Saturday, February 28, 2015
Friday, February 27, 2015
thoughts on the new screaming females record
sounds solid to me, i don't know what people are complaining about.
i'll suggest that the record sounds like there may have been some time spent away from jamming, in the sense that it's a bit more ordered. reviewers that have never written a song before generally tend to get this backwards by applying some kind of intelligent design theory to the ordering of sound. when it comes to this kind of rock music, "sloppy and messy" indicates that a lot of time was spent on it and "snappy and catchy" indicates that you're getting something a bit more raw. the reason is that the songs come out of the basic architecture of chords and riffs and grow and morph into big, sloppy messes. it essentially never works the other way around. this is really true of all music, but rock as an artform is especially inherently deconstructive, chaotic, unraveling...
it's normal for a band to release a disc or two like this over the course of their career. they work themselves into the discography and make a place for themselves. sometimes, they indicate a band is falling apart, but it's usually out of practical realities, and i don't get that impression, here.
the key thing about this band has always been that guitar tone, and there's really been no loss in it's crunch.
i'll suggest that the record sounds like there may have been some time spent away from jamming, in the sense that it's a bit more ordered. reviewers that have never written a song before generally tend to get this backwards by applying some kind of intelligent design theory to the ordering of sound. when it comes to this kind of rock music, "sloppy and messy" indicates that a lot of time was spent on it and "snappy and catchy" indicates that you're getting something a bit more raw. the reason is that the songs come out of the basic architecture of chords and riffs and grow and morph into big, sloppy messes. it essentially never works the other way around. this is really true of all music, but rock as an artform is especially inherently deconstructive, chaotic, unraveling...
it's normal for a band to release a disc or two like this over the course of their career. they work themselves into the discography and make a place for themselves. sometimes, they indicate a band is falling apart, but it's usually out of practical realities, and i don't get that impression, here.
the key thing about this band has always been that guitar tone, and there's really been no loss in it's crunch.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
the sad truth is that this was the second highest selling single in the us in the 60s. the only thing that outsold it was i want to hold your hand. and while it's depressing that that tune is the biggest beatles hit, it's even more distressing that this outsold all the anti-war music. by leaps and bounds.
the 60s, as they have been sold to younger listeners, are mostly a lie. the beatles were very popular. but you need to go way, way down the list to get to dylan or mitchell or anything else with any kind of social conscience. the reality is that it was a fringe counter-culture.
but, you've probably never heard of this before, have you? the counter-culture was fringe then, but it became dominant because the fringe had the balls (with all due respect to the women involved) to stand up against the market and wave it's freak flag high. now, the 60s mainstream is lost in obscurity. you wouldn't recognize more than half of the most popular songs of the era, but you'd recognize all kinds of stuff that didn't sell at all.
people complain that the market doesn't respond to a counter-culture anymore. but it never did. building a counter-culture is not a profitable business venture. if it sees a financial reward at all, it's not going to happen for years or decades. it's about changing attitudes.
the 60s, as they have been sold to younger listeners, are mostly a lie. the beatles were very popular. but you need to go way, way down the list to get to dylan or mitchell or anything else with any kind of social conscience. the reality is that it was a fringe counter-culture.
but, you've probably never heard of this before, have you? the counter-culture was fringe then, but it became dominant because the fringe had the balls (with all due respect to the women involved) to stand up against the market and wave it's freak flag high. now, the 60s mainstream is lost in obscurity. you wouldn't recognize more than half of the most popular songs of the era, but you'd recognize all kinds of stuff that didn't sell at all.
people complain that the market doesn't respond to a counter-culture anymore. but it never did. building a counter-culture is not a profitable business venture. if it sees a financial reward at all, it's not going to happen for years or decades. it's about changing attitudes.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
the orchestral mix is uploading; the rss will update.
i've decided i absolutely have to turn this into a guitar concerto, as well. so, that's the next mix that's coming up: the orchestral mix with a guitar solo over it.
i think the guitar concerto calls for a specific influence from mike keneally...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stiRLvlGIaI
stunning record, btw. highly recommended.
i've decided i absolutely have to turn this into a guitar concerto, as well. so, that's the next mix that's coming up: the orchestral mix with a guitar solo over it.
i think the guitar concerto calls for a specific influence from mike keneally...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stiRLvlGIaI
stunning record, btw. highly recommended.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Monday, February 2, 2015
rip edgar froese
a large and influential generation is entering it's twilight. the whole world will be different soon....
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