What would Ray Manzarek‘s thought bubble say at the 31-second mark of this excerpted interview with Jim Morrison?
Jan 212010
Jan 202010
Ce n’est pas une groupe.
I’m listening to the online stream of Spoon‘s new album, Transference. It’s not bad music, but I have no desire to listen to most of it again. In theory, I should like this band: They sound like a cross between Revolver, Bowie/Eno, Prince, and Jon Brion. But something’s missing. Their music always sounds so flat to me. It’s not lo-fi, but it sounds like a well-made album then dubbed onto a bad Maxell or TDK cassette. Reminds me of my dubbed copy of The Joshua Tree, which was a copy of a copy of a copy. No wonder I never could hear the supposed grandeur of that album.
There’s something else, though. Something unfinished about this music in an unappealing way. It’s like they have hooks, but no melodies.
Anyway, they’re not evil and I don’t hate their fans. I’m just happy with them passing me by. I do wonder if I’ve heard too much music, too much alt/indie/punk-type sounds, so this just sounds old-hat to me.
Feel free to let me know if I’m missing something, if I’m full of crap.
Jan 192010
Roger Daltrey just e-mailed me the set list for The Who’s (or A Who’s Who of Olivers, as they are thinking of renaming themselves) Super Bowl Halftime show.
“Baba O’Reily”: They may change the lyric to “Out here ON the field.” They will then skip the “Don’t cry…” part and segue from the “They’re all wasted!” power chords into…
“Join Together”: Lots of crowd shots for this segment. Then…
“Pinball Wizard”: No way they’re getting out of there without playing this one. Into…
“Long Live Rock”: Ignoring the recent ad featuring Eric Clapton hawking a Fender-edition cell phone, the very existence of which conclusively proves that Rock is, in fact, dead, Pete and Roger will trot this one out to the great delight of the crowd. More crowd shots and then into the big scream and last verse of…
“Won’t Get Fooled Again,” during which Pete will attempt to slide across the stage a’la his performance in The Kids Are Alright, but will misjudge it and end up smashing his crotch into the camera, making it the second time in as many years that the halftime performance has tea-bagged the nation. Somewhere in Minnesota, a diminutive man in ass-less pants will once again lament his missed opportunity from ’07.
That’s the set list. I assume that Townsman Alexmagic and some of the others have been working out over/unders on windmills and mic twirls and such, and will release them as we get closer to the game.
Jan 192010
In a recent thread seeking consensus over a single song for a variety of polarizing bands, Townsman Oats dismissed one subthread as follows:
The Smiths are a band that will never, ever get an objective appraisal here, so I don’t even know why we’re talking about them.
Oats – and fellow Townspeople – I am curious to konw what the parameters might be for an objective appraisal of The Smiths. Can you help us identify these parameters so that we might be able to prove our friend Oats wrong? Might this key piece from our archives help us in our preparation for this challenging task? Thank you.
Jan 182010
The wisdom of The Hall continues to amaze me. For as many knowledgeable individuals who dazzle with their rock knowledge, it is the collective wisdom of our participants that I find most dazzling.
It is in this spirit that I want to allow for further amazement—not only for the people but by the people. I was going to try to turn this into my own original post, in an attempt to display my deluded sense of having a unique brand of insight and humor, but then I thought better of it. Instead, I’d like to pose this question to the collective wisdom of The Orockle: Can’t we all just agree on one song by any of a handful of polarizing bands?
For instance, Pink Floyd‘s “Wish You Were Here” just came on the radio, and I was reminded of all the times I’d been in the presence of Floyd haters like my wife, who get that faraway look in their eyes whenever that Floyd song comes on the radio. Like a few other friends I know, my wife doesn’t like Pink Floyd even a little, but she digs that song. Can’t we all just agree on that one?
As always, when any of us consult The Orockle, the opportunity exists for folks to ask similar questions and receive similar advice. The topic shouldn’t necessarily focus just on Pink Floyd. Please feel free to suggest the one song by another polarizing band that we all agree is worth listening to when it comes on the radio.
I look forward to your responses.
Jan 182010
I wanted to post something socially relevant that would show that Rock Town Hall cares about today’s Martin Luther King Day celebration – and believe me, we do – but then I got distracted by Dion‘s Look in this 1968 performance of “Abraham, Martin, and John.” I started thinking about artists who’ve crafted a new Look specifically to support a new, more serious and introspective direction. Unplugged-era Clapton came to mind. What other artists have crafted a new Look specifically to support a deeper artistic direction?
Jan 152010
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