Rock Town Hall • Rock Music Discussion

Hear Factor, Season 2: The Sounds of Things to Come!

May 022008

I know you’re hungry for season 2 of Hear Factor, the interactive Rock Town Hall event in which Townspeople are asked to live in another Townsperson’s ears, listening exclusively to a mix CD from a possibly challenging slice of another Townsperson’s taste in music, and then reporting back their experiences to the Hall. If you weren’t around for last season’s Hear Factor and want to catch up on all the excitement, a fine summary of season 1/preview of season 2 can be found here. For a limited time, you can find links to downloads of the full mixes that Townspeople were subjected to in 2007.

I’m happy to report that submissions are rolling in, and I’m already getting some ideas of how I might redistribute these mixes so that they best challenge participants. As was the case last year, as I got to preview these mixes, there are some strong songs in all styles submitted. As a little preview of what may be coming the way of our participants, I’ve randomly selected a cut from each of the first 3 CDs I received and posted them here, without title or artist information, as our participants will receive their mixes!

Hear Factor, Season 2, Sample 1

Hear Factor, Season 2, Sample 2

Hear Factor, Season 2, Sample 3

If any of these are tracks you submitted, please don’t reveal that. Our hope is that participants will listen to their mix CDs without knowledge of the compiler. They will be welcome to guess at each compiler in their reports back to the list. Fear. Enjoy. What have you!

If You Can’t Say Anything Nice… About Uriah Heep

Posted by hrrundivbakshi

May 012008

I don’t want to hear nothin’ about how Uriah Heep were the poor man’s poor man’s Deep Purple. I don’t want to hear nothin’ about the swell clothes the band is sporting in this clip. And I don’t want to hear *nothin’* about the out-of-control inverse relationship between quality of music and quality of poon on display in this clip. What I *do* want to hear are all the nice things you have to say about this particular performance. Extra credit if you can say something nice about the lyric to this song, “Wizard.”

I’ll start: what, it’s okay to pump your fist along to “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love and Understanding,” but taking the time to show your solidarity with Heep’s message of universal brotherhood is for losers? These guys were *way* ahead of the Hands Across America curve!

Your turn. And remember, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!

HVB

Last Man Standing: Song Titles That Play Off Preexisting Song Titles

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 012008

In the ’80s, Shonen Knife released a song that held immediate appeal to me based solely on the song’s title, “Making Plans for Bison”. Would this somehow be a response to XTC’s “Making Plans for Nigel”? I bought the record, which was pretty cool on its own merits, and realized that not only the title played off the XTC song, but one of the lyrical hooks also was carried over. Satisfying.

Today’s Last Man Standing seeks Song Titles That Play Off Preexisting Song Titles. Richard Thompson‘s “Roll Over Vaughn Williams” is another example that comes to mind. Posting one title (and the original song title on which it’s based, if it’s not totally obvious) per Comment, show us what you’ve got!

Old Timers Can Stop Their Rantings

Posted by The Back Office

May 012008

FXc-TeIwePA]

I have a workaround for the AARP crowd. It requires you to have blogger privileges and all I have to do is load a custom style sheet into your media folder. The result will turn the green into white and the orange into black. I know that al and mrclean have media folders. There is a media folder for “mdw1322”. Is that yours mwall? Or is that yours from a previous login? I don’t see one for tvox.

Soooo. Let me know who wants the change and if you have a media folder already I can do it right away. If you don’t, we can set you up with one.

Consider this post a sign-up thread and the place to comment on if its working or not.

Thank you for your attention.

Interview: Tom Kitts, Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else

Posted by BigSteve

May 012008

I first met Tom Kitts at a meeting of the Popular Culture Association. Tom and the late, great Mike Kraus used to host sessions where people presented papers on The Kinks, and I attended five of these sessions over the years, presenting and also listening to papers by Tom, Mike, and a rotating group of Kinks scholars. It’s more fun than it sounds like, and it’s always great to be around other music fanatics.

Tom has now published his magnum opus, a critical biography, Ray Davies: Not Like Everybody Else (Routledge, 2008). Tom is a professor of English at St. John’s University in New York City, and he took time out of his busy schedule for an interview about the book and more generally Ray Davies and the Kinks. If interested, click on this Amazon link to get your copy of the book. I’m sure any Kinks fan will find it a great read.

In general how has the feedback on the book been?

While formal reviews are just now starting to appear, the feedback has been very positive. Kinks fans seem to appreciate the focus on Davies’ work — even if they don’t always agree with me. I have done a series of readings and discussions and I have to say that I have been very pleasantly surprised by the positive response I have heard not only at the readings but also in emails from readers across the country and in Europe.

Any reaction from anyone connected with Ray or the Kinks?

I did hear from Grenville Collins and Peter Quaife, who both liked it very much. Both liked the emphasis on the art, which both were a part of and which both are very proud of. I spoke to Ray briefly after his recent show in New York and he seems pleased by the publication. We joked about how long it took for me to get it out. He has a copy, but he said that he hadn’t had a chance to read it yet.

Artist I Truly Wish I Could Embrace: Billy Bragg

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 012008

Except for the fact that he initially lacked a drummer and bassist, the concept of Billy Bragg, when he first hit the scene, was right up my alley: Clash-inspired, heart-on-his-sleeve type with more than a dash of righteous Paul Weller; meat and potatoes chord changes and no-punches-pulled vocal style; distinctive album art; DIY game plan; seemed like a great bloke. To this day he retains all those qualities, plus he’s not against using a rhythm section now and then. I truly wish I could embrace the records of Billy Bragg, but all I’ve ever owned by him is the Joe Boyd-produced Workers Playtime, which is strong and includes the one Billy Bragg song I’ve always loved without reservations, “The Great Leap Forwards”. I check him out every few years, sampling songs I might download and hearing new stuff on the radio, but beside his songs on that first Woody Guthrie album he did with Wilco, I don’t come close to embracing his music. Maybe it’s because he’s a little too focused, too put together. Are there nooks and crannies in Billy Bragg’s music? He always seems to be shoving his Braggness in my face. His accent almost seems like a put-on. Is it for real or an affectation? And the solo electric guitar performances, although cool in concept, don’t cut it for me. An unaccompanied electric guitar usually sounds silly to my ears.

It’s too bad. Bragg seems like a guy who’d be cool to hang with. We would talk about Joe Strummer and other topics near and dear to our hearts. We’d drink a few cups of coffee and take in a sporting event. Someone would recognize him while we were standing in line for sausages, and I’d be impressed by how gracious he was with this stranger. Is there any hope for me and Billy Bragg?

Sucker Mix: Stylistic Descriptions You No Longer Trust

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Apr 302008

I don’t think I’m alone in having experienced this: a pattern of falling for a certain stylistic description in record reviews and recommendations from friends emerges, one that includes a mix two or more artists I already love. The description may be easily believable – or so unbelievable that you find yourself falling for it hook, line, and sinker:

“The band sounds like Revolver-era Beatles as played by Captain Beefheart!”

After buying 5, maybe even 10 records that fail to fit this ideal description, you finally come to the conclusion that you’ve fallen victim to a Sucker Mix. The recommendation from that favorite reviewer or trusted music friend is sincere, but once you’ve sniffed out a Sucker Mix, there’s no going back. Just the other day I recommended that an old friend check out a band that I described as a mix of “Talking Heads and Pink Floyd.” I truly thought I was doing him a favor. I immediately had visions of how I would spend my “turn-on points.” Instead he waved me off, saying, “No man, I’m not falling for that one again!” He’d been suckered one too many times by a description of what, for him, was once a dream pairing.

Have you ever fallen victim to a Sucker Mix? How many albums fitting this description did you buy before you finally realized it was an impossible dream?

Older Entries Newer Entries