Anyone into the old glam band Mud? Whenever I hear their stuff – not to mention see their Look – I’m impressed.
Shifting gears, if you are or have been a musician of any stripe, do you recall the first time you were on stage and felt you has some idea of what you were doing, some degree of poise and skill? Don’t be shy about sharing this humble moment.
Any thoughts on Bjork‘s appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend? I say god bless her for trying to inject some humanity into a song that sounded composed based on a series of IT “tickets,” but that act is OLD!
I occasionally see Moby play guitar-driven songs that almost sound like something Brian Eno might have cranked out in his “song” days. Not bad, but Moby’s hoodie always bugs me. Did I miss something in completely ignoring this guy when he had his day in the sun?
Is there any budding comeback album that excites you less than Smashing Pumpkins‘ forthcoming album? Is there any returning Look that excites you less than Billy Corgan‘s? Continue reading »
Peter Tork calls for Monkees’ rights! Michael Stipe concurs!
How does the band – whose Emmy-winning show aped the Beatles’ film “A Hard Day’s Night” – rank against other inductees? Neither the Animals, the Rascals, the Lovin’ Spoonful, the Dells, Del Shannon, Frankie Lymon nor Black Sabbath have more Top 20 singles than the Monkees’ 10. Ratings aside, classics such as “Pleasant Valley Sunday” have aged better than the likes of Shannon, whose “Hat’s Off to Larry” seems laughable as Hall justification.
[NOTE: The above clip contains a nasty word or two.]
In the hopes of fostering continued participation and interaction among Townspeople, it’s time we recognize two particular Posts of the Week! This is not to overlook any of the other hundreds of great posts we get each week on Rock Town Hall, but rather to drive a few visitors into the depths of this blog and all it has to offer. If I sound like I’m tooting our own horn, your ears are functioning properly.
Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a regular, I hope you’re drilling down to the Comments. Better yet, I hope you’re making some noise of your own. No matter how much we might value a particular Main Stage post, it’s rare that someone doesn’t add new light to a topic and make the author of the initial post wish he or she had had a chance to do their own post over again. Believe me!
It’s coming, Townspeople! This weekend the first mix CDs will go in the mail! The media is on notice! The world will be watching! We’ll all be listening!
April 19, 2007 – The popular rock music discussion blog, Rock Town Hall, will be launching its new web-based reality series, Hear Factor, on Monday, April 30.
Rock Town Hall ups the risk, danger and excitement of Fear Factor, with a death-defying music-based version. Hardcore music fans, many spending 30 or more years forming tastes and opinions, will be FORCED to endure three days of listening to only a mix CD of tunes they have expressed a disdain for. (The mixes will be compiled by fans of that particular music.) Contestants will be required to daily diary their harrowing experiences.
“The only support they will have are from Lifelines provided by fellow Townspersons (members of the blog) who will be allowed to provide reference points, influences and comparisons to music that might make it easier for the contestant,” said blog founder, Mr. Moderator.
“We have gone to great length to ensure that our contest is safe. Rigorous physical, hearing and psychological testing have been performed. Release of Liability forms have also been collected”, said a representative known only as The Back Office.
Tonight Townsman Saturnismine checks in with his long-promised piece on the future of psychedelic music. Turn off your mind, relax, and read along. I think you’ll dig what he has to say!
Let’s quibble over definitions. We find psychedelia’s genesis in mid-60s pop with The Beatles leading the way. The meandering syrup of “I’m Only Sleeping” and “Rain” ripened into psyche on “Tomorrow Never Knows”, “Strawberry Fields”, “Lucy in the Sky”, and “I Am the Walrus”. We speak of a music that is by turns mimetic of altered states of consciousness or nostalgic of an idealized childhood. Maybe it’s a sort of a sonic equivalent of Lewis Carrol’s words or Dali’s images. Other themes may include space travel or “aeroplane” imagery. Psyche was a music at the interstices of developments in recording, the coming of age of a generation, and other arch practitioners: Piper-era Floyd.
But is this all? I hope I’m being too limiting.
Is this all there is?
Sure, other bands came and went, especially in the ’80s: Plasticland, The 3 O’Clock, Rain Parade. The Dukes of Stratosphere were so much fun that XTC imported some of their side project’s flavor for their most commercially successful albums, Skylarking and Oranges and Lemons, complete with Yellow Submarine-inspired cover art. None of them, however, really did much to expand the vocabulary of the field.
Since then, more bands have tried on psyche for size, too. No need for a list. You know their names. But maybe you haven’t heard of Silver Sunshine.
If not, listen to this song, which is pretty representative of their eponymous debut album.
Psyche done well, wouldn’t you say? However, upon hearing such an efficient compendium of “by the numbers” psyche clichés, I wondered to myself:
Do I ever again need to hear a new song with lyrics about someone’s uncle or “auntie” (or granny)…riding a bicycle…to the park…or in the sky…with “lots of colors”…on a Sunday…where we can play…or paint…a song sung in an exaggerated British accent that’s either pinched to sound like John Lennon on “I’m Only Sleeping” or distorted to sound John on the second half of “Tomorrow Never Knows”…and which ends with an explosion? I don’t know. But….
As I complained in our recent “biggest disappointment” thread: psyche suggested so many creative possibilities, but its practitioners gave us so little. Seemingly overnight, the most successful devices of the genre ossified into empty convention. But why? And what happened to all those possibilities? What does the future hold for psyche? Continue reading »
