“Ah, nice to meet you!”
Nature or nurture? Perhaps our German-speaking Townspeople can explain.
Jun 092012
Mar 162012
This one goes to zero!
Rock Town Hall has a long and honored tradition of rock video analysis, with Townspeople often incorporating the distinctive technique of commenting on videos with the sound off. In honor of alexmagic‘s recent analysis of a video of Tom Jones performing with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, we are instituting a new feature, Sound Off!
The way a Sound Off! thread works is simple:
- A video is posted for us to view with the sound off.
- We comment on what we’re seeing with the sound off.
- We most likely share in the sense of wonder that there’s much to learn about music with the sound off.
You will be entrusted to view the following video with the sound off. If we could disable the video’s sound we would, but something tells me the copyright holder of the video might object to that. Trust us, for the purposes of this thread the sound will get in the way. Beside, you may be viewing this at work, in which case coworkers will only be distbured by your giggles; you won’t have to worry about the artist’s music leaking into their cube.
After the jump, why don’t you turn the sound off and watch the following video!
Mar 092012
Seriously, is there something about being a “musician’s musician” that makes one seem more likely to come off like an asshole—not everyone in this clip, mind you—or is it the fact that they’re the ones most likely to be asked to appear in these videos that gives us the opportunity to see them that way? In other words, if we were filmed playing “No Fun” or “Gloria” or whatever “cool,” rudimentary song we knew how to play on guitar would we tend to come off looking just as self-absorbed?
Or am I simply an asshole for thinking this way at all?
Is there’s anything to what I’ve been thinking when I watch this clip, is there an instrument on which players with “chops” are least likely to look silly playing in such a video? Do piano players, for instance, come off any better when captured showing off their chops?
Feb 232012
Enemy of the Hall Steve Lukather says, “That that, Hammett!”
What guitar solo do you consider “insane?”
Feb 132012
One of my long-unfulfilled rock performance dreams is to have a gig in which my band sets up and “performs” in rehearsal mode: that is, facing each other, playing for each other, having the right to stop songs in midstream, adjust part of an arrangement, and criticize each other. We would completely block out the crowd and just do our thing, the way our thing is meant to be done.
Every once in a while I stumble across a video of an artist rehearsing for a gig or studio recording. I LOVE THIS STUFF! As a music lover, I’m as interested in experiencing what goes on behind closed doors as I am listening to or making music myself, also behind closed doors. Don’t get me wrong, the thrill of playing out or seeing a band out in the wild can be tremendous, but there are less opportunities for catching knowing glances, intimate gestures, and tossed-off asides and fills.
Enjoy this goofy, spirited rehearsal by The Rolling Stones while it lasts on YouTube. I’m afraid Steve Luthaker owns the rights to this clip.
Feb 072012
Consider this your weekly Lukather moment.
Feb 022012
I don’t own this song or the video; I just wanna share it with every one here at Rock Town Hall!
This bad boy really picks up a head of steam around the 2:50 mark! What’s getting you worked up these days?
