Main Stage

Kind of a Drag: Charlie Watts Drags The Stones’ Rock ‘n Roll Circus into the Crapper

Aug 072009

Some of you may recall my work in exposing the so-called Charlie Watts hoax. Considering that the beats on Stones records have long been among my favorite beats of all time, I’ve always been disappointed whenever I hear the Stones play these same songs live. It’s easy to point the finger at Mick Jagger for his shucking and jiving, which probably takes away from his already-limited ability to deliver the songs in his highly effective, super-cool, studio “head” voice, but I think Watts is the real culprit in the Stones rarely sounding – to me – like the supposed great live band that their vast team of publicists has spent 35 years promoting. The tempos are usually too slow, even by the standards of the original studio recordings. This breaks one of rock’s most important unwritten rules of live performance, that is, that tempos should be sped up by at least 20%. Watts rarely throws in the trademark fills that “he” has crafted on the studio recordings. For a band whose best work on record is driven by the drummer’s efficient beats (regardless of who the actual drummer might be), live Watts has to work his ass off to sound like your kid brother sitting in with your band on drums for a song or two before your real drummer shows up for rehearsal.
Continue reading »

Artists Whose “Mature” Works Threaten to Put Their Beloved Earlier Works to Shame

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 072009

We’ve approached this subject from a few different angles in the past and as Townspeople continue to age and try to figure out what it’s all about, Alfie, I’m sure this won’t be the last time this comes up. Recently I was listening to my “best of” CD mix that I made of the last three Nick Lowe albums (no surprise that Lowe is already back in the conversation, is it?), and I was thinking to myself, Although Nick’s music from the last 10 years is nowhere near as original and energetic as his early burst of activity, these favorte dozen songs of his from recent albums are beginning to make me think less of his first two albums. Jeez, I’m beginning to feel like much of his earlier works was “kids’ stuff!”

My conversation with myself continued, as I tried to put these thoughts in proper perspective: Continue reading »

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 072009

Word has it that a few of the girls in the audience wore pink.

Perhaps Ally Sheedy’s Character Would Understand

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 072009

In honor of recently deceased ’80s coming of age director John Hughes, it’s only appropriate that today’s Friday Flashback dips into our small archive of Ally Sheedy-related threads. This is a topic that I suspect some newer Townspeople will be relieved to get off their chests.

This post initially appeared 6/13/07.

“No one understands me!”

Today is Ally Sheedy’s birthday. The last misunderstood teen icon of my generation is 45. In honor of her birthday and her everlasting character from The Breakfast Club, I’d like to give you the opportunity to express a song, band, or album that only you seem to like, either presently or during your formative years. Perhaps Ally Sheedy’s character would understand.

Here’s one I think about playing for Ally’s character…

Glenn Branca, “Lightfield (In Consonance)”

If I haven’t tried to shove Glenn Branca’s The Ascension down your throat already, be certain that I’ll get to you yet. Despite my best intentions, I’ve never found a buddy to hang with and high five over the playing of this album. The other night I dreamt that Conan O’Brien and I hit the town on a raucous coke binge. We were snorting up piles of the white stuff, high-fiving over each other’s assorted hi-jinx and quips. It was a wonderful time. Perhaps the coke-hound Conan of my dreams would understand this album. I listen to The Ascension like I’m watching replays of the 1980s Phillies-Astros National League Championship playoff series or Secretariat’s 31-length Belmont Stakes victory, cheering on the known and inevitable outcome, cheering on that moment when the victor’s foot presses down on the opponent’s throat and an unspoken (in everyday life) joy is released. This type of activity first stirs then washes away memories of hard times. I’m sure it’s a psychologically sound – probably even recommended – practice.

So that’s my Ally Sheedy moment. Let’s hear yours!

Mystery Date: Think Visual Edition!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jul 302009

Greetings,

Today’s Mystery Date will work a bit differently than how we’ve conducted these in the past. Rather than post an “unmarked” mp3 for you to identify, I’m posting a screen capture from a video. Excluding Townsman E. Pluribus Gergely, who chose this frame for analysis in our recent long night’s work, the first Townsperson who can identify the video from which this screen capture appears will not only win an actual musically relevant PRIZE but, more importantly, can claim the top rock nerd honors on our most recent Last Man Standing, on bands that have employed two drummmers.

Are you ready for our Mystery Date? For those who feel they can handle the full weight of what’s to follow…
Continue reading »

Last Man Standing: Give the Drummers Some

Posted by cdm

Jul 292009

Name a band with two drummers. It’s okay if they just have the second drummer for their live set up, a’ la Genesis, but bands with a drummer and a percussionist do not count. Eligible bands must have two full contraption kits.

I’ll start with the aforementioned Genesis.

The Rock Town Hall Recording Society

Posted by cdm

Jul 272009

A few months ago I discussed with HVB, The Back Office, and The Mod (collectively “the Board Members”) the possibility of forming a Rock Town Hall Recording Society. The concept would be that someone records a basic track (as simple as just a beat or a single instrument track, but no more complicated that a sparse track containing chords and a melody/lyrics). Then, they would forward it to the next person in line so they could add something to it, and so on until we have a finished track. We could evaluate each addition and decide whether or not it should stay in the mix. If we could figure out a way to forward the thing as unmixed tracks, then everyone could take a shot at a final mix. The idea is that anything on any track can be edited, deleted or replaced, including my lyrics or melody. No experience necessary!

The main issue is what format would we use.

This should be a digital project. That way we could have all of the tracks sync up while their being passed from machine to machine. Also, I think we should be able to save the tracks as WAV files and it wouldn’t matter if people were using PCs or Macs. Based on my previous discussions the Board Members, a series of WAV files would quickly become too big to e-mail, so we might need to snail mail a disc from person to person. I’m not a very tech savvy guy, so Board Members feel free to remind me why this wouldn’t work.

I have a song that I wrote back in the days when RTH was a Yahoo Group. Someone had suggested that we write short songs about Angry Gnomes. I wrote one that day but have never recorded it. I’d gladly offer up that gem as a starting point. If that’s the starting point, I could record a rhythm guitar track and a scratch vocal track. It’s about a minute long.

I’m certain the final outcome will conclusively prove that creating art by committee is a fool’s errand but I think it could be an interesting journey, especially if we get to the point where different people are mixing the same tracks.

Anybody want to give this a shot? Any suggestions how to make it work?

Older Entries Newer Entries