I am not sure where I came across it but I have a vague quote in my head that true art can never come from contentment or a feeling of well being in the world. It comes from misery, depression and a sense of dislocation to the surroundings.
I wrote about this in my post about Weddings and I have been thinking about it more and more subsequently. The artists I like do not write about the happy things in life so much. There are exceptions of course. I do think that however, when your favourite song about happiness is actually about adultery then it points to walking on the shadier side of the street as it were.
One of the things that does seem to bring out the best in songwriters is the heartbreak. In fact I think that it is not too outrageous to say that some of the actual best songs written are about heartbreak. There is something about the particular emotion that seems to bring out the introspection that makes songs so brilliant.
Here is I Don't Wanna Know by Husker Du
I am not sure if there has been a better example of the angry ' just get out of my life' song? I have had many discussions about music over the years as you can well imagine. Many of them in the last few years have been about the Emo movement. If you are of my vintage it seems a little wrong to be into Emo, but it does seem to me that every Emo band is taking something from Husker Du. Much more than Fugazi, who in all honesty I do not think are as good. Husker Du, Bob Mould in particular, writes about such a range of emotions from songs like the above to songs about contemplating suicide that everything else seems a little contrived. For example, this is not a bad song, but it is more of a brick to the face that an arrow through the heart:
However, perhaps I am missing the point a bit. The Husker Du song is more about a man scorned, the Chemical Romance song is from the other side - the person doing the scorning. Do you think I have that right?
A song, even though is not my actual favourite, that has always been up amongst my favourite songs, is Everlong, by Foo Fighters.
I have put this version in because it is about the lyrics of the song, not the film clip, which while it is good, simply detracts from the song. The song was apparently written the night after Dave Grohl broke up with his partner. I think it is a brilliant song, obviously. The reason why I think it is such a good song is because it gets the message of not being sure of yourself across very well. That feeling of , oh god what exactly am I losing here. I do not know of a song that does it better actually.
Sometimes though someone is able to get across the emotion that comes just before the breakup.
That is literally the only version of that song on You Tube. I have no idea about the video. I don't think it is connected in any way. The song is from the magnificent Tahiti 80 album Extra Pieces of Sunshine. I have no idea why that song is so hard to find. It is a great song. I love the way that it is about having that conversation with the other person, about how you do not really want to leave and that if things could only be different by going down a different path, then maybe it might work.
Then there is this:
The idea 'I want you, but I am not able to deal with you' reaction to the situation. There have probably been better song writers than Neil Young, I look forward to hearing them someday. It took me four years to actually find a copy of After the Goldrush, from when I first heard the album to when I got it. In the end I managed to buy a copy from a University coffee shop just off Shibuya crossing. Now, it is in almost every HMV that I go into. Strange how that happens. Sorry , I digress massively. That song is not from After the Goldrush but came a long time after on American Stars 'N Bars from 1977. It is a great song.
So five songs that come at the same situation in completely different ways. All managing to get across the subtle differences to their situation if not perfectly, then well enough for them to be interpreted in that way.
There are so many more songs that I could add. I have tried a bit to avoid the usual suspects. Who do you think managed to get the feelings of the situation across as well as these? or Better?
I will leave with a simple phrase that I have always used, Nothing grows without rain. Just hope it doesn't rain every day.
Monday 25 April 2011
Friday 22 April 2011
Travelling music
I spend a lot of time travelling. Commute to and from work. I travel for work and most of my holidays involve getting onto a plane as well. Much of this is done alone. Which is OK because it gives me some time to listen to music. I see people without headphones on and wonder how they could possibly be able to bear a 5 hour plane flight without having some good music to listen to. I doubt anyone taking the time to read this would be such a person, but if you are I would like to hear about why you don't or can't listen to music. I said before in my post about headphones , that without music I would probably have hurt myself or someone else by now.
I have found with age that my taste in travelling music has mellowed somewhat. I have left the harder edges of prog and metal and moved into what can only scarily be described as classic rock and electronica. I wonder is this a common trend or is more mellow music actually better to travel to?
I spent a lot of time in the late 90s listening to Aenima by Tool. A great album of ever there was one. A great song is Third Eye. I actually think the version on Salival , the live album is better.
I love that version because of the intro. I love the confrontation of what the narrator is saying. I want to take it and play it to everyone on the plane and make sure they understand it. Then watch as they all freak out a bit about what they are actually doing. . .
However, if you were to actually do that I imagine a number of people would get the authorities to come and take you away. Especially if you were trying to confront people on a plane!
The point however is that because the travelling experience is so often a solitary one it is also a time of contemplation. As such you if you are able to get a great contemplative song to listen to you can whittle away hours lost in thought. Which is sort of the point
For example
A 9 minute song of drawn out notes and longing lyrics. It is of course going to make you slip in to thought mode. I have been listening to that song since the early 90s , when I started long haul travelling. I listened to it last week on my return from Asia on the flight. It is just a very good song. Like much of the Cure though, it is not a particularly uplifting song. Not that music needs to be by any means. I said before here, that much of the great music that has enhanced our lives is not about celebrating the joys of life, but much more exploring the darker sides to our emotions. When you are by yourself in an unfamiliar place it is interesting to have music such as this. If nothing else it enables you to take stock and decide on changes. The issue is always when you return home that you never make the changes!
A song I think conveys travelling very well is this one
I like the breezy attitude of it all. To me it manages to get across that feeling of being happy to be moving. I guess there is also a bit of teenage fun thrown into it, which as I get older appeals as well. The Smashing Pumpkins appear to occupy a strange place in the music lexicon. They were very popular and won awards and the like. Not that means very much, but they were recognised as being a very good band. They do seem to however occupy a weird place where the music hipsters (geeks) no longer will claim to like them. The rest of the world seems to put them into the complaint rock category. So they are perhaps no longer getting the recognition they deserve. Is that fair? or have I misread the situation?
I also like listening to early 2000s trance when I am travelling. I know this is not cool to all those Classic Rock readers, however because the music has the bass with the higher notes over the top it is great to travel to. Especially because most of the compilation albums you can get are mixed and as such you get 70 odd minutes of changing but continuous music. Great to gaze out of the window to. I especially like listening to trance when I am travelling by train. (I do this a surprising amount). I think it has something to do with being able to stare out of the window and take in the scenery and so having lyric heavy music somehow detracts from the experience. Paul Oakenfold is great for this.
That is a great video.
So, as I said, I spend a lot of time travelling. So what I want from you is what you like to listen to. On the commute or longer travels please. I need to put together playlists to make this tolerable and any and all suggestions are welcome.
I have found with age that my taste in travelling music has mellowed somewhat. I have left the harder edges of prog and metal and moved into what can only scarily be described as classic rock and electronica. I wonder is this a common trend or is more mellow music actually better to travel to?
I spent a lot of time in the late 90s listening to Aenima by Tool. A great album of ever there was one. A great song is Third Eye. I actually think the version on Salival , the live album is better.
I love that version because of the intro. I love the confrontation of what the narrator is saying. I want to take it and play it to everyone on the plane and make sure they understand it. Then watch as they all freak out a bit about what they are actually doing. . .
However, if you were to actually do that I imagine a number of people would get the authorities to come and take you away. Especially if you were trying to confront people on a plane!
The point however is that because the travelling experience is so often a solitary one it is also a time of contemplation. As such you if you are able to get a great contemplative song to listen to you can whittle away hours lost in thought. Which is sort of the point
For example
A 9 minute song of drawn out notes and longing lyrics. It is of course going to make you slip in to thought mode. I have been listening to that song since the early 90s , when I started long haul travelling. I listened to it last week on my return from Asia on the flight. It is just a very good song. Like much of the Cure though, it is not a particularly uplifting song. Not that music needs to be by any means. I said before here, that much of the great music that has enhanced our lives is not about celebrating the joys of life, but much more exploring the darker sides to our emotions. When you are by yourself in an unfamiliar place it is interesting to have music such as this. If nothing else it enables you to take stock and decide on changes. The issue is always when you return home that you never make the changes!
A song I think conveys travelling very well is this one
I like the breezy attitude of it all. To me it manages to get across that feeling of being happy to be moving. I guess there is also a bit of teenage fun thrown into it, which as I get older appeals as well. The Smashing Pumpkins appear to occupy a strange place in the music lexicon. They were very popular and won awards and the like. Not that means very much, but they were recognised as being a very good band. They do seem to however occupy a weird place where the music hipsters (geeks) no longer will claim to like them. The rest of the world seems to put them into the complaint rock category. So they are perhaps no longer getting the recognition they deserve. Is that fair? or have I misread the situation?
I also like listening to early 2000s trance when I am travelling. I know this is not cool to all those Classic Rock readers, however because the music has the bass with the higher notes over the top it is great to travel to. Especially because most of the compilation albums you can get are mixed and as such you get 70 odd minutes of changing but continuous music. Great to gaze out of the window to. I especially like listening to trance when I am travelling by train. (I do this a surprising amount). I think it has something to do with being able to stare out of the window and take in the scenery and so having lyric heavy music somehow detracts from the experience. Paul Oakenfold is great for this.
That is a great video.
So, as I said, I spend a lot of time travelling. So what I want from you is what you like to listen to. On the commute or longer travels please. I need to put together playlists to make this tolerable and any and all suggestions are welcome.
Friday 15 April 2011
On us all a little rain must fall
As I said in my last post, I am in the tropics. Today it is raining. In the tropics, unlike the UK, it rains with gusto. It really rains. there is much thunder and a lot of water is falling from the sky. Torrents are running down pavements that were baking hot mere minutes ago.
I love this kind of weather. I really do. It is very contemplative and atmospheric. I love reading or just listening to music and staring out of the window when it is like this.I will not pretend that I have any great or deep thoughts, just stare into space. It is very tranquil despite the violence of nature around me.
I think that music can go into two directions when it is like this outside. Either to the guitar based prog and classic rock, or into the deep electronic ambient areas.
Really, listen to this and tell me you don't already feel the weather . . the intro helps massively I know.
I was massively into the Doors when I was in my late teens. I really bought into the whole American shamen idea of Jim Morrision. The idea of going out as far as you could into various areas of exploration really apppealed to me. I liked the music a lot as well. LA Woman as an album I think is still a great one. I grew up a bit though and realise now that while the music still holds up very well, the myth around Morrision was just that and it is actually a bit sad.
Anyway, I will get into why you should never trust a hippie some other day. All for love and peace, but you can't use it as an excuse to drop out of life!
Another great song to listen to is Window Pane by Opeth. I have written many times that I think Damnation by Opeth is such a brilliant album. Honestly, you have to listen to it.
I love this kind of weather. I really do. It is very contemplative and atmospheric. I love reading or just listening to music and staring out of the window when it is like this.I will not pretend that I have any great or deep thoughts, just stare into space. It is very tranquil despite the violence of nature around me.
I think that music can go into two directions when it is like this outside. Either to the guitar based prog and classic rock, or into the deep electronic ambient areas.
Really, listen to this and tell me you don't already feel the weather . . the intro helps massively I know.
I was massively into the Doors when I was in my late teens. I really bought into the whole American shamen idea of Jim Morrision. The idea of going out as far as you could into various areas of exploration really apppealed to me. I liked the music a lot as well. LA Woman as an album I think is still a great one. I grew up a bit though and realise now that while the music still holds up very well, the myth around Morrision was just that and it is actually a bit sad.
Anyway, I will get into why you should never trust a hippie some other day. All for love and peace, but you can't use it as an excuse to drop out of life!
Another great song to listen to is Window Pane by Opeth. I have written many times that I think Damnation by Opeth is such a brilliant album. Honestly, you have to listen to it.
I have nothing else to say on that matter to be honest. Listen to the song and you can see why it is such a great contemplative piece of music.
I also like to listen to a bit of classic rock when it comes too the rain. I particularly like listening to Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd (or which ever spelling you like)
A long rambling song if ever there was one. I like the whole being free idea and that you can't trap me. Massively fanciful of course. But it does appeal to the great manly ideal of breaking free and living a life on the run under your own terms. Which I have always found a very strange one. If you do not like your life, then change it. Don't just think about it, do it. I hate people that say they want to do something and then spend their lives taking about it. Do it, or shut up I say. I don't want to hear about what could have been frankly. It does have a great guitar solo if ever there was one though.
I also like to go into the ambient world. I have always like to think of ambient music as being a bit like Modern art. I did a post about this, which only about 5 people read, but that is fine. My favourite of all of the electronic sound scapers has always been Aphex Twin. Selected Ambient works volume 2 is just simply brilliant. I like this song very very much
I know that I have missed out a lot of great music that is appropriate to this. No Cure, Radiohead, Brian Eno, Led Zeppelin.
What do you suggest to listen to on a rainy day?
Thursday 14 April 2011
We are only protecting you
I am currently back in South East Asia. A place I have spent a bit of my life in. I lived in Singapore for 15 months or so, many years ag now About 11 to be exact. Shows you how old I am really doesn't it. It is a part of the world that I really like in many ways, and what is not to like? Weather is always nice and warm to hot, people are friendly, food is good. Food is very good.
However, and there is a very big however on this one. There is a pretty high level of censorship when it comes to the arts in this and other regions. Some of this is because of the Muslim nature of the people and the culture reflects that. Another reason is that the governement is trying to control the information. There has long been a sense that popular music and youth culture can be combined in order to start revolution. I feel passionately about music, but I am not sure it would incite me to take a bullet for the ideals of the song. Sure if my ideals were already in place and then there was a song that could be used as a ralling point, then I get how this could happen. After all the people of the uk united against the record industry a little bit to make this the christmas number 1
Whilst this is a very angry song about a very worthwhile sentiment, the statement of making it a christmas number 1 is a small one in comparison to the events unfolding in libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Ivory Coast. etc. This is not a political blog and I am not going to get into the incredibly complex nature of regime change and the reasons for it. I will say that I believe in the power of the people as long as the corruption is eradicated. We need strong idealistic leaders taking us to a better place. Not trying to win votes.
Trying to censor music has long been the favourite past time of governments around the world. This is not restricted to one party states of left or right extremes either. As I said many times before I grew up during the age of hair metal, the begginings of rap and the explosion of information around the world. Metal and rap during the 80s received the atttentions of the hated PMRC. The Parents Musical Resource Centre, which was formed in 1985 in order to control the music that was made available to children. It was a long battle led by Tipper Gore, Al Gores wife (ex now i think) who led senate inquiries into the music that the kids of then were listening to. The vanguard of the metal scene at least was led by Dee Schnider of Twisted Sister
here is some Twisted Sister for some fun
I like TS. They are no nonsense loud guitars, anthenmic tunes and it is alll about the show. Seriously though, did that song make you worried for the childrens future? This is the thing that got me about this censorship movement. What exactly was different from Alice Cooper? The Doors? Led Zeppelin? The story wasn't new, it so rarely is. I guess the music was different, in so far as now it was pretty heavy in compaison the the late 70s. It was also taking about sex in a very open way. But really, I stilll fail to see the danger. The upshot of hearings and court cases and the like was that all music deemed to be inappropriate had to carry a PMRC sticker, saying Parental Advisory. Dumb Asses. I mean really. This was like a beacon to me and my ilk to go and get those albums. Literally I was a little upset if I liked some music and it didn't have that sticker on it.
This is what they hated
As I said, I lived in Singapore. It was hard there. It was a combination of nothing being played on the radio and no one being alllowed to tour. No one came to Singapore too play whilst I was there. This is not entirely the governments issue. To be honest , if some of the bigger acts had come through, let's say Korn, or Tool, I doubt many if any of the people living there would have goone. There just didn't seem too be much of an interest in anything that wasn't happy and straight forward. This has too be something to do with the weather. Honestly, I tried listening to The Cure and Radiohead and it was incredibly hard to feel it. It is hard to feel grey when it is either nice and sunny and hot, or a violent rain storm outside. That said, the people do not know what they are missing if they do not know it is there.
This has been the very interesting thing about the last few years and the violent struggles that are going on around the world. People are very much starting to know what is going on in other places. The wonders that have brought us the magnificent Digital age that have alllowed us to go back in time and discover brilliant music, have also allowed ourr brothers and sisters around the world to have access to the same things we do. I see from the stats of this blog that I have a reasoonable readership in Iran. That is about the coolest thing I can think of. The fact that people there are reading this and hopefully getting some access to the music I like to talk about is brilliant. Sorry that I am not a better writer about it.
Maybe one day there will be a band that comes out of the oppression and conquers the world, Like the mighty Sepultura
I doubt it is going to come from Singapore though.
However, and there is a very big however on this one. There is a pretty high level of censorship when it comes to the arts in this and other regions. Some of this is because of the Muslim nature of the people and the culture reflects that. Another reason is that the governement is trying to control the information. There has long been a sense that popular music and youth culture can be combined in order to start revolution. I feel passionately about music, but I am not sure it would incite me to take a bullet for the ideals of the song. Sure if my ideals were already in place and then there was a song that could be used as a ralling point, then I get how this could happen. After all the people of the uk united against the record industry a little bit to make this the christmas number 1
Whilst this is a very angry song about a very worthwhile sentiment, the statement of making it a christmas number 1 is a small one in comparison to the events unfolding in libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Ivory Coast. etc. This is not a political blog and I am not going to get into the incredibly complex nature of regime change and the reasons for it. I will say that I believe in the power of the people as long as the corruption is eradicated. We need strong idealistic leaders taking us to a better place. Not trying to win votes.
Trying to censor music has long been the favourite past time of governments around the world. This is not restricted to one party states of left or right extremes either. As I said many times before I grew up during the age of hair metal, the begginings of rap and the explosion of information around the world. Metal and rap during the 80s received the atttentions of the hated PMRC. The Parents Musical Resource Centre, which was formed in 1985 in order to control the music that was made available to children. It was a long battle led by Tipper Gore, Al Gores wife (ex now i think) who led senate inquiries into the music that the kids of then were listening to. The vanguard of the metal scene at least was led by Dee Schnider of Twisted Sister
here is some Twisted Sister for some fun
I like TS. They are no nonsense loud guitars, anthenmic tunes and it is alll about the show. Seriously though, did that song make you worried for the childrens future? This is the thing that got me about this censorship movement. What exactly was different from Alice Cooper? The Doors? Led Zeppelin? The story wasn't new, it so rarely is. I guess the music was different, in so far as now it was pretty heavy in compaison the the late 70s. It was also taking about sex in a very open way. But really, I stilll fail to see the danger. The upshot of hearings and court cases and the like was that all music deemed to be inappropriate had to carry a PMRC sticker, saying Parental Advisory. Dumb Asses. I mean really. This was like a beacon to me and my ilk to go and get those albums. Literally I was a little upset if I liked some music and it didn't have that sticker on it.
This is what they hated
As I said, I lived in Singapore. It was hard there. It was a combination of nothing being played on the radio and no one being alllowed to tour. No one came to Singapore too play whilst I was there. This is not entirely the governments issue. To be honest , if some of the bigger acts had come through, let's say Korn, or Tool, I doubt many if any of the people living there would have goone. There just didn't seem too be much of an interest in anything that wasn't happy and straight forward. This has too be something to do with the weather. Honestly, I tried listening to The Cure and Radiohead and it was incredibly hard to feel it. It is hard to feel grey when it is either nice and sunny and hot, or a violent rain storm outside. That said, the people do not know what they are missing if they do not know it is there.
This has been the very interesting thing about the last few years and the violent struggles that are going on around the world. People are very much starting to know what is going on in other places. The wonders that have brought us the magnificent Digital age that have alllowed us to go back in time and discover brilliant music, have also allowed ourr brothers and sisters around the world to have access to the same things we do. I see from the stats of this blog that I have a reasoonable readership in Iran. That is about the coolest thing I can think of. The fact that people there are reading this and hopefully getting some access to the music I like to talk about is brilliant. Sorry that I am not a better writer about it.
Maybe one day there will be a band that comes out of the oppression and conquers the world, Like the mighty Sepultura
I doubt it is going to come from Singapore though.
Saturday 9 April 2011
Friday 8 April 2011
Weddings
I don't know about you , but I have been to a lot of weddings, a lot of weddings. Many have been good, some have been dull, there was a fight at one. I like weddings in so much as they are a party. Parties are good, parties are fun, parties have music. This has always left me in a bit of a fluster. As you know I am pretty keen on music. As you also know, most people like music, but aren't perhaps as much of a hipster (geek) about it as I, and I dare say you!
I tend to spend a lot of time at the wedding listening to reasonable music that everyone likes. That is fine, it is not my big day and I perfectly understand that it is much more important that 95% of people have fun and enjoy the music and the party than it is that I enjoy the music selection. There have been some exceptions, a great friend played California girls by the Beach Boys as she walked out of the church. cool. I will put in a quick rant here. I am fairly anti religion. Of all sorts but I do quite like choir music. If you ignore the whole exulting the lord rubbish, the voice as a multi faceted instrument used in unison is pretty impressive.
I have often wondered about the first song. You know, the one they are supposed to dance to as their first song as a married couple. I have thought that this would be a good song.
Maybe the beginning , with the whole thing about having a girl and then not having a girl is not so appropriate. but I think it is a very cool song. I like the way the song is about change and then has that great piano coming in. That said it is perhaps not the most uplifting song to start a party with. Should it be though? Should you start a wedding with a very happy upbeat song? Well you certainly shouldn't start it with this
My point rather is that it is a momentous occasion in the life of the happy couple. They have decide to make a public commitment in front of friends and family. I do not think that it should be a frivolous song as far as it it goes. I am sorry but a lot of people get this wrong. I know that it supposed to be a song that represents something special to the couple. It is often thought to be the first song they fell in love to or some such romantic nonsense. I wrote before about The Beach Boys and Wouldn't it be Nice. As I also said, that is a song about adultery and not actually about the innocence of love. I think that people need to keep that in mind and do some research about the song they are going to play. It can mean something different than it actually appears to.
As with so much of our modern lives, we take so much of our queue from the world of entertainment. This song was at the beginning of Shrek 2. It was used to show that the main characters were falling in love and happy.
It is a good song, it gets across the idea of the happiness but also the confusion of the whole thing. There is an exuberance to it that I find appealing. I think it is interesting that a person who has written some incredibly dark songs about isolation and the loneliness of modern life was also able to write a song that shows all of the above qualities. Perhaps it takes someone who has experienced all of the downsides to appreciate the upside properly.
I will say though that many of the bands whom I like listening to the most have not tackled this subject. It doesn't fit in with the things they like to write about, but it is interesting. There are very few songs about falling in love by the prog world. Metal never touches on it. The electronic world certainly has the exuberance but doesn't ever fall into sentimentality of the kind that we are talking about here. Actually , the more I think about it, the more I am starting to struggle to find a musical world outside of pop that explores the subject. This is odd no? So much of music is about expressing emotions and getting across a message of some sort, that it seems odd that love songs are almost the exclusive property of pop. Think about it, you can name hundreds of songs about angst, about being alone, about people not understanding. But think of some really good songs about falling in love. Harder than you thought right?
I am not talking about Celine Dion, or Whitney Houston love songs. I am talking about songs that actually get away from the shmaltz and purvey something that you would like to play at a celebration of your relationship.
Maybe you should play this.
What do you think? What should my friends be playing this afternoon?
I tend to spend a lot of time at the wedding listening to reasonable music that everyone likes. That is fine, it is not my big day and I perfectly understand that it is much more important that 95% of people have fun and enjoy the music and the party than it is that I enjoy the music selection. There have been some exceptions, a great friend played California girls by the Beach Boys as she walked out of the church. cool. I will put in a quick rant here. I am fairly anti religion. Of all sorts but I do quite like choir music. If you ignore the whole exulting the lord rubbish, the voice as a multi faceted instrument used in unison is pretty impressive.
I have often wondered about the first song. You know, the one they are supposed to dance to as their first song as a married couple. I have thought that this would be a good song.
Maybe the beginning , with the whole thing about having a girl and then not having a girl is not so appropriate. but I think it is a very cool song. I like the way the song is about change and then has that great piano coming in. That said it is perhaps not the most uplifting song to start a party with. Should it be though? Should you start a wedding with a very happy upbeat song? Well you certainly shouldn't start it with this
My point rather is that it is a momentous occasion in the life of the happy couple. They have decide to make a public commitment in front of friends and family. I do not think that it should be a frivolous song as far as it it goes. I am sorry but a lot of people get this wrong. I know that it supposed to be a song that represents something special to the couple. It is often thought to be the first song they fell in love to or some such romantic nonsense. I wrote before about The Beach Boys and Wouldn't it be Nice. As I also said, that is a song about adultery and not actually about the innocence of love. I think that people need to keep that in mind and do some research about the song they are going to play. It can mean something different than it actually appears to.
As with so much of our modern lives, we take so much of our queue from the world of entertainment. This song was at the beginning of Shrek 2. It was used to show that the main characters were falling in love and happy.
It is a good song, it gets across the idea of the happiness but also the confusion of the whole thing. There is an exuberance to it that I find appealing. I think it is interesting that a person who has written some incredibly dark songs about isolation and the loneliness of modern life was also able to write a song that shows all of the above qualities. Perhaps it takes someone who has experienced all of the downsides to appreciate the upside properly.
I will say though that many of the bands whom I like listening to the most have not tackled this subject. It doesn't fit in with the things they like to write about, but it is interesting. There are very few songs about falling in love by the prog world. Metal never touches on it. The electronic world certainly has the exuberance but doesn't ever fall into sentimentality of the kind that we are talking about here. Actually , the more I think about it, the more I am starting to struggle to find a musical world outside of pop that explores the subject. This is odd no? So much of music is about expressing emotions and getting across a message of some sort, that it seems odd that love songs are almost the exclusive property of pop. Think about it, you can name hundreds of songs about angst, about being alone, about people not understanding. But think of some really good songs about falling in love. Harder than you thought right?
I am not talking about Celine Dion, or Whitney Houston love songs. I am talking about songs that actually get away from the shmaltz and purvey something that you would like to play at a celebration of your relationship.
Maybe you should play this.
What do you think? What should my friends be playing this afternoon?
Tuesday 5 April 2011
Nu Metal
I wrote before that I thought the much of what was played on the radio in the late 90s was pretty terrible. While this was true in the most part. There was an exception, out of the ashes of Grunge came the angst and anger of Nu Metal.
I hate the term Nu Metal, it is such a poor way to describe a loose collection of bands. Honestly, what is the 'Nu' supposed to mean? i think it is frankly derogatory. It uses the texting spelling to show what exactly? Some sort of illiterate idea that this is more updated than something that came before. The more I think about it, the more I hate all pigeon holing terms to describe music scenes. I think this term in particular caused more issues for the bands that it helped in describing them.
There was a strong feeling among many of the metal purists that Nu metal was not up to much. The other term that was sometimes used was Rap metal. Although this was generally used to describe a slightly different genre than Nu Metal.
The metal purists were very dismissive of Nu Metal, the idea that anything these new kids did was anything like as good as Pantera, Slayer, Metallica was frankly laughable. However, far from coming through and destroying the scene an unusual thing happened. The new bands invigorated the scene as a whole and gave us the thriving scene we have today.
When most people think of the beginning of the scene they think of Korn. With very good reason. they were and are still one of the best bands of the genre, they have a lot of great songs, and a lot of great videos, here is make me bad
That is a great video. More than a bit creepy though
The haters of the scene had the guns aimed at one band in particular. Limp Bizkit. I will admit that I was on their side to start with. However , I came around fairly quickly. I see nothing wrong at all with a band that has buzz saw guitars and a lot of attitude. They are not as technically proficient as many, but far better at writing songs than most. Their music to me is about burning off some energy or having a bit of a laugh. There is little that beats the adolescent anger of this
I think that was the issue with Limp Bizkit. A lot of people saw them as a bit childish. Frankly, claiming to be mature because you are into different music is really failing to see the point of a song like that. It did unfortunately enforce some of the stereotypes about metal. Now obviously ruminators are not like that are we? We see through the snobbish rubbish and recognise that there isn't anything better or worse about Limp Bizkit or Opeth, they're just different.
A person that also didn't help this was Kid Rock. I do not know about Kid Rock. I like the attitude a lot. He comes across as some of my wilder friends do. A little bit dangerous to know, but on the good days, brilliant fun.
There are an awful lot of stereotypes in that video. But it is fun. You can imagine though that it doesn't really help the credibility of metal.
One thing you may have noticed if you have watched the videos posted is that there is a lot of swearing in the songs. This is a lot different from classic metal. Even the heaviest of Slayer, Metallica etc contains very little swearing. It is perhaps an interesting historical statement for the linguists out there. This came through the rap scene's where it was much more accepted. The guys making this music in the late 90s had all grown up with that music and you can see the influences. Not just in the swearing, but in the delivery style of the vocals and the way the beat of 4/4 is used in a different way. We are now quite a long way away from the Blues.
Same sentiment as the blues though. The message never really changes. Things suck, I have a bad woman, I love women, I am the hardest, meanest, coolest. I want to have some fun. Actually it is the same since the beginning isn't it? I guess metal just adds in the I hate something, but most of that you could trace back to Opera anyway.
So where did the credibility come in and how did it revive the metal scene? Well it managed to do the revival act by the fact that massive music concerts became more and more the norm. Bands like Slipknot, marilyn manson, System of a Down, played alongside, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Iron Maiden at festivals such as Oz Fest, lollapalooza, Donnington monsters of Rock etc. Introducing two sets of fans to new music. Once people got over their prejudices they appreciated the newer or older music. Suddenly the older bands had huge audiences to play to again. Although my favourite quote about Metallica goes along the lines of. If they can plug in they can sell out the stadium. Anywhere. That makes them the biggest band in the world.
Credibility came through the cream of the new metal scene. There is so much. But my personal favourite is Slipknot. Slipknot moved the game for many of these bands. Here was early 21st century angst at a world that didn't understand. My favourite song is Wait and Bleed. Angry and brilliant
That said though System of a Down and Chop Suey is also brilliant
The new stuff is just as good as the old stuff it seems.
I hate the term Nu Metal, it is such a poor way to describe a loose collection of bands. Honestly, what is the 'Nu' supposed to mean? i think it is frankly derogatory. It uses the texting spelling to show what exactly? Some sort of illiterate idea that this is more updated than something that came before. The more I think about it, the more I hate all pigeon holing terms to describe music scenes. I think this term in particular caused more issues for the bands that it helped in describing them.
There was a strong feeling among many of the metal purists that Nu metal was not up to much. The other term that was sometimes used was Rap metal. Although this was generally used to describe a slightly different genre than Nu Metal.
The metal purists were very dismissive of Nu Metal, the idea that anything these new kids did was anything like as good as Pantera, Slayer, Metallica was frankly laughable. However, far from coming through and destroying the scene an unusual thing happened. The new bands invigorated the scene as a whole and gave us the thriving scene we have today.
When most people think of the beginning of the scene they think of Korn. With very good reason. they were and are still one of the best bands of the genre, they have a lot of great songs, and a lot of great videos, here is make me bad
That is a great video. More than a bit creepy though
The haters of the scene had the guns aimed at one band in particular. Limp Bizkit. I will admit that I was on their side to start with. However , I came around fairly quickly. I see nothing wrong at all with a band that has buzz saw guitars and a lot of attitude. They are not as technically proficient as many, but far better at writing songs than most. Their music to me is about burning off some energy or having a bit of a laugh. There is little that beats the adolescent anger of this
I think that was the issue with Limp Bizkit. A lot of people saw them as a bit childish. Frankly, claiming to be mature because you are into different music is really failing to see the point of a song like that. It did unfortunately enforce some of the stereotypes about metal. Now obviously ruminators are not like that are we? We see through the snobbish rubbish and recognise that there isn't anything better or worse about Limp Bizkit or Opeth, they're just different.
A person that also didn't help this was Kid Rock. I do not know about Kid Rock. I like the attitude a lot. He comes across as some of my wilder friends do. A little bit dangerous to know, but on the good days, brilliant fun.
There are an awful lot of stereotypes in that video. But it is fun. You can imagine though that it doesn't really help the credibility of metal.
One thing you may have noticed if you have watched the videos posted is that there is a lot of swearing in the songs. This is a lot different from classic metal. Even the heaviest of Slayer, Metallica etc contains very little swearing. It is perhaps an interesting historical statement for the linguists out there. This came through the rap scene's where it was much more accepted. The guys making this music in the late 90s had all grown up with that music and you can see the influences. Not just in the swearing, but in the delivery style of the vocals and the way the beat of 4/4 is used in a different way. We are now quite a long way away from the Blues.
Same sentiment as the blues though. The message never really changes. Things suck, I have a bad woman, I love women, I am the hardest, meanest, coolest. I want to have some fun. Actually it is the same since the beginning isn't it? I guess metal just adds in the I hate something, but most of that you could trace back to Opera anyway.
So where did the credibility come in and how did it revive the metal scene? Well it managed to do the revival act by the fact that massive music concerts became more and more the norm. Bands like Slipknot, marilyn manson, System of a Down, played alongside, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Iron Maiden at festivals such as Oz Fest, lollapalooza, Donnington monsters of Rock etc. Introducing two sets of fans to new music. Once people got over their prejudices they appreciated the newer or older music. Suddenly the older bands had huge audiences to play to again. Although my favourite quote about Metallica goes along the lines of. If they can plug in they can sell out the stadium. Anywhere. That makes them the biggest band in the world.
Credibility came through the cream of the new metal scene. There is so much. But my personal favourite is Slipknot. Slipknot moved the game for many of these bands. Here was early 21st century angst at a world that didn't understand. My favourite song is Wait and Bleed. Angry and brilliant
That said though System of a Down and Chop Suey is also brilliant
The new stuff is just as good as the old stuff it seems.
Saturday 2 April 2011
Not Western Music
One of the things you will notice about most of the posts is that I refer almost entirely to western music. I am western, I was brought up in Australia and have lived in a few places, visited a few more, and I have noticed that much of the music around the world is western music. The appeal of Metallica, Iron Maiden, and most unfortunately U2 is that they represent the West.
Many countries have some sort of quota of not western music that they have to play each hour on the radio. I have always found this a great thing. There is nothing like hearing something local when you go to a place. you always notice that it fits in far better with your surroundings than listening to the latest hit from Green Day.
There are a few bands who have made it out of the not west, I use this term because I do not want to say East, or Latin, or African, Middle Eastern etc because everything not west is all of this brilliant music. Back to the point, some bands have made it in the West despite not coming from there and it has enriched our lives immensely.
There is of course the brilliant Bob Marley. My favourite song by his royal Bobness is 'Could you be loved'. He is however best known for Redemption song, here is a very cool acoustic version.
His music still stands up very well despite it being 30 odd years old now. There is a freshness to the music that doesn't age because it is so different from everything else. Well everything that is not reggae. He is seen a as great uniter in many ways. I have never been entirely sure about this. I have read many stories that he was effectively a gang leader, who also happened to be brilliant musically. None-the-less there must have been millions of white boys around the world who have been touched by his music in their teenage years and embraced some of the pot smoking ideals of Rastafarism. Not a bad thing in so far as it opens horizons, the music that is. Not the pot.
Another band from the Not West who has become very much a part of the culture, of metal heads at least, is the mighty Sepultura. I am a very big fan of Sepultura. For good reason, they properly rock. They are Brazilian and they bring some of the percussion based Brazilian beat to what is a very heavy band. My all time top favourite song by Sep is Troops of Doom.
I think you will agree that it is a very heavy song. I like it very much. In fact my little son, who I am very proud to say is developing a lot of 'taste' in music is also a massive fan of dancing around like a mad man to that tune. In fact that is how we spent the first few hours of Christmas in the snow 15 months ago.
Sep's story is a pretty interesting one in terms of why and how they came to be and I will not go into it here, but if you do like the metal then I recommend exploring them a bit. In fact if you like metal and you haven't then you aren't really into metal that much. Sep are still going, although without the main men Max and Igor Cavalera. Their music is still great though.
If we go across the other side of the world and look a little into the past, we find a three piece from Osaka Japan. I have spoken about Shonen Knife before. I was always a pretty big fan of Shonen Knife because there is a great energy to their music. Simple pop punk, making people want to get up and dance. Their music is quite often, properly awesomely Japanese weird, I mean look at this
What is going on in that video? I mean what the hell? The girl has laser shooting eyes and she uses them in a banana chips factory? what? A lot of Shonen Knife's music is like that. The song with the most hits on You Tube is ' I am a cat' . Right, ok, you're a cat. Please don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with it. Like I said, it is awesome. But different. Which is perhaps the whole point. Perhaps a little more mainstream, but in a very similar vain, you get the 5,6,7,8s.
That is just plain good fun. Even though they are actually singing they are blue. The music scene in Japan is extremely vibrant, and J-Pop in particular is a huge business. It all sounds kind of similar and I have spoken about it before also. Very little of it is in English and as such it does not cross over very well. Well, not to anywhere that doesn't speak Japanese, so cross over outside of Japan then.
Which is one of the reasons a lot of music doesn't cross over into the west. If it is not sung in a language that the market understands then they are obviously going to be less likely to buy it. It is one thing to like the music , but if the lyrics are not understandable then it is to be expected that it's reach will be limited.
That said, The Gypsy Kings seem to have gotten around this issue reasonably well. I guess because their music incorporates a lot of what would be described as folk or traditional music. This somehow would not sound correct if it was sung in English. My favourite song by them is actually a cover they do of Hotel California. I am not sure why I love this version so much, but it sounds like it should have originally been sung in Spanish.
I really like listening to the classical Spanish guitar. It is a fabulously rounded sound. One that always seems to inspire feelings of warmth and distant exotic places.
We should all try to listen to more not Western music. I see from the stats of the blog that a number of people from the not west are reading. Do you have anything you would recommend to me?
Many countries have some sort of quota of not western music that they have to play each hour on the radio. I have always found this a great thing. There is nothing like hearing something local when you go to a place. you always notice that it fits in far better with your surroundings than listening to the latest hit from Green Day.
There are a few bands who have made it out of the not west, I use this term because I do not want to say East, or Latin, or African, Middle Eastern etc because everything not west is all of this brilliant music. Back to the point, some bands have made it in the West despite not coming from there and it has enriched our lives immensely.
There is of course the brilliant Bob Marley. My favourite song by his royal Bobness is 'Could you be loved'. He is however best known for Redemption song, here is a very cool acoustic version.
His music still stands up very well despite it being 30 odd years old now. There is a freshness to the music that doesn't age because it is so different from everything else. Well everything that is not reggae. He is seen a as great uniter in many ways. I have never been entirely sure about this. I have read many stories that he was effectively a gang leader, who also happened to be brilliant musically. None-the-less there must have been millions of white boys around the world who have been touched by his music in their teenage years and embraced some of the pot smoking ideals of Rastafarism. Not a bad thing in so far as it opens horizons, the music that is. Not the pot.
Another band from the Not West who has become very much a part of the culture, of metal heads at least, is the mighty Sepultura. I am a very big fan of Sepultura. For good reason, they properly rock. They are Brazilian and they bring some of the percussion based Brazilian beat to what is a very heavy band. My all time top favourite song by Sep is Troops of Doom.
I think you will agree that it is a very heavy song. I like it very much. In fact my little son, who I am very proud to say is developing a lot of 'taste' in music is also a massive fan of dancing around like a mad man to that tune. In fact that is how we spent the first few hours of Christmas in the snow 15 months ago.
Sep's story is a pretty interesting one in terms of why and how they came to be and I will not go into it here, but if you do like the metal then I recommend exploring them a bit. In fact if you like metal and you haven't then you aren't really into metal that much. Sep are still going, although without the main men Max and Igor Cavalera. Their music is still great though.
If we go across the other side of the world and look a little into the past, we find a three piece from Osaka Japan. I have spoken about Shonen Knife before. I was always a pretty big fan of Shonen Knife because there is a great energy to their music. Simple pop punk, making people want to get up and dance. Their music is quite often, properly awesomely Japanese weird, I mean look at this
What is going on in that video? I mean what the hell? The girl has laser shooting eyes and she uses them in a banana chips factory? what? A lot of Shonen Knife's music is like that. The song with the most hits on You Tube is ' I am a cat' . Right, ok, you're a cat. Please don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with it. Like I said, it is awesome. But different. Which is perhaps the whole point. Perhaps a little more mainstream, but in a very similar vain, you get the 5,6,7,8s.
That is just plain good fun. Even though they are actually singing they are blue. The music scene in Japan is extremely vibrant, and J-Pop in particular is a huge business. It all sounds kind of similar and I have spoken about it before also. Very little of it is in English and as such it does not cross over very well. Well, not to anywhere that doesn't speak Japanese, so cross over outside of Japan then.
Which is one of the reasons a lot of music doesn't cross over into the west. If it is not sung in a language that the market understands then they are obviously going to be less likely to buy it. It is one thing to like the music , but if the lyrics are not understandable then it is to be expected that it's reach will be limited.
That said, The Gypsy Kings seem to have gotten around this issue reasonably well. I guess because their music incorporates a lot of what would be described as folk or traditional music. This somehow would not sound correct if it was sung in English. My favourite song by them is actually a cover they do of Hotel California. I am not sure why I love this version so much, but it sounds like it should have originally been sung in Spanish.
I really like listening to the classical Spanish guitar. It is a fabulously rounded sound. One that always seems to inspire feelings of warmth and distant exotic places.
We should all try to listen to more not Western music. I see from the stats of the blog that a number of people from the not west are reading. Do you have anything you would recommend to me?
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