mapping legends

Two new-ish blogs over in the links area, with similar concepts. Matthew Perpetua of Fluxblog fame has started a blog, Pop Songs 07, where he will write an entry, eventually, on every R.E.M. song (I'm assuming he means official studio releases). So far, the site is full of Perpetua's usual insight, and I actually think it better displays his capabilities as a writer and analyst compared to his main gig, simply because Fluxblog focuses on a whole bunch of different music he likes (which means writing about sometimes very different things), whereas here, with a more concentrated focus, the range and flexibility of his abilities become clearer.

Already, Perpetua's been flattered in the time-honored way (which I believe he invited, in fact), in that Phil Reed (who's occasionally popped in here with a comment or two) has begun a similar site dedicated to the songs of Talking Heads, More Words About Music and Songs. I haven't read much of Reed's work before this...but so far, he's revealed himself also to be a talented and insightful critic and writer.

Both writers are working their way through their respective band's catalog in random order, with Perpetua saying explicitly that he's doing so to break away from the album-focus (and resultant career narrative) that's most common in criticism of R.E.M.

I'm not sure if anyone's done this sort of thing before. The closest parallel I know of is Alan W. Pollack's song-by-song musicological analysis of the Beatles (highly recommended, although slightly technical in spots) - but the two things I most appreciate about these projects is their focus on songs (since that remains the basic unit of popular music, despite most criticism being focused on albums and careers) and the fact that I happen to have discovered both projects nearly from their beginnings, and can therefore watch them unfold in real time. That's important - because even though both writers chose the bands they chose because they've long loved those bands' music (and well chosen, in that both bands have relatively manageable catalogs and are well enough known that for many readers, posting mp3s would be superfluous), the process of relistening to their catalogs in order to write about the songs will inevitably alter each writer's perspective on the band he's writing on - if only because most people, no matter how much they might listen to a band's music, rarely do so with the intention of writing up their impressions, track by track.

And yes, I find the idea tempting...and am sort of mulling over the notion of what band I might work a similar project on. Any suggestions? (Anyone who says "The Fall" will be summarily shot...)

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Nothing Painted Blue

Some recent songs that have come my way - plus, a loose connection to this post's title (even though I don't believe any of them have anything to do with the getting of married thing).

The Sammies "Falling Out": You maybe can't quite hear it on this track, but the Sammies illustrate that it's been long enough since The Great Punk Divide of the late seventies/early eighties that bands who dig through older relatives' music collections no longer feel compelled to stick to either the Echo & the Bunnymen or Lynyrd Skynyrd sections: they can do both. Is it me, or is there something vaguely Flock of Seagulls about this one? No matter - it just grabbed me by the ears and wouldn't let go.

The Marlboro Chorus "Doctor, I'm Sick": Led by B Patric, a/k/a Patrick Stolley, who formerly led the underrated act The Multiple Cat and currently is house engineer at Future Appletree Studios, where the frequently wonderful Daytrotter Sessions are recorded. People for whom "gray" is a hair color may find themselves compelled to start singing "won't you be my girl, won't you be my girl, won't you be my be my be my girl" over the introductory rhythm figure (that's the Police, youngsters: what Sting did before the lute thing and when his ego didn't yet fill several semi-trailers). Once the verse starts get going, our younger listeners may well wonder if this is the new Shins single (the second phrase in the verse's melody line's got James Mercer written all over it), but the song also travels to several other catchy venues. And you know what? The Shins write some good tunes - and Stolley/Patric's been around longer than they have.

Great Northern "Telling Lies": A bit of a changeup here, lots of glittery production - almost like a polished-up 4.A.D. approach - but going for the big pop-song chorus, all while roiling up the waters pretty thoroughly (in a somewhat decorous, scintillatingly aesthetic way). But again: nothing wrong with big pop choruses, especially if there's just the slightest touch of Motown in the melody thereof - unexpectedly, but aptly.

Okay, Nothing Painted Blue is here entirely so I can make the pun...but damn, I still think "Campaign Song" has some of the wittiest, most on-point lyrics (and this from Franklin Bruno who's written enough brilliant lyrics to paper the walls of a medium-size house).

The Sammies "Falling Out" (The Sammies 2006)
The Marlboro Chorus "Doctor, I'm Sick" (American Dreamers 2007)
Great Northern "Telling Lies" (Trading Twilight for Daylight 2007)
Nothing Painted Blue "Campaign Song" (Power Trips Down Lovers' Lane 1993)

the wheels go round and round

Here's a very cool website combining graphics, acoustic theory, and a species of ambient, generated music; I could probably sit there for hours. (Note: the sound and animation will begin playing immediately.) My only wish might be to make the MIDI files available so I could port them through a better sound source...but hey, it's just a random website, not Jesus's homepage*.


*www.jesus.com redirects to this page: is that church arrogant or what?

id(o)ling

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on hand to document the precise wording of his sign, but yesterday I saw a lone protestor, outside a Riverwest grocery store (for Milwaukeeans - since there really is only one Riverwest grocery store - I've just ID'd the location exactly...), holding an enormous sign that said something like Stop Voting for American Idol and Start Voting to Bring Our American Heroes Home: End the War.

Anyone's who read more than two or three entries of this blog knows I agree with the gist of this guy's message...but there are just so many things wrong with his method of presenting it - and unfortunately, these things map pretty clearly to problems progressives in general have had gaining political traction.

First - and the problem that leads to all the other problems - our protestor seems to act under the impression that he's speaking for a small minority against an overwhelming force opposed to him. American Idol is, of course, one of the most popular shows on TV; if the juxtaposition of that with "American heroes" makes any sense at all, it would be to suggest his assumption that more people are concerned with the TV show than with the war in Iraq. First problem: the two have nothing to do with one another. It is entirely possible for someone to be obsessed with American Idol and opposed to the war - even actively opposed to the war. In fact (and this is where the implied comparison completely falls apart), polls these days typically show that two-thirds to three-quarters of Americans think the war is a bad idea. Unless the audience for American Idol is drawn entirely from the pro-war minority, it's likely that most fans of American Idol are also opposed to the war.

In other words, he's assuming (in this case, against all evidence) that most people don't care about the war, or support it if they do, or are apathetic, and instead would rather watch TV. There's an implicit elitism here, too: "we finer sorts know what's truly important - and it isn't whoever Paula Abdul babbles and coos over." Even if everything above were true - the minority, the concerned elite - it's hardly an effective tactic to try to win people over by, essentially, insulting them. "Hey you, ya big slob: try using your brain for once, idiot!" That works, right?

I'll pass over the tortured attempt to make "American" relevant in each half of the slogan, and the odd use of "vote" (while there are referenda on the war, they're not binding - and this was a week after the elections). It's not the populace that needs convincing here - it's elected officials. If the sign had said something like "Tell your congressional representative you want to end the war now!" - that would have made much more sense, and probably been much more effective, not only in communicating to people who saw the guy's sign, but also (assuming people followed up) in letting representatives know which way the wind's blowing. (The Democrats, mostly, as usual seem in mortal terror of the Fox Squeaky Wheel Faction: the minority of rabid wingers who invariably seem more motivated to jump when their side says jump than the Democrats' own tepid voters. Perhaps that tepidity has something to do with the fearfulness of those representatives?)

And of course, I'm sure the guy felt he was earning some sort of moral brownie points for standing out in the 45-degree cold, all by himself, stoically holding up his hand-painted sign. Perhaps he should - but it's too bad the approaches his sign demonstrates are such a turnoff to so many. Hectoring defensively is rarely a good idea.

(PS: Tell your congressional representative you want to end the war now!)

covering more (under)ground

About a month back, my friend Steve posted covers of all the tracks on the first side of The Velvet Underground & Nico. He commented that he might post covers of the tracks on side 2, if he found the right tracks. Either he hasn't, or he's lost interest - at any rate, I'm going ahead and posting my selection of covers of the second side of that LP. Maybe Steve will post his own favorites (I had alternate selections for all but one track - "Black Angel's Death Song" - and I know Bettie Serveert covered that one...).

Mazzy Star "Heroin" (live in Berlin 1988)
R.E.M. "There She Goes Again" (Dead Letter Office - Murmur outtake)
Clem Snide "I'll Be Your Mirror" (Beautiful 2003)
Clock DVA "Black Angel's Death Song" (Advantage 1982)
Ride "European Son" (Heaven & Hell: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground - Volume One (1990)

Buster Was Right

Loose seal!

stamps with porn-star names

About yesterday's post: of course, perhaps the post office guy was psychic, and he'd realized that I have the kind of brain that, seeing an image of the USPS's Longfellow stamp -



- found himself thinking, "A Karl Marx stamp? That's odd..." for a full couple of seconds before realizing the utter absurdity of the possibility.

how sweet to be an idiot...

At the post office today, I overheard a customer say something about Al Gore to the postal guy behind the counter. "What an idiot!" was the postal guy's response - followed by the usual yuks about inventing the internet and inspiring the book and movie Love Story (except that last one is, in fact, true). Then followed a crack about how obviously global warming wasn't real - after all, didn't we just get hit with half a foot of snow in April?

I said nothing - but mostly because I have to deal with this post office, and likely this postal worker - a couple-few times a week. Apparently, the fact that all but a trivial handful of scientists in the field acknowledge without doubting that global warming is well and truly underway, and nearly as many concur that humans have a lot to do with it, is insufficient to persuade, you know, a guy who works at a post office.

And then I found myself wondering just why he had such antipathy to the idea. I suppose a lot of it was just the usual macho yahoo disdain for "liberals" - but it's curious, the level of resistance to the idea. Elsewhere, for example, some people level the curious charge that the scientific consensus arises primarily because, hey, there's lots of grant money for any scientist who supports the idea.

I'm sure there is...but in the US at least, given this administration's views, given its willingness to bend everything to the will of its ideology, and given the obvious preference of business for an anti- global-warming agenda, you'd think that in fact there'd be much more funding available for scientists arguing against global warming.

The larger problem, though, is the corrosive cynicism that assumes that everyone, everywhere, will parrot whatever opinion is fed to them so long as it's generously coated in dollars. The problem with this attitude is that, of course, it pretty much removes any hope that any expert's opinion can be counted for anything: in fact, it undermines the very concept of the expert, of knowledge for its own sake, since what's the point of all that studying and analysis if you just need the ability to sniff out where the money's coming from?

Still more amusing, though: unless you're deep in paranoia land, it's pretty hard to believe that environmentalists and academics (and, of course, lib'ruls) have more cash and influence than Big Business and major politicians (of both parties). How's that work again?

dandelions roar

Is it odd that I find this piece - on a post-human earth - both moving and, peculiarly perhaps, reassuring? (Via Lord Whimsy - whose excellent book The Affected Provincial's Companion you all should buy immediately.)

Two opposing views:

Talking Heads "(Nothing But) Flowers" Naked (1988)
XTC "River of Orchids" Apple Venus vol. 1 (1999)

New Wrens (sorta), and payback's a beeyotch ainahey

The Wrens (well, Charles and Greg thereof) recently appeared on Faith Salie's "Fair Game" program on PRI (scroll down: it's the March 21 show). They performed two songs: "Thirteen Grand" and a new track Charles wrote for a friend's wedding (since they didn't mention the title, I'll cleverly call it "Wedding Song") a several-years-old song Charles wrote for a friend's wedding, whose title I only recently discovered is "Brand New Apartment." In the interview portion of the show, those mischievous Wrens casually confirm that they'll have a new album out "by the end of the year."

No word whether they're using the ancient Mayan Calendar Round, in which a "year" is approximately 52 Earth years.

Just yesterday, I was complaining about copyright law blah-blah-blah...and so I suppose it's apt that in this very "Fair Game" episode, there's a ad for a parody TV show presenting the troubles besetting Jesus and his two dads. Hey - two years ago, I was the one proposing a Jesus-based sitcom! (Timely, eh?)

The Wrens "Thirteen Grand" (radio session)
The Wrens "Brand New Apartment" (radio session)

And To Think That I Heard It On Chronic Town Street With The Memphis Blues Again

My original intention for this post was to rave about the brilliance of the "Dylan Hears a Who" project (and lament my own, usual tardiness in getting around to hearing it) - but it appears that I'll have to do that in the absence of linking to the site and its tracks, since the Dr. Seuss estate has (according to a notice at what's left of the site) requested that the tracks be taken down. (Fortunately I'd already downloaded the tracks.)

So you'll just have to assume (unless you can find the tracks online elsewhere - and they're probably out there) that the marriage of Dr. Seuss's words with Dylan-esque singing and arranging circa Highway 61 Revisited (with a few tracks reaching back to "acoustic" Bob) is positively inspired, so perfect a pairing that I'm amazed no one's thought of it before. In fact, I might almost have believed it if the site had been posted as if it were an actual bootleg of Bob himself goofing on Seuss stories. ("Almost" primarily because, as good as the unnamed Dylan impersonator is in tone and phrasing, he exaggerates the tunelessness of Dylan's singing at the time, particularly Dylan's tendency to trail off descendingly in pitch at the ends of phrases. But then, parody has its licenses.) I can't help but imagine Dylan himself (if he heard the tracks) would be amused - how could he not love Dr. Seuss, and unless he's way too self-serious, how could he not appreciate what was clearly a labor of love?

Evidently, Dr. Seuss's copyright-holders disagree - and this is a clear example of what's wrong with copyright law. First, even though Dr. Seuss's writings are not technically in public domain at this point (that is, Seuss's heirs are still earning money from sales of his books and related products), in all other senses they surely are. The homage could not possibly be interpreted as defamatory, the words are (as far as I can tell) unaltered, and no one is going to confuse these tracks with actual Dr. Seuss product. (Unless, of course, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. has its own musical versions being worked up and was concerned about interference. Even there, though, unless their version also featured a Dylan impersonator, there's surely room in the market for both items - especially since the one was free.) Dr. Seuss is fully credited at the site for his creative work, so there's no question of taking credit for someone else's work. (The Dylan impersonation itself would fall under the realm of parody - in case Dylan objected - and the Seuss lyrics clearly suggest parody, not an attempt to pretend to be Dylan...especially since Dylan hasn't sung anything like that style for twenty or thirty years.) In a better world, the Seuss estate would be overjoyed that someone appreciates Dr. Seuss's work so much that they'd pay such homage to it, and would merely request that the site link to a purchase site (something the original site might have thought to have done, pre-emptively).

So who wins? The hypothetical legal notion that copyright infringement left to exist eats away at copyright itself. And that's all. Listeners lose, fans of both Dylan and Dr. Seuss lose, even fans of one artist unfamiliar with the other lose the possibility of learning to find a new interest.

It's also curious - in the wake of the rather similar Beatallica dispute, which I recall ended up allowing the tracks on the grounds that Beatallica wasn't selling them, only giving them away - that the Dylan Hears a Who site couldn't operate on a similar logic. (Then again, it looks as if the Beatallica tracks are no longer available at that site.)

In other, much better news, Matthew Perpetua (of Fluxblog fame) has started yet another writing project. He's working his way, randomly, through every song in the R.E.M. catalog, detailing his impressions of the songs. I think it was about a year ago that I once again went into a major R.E.M. obsession, and this might be enough to set me off again. They remain - despite the failure of their recent work to really move me, and despite what's becoming increasingly more difficult even for me to deny is a decline in quality from each release to the next - one of my favorite bands ever, and Perpetua's entries so far help to illuminate why. Essential.

the year in music so far

We're one-quarter of the way through 2007. Here's a list of new CDs I've purchased or otherwise acquired this year, with tentative remarks on how they might stack up in my year-end best-of list. (Live albums, EPs, and compilations are not listed, because they're not eligible for my lists, for boring reasons I've mentioned in those year-end listings...) They appear in approximately the order I bought them.

Clinic Visitations

British fans could buy this in 2006, but I'm not there so it's a 2007 as far as I'm concerned. I wasn't as negative on Winchester Cathedral as most folks...yet I don't listen to it as much as the rest of Clinic's catalog. This one? Hailed as a return to form - and I agree. Reasonable odds of being in my top ten; definitely in the top 20.

Kristin Hersh Learn to Sing Like a Star

This is the first Hersh solo CD that brings the full range and force of her songwriting into focus, including some of the eccentricity of early Throwing Muses, along with the more delicate arrangement touches of her last solo release. Very good odds of being in my top ten.

Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

I think this band just keeps getting better. The songwriting's more confident than it was, they're no longer confined to self-imposed genre exercises, and the 11-minute centerpiece "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" is as terrifyingly compelling as a car wreck. Pretty much a lock for the top ten. (Uh-oh: at this rate, there'll be more than ten titles in my top ten. Details, details...)

The Shins Wincing the Night Away

I'm reasonably impressed: the band seems to be unafraid to grow and change, in that this isn't "Songs Like the Ones You Heard in Garden State." On the other hand, it hasn't quite grabbed me yet. Somewhere between 15 and 30-ish...

Mitch Easter Dynamico

I think my mere joy that there is a new Mitch Easter CD has served to get in the way of my getting to know this one (that idea probably makes sense only to me). And Mitch's stuff often takes me a while to really appreciate. So it'll probably end up in the top twenty - but quite a lot of room for movement on this one.

The Human Hearts Civics

This is Franklin Bruno's (Nothing Painted Blue) new band, formed during his time as visiting professor of philosophy at Northwestern University. No idea whether it's a one-off or an ongoing gig (that might depend on Bruno's academic career). As usual for me, the lyrics grab me with their cleverness, and there's a certain melodicism...but it takes a while for Bruno's work to feel truly charming to me. It doesn't always happen. Maybe in the top twenty, maybe not.

Field Music Tones of Town

Witty, clever, elegantly arranged and energetic songcraft, with occasional proggy touches peering around its edges. Top twenty, quite possibly top ten.

Future Clouds & Radar (self-titled)

When I wrote about this band a few weeks back, I hadn't heard the whole (double-disc!) album. The rest of it is just as good, even more stylistically sprawling, and a compelling case for Robert Harrison as a criminally underrecognized songwriter. Strong case for the top ten.

Arcade Fire Neon Bible

Another heavy hitter as far as publicity is concerned. So far, it impresses more in theory than in memorability. Maybe in the top twenty, maybe not.

Low Drums and Guns

The most impressive thing about this band is that after they'd established a sound and laid claim to what amounted to a self-created genre of music (with a stupid name that I won't mention), they've then proceeded to evolve and grow with each subsequent release, to the point that on the surface you'd hardly recognize this as the same band. Textures are often electronic, tempos are commonly in the middle range or even approaching something you might call "rapid." Yet the band remains recognizably no one but itself: Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker's harmonies ensure that, as well as the aching beauty, honesty, and intensity of their music. Definitely in the top ten.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Living with the Living

Something about Shake the Streets (Leo's preceding release) never quite took with me. The songs and lyrics were fine - but something about the production, or maybe Leo's singing, seemed a little off to me. Still a fine album - but this one is both a return to form and a considerable expansion of what it is Ted Leo does. Apparently a lot of people hate the "reggae" track here - I hate reggae, and yet I like it. Go figure. Anyway: top twenty, somewhere.

Knit Delicate Pressed

Milwaukeean Charles Jordan (formerly of the Nerve Twins and Soda), backed by the fabulous Maki, on a set of Replacements-y/Figgs-y songs that skirt the edge between merely competent and inspired. Not sure yet.

The Fall Reformation Post T.L.C.

After a hot streak on their last few albums (a streak that showed signs of slowing on their last one Fall Heads Roll), Mark E. Smith and his latest batch of hired hands produce a sort of better-than-middling but not quite fully formed set of tracks. Smith's typical perversity is in full force: three songs in a row are single-chord vamps in the same key (and that's nearly fifteen minutes' worth), there's a ten-minute track in three parts (1. murky 2. inane 3. murky) that tests even my patience...yet there are also a handful of classic Fall stompers. Lower reaches of the top twenty, probably.

The Mitchells Slow Gears

These guys have trademarked a distinctive sound that's simultaneously their own yet fairly clear in its antecedents (crunchy, melodic, but dissonant post-punk). Haven't listened to this one enough for details to fall out, so it's another one with a lot of potential for movement, even though I think it's likely to end up in the top twenty.

So, what have we got?

Four releases that I'm claiming are likely to be in the top ten.
Three to five that will probably be from eleven to twenty.
Another two that just might be in the top twenty.
And three that probably won't.

Seems like a reasonably strong year, so far. (And I haven't even looked at my "why haven't I bought this yet?" list...)