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Sunday, January 17, 2010
Indie-rock as World Music
From an email to a friend about this blog:
Music has an artistic context and it also has a role as providing a soundtrack for social experiences. This artistic context is a very strange one when it involves the popular music of the community of the say, 2 million people who have ever bought an indie-rock record, many of whom are themselves marginalized (and with a population that small and eccentric, there could very well be a Putamayo Compilation, The Music of the Plastic-Framed Lands).
canonical
I'm planning an entry which will be a list of songs that I really like. I'm going to need it later when I discuss why I'm not impressed with a lot of today's indie-rock. Rock'n'roll is a genre of music where there's a chance that any bunch of musicians barely conversant with their instrument can bash out something catchy, compelling, and meaningful. But it's a challenge to say that one creation of a bunch of musical illiterates is better than another (Of course, Times New Viking is the greatest bunch of musical illiterates ever, having filled four albums with sublimely naive songs hat sound like the first ones they've written). So, I find the San Francisco band, Girls cloying and slickly half-assed, aspiring to be nothing more than a hipster prom band for kids who only went to prom ironically, and probably inferior to the Brazilian Girls and the Theoretical Girls and the Parenthetical Girls and every other band of mostly guys who call themselves girls, but as I write this, "Lust for Life" is stuck in my head. So I'd like to point to "Love you more" by the Buzzcocks as a song that I like more, think is a better song, and is just as catchy. So I've got the beginnings of such a list. But as soon as I started, I was tempted to name certain songs canonical, but I could find no grounds for the inclusion of such songs except that I haven't gotten sick of them as my tastes have changed and that people whose tastes I trust also like them.
Here, you try. "Hallelujah" definitely belongs on the list. So does "Blitzkrieg Bop." And "Billie Jean." What about "Living on a Prayer." What about your favorite song from the great early '90's pop-punk band, Pierre and the Quixotes*, who were every bit as infectious and energetic as the Ramones, but wrote better songs and captured exactly what being your age at the time felt like for you.
Hard isn't it? I'll try again tomorrow.
*Pierre and the Quoixotes do not exist.
Here, you try. "Hallelujah" definitely belongs on the list. So does "Blitzkrieg Bop." And "Billie Jean." What about "Living on a Prayer." What about your favorite song from the great early '90's pop-punk band, Pierre and the Quixotes*, who were every bit as infectious and energetic as the Ramones, but wrote better songs and captured exactly what being your age at the time felt like for you.
Hard isn't it? I'll try again tomorrow.
*Pierre and the Quoixotes do not exist.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
From a facebook meme
15 Albums that Changed My Life
Here goes. It's going to be hard not to fudge. A more honest list would be much more embarrassing and less music criticky. Listed in the order of acquisition. Consider yourself tagged.
1. The Beatles - "Sgt. Pepper's" - from digging around my dad's old records. listened to it a lot and can't really hear it anymore. Needless to say, I prefer "Revolver" but my dad didn't own it. Other favorites from my dad's records were "Catch the Wind" by Donovan and "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore" by Phil Ochs. All of them are in my musical DNA.
2. The Bangles - "Different Light" - First cassette I bought with my own money. I still like it even though I have no way to play it. The cover of "September Gurls" prefigures my love for Big Star.
3. Grant Lee Buffalo - "Mighty Joe Moon" - One of the first current releases that I bought after years of listening to nothing but oldies. If the oldies station had not decided to add the Eagles to their playlist, I might still be listening. After about six months of listening to the alt-rock station, I switched to college radio. MJM is still a solid record and I have endured mockery from roommates throughout college for owning it. I also bought "Slanted & Enchanted" during this period of my life, and for my money that's still the best Pavement album.
4. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - "Orange" - To my freshman year roommate, I am so sorry. You played G. Love and Bjork incessantly but you didn't deserve this. A love for soul music and an inability to express that love without an ironic explosion of minstrelsy do not make this a classic. A lot of '90's indie-rock is a musical dead-end. In the great American Studies doctoral thesis explaining why that is, a chapter will be devoted to this album. But still, BLUES EXPLOSION!!!
5. Big Star - "#1 Record/Radio City" or "Third" - Don't make me choose. A twist on Eno's dictum: "Not many bought Big Star's first record, but everyone who did became a music critic." Still a favorite. December boy's got it bad.
6. This Mortal Coil - "Blood" - this album rather than the first because it's the first of theirs I bought. I love druggy displaced pop music. This and the Big Star were like an induction into the music geek brotherhood. This is as much an advertisement for Ivo's favorite music as it is an album in its own right. I dutifully tracked down the originals by the Apartments, the Byrds, Syd Barrett, Mary Margaret O'Hara, and Rodney Crowell. Great stuff!
7. The Zombies - "Odessey and Oracle" - listened to this compulsively freshman year. A great cute album. It's funny that today's indie-rock owes a lot more to this than to, say, Fugazi.
8. Sun Ra - "Atlantis" - another selection that irritated freshmen-year suitemates. This one I won't apologize for. Even for the tracks that sound like caffeinated monkeys beating on drums and chihuahuas convulsing on organ's keyboards. Incredible in a lot of ways and the ensuing discussions/arguments with suitemates prompted a lot of my thinking about music. Have to confess that I don't listen to it a lot and now prefer Sun Ra's albums that sound like music. So ends the freshman year selections beginning at 5.
8. Chet Baker - "The Best of Chet Baker Sings" - still my go-to album when I'm feeling depressed.
9. DNA - "DNA" - part of an extension of my conception of music. Also acceptable is the Fall or Pussy Galore. For artistic purity, I've picked DNA.
10. Van Morrison - "Astral Weeks" - anything I say will be cliche. Please see Lester Bangs's essay.
11. Gram Parsons - "GP/Grievous Angel" - As has been noted by every rock critic ever, this does not stand the test of time and I don't know when the last time I listened to it was (let alone actually heard it). But it was a good indie-dork-friendly introduction to country music and I did do an alt-countryish radio show.
12. Neko Case- "Furnace Room Lullaby" - A wonderful album. I got it not too long after it came out. Reminds me of a period of my life when I went to shows once a week back in '02. First record I played on my radio show.
13. Os Mutantes - "Everything is Possible" - this is the Luaka Bop compilation. Just amazing. It's funny that it wasn't until I was 26 that I realized that good music doesn't have to be in English.
14. Sam Phillips - "A Boot and a Shoe" - I do love this album, but it's on this list because it reminds me of a friend who passed away. Not a friend I knew very well but the first (and only, knock wood) friend of mine to die. It is about loss and longing but I happened to be listening to it one time I was out with this friend. So many of the albums on this list are tied into the experiences of adolescence or are separated from any experience, but this is one that relates to an adult albeit a sad experience.
15. Cibelle - "The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves" - a beautiful album and one that I like more with every listen. Yes, my music tastes are starting to move in a worldy direction. Comes with age, I guess.
Here goes. It's going to be hard not to fudge. A more honest list would be much more embarrassing and less music criticky. Listed in the order of acquisition. Consider yourself tagged.
1. The Beatles - "Sgt. Pepper's" - from digging around my dad's old records. listened to it a lot and can't really hear it anymore. Needless to say, I prefer "Revolver" but my dad didn't own it. Other favorites from my dad's records were "Catch the Wind" by Donovan and "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore" by Phil Ochs. All of them are in my musical DNA.
2. The Bangles - "Different Light" - First cassette I bought with my own money. I still like it even though I have no way to play it. The cover of "September Gurls" prefigures my love for Big Star.
3. Grant Lee Buffalo - "Mighty Joe Moon" - One of the first current releases that I bought after years of listening to nothing but oldies. If the oldies station had not decided to add the Eagles to their playlist, I might still be listening. After about six months of listening to the alt-rock station, I switched to college radio. MJM is still a solid record and I have endured mockery from roommates throughout college for owning it. I also bought "Slanted & Enchanted" during this period of my life, and for my money that's still the best Pavement album.
4. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - "Orange" - To my freshman year roommate, I am so sorry. You played G. Love and Bjork incessantly but you didn't deserve this. A love for soul music and an inability to express that love without an ironic explosion of minstrelsy do not make this a classic. A lot of '90's indie-rock is a musical dead-end. In the great American Studies doctoral thesis explaining why that is, a chapter will be devoted to this album. But still, BLUES EXPLOSION!!!
5. Big Star - "#1 Record/Radio City" or "Third" - Don't make me choose. A twist on Eno's dictum: "Not many bought Big Star's first record, but everyone who did became a music critic." Still a favorite. December boy's got it bad.
6. This Mortal Coil - "Blood" - this album rather than the first because it's the first of theirs I bought. I love druggy displaced pop music. This and the Big Star were like an induction into the music geek brotherhood. This is as much an advertisement for Ivo's favorite music as it is an album in its own right. I dutifully tracked down the originals by the Apartments, the Byrds, Syd Barrett, Mary Margaret O'Hara, and Rodney Crowell. Great stuff!
7. The Zombies - "Odessey and Oracle" - listened to this compulsively freshman year. A great cute album. It's funny that today's indie-rock owes a lot more to this than to, say, Fugazi.
8. Sun Ra - "Atlantis" - another selection that irritated freshmen-year suitemates. This one I won't apologize for. Even for the tracks that sound like caffeinated monkeys beating on drums and chihuahuas convulsing on organ's keyboards. Incredible in a lot of ways and the ensuing discussions/arguments with suitemates prompted a lot of my thinking about music. Have to confess that I don't listen to it a lot and now prefer Sun Ra's albums that sound like music. So ends the freshman year selections beginning at 5.
8. Chet Baker - "The Best of Chet Baker Sings" - still my go-to album when I'm feeling depressed.
9. DNA - "DNA" - part of an extension of my conception of music. Also acceptable is the Fall or Pussy Galore. For artistic purity, I've picked DNA.
10. Van Morrison - "Astral Weeks" - anything I say will be cliche. Please see Lester Bangs's essay.
11. Gram Parsons - "GP/Grievous Angel" - As has been noted by every rock critic ever, this does not stand the test of time and I don't know when the last time I listened to it was (let alone actually heard it). But it was a good indie-dork-friendly introduction to country music and I did do an alt-countryish radio show.
12. Neko Case- "Furnace Room Lullaby" - A wonderful album. I got it not too long after it came out. Reminds me of a period of my life when I went to shows once a week back in '02. First record I played on my radio show.
13. Os Mutantes - "Everything is Possible" - this is the Luaka Bop compilation. Just amazing. It's funny that it wasn't until I was 26 that I realized that good music doesn't have to be in English.
14. Sam Phillips - "A Boot and a Shoe" - I do love this album, but it's on this list because it reminds me of a friend who passed away. Not a friend I knew very well but the first (and only, knock wood) friend of mine to die. It is about loss and longing but I happened to be listening to it one time I was out with this friend. So many of the albums on this list are tied into the experiences of adolescence or are separated from any experience, but this is one that relates to an adult albeit a sad experience.
15. Cibelle - "The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves" - a beautiful album and one that I like more with every listen. Yes, my music tastes are starting to move in a worldy direction. Comes with age, I guess.
Inaugural Post
This is the beginning of my music blog. I hope it will grow into a group blog and I welcome contributions.
I don't have a specific aesthetic viewpoint or genre to spotlight. If I have an agenda, it is to situate today's music in its historical context. But mostly, I have a bunch of questions that I'd like to explore:
1. What is the parallel development of undergroundish rock and mainstream pop? Honestly, they seemed to have diverged in perhaps 1972, occasionally coming into closer contact since then (with new wave and the alternative rock's brief moment in the early 90's).
2. What is the American songbook? When I watched American Idol, I was surprised by how few songs I knew. There's an American musical canon that is unknown to many music fans. What distinguishes it?
3. What is popular about popular music? There's always something compelling about a hit song even if it you find it infantile or trite or annoying. What's compelling about today's pop music? What does it say about today's culture? Is indie-rock taking place entirely outside of that discussion?
4. What is the legacy of 80's and 90's indie rock? Can you listen to pitchforky bands and hear any trace of any the bands featured in This Band Could Be Your Life? What does this say that today's indie-rock has a lot of the culture baggage of that music but not many stylistic similarities?
5. Why I don't like a lot of today's indie rock? There are a number of current bands that remind me of music that I like but do not grab me enough to really explore them and figure out if there's something new there. Why is it that I find Amy Winehouse not only more fun to listen to but also more interesting?
6. What is the role of earnestness and irony. Many of today's genres are informed by irony but are taken at face-value. For example, it's possible to read the lyrics of the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got a Feeling" as a condemnation of vacuous nightlife. But no one hears the song that way. In this discussion, expect liberal quotations from David Foster Wallace's TV essay.
7. What is the influence of the web on music? At first approximation, a lot of kids who would have listened to Modern Rock Alternative stations fifteen years ago are reading pitchfork. In that sense, the kids may be alright. But I'd like to think that they aren't...
I'll also discuss some music I like to keep this discussion from getting too theoretical.
Also, somehow, I feel that a lot of music criticism is stuck. I want to find another direction for it. At this point, I'll link to a couple of music blogs I like:
AND YOU MAY FIND YOURSELF... is my main inspiration. And he has provided compelling reasons why bands like Deerhunter are disappointing.
Indie Rock Sycophants is a necessary corrective to pitchfork. I often disagree with him, but he's worth reading.
I also dig Carl Wilson and Simon Reynolds in the rare case that I can understand him.
I don't have a specific aesthetic viewpoint or genre to spotlight. If I have an agenda, it is to situate today's music in its historical context. But mostly, I have a bunch of questions that I'd like to explore:
1. What is the parallel development of undergroundish rock and mainstream pop? Honestly, they seemed to have diverged in perhaps 1972, occasionally coming into closer contact since then (with new wave and the alternative rock's brief moment in the early 90's).
2. What is the American songbook? When I watched American Idol, I was surprised by how few songs I knew. There's an American musical canon that is unknown to many music fans. What distinguishes it?
3. What is popular about popular music? There's always something compelling about a hit song even if it you find it infantile or trite or annoying. What's compelling about today's pop music? What does it say about today's culture? Is indie-rock taking place entirely outside of that discussion?
4. What is the legacy of 80's and 90's indie rock? Can you listen to pitchforky bands and hear any trace of any the bands featured in This Band Could Be Your Life? What does this say that today's indie-rock has a lot of the culture baggage of that music but not many stylistic similarities?
5. Why I don't like a lot of today's indie rock? There are a number of current bands that remind me of music that I like but do not grab me enough to really explore them and figure out if there's something new there. Why is it that I find Amy Winehouse not only more fun to listen to but also more interesting?
6. What is the role of earnestness and irony. Many of today's genres are informed by irony but are taken at face-value. For example, it's possible to read the lyrics of the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got a Feeling" as a condemnation of vacuous nightlife. But no one hears the song that way. In this discussion, expect liberal quotations from David Foster Wallace's TV essay.
7. What is the influence of the web on music? At first approximation, a lot of kids who would have listened to Modern Rock Alternative stations fifteen years ago are reading pitchfork. In that sense, the kids may be alright. But I'd like to think that they aren't...
I'll also discuss some music I like to keep this discussion from getting too theoretical.
Also, somehow, I feel that a lot of music criticism is stuck. I want to find another direction for it. At this point, I'll link to a couple of music blogs I like:
AND YOU MAY FIND YOURSELF... is my main inspiration. And he has provided compelling reasons why bands like Deerhunter are disappointing.
Indie Rock Sycophants is a necessary corrective to pitchfork. I often disagree with him, but he's worth reading.
I also dig Carl Wilson and Simon Reynolds in the rare case that I can understand him.
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