I don't know if this ever happens to anyone else, but I selfishly often prefer my own subconsciously created misheard lyrics to the real ones. Two examples I can think of:
In "A Salty Salute", by Guided by Voices, the opening line "Dis' on the sexless" might have been the most amazing album opening line in music. Alien Lanes is such an in your face, uncaring album - it's sounds like there's not an ounce of effort in it, and adding insult to injury just seems to fit right in. It says "Disarm the settlers" in the liner notes, which I imagine to be a) Bob writing meaningless BS into the lyrics or b) some reference to alcoholism of some sort.
Also, in Superchunk's "Hyper Enough", I always thought that the line in the first verse went "if it weren't for the flashlight shining in my face, mediocritist", which I really liked, because mediocritist isn't even a word, but it definitely should be. "Maybe I could resist" is also a pretty decent line, and definitely fits into the song, but the concept of mediocritism just attracts me for some reason. Thinking about it, "Hyper Enough" is a kind of interesting song to think about. What does it mean? I don't know that Mac McCaughan really could be any more upbeat.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Album Reviews 2/16/12
It's that time again: I've got another three albums that I've had for long enough to get a feel for them. First, because I can't go back and edit stuff from my other e-mail, I think I would probably raise my rating for Under the Bushes and Under the Stars up to a 7.5 or 8, because I think it is a better album than Forever Again (I still love Eric's Trip all the same), and I think after awhile you catch on the brilliant little bits that you miss until you've listen to the album for awhile. I think they get brought out a lot more obviously in the shorter song format of Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes but are there nonetheless, and in greater quantity than in later albums like Isolation Drills (I need my Tobin Sprout also). I also think I like God Fodder more now than I did when I reviewed it. Anyway, at long last, here are three albums I've gotten since Christmas.
THE REMOTE PART - IDLEWILD - 8.5/10
I should have gotten this album long ago, but I have no regrets in jumping for a cheap copy of Captain first, so such is life. Anyway, there's a lot of baggage implicit in my listening and rating this album. 100 Broken Windows is my favorite album of all time, so obviously The Remote Part is in its shadow a bit, and it's definitely a solid record. What's always implicit in my mind, though, is that they're a whole lot cleaner, signaling the loss of Bob and all punk sensibility that was apparent in their following albums. Still, there's a whole lot to like about this album, and they do have some energy still. "You Held the World in Your Arms" is like this album's "Idea Track" - different from the rest in it's combination of angst, loneliness, and independence, but just as 100 Broken Windows was more adventurous than this album, "You Held the World in Your Arms" is not as avant garde as "Idea Track". The rest of the album is incredibly catchy, but it just sounds like they were listening to REM while writing and recording this rather than Slint and Fugazi, which is fine, but the warning signs make me sad. Even so, tremendous album, and I think this is what alternative rock should strive to be. The imagery in the lyrics is much more stream of consciousness than the more narrative 100 Broken Windows, and is almost equally effective. The first half is especially great, but it finishes strong also.
SUEDE - SUEDE - 9/10
I wrote earlier about how Suede takes some getting used to, but I got used to it, it completely blew me away. The aesthetic is almost what I would describe as gothic, and the drama in Brett Anderson's voice and Bernard Butler's guitar work is unmatched in anything I've come across. Somehow, Suede manages to be melodramatic, yet honest. It's really a fantastic album, and there's not much more I can say about it. The catchy tunes absolutely devastate ("The Drowners", "Animal Nitrate") and the touching ballads ("Pantomime Horse", "Sleeping Pills") are actually frank. The purity of it all is impressive. If album closer "The Next Life" were something a little bit more forceful, this might just be my favorite album on those days when I need something like Suede.
FUTURE SIGNS - THE WARM JETS - 7.5/10
They never released another record after this one, but this is a solid little album. It's total Britpop - it isn't really, but it's totally British and incredibly poppy. It somewhat sounds like Coldplay would have been if they had gone for straight out rock on their debut instead of laid back, acoustic pieces. The lyrics aren't a let down, which is always a fear in going for random alt-rock acts, especially ones who never got to record a second set of songs. Of course, I don't know why another album was never made - the makings of a decent band are here. Some of the hooks are amazing, especially at the end of "Never Never" and throughout "Hurricane". The guitar at the end of "Autopia" is similarly, and confusingly, moving for me, and I don't quite know why. The rest is relatively standard - not mind-blowing, but still pretty decent. Even so, it's an enjoyable and eminently listenable album, and I'm actually surprised these guys weren't bigger - or even something (and I'm not even saying that the way some people are like "man, Yuck should be so much bigger"; it doesn't seem like these guys had any listeners at all. A google search reveals basically nothing).
THE REMOTE PART - IDLEWILD - 8.5/10
I should have gotten this album long ago, but I have no regrets in jumping for a cheap copy of Captain first, so such is life. Anyway, there's a lot of baggage implicit in my listening and rating this album. 100 Broken Windows is my favorite album of all time, so obviously The Remote Part is in its shadow a bit, and it's definitely a solid record. What's always implicit in my mind, though, is that they're a whole lot cleaner, signaling the loss of Bob and all punk sensibility that was apparent in their following albums. Still, there's a whole lot to like about this album, and they do have some energy still. "You Held the World in Your Arms" is like this album's "Idea Track" - different from the rest in it's combination of angst, loneliness, and independence, but just as 100 Broken Windows was more adventurous than this album, "You Held the World in Your Arms" is not as avant garde as "Idea Track". The rest of the album is incredibly catchy, but it just sounds like they were listening to REM while writing and recording this rather than Slint and Fugazi, which is fine, but the warning signs make me sad. Even so, tremendous album, and I think this is what alternative rock should strive to be. The imagery in the lyrics is much more stream of consciousness than the more narrative 100 Broken Windows, and is almost equally effective. The first half is especially great, but it finishes strong also.
SUEDE - SUEDE - 9/10
I wrote earlier about how Suede takes some getting used to, but I got used to it, it completely blew me away. The aesthetic is almost what I would describe as gothic, and the drama in Brett Anderson's voice and Bernard Butler's guitar work is unmatched in anything I've come across. Somehow, Suede manages to be melodramatic, yet honest. It's really a fantastic album, and there's not much more I can say about it. The catchy tunes absolutely devastate ("The Drowners", "Animal Nitrate") and the touching ballads ("Pantomime Horse", "Sleeping Pills") are actually frank. The purity of it all is impressive. If album closer "The Next Life" were something a little bit more forceful, this might just be my favorite album on those days when I need something like Suede.
FUTURE SIGNS - THE WARM JETS - 7.5/10
They never released another record after this one, but this is a solid little album. It's total Britpop - it isn't really, but it's totally British and incredibly poppy. It somewhat sounds like Coldplay would have been if they had gone for straight out rock on their debut instead of laid back, acoustic pieces. The lyrics aren't a let down, which is always a fear in going for random alt-rock acts, especially ones who never got to record a second set of songs. Of course, I don't know why another album was never made - the makings of a decent band are here. Some of the hooks are amazing, especially at the end of "Never Never" and throughout "Hurricane". The guitar at the end of "Autopia" is similarly, and confusingly, moving for me, and I don't quite know why. The rest is relatively standard - not mind-blowing, but still pretty decent. Even so, it's an enjoyable and eminently listenable album, and I'm actually surprised these guys weren't bigger - or even something (and I'm not even saying that the way some people are like "man, Yuck should be so much bigger"; it doesn't seem like these guys had any listeners at all. A google search reveals basically nothing).
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Morality or Punishment?
Before this semester started, my parents got me this plastic stepstool because my bed is like 4 ft. above the ground on top of my dresser, even though I told them they didn't have to because I didn't think I'd use it and I was doing fine getting into bed, and whatnot.
Today I accidentally broke it, and I felt really bad that I should have done such a thing to my parents. They got me this stepstool because they worried about my ability to get into bed, and in the end I did use it.
The question is, why did I feel so sad? Was it because I just broke a gift from them and it reminded me of how much they care for me and how don't recognize it enough, so much so that I should break a gift from them? Or was it because I feared they would think I wasn't thankful since I hadn't really wanted it and now broken it? Did I legitimately feel bad, or did I just fear punishment?
Today I accidentally broke it, and I felt really bad that I should have done such a thing to my parents. They got me this stepstool because they worried about my ability to get into bed, and in the end I did use it.
The question is, why did I feel so sad? Was it because I just broke a gift from them and it reminded me of how much they care for me and how don't recognize it enough, so much so that I should break a gift from them? Or was it because I feared they would think I wasn't thankful since I hadn't really wanted it and now broken it? Did I legitimately feel bad, or did I just fear punishment?
Friday, February 10, 2012
Movie Queue
I was thinking that since I already have a queue of music I want to get, why not have the same sort of thing for books and movies? The point is that I should be able to remember what I want to pursue next if I have it written down, and though I already have a pretty decent stack of books that I need to get through - I'm hardly 1/6 of the way through Kierkegaard's Either/Or right now, and have Ulysses, Buddenbrooks, The Nichomachean Ethics, and A Dream of the Red Chamber awaiting me still - I constantly forget which movies I most want to see. Therefore, here they are:
1. La Chinoise
2. 400 Blows
3. The Seven Samurai
4. The Seventh Seal
5. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
6. The Battleship Potemkin
7. Hiroshima, My Love
8. No Country for Old Men
9. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
10. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
That's what I've got so far. I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I'm missing. Also, No Country for Old Men is there because I wanted to see it when it came out, but forgot to.
1. La Chinoise
2. 400 Blows
3. The Seven Samurai
4. The Seventh Seal
5. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
6. The Battleship Potemkin
7. Hiroshima, My Love
8. No Country for Old Men
9. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
10. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
That's what I've got so far. I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I'm missing. Also, No Country for Old Men is there because I wanted to see it when it came out, but forgot to.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
New Means of Perception
Now, I must admit that I'm hardly well versed in music, and I'm very much outdone by a great number of people who care much more about it than I do. Nonetheless, I find it an interesting topic because it is the most popular contemporary form of artistic expression, perhaps with film excepted. When done well, it can have the same effect as the most brilliant of poetry.
I did think it interesting as well that there are ways in which people are used to listening to popular music - what is perceived as good, what as bad. For me, the matter is quite simple: I eliminate anything whose lyrics are terribly predictable or crude. Poet that I think myself to be, to listen to words that seem to make no attempt to live up to the standards of everyday speech (not even poetry, since any song that were truly poetry would be truly remarkable; there are but few).
Secondly, however, there is a certain expectation of what music is supposed to sound like, lyrics excluded. I still recall the first time I heard the songs "Cast No Shadow" by Oasis, "When the Sun Hits" by Slowdive, and "Idea Track" by Idlewild. Even long before that, the song "1969" by The Stooges made me feel physically ill upon first hearing it, which I believe was probably the intent. These songs were just so completely outside the realm of anything I'd heard that it was really quite impressive the effect they had on me. Of course, in those days I was hardly familiar with anything not found on Top 40 Radio or classic hits stations.
Since then, however, I think I've heard a pretty diverse range of music. I try not to be surprised by everything, and when I am, it's really a very good thing. I've accepted the high pitch and kineticism of Superchunk, the imagery and honesty of Slint, and the density and loneliness (lost amongst wave upon wave of sound) of My Bloody Valentine.
I think it noteworthy, then, that two bands (and there may be more to come in the future: that I do not know, of course, at this point) should have seemed so absolutely strange to me even after having familiarized myself with their peers, so that it took me some time to get used to it, and that I did indeed end up really liking that aesthetic after all. Sometimes I wonder if I could go back to having never heard such music, because the effect would be that much more strange.
Chronologically, Guided by Voices was first. The first GBV album I got was Alien Lanes, and that mostly based on reviews rather than songs, although I really liked "Motor Away" at the time. When I tried to play through it all at once, every song just seemed so different. "A Salty Salute" was so simple, almost cavemanlike in its establishment of a motif just to end it immediately. "Watch Me Jumpstart" was both energetic and lethargic. I still don't know what to do with "Hit". At the same time, "Game of Pricks" was some stroke of genius unlike anything else. It's almost just a wall of noise, the melody barely escaping, yet the words are everything. Nothing sets the stage: it just begins. And "My Valuable Hunting Knife" sounds like it could be played by a middle school band, yet has some strange sophistication to it. It was all so primitive and strange. Just as certain modernist paintings - perhaps Beckmann or Gauguin - first strike the viewer as too crude to be expressive, but soon gain a huge significance, Guided by Voices came to encompass an almost effortless grandeur and depth, like Stonehenge built with all the technology of the modern world.
Suede is almost the opposite, yet I encountered a similar learning curve. As a Verve and Oasis fan, I fancied myself a Britpop aficionado, and as someone who also listened to David Bowie, Suede would seem to be right up my alley, yet there was something unapproachable about it. It was so theatrical, so over the top, yet at the same time seemed to sterile, which I suppose is the Bowie aesthetic to some extent, at least as I perceive his Berlin albums, actually owning none of them. The lyrics are overwhelmed by a sense of performance, and almost disappear, and the music becomes secondary. Other than c. 1994 Oasis which is all about Liam being amazing enough to make up for his cockiness, and also balls to the walls 1998 Idlewild, I think Suede may be the most incredible live act I've seen on youtube (if I thought any shoegaze would have the same grandeur live, Slowdive would also be up there, but in my opinion the medium needs to be flawless for music like that). Eventually, I came to find the meaning to the music. It's not just a glassy sheen, there's something inside. Once that purity becomes a medium to expression rather than a deterrent, Suede is amazing. The opposite of GBV really.
I did think it interesting as well that there are ways in which people are used to listening to popular music - what is perceived as good, what as bad. For me, the matter is quite simple: I eliminate anything whose lyrics are terribly predictable or crude. Poet that I think myself to be, to listen to words that seem to make no attempt to live up to the standards of everyday speech (not even poetry, since any song that were truly poetry would be truly remarkable; there are but few).
Secondly, however, there is a certain expectation of what music is supposed to sound like, lyrics excluded. I still recall the first time I heard the songs "Cast No Shadow" by Oasis, "When the Sun Hits" by Slowdive, and "Idea Track" by Idlewild. Even long before that, the song "1969" by The Stooges made me feel physically ill upon first hearing it, which I believe was probably the intent. These songs were just so completely outside the realm of anything I'd heard that it was really quite impressive the effect they had on me. Of course, in those days I was hardly familiar with anything not found on Top 40 Radio or classic hits stations.
Since then, however, I think I've heard a pretty diverse range of music. I try not to be surprised by everything, and when I am, it's really a very good thing. I've accepted the high pitch and kineticism of Superchunk, the imagery and honesty of Slint, and the density and loneliness (lost amongst wave upon wave of sound) of My Bloody Valentine.
I think it noteworthy, then, that two bands (and there may be more to come in the future: that I do not know, of course, at this point) should have seemed so absolutely strange to me even after having familiarized myself with their peers, so that it took me some time to get used to it, and that I did indeed end up really liking that aesthetic after all. Sometimes I wonder if I could go back to having never heard such music, because the effect would be that much more strange.
Chronologically, Guided by Voices was first. The first GBV album I got was Alien Lanes, and that mostly based on reviews rather than songs, although I really liked "Motor Away" at the time. When I tried to play through it all at once, every song just seemed so different. "A Salty Salute" was so simple, almost cavemanlike in its establishment of a motif just to end it immediately. "Watch Me Jumpstart" was both energetic and lethargic. I still don't know what to do with "Hit". At the same time, "Game of Pricks" was some stroke of genius unlike anything else. It's almost just a wall of noise, the melody barely escaping, yet the words are everything. Nothing sets the stage: it just begins. And "My Valuable Hunting Knife" sounds like it could be played by a middle school band, yet has some strange sophistication to it. It was all so primitive and strange. Just as certain modernist paintings - perhaps Beckmann or Gauguin - first strike the viewer as too crude to be expressive, but soon gain a huge significance, Guided by Voices came to encompass an almost effortless grandeur and depth, like Stonehenge built with all the technology of the modern world.
Suede is almost the opposite, yet I encountered a similar learning curve. As a Verve and Oasis fan, I fancied myself a Britpop aficionado, and as someone who also listened to David Bowie, Suede would seem to be right up my alley, yet there was something unapproachable about it. It was so theatrical, so over the top, yet at the same time seemed to sterile, which I suppose is the Bowie aesthetic to some extent, at least as I perceive his Berlin albums, actually owning none of them. The lyrics are overwhelmed by a sense of performance, and almost disappear, and the music becomes secondary. Other than c. 1994 Oasis which is all about Liam being amazing enough to make up for his cockiness, and also balls to the walls 1998 Idlewild, I think Suede may be the most incredible live act I've seen on youtube (if I thought any shoegaze would have the same grandeur live, Slowdive would also be up there, but in my opinion the medium needs to be flawless for music like that). Eventually, I came to find the meaning to the music. It's not just a glassy sheen, there's something inside. Once that purity becomes a medium to expression rather than a deterrent, Suede is amazing. The opposite of GBV really.
Monday, February 6, 2012
More Music Thoughts
So thinking about modern music from a literary perspective and with the question of "what does the lyricist think about? What symbols are important to him or her?", I have noticed several themes that recur in the music of my favorite bands that don't in other bands. Examples:
- Superchunk - Winter ("Winter Games", "Pulled Muscle", "Silverleaf and Snowy Tears", and if I didn't read the lyrics incorrectly, "Rainy Streets". Also, "Pink Clouds" has a line "There's snow on your cheek and the light's getting weak. Don't you think we should turn around?"),
- the school bus ("1000 Pounds" has a line, "From your seat at the back of the bus, you're still waving back at us", and of course there's the song "Tie a Rope to the Back of the Bus"), probably more stuff
- Slowdive - Spinning ("Alison" has a line "your sister's spinning", and there's a line in "Primal" that goes "and everytime, I caught her spin")
- The somewhat hackneyed "getting high" - "Alison" and "40 Days" both mention it, and it's probably mentioned in other songs
- Ride - Flying - "Vapour Trail" compares a girl to a vapor trail, "Polar Bear" says "she knew she was able to fly"
- Idlewild - Literature - "Idea Track" refers to Hugh Miller and Marcel Proust, "Self Healer" may well refer to a line from The Unbearable Lightness of Being, "Roseability" is about Gertrude Stein, "These Wooden Ideas" is all about perception and postmodernism, "In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction" is dedicated to Scottish poetry, "American English" is about the personal appeal of writing
- Suede - "Animal" is in the title of two songs on Suede
That's all I could think of on the spot
And my updated list:
1. Diary - Sunny Day Real Estate
2. A Catholic Education - Teenage Fanclub
3. Verdena - Verdena
4. A Storm in Heaven - The Verve
5. Pygmalion - Slowdive
6. Be Here Now - Oasis
7. Dog Man Star - Suede
8. Four Great Points - June of 44
9. Bright Ideas - Portastatic
10. Fantastic Planet - Failure
11. Warnings/Promises - Idlewild
12. The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle - The Sex Pistols
13. On the Mouth - Superchunk
14. Indoor Living - Superchunk
15. First Edition - The Fruit Tree Foundation
16. Calling Zero - Go Back Snowball
17. Lovelife - Lush
18. A Northern Soul - The Verve
19. Future Perfect - Autolux
20. Raise - Swervedriver
- Superchunk - Winter ("Winter Games", "Pulled Muscle", "Silverleaf and Snowy Tears", and if I didn't read the lyrics incorrectly, "Rainy Streets". Also, "Pink Clouds" has a line "There's snow on your cheek and the light's getting weak. Don't you think we should turn around?"),
- the school bus ("1000 Pounds" has a line, "From your seat at the back of the bus, you're still waving back at us", and of course there's the song "Tie a Rope to the Back of the Bus"), probably more stuff
- Slowdive - Spinning ("Alison" has a line "your sister's spinning", and there's a line in "Primal" that goes "and everytime, I caught her spin")
- The somewhat hackneyed "getting high" - "Alison" and "40 Days" both mention it, and it's probably mentioned in other songs
- Ride - Flying - "Vapour Trail" compares a girl to a vapor trail, "Polar Bear" says "she knew she was able to fly"
- Idlewild - Literature - "Idea Track" refers to Hugh Miller and Marcel Proust, "Self Healer" may well refer to a line from The Unbearable Lightness of Being, "Roseability" is about Gertrude Stein, "These Wooden Ideas" is all about perception and postmodernism, "In Remote Part/Scottish Fiction" is dedicated to Scottish poetry, "American English" is about the personal appeal of writing
- Suede - "Animal" is in the title of two songs on Suede
That's all I could think of on the spot
And my updated list:
1. Diary - Sunny Day Real Estate
2. A Catholic Education - Teenage Fanclub
3. Verdena - Verdena
4. A Storm in Heaven - The Verve
5. Pygmalion - Slowdive
6. Be Here Now - Oasis
7. Dog Man Star - Suede
8. Four Great Points - June of 44
9. Bright Ideas - Portastatic
10. Fantastic Planet - Failure
11. Warnings/Promises - Idlewild
12. The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle - The Sex Pistols
13. On the Mouth - Superchunk
14. Indoor Living - Superchunk
15. First Edition - The Fruit Tree Foundation
16. Calling Zero - Go Back Snowball
17. Lovelife - Lush
18. A Northern Soul - The Verve
19. Future Perfect - Autolux
20. Raise - Swervedriver
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Pretty Cool Feature on the Tugendhat House
http://www.ilpost.it/2012/02/02/villa-tugendhat-mies-van-der-rohe/
I've been a big fan of bauhaus architecture for some time, and always wondered what it was like to head inside (most photos of course being from the outside. I tried to convince my mom to take me to the Farnsworth House when we went to Chicago, but it was too out of the way.
At any rate, this and a Dutch video tour I found once of the Rietveld-Schröder House in Utrecht have been the best I've seen on the internet showing the interior of a modernist designed private residence, and Mies is of course one of the best. I hope I can find something on Breuer at some point, because he is also a favorite of mine. The cantilever chairs in the dining room are classic Mies van der Rohe.
I've been a big fan of bauhaus architecture for some time, and always wondered what it was like to head inside (most photos of course being from the outside. I tried to convince my mom to take me to the Farnsworth House when we went to Chicago, but it was too out of the way.
At any rate, this and a Dutch video tour I found once of the Rietveld-Schröder House in Utrecht have been the best I've seen on the internet showing the interior of a modernist designed private residence, and Mies is of course one of the best. I hope I can find something on Breuer at some point, because he is also a favorite of mine. The cantilever chairs in the dining room are classic Mies van der Rohe.
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