Acoustic Cred

 Posted by
Aug 142012
 

Is it me, or does it seem that when a rock band puts an acoustic song on its album that it’s merely a stab at trying to sound “respectable?” Like “yeah we rock, but we have a serious side, too.”

I’m thinking Green Day here … and I think Oasis did something similar. Even the odd hair metal band would have a song now and then that showed their maturity because the guitarist laid it down with an acoustic guitar.

Even The Minutemen have an acoustic instrumental on Double Nickles on the Dime—and damn if it doesn’t seem to work at some level.

The only example I can think of that really does this well for me is The Jam‘s “That’s Entertainment.” It’s acoustic in all the right ways and works well with Weller’s high la, la las … so it doesn’t feel forced.

So, keeping folks like Neil Young and Dylan out of it, because they were so often acoustic—are there any other uncharacteristically acoustic rock bands that have successfully pulled off the acoustic song and not made it seem like a crass bid for “seriousness?”

Discuss.

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Aug 132012
 

Which one's Spice?

It was with great trepidation that I tuned into the Olympics closing ceremonies concert late last evening. It was bound to not rock, but I can’t resist any chance to see what’s left of The Who, and somewhere I saw a rumor that Kate Bush would perform, which would have been quite a rare thing.

What did you think of it? Was anything worth your while? Who was lip syncing? Here’s my jar full of 2 cents:

I watched some of the Olympics off and on. The track and field is my favorite. I am amazed at the power of the sprinters and the sustained pace of the distance runners.

Overall: A strange trip. It was as bad as you might expect but worth a few moments. Fortunately the fast-forward button worked. God Save the Queen.

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Aug 132012
 

It’s 5:12 PM EST and I just learned that today, August 13, is Left-Hander’s Day. What the hell? I’ve been left handed all my life and no one’s ever told me about this day. In the remaining hours of this blessed day, let’s have a time-sensitive Last Man Standing on left-handed guitarists. Lefty bassists count too, but we’ll rule out banjo players, mandolin players, lute players, lap-steel players, and the like. We’ll also rule out guitarists like myself, who are left handed but decided to learn to play right handed to make it easier to buy guitars and play other people’s guitars. The guitarist (or bassist) has to play left handed.

I’m kicking things off with Justin Bieber, who coincidentally I just learned was a left-handed guitarist about a half hour ago, when I picked up a recent issue of Rolling Stone and saw him strumming southpaw.

Entries in this time-sensitive Last Man Standing will run through 11:59 pm EST. The actual Last Townsperson Standing will be awarded a VERY SPECIAL PRIZE! Game on!

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Aug 132012
 

I stink at math, but I am confident in my belief that John Doe‘s bass stance from this X performance meets the ideal angles (ie, crotch-to-feet triangle, feet-relative-to-shoulder width, etc) that all bassists should emulate. May I request that one of the Hall’s mathematicians calculate the angles that make up this ideal bass stance? I was really hoping that Letterman would ask Doe about his stance. This research will benefit other bassists in learning and adopting this proper bass stance? Thank you.

Previously.

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Aug 112012
 

Here in the Hallowed Halls of Rock, we tend to be bit snobbish about our music. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), at times this highly developed musical and cultural acumen manifests in rock criticism that ranges from critical downgrades to lambasting to general snarkiness. But I am also aware that we at Rock Town Hall are a talented bunch: among us are musicians, lyricists, humorists, writers, fashionistas, and general pundits. In the spirit of healing, love, and showoffingness I believe that the readers of this site are able to improve on some of the lesser developed music that our tender ears have had to experience. It is time to help some of those less fortunate and ultimately help ourselves.

Below are portions from three songs that most of you will recognize. Your job, in Rocklibs style, is to replace (ie, improve) one or more words in each line. The replacements must reflect the same number of syllables and make grammatical sense. Extra points to you if you are able to change the entire tone or style of the song through your choices. For example, you could zombify it, urbanize it, or have the song (somehow) reflect the Rock ‘n Roll dream.

There is a Rock Town Hall prize awarded for the best effort, as judged by our fine splitter of hairs, Mr. Moderator. Ready, set, go!

Song 1:
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitis, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night.
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
This could be Heaven or this could be Hell.”
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way.
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say…

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