

I just made the mistake of listening to some Mats Gustafsson after hearing this letter. I concur entirely with Mr Crumb's opinion.

I know what jazz maverick Howard Moon would say. “This is a travesty, Sir”

Im gonna go listen to this album immediately 😆

Made my day

Huge fan of Crumb & Berry, sounds like an ice-cream.

Robert Crumb is a perfect manic

So the thing is...if you write a really amazing letter you have to genuinely think the person's work is really AMAZING or you're a suck-up. And if you do write that letter, they may well ignore and forget or worse still disbelieve all your praise and STILL get fixated on stuff that MIGHT be wrong if someone else is even SLIGHTLY critical about any aspect. And if you ARE that person who is slightly critical, you may give cause anxiety and insecurity for years. But if you're straight-up so brutal that the brutality becomes its own art form...well, that can be funny and easy to let slide off because it's so obviously out of all objectively credible proportion to the thing being slated, since it would be almost impossible for anything to be quite that bad unless it had some kind of major moral distortion or something. So in a sense, a letter like this maybe hurts less than one which pulls each bit apart scathingly and analytically. As Roald Dahl's Matilda says, "Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it."

Dr. Rick Dagless is twice the sax player Gustafsson is.

Basically me listening to anything popular...

Protect this man at all cost! If there’s an asteroid careening towards earth and we can only save some people, save Matt Berry.

I searched for Mats Gustafsson on youtube; My conclusion is that 'Torturing the Saxaphone' should have been called 'Torturing the Balloon Animals;.

"--With a great sense of humor."

If you thought this was particularly strident, go read Harvey Pekar's assessment.

I Wonder what Crumb would think of The ordinary boys

"Bat!"

love r crumb! if you get the chance, check out the documentary “crumb” about him and his brothers. very funny and very sad.

His voice alone makes me laugh. He could read the Bible and I’d laugh

Well, Crumb would know. He grew up in Delaware, from age 12 on.

I wanted one Clem Fandango.

Father!!! ✊

look up Mats Gustafsson, the letter writer isn't wrong.