Song of The Year: Rebecca Black vs Adele

 Posted by
Dec 302011
 

At first glance, the choice would seem obvious. Choosing “Friday” over “Someone Like You” would land any sane person in 24-hour observation at the psych ward. But, a closer examination of the two songs reveals a lot of “where” popular music is in 2011. On one side we have a song widely considered “the worst song of all time” up against a song being labelled as “a new standard.” Clearly choosing “Someone Like You” is the safe choice, but did “Friday” have more of an impact?

In late 2010, a 13-year-old Rebecca Black entered an L.A. studio and recorded 2 songs for a fee of $4,000. The financing put up by Rebecca’s mother would cover the cost of studio time and accompanying videos. “Friday,” penned by the studio owners, was eventually chosen by Black herself because her familiarity with the song’s subject. The video and song featuring Black’s heavily auto-tuned squeaky voice and inane lyrics would eventually be uploaded to YouTube in February 2011. The reaction was as swift as it was incendiary. Despite the fact that mindless auto-tuned pop music has been around for nearly 15 years, the song was immediately derided for being instantly disposable and without merit. This did not stop the song however from having over 175 million views on YouTube and making Rebecca Black an overnight sensation. Her quick ascent to fame pissed people off enough that the teenager started receiving death threats. Even I received considerable flack for suggesting that the song was “punk” for its ability to anger so many people. There were those, mostly under the age of 15, who loved the song. The song surpassed Justin Bieber’s “Baby” for the most disliked video on YouTube. It would appear that no song in pop music history (even “Disco Duck”) has found itself under such intense derision and polarization.

But, we’ve been here before. Aside from the aforementioned “Disco Duck,”  Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” and Los Del Rio’s “Macarena” ran into quite a resistance from music fans and critics. But those were novelty songs. “Friday” was a genuine attempt at the pop charts. Which I guess, amplified the hate. And for once it seemed everyone’s sense of good taste was immediately challenged. The public needed a good mouthwash to erase this bad-taste. Enter Adele.

Continue reading »

Share

Townsman Andyr Receives Rock Town Hall’s Second Annual Rock Badge of Courage for Singing “Comfortably Numb”

 Posted by
Dec 302011
 

Comfortably andyr

Popular music discussion blog Rock Town Hall has awarded one of its very own Townspeople, andyr, its second annual Rock Badge of Courage for his live vocal performance of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” at a recent show by the Narberth, Pennsylvania–based cover band extraordinaire Narband.

You may recall our  initial Rock Badge of Courage recipient, Bruce Springsteen, for his performance of “Born in the USA.” The Rock Badge of Courage is the highest artistic decoration awarded by Rock Town Hall, even higher than induction in the Hall’s Foyer of Fame. It is bestowed on musicians who distinguish themselves “conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her artistic cred above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against The Man, apathetic bandmates, or any other enemy of The Power & Glory of Rock.” Springsteen’s award required little explanation, but andyr’s may require some context.

I’ve counted andyr as a “close personal friend” for 40 years. Not once, in all those years and countless musical discussions and experiences has he ever expressed even the slightest admiration for anything related to Pink Floyd. Trust me, he’s a cool guy and typically has great taste in music, but he doesn’t even care for the Syd Barrett stuff or the song “Wish You Were Here.” He even finds the good in stuff a lot of us might think is crap, provided it has cool drum and bass parts, but he may be the only music lover I know who hasn’t at least acknowledged that “Floyd has some cool album covers.” Even E. Pluribus Gergely would grant the band a cool album cover or two. The man has been steadfast in his refusal to enjoy a single thing about Pink Floyd.

Then, no more than 2 months ago, a musical mission was hatched that would test andyr’s rock courage like no test before. He and Townsman Sethro, another one of my longtime bandmates and close personal friends, were asked to join Narband, led by another Townsman, ace guitarist Buddy Whelan and a mutual friend of Whelan and our Rock Badge of Courage recipient who lacks, as far as I know, an RTH handle. Andyr was a little anxious but excited to cram for 2 sets’ worth of mostly Classic Rock and early ’80s new wave hits—especially with his trusty drummer buddy at his back—but one song on the proposed set list caused beads of sweat to form on his brow even as he discussed it with us at rehearsal one night: Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.”

Continue reading »

Share

Music That Doesn’t Match the Meal

 Posted by
Dec 292011
 

There’s a cool Italian restaurant Philadelphia called Osteria. It’s one of our favorites, on a local list that includes chef Marc Vetri’s other two restaurants. Check it out if you find yourself seeking a fine, pricey meal in Philadelphia. However, as a regular in the Halls of Rock you may be distracted by the off-the-shelf AAA music in the background. It cheapens the hand-crafted food they serve. It’s like the waiter tossed a bag of Harry & David breadsticks on the table. I’ve been meaning to talk to them about this.

Today I’m in NYC, at a Miyazaki film festival. Between movies I ate a bowl of pho at a Vietnamese place playing a Jackson Browne album in the background. What’s wit dat?

Share

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a First-Ever Live-Broadcast Mystery Date!

 Posted by
Dec 242011
 

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

This week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In features the behind-the-scenes gift-wrapping skills of Mr. Moderator on Christmas Eve. Early on there’s the world podcast premiere of Townsman Hrrundivbakshi‘s brand-spanking-new Christmas classic, “I Want.” Then. about 20 minutes in he launches the Hall’s first-ever live-broadcast Mystery Date. Play along throughout the week! Then, help director Ron Howard cast the remaining actors in a planned live-action Charlie Brown film, starring Paul Giamatti as a grown-up Charlie and Edward Norton Jr. as his loyal friend Linus.

[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-59.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 59]

[Note: The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player. In fact, you can even set your iTunes to search for an automatic download of each week’s podcast.]

Share

Looking Back and Looking Forward: Favorite 2011 Releases

 Posted by
Dec 232011
 

It’s that time of the year when everyone is reviewing their favorite musical releases of 2011, and we at Rock Town Hall should be proud to add to the fray. Although I’ve been thinking about my entries for the last few weeks, I’ve continued to be haunted by themes of Simon Reynolds‘ Retromania and our discussions about Moving Forward in our consideration of younger musicians and recent bands. We tend to not discuss a lot of new music on this site, and often it is in relation to previous bands or previous styles. However, I am the first admit that when I listen to new music, I’m always reminded of other records. While I hope we don’t only listen to bands because of their aural similarity to those that come before, I think that the experience can be a bridge to enjoying the music to a greater degree. With these hazily-drawn ideas on display, I give you my three favorites and additional honorable mentions from 2011.

  1. Moon Duo – Mazes: A splinter group from San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo play highly addicting, droney, psychedelic garage rock. While their sound is not particularly new (see Suicide, Spacemen 3), I like that they are a dueling long hair male/female team. I’ve always been a fan of that Farfisa sound, but there’s something about watching a curtain of black hair swinging in time with the music that kicks it up a notch. And the guy’s deadpan voice is additionally mesmerizing.
  2. Real Estate – Days: This album got a lot of press which is odd given what an intimate record it is. The somewhat hushed vocals, the chiming guitar: the sound evokes the color green to me. Each song is melodic and a nice mixture of cheerful and wistful. The single, “It’s Real” will stick in your head (in a good way). For fans of Felt and The Go-Betweens.
  3. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Mirror Traffic: Malkmus’s first Jicks album that really sounds like a band. The songs cover a variety of styles, some Pavementesque, others a la Steely Dan, and a couple Sweetheart of the Rodeo-era Byrds. But the very pleasant surprise here is Beck Hansen’s production: his understanding of their mutual stream-of-consciousness lyrics style takes this record to greater levels. (Honorable Mentions follow the jump!)  Continue reading »
Share
 Older Entries  Newer Entries

Lost Password?

 
twitter facebook youtube