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The last All-Star Jam fell off the front page so here’s a new one for you to say whatever the eff you want.
Aug 112008
Aug 092008
Hey everyone, it’s been a while since we’ve discussed a hilariously dorky, minutia-obsessed, Beatles-related issue. Let’s do this!
This is something I used to think about a lot more, for lack of better things to do with my life. But I still think it’s an interesting idea. So much Beatlesque music lazily relies on the same old chord changes, guitar and vocal licks, etc. to elicit a Pavlovian reaction from the fanboys. But who best took the music to new places, to try and express new things? Who was most fearless in their ability to fuck with the form that the Fab Four gave us? I say XTC, specifically Andy Partridge. While I’ve moved on from this band in some ways, I’ll defend their whole catalog to my dying day. I remember an old website, SonicNet.com, where artists programmed streaming radio “stations.” Partridge’s was by far my favorite: Plenty of ’60s psych and pop, yes, but also Charlie Parker, Phillip Glass, and Captain Beefheart. And it all made sense, you could hear how all the artists had informed his sensibilities.
Yes, the band has a slightly scary fanbase, but if you doth protest too much you may need to look in a mirror sometime. Plus, you can’t spend your life following bands who only attract young, good-looking crowds. That way lies madness, and some other maladies I can think of.
In second place for pushing the Beatles’ sound forward, I put Big Star, who upped the anty for bad vibes and emotional intensity.
Aug 092008
What becomes a sax solo most?
Aug 082008
As I mentioned recently, it’s impressive to see newcomers to the Halls of Rock dig into the rich archive of rock discussion threads on Rock Town Hall. To help facilitate that process, I’d like to kick off a FRIDAY FLASHBACK! feature, where I’ll pull a possibly once-more relevant post out from the deep recesses of our archives and bring it back to The Main Stage for review by veterans and possibly first exposure for newcomers.
This first FRIDAY FLASHBACK! is relevant to me, at least, because I’m heading to Boston this morning and because Townsman KingEd‘s reflections on a recently deceased journeyman rocker from my own pathetic rock ‘n roll hometown have been on my mind. A local rock scene is a terrible thing to waste. Enjoy!
This piece was originally posted on 7/27/07.
As documented long ago in the original Rock Town Hall listserv, historically, Boston is the major East Coast city with the worst output of soul artists. Recently a friend and I were discussing the fact that Boston, for a city teeming with enthusiastic rock bands, rock clubs, rock press, and college radio stations, has produced a dearth of great rock bands. The original Modern Lovers were great, but they were gone in a flash. Aerosmith…a poor man’s Rolling Stones crossed with a poor man’s Led Zeppelin. Good stuff, but not mind-blowing. The Cars, Boston, J. Geils Band, and other heavy hitters of ’70s FM Rock were all solid, but they didn’t expand anyone’s consciousness, at least not anyone with a consciousness worth expanding. Then you’ve got the great ’80s scene. Everybody loves some band from that scene. I love Big Dipper. Someone else loves Mission of Burma. Someone else thinks Throwing Muses was the bees knees. The Pixies are a Boston band, right? Big whup! Is The Pixies the best Boston could do?
I know what you’re thinking: “Mr. Moderator, how dare you – a native of Philadelphia, a large, East Coast city with far lesser claims to rock ‘n roll greatness – criticize Boston! All you’ve got is your stinking TSOP, Todd Rundgren, and The Dead Milkmen.” You’re right. Philadelphia is a terrible rock ‘n roll town, but my point is not to say that this is the case for Boston, just that Boston, for as rich as the city is in solid, journeyman rock bands, has not produced a downright dominant band in either rock or soul music. Are they gonna blame this on the curse of the Bambino too?
Aug 072008
What rock musicians have been able to successfully incorporate elements of jazz into their rock?
How we define “elements of jazz” is best left to you, but I hope we have the good sense not to allow, say, Ted Nugent‘s hiring of the Brecker Brothers to play on one of his songs as an example of a rock artist incorporating elements of jazz into their work.
Rock artists have been pretty comfortable slipping country, blues, and folk into their music, and as much as we deride ’70s-style jazz fusion, a number of jazz artists have incorporated elements of rock into their sound in an effective way. But beside the occasional scat singing of Van Morrison or the chops-laden session cats on a Steely Dan or Paul Simon album, have any rock bands since the days of Soft Machine spent much time even trying to take a “jazz approach” to rock? Joni Mitchell seemed to have gone whole hog into a jazz approach, but I’m not sure that it succeeded beyond a few songs. Of course, I’ll leave it to you to determine what a jazz approach is, or what exactly is jazz altogether.
Is Tortoise a rock band successfully incorporating jazz elements, or do they just market themselves as such? (Full 30-minute set of the band follows!)
This is an open-ended set of questions. Improvise.
I look forward to the scat we toss around!
Aug 072008
Time to ‘fess up. I clearly have no qualms about laying it all out for ya so I’ll start.
I discovered The Sonics via the Nissan SUV (I think) commercial. I also discovered Chris Knox (Tall Dwarfs) via the Heineken commercial that uses It’s Love. The Knox album on eMusic (Beat) has a definite Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy vibe.
I confessed. I am at one with god.
What say you?
Aug 072008
At one point last night, while standing behind home plate at Citizens Bank Park and watching the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins, I was suddenly overcome by a spell of Philly Pride. Cranky, old Ed King actually got misty as he looked out over the field, took in the sounds from the crowd, and remembered the franchise’s rare past glories and frequent letdowns. This is my team, I thought. My team’s lovely little ballpark. For better and for worse, my people.
An hour after having gotten in tune with my city, I arrived home to read that one of Philly’s Great White Hopes of the early ’80s, Robert Hazard, had died. Damn, I had no idea the guy was even sick!
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