Jeff said...
"but something super-special was discovered in classic rock, and
has largely been lost, ignored, or subdued. It can be found
from time to time in "jam" music, pop, or the blues, but not as often
as one might think. "
I wonder sometimes, though, if for us and those who are 10-20 years older than we are, classic rock is great at least partly because we heard it young--not because it's the greatest music ever.
The test of time will be interesting. What will be "classic" popular music to those who are babies now?
5:29 PM
David Weinberg said...
Jeff,
You make a good point. It is my understanding that the emergence of punk music and the aesthetic that came along with it in the mid and late 70s was in some sense a bitter reaction to classic rock, which dominated the airwaves for years. The classic case and point is that Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' is the most-played song of all time, and must've worn people out (particularly those not into rock music) back in the day. However, songs get overplayed on the airwaves today just the same, but most of those will not stand the test of time as well as Zeppelin tunes (not to mention Zeppelin put out great albums from start to finish; the I-Pod and downloading may be the final nail in the coffin for that convention).
Call me crazy, but I think the era of classic rock, led by such titans as the Beatles, Stones, Doors, Floyd, & Zeppelin, to name a few, marked a musical renaissance as great as any in human history (though, of course, the Blues are never given enough credit as a progenitor), and will be appreciated for many generations to come.. not just by our kids..
I feel somewhat for contemporary Indyrock.. the totalizing perversion and subversion of music by advertising today did not exist in the 70s or 80s.. much of Indyrock sounds as if it were composed to be immune or impervious to this subversion. Alas, what we're left with is something that-- I personally, at least-- don't find overly enjoyable to listen too. I cringe everytime I hear that commercial for Cadillac that uses Zeppelin's 'Rock and Roll' but I wouldn't vote to sacrifice my deep appreciation and enjoyment Zeppelin's oeuvre just because some worthless schmucks at an ad firm are getting paid 200K a year to think up this stuff, and record industry contracts grant virtually no artists (Eric Clapton and Tom Petty are notable exceptions) exclusive rights over commercial use of their music.
We may be turning a corner. Get satellite radio.. tune out commercials. Download and just listen to your I-pod incessantly (we have an army millions strong here in NYC who fall in to that camp). TiVo out your commercials, or better yet.. kill your television. Unplug from the corporate massage, enjoy good music unabated.
You can do it!
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Monday, November 21, 2005
Mike Anderson: What A Guy (and music ramblins')
Finally, finally, f-i-n-a-l-l-y my long fantasy football
slump/nightmare season came abruptly to an end yesterday,
and right as the playoff seedings are shaking out (yes, I
am a nerd. Repeat, I am a nerd). While P. Manning, Chris
Brown (who I acquired in a trade of Chad Johnson... yes,
I traded the gold toothed tiger... this might not work out
in the end), and the Broncos D put in admirable performances,
the biggest thanks goes to the blog-aforementioned Mike
Anderson, running back for the Denver Broncos. Along with
his 113 rushing yards, Anderson had a hat-trick of rushing
TDs. Making me look good for not drafting man-child Shaun
Alexander with the #2 pick. At the end of the day, LA
Clippers (that's me) 140 fantasy points, Hippie Haters (that's
my opponent) 44. Woo-hoo. Boo-ya. Hell yeah.
Last time... I'm a nerd.
And now for something completely different:
My top three fav active (cranking out LPs... touring) bands:
1) White Stripes
2) Medeski, Martin and Wood
3) Tea Leaf Green
Honorable Mentions/On The Bubble: Shins, Belle & Sebastian,
Blackalicious, Talib Kweli, Fiona Apple........ just kidding.
Man, can't say enough good things about Tea Leaf. Saw them
against last Sat. night for an Album Release Party/Concert at
Coda in Manhattan. Was talking with my buddy John Flanigan
at the show (who's recent interview of the band will appear on
an upcoming DVD... will link to product info when I have it)
about who the band sounds like. From that conversation and
my own musings, I'd say TLG is an agreeable, albeit bizarre,
intersection of the sounds of Phish, The Allman Brothers Band,
and James Taylor. They are talented musicians, play well
together, but most important... keyboardist/songwriter Trevor
Garrod can actually write superb, melodic, inspired songs.
Sure, there are other people out there... Ben Folds, Gavin Degraw,
friggen Fiona... but either they're too sapped out or angst ridden
or flyin-solo to re-capture the long lost beauty of rock ballads
from the 60s and 70s. YES, other forms of music (Country,
Hip Hop, Techno, Jazz, Pop) have their place and are important,
but something super-special was discovered in classic rock, and
has largely been lost, ignored, or subdued. It can be found
from time to time in "jam" music, pop, or the blues, but not as often
as one might think. So you go, Tervor Garrod. Keep them creative
juices floating. For a taste of what I'm talking about, pick up
the band's new album Taught to be Proud and listen to the first
two tracks multiple times at maximum volume. You'll get the idea.
Unlike previous albums, this one can actually be found in some
record stores. Living In Between is also good, but you'll need to
buy it online.
Later,
Dave
I haven't been this up on a band (uhh... we'll say "of up bands"...
Radiohead not much of an upper) since the boys from Vermont. Yee-haw.
Its been too long.
slump/nightmare season came abruptly to an end yesterday,
and right as the playoff seedings are shaking out (yes, I
am a nerd. Repeat, I am a nerd). While P. Manning, Chris
Brown (who I acquired in a trade of Chad Johnson... yes,
I traded the gold toothed tiger... this might not work out
in the end), and the Broncos D put in admirable performances,
the biggest thanks goes to the blog-aforementioned Mike
Anderson, running back for the Denver Broncos. Along with
his 113 rushing yards, Anderson had a hat-trick of rushing
TDs. Making me look good for not drafting man-child Shaun
Alexander with the #2 pick. At the end of the day, LA
Clippers (that's me) 140 fantasy points, Hippie Haters (that's
my opponent) 44. Woo-hoo. Boo-ya. Hell yeah.
Last time... I'm a nerd.
And now for something completely different:
My top three fav active (cranking out LPs... touring) bands:
1) White Stripes
2) Medeski, Martin and Wood
3) Tea Leaf Green
Honorable Mentions/On The Bubble: Shins, Belle & Sebastian,
Blackalicious, Talib Kweli, Fiona Apple........ just kidding.
Man, can't say enough good things about Tea Leaf. Saw them
against last Sat. night for an Album Release Party/Concert at
Coda in Manhattan. Was talking with my buddy John Flanigan
at the show (who's recent interview of the band will appear on
an upcoming DVD... will link to product info when I have it)
about who the band sounds like. From that conversation and
my own musings, I'd say TLG is an agreeable, albeit bizarre,
intersection of the sounds of Phish, The Allman Brothers Band,
and James Taylor. They are talented musicians, play well
together, but most important... keyboardist/songwriter Trevor
Garrod can actually write superb, melodic, inspired songs.
Sure, there are other people out there... Ben Folds, Gavin Degraw,
friggen Fiona... but either they're too sapped out or angst ridden
or flyin-solo to re-capture the long lost beauty of rock ballads
from the 60s and 70s. YES, other forms of music (Country,
Hip Hop, Techno, Jazz, Pop) have their place and are important,
but something super-special was discovered in classic rock, and
has largely been lost, ignored, or subdued. It can be found
from time to time in "jam" music, pop, or the blues, but not as often
as one might think. So you go, Tervor Garrod. Keep them creative
juices floating. For a taste of what I'm talking about, pick up
the band's new album Taught to be Proud and listen to the first
two tracks multiple times at maximum volume. You'll get the idea.
Unlike previous albums, this one can actually be found in some
record stores. Living In Between is also good, but you'll need to
buy it online.
Later,
Dave
I haven't been this up on a band (uhh... we'll say "of up bands"...
Radiohead not much of an upper) since the boys from Vermont. Yee-haw.
Its been too long.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
I F***ing Hate Daylight Savings
Yay! Its getting dark at 5 o'clock! Yay! Right when
you get out of work. Maybe. Maybe you got out of work
and it was dark two or three hours ago. BONUS: its
also getting cold and grey. So if the lack of light
wasn't enough to send your seratonin levels into a
hellish depressing tailspin, try winter!
This sucks.
There's a longer blog in the pipeline that outlines my
3 Amendments to the US Constitution, but here's one of them:
Abolish Daylight Savings
Replace it with something that keeps the evening lit,
forever and always.
THE REPUBLICANS, whose policy ideas I infrequently agree
with, have floated a proposal to shorten the 'fall back'
period by two months. This is A-OK, like raising the speed
limits in the mid-90s. Official, on the record justification
is that it would save billions on energy costs. Which it
probably would. But the real reason its being pushed is
because the retail industry supports it. Whatever. Lets
stop being coy.
It reallllly sucks for the sun to set at 4:37 PM. Life no
fun. Lets do away with this. Why not? As far as I can
tell, because of the poor kids and farmers. To that I say:
balderdash. Thems not good reasons. Here's why...
(1) Let the kids go to school in the dark. Builds character.
Teaches survival skills. Everything is so posh these days.
Life is served up on a silver platter. Kids got no expectations
on them beyond doing well on silly standardized tests, playing
the violin or soccer, maybe graduating from high school or
going to college. Well, here's a challenge... try finding
your way to the busstop at 6:43 am when its not mid-afternoon
bright outside. Save some of that allowance and buy a flash-
light. Tie a string. We didn't win the Revolutionary War
and write The Constitution getting driven around in SUVs and
watching Chicken Little. Sacrifice. Ingenuity. Perseverance.
I'm finishing my coffee.
Of course I'm kidding. But only a little.
(2) The poor dairy farmers. Without daylight savings, wouldn't
know what time to milk the cows (like, with the mega-
corporatization of farming, are there more than 4 people
in the US on any given day who are actually milking animals
by hand??). Here's an idea. Milk the cows when you can see
them. Buy a cow-themed clock and set the alarm to when it gets
bright outside (in my world, this would be about 90 minutes to
2 hours after it does currently: you don't even need a new
clock). When the alarm goes off, roll out of bed, throw on the
Carhartts, and go milk the cows. They're not going to stop giving
milk, and I'm not going to stop taking milk in my coffee.
Trust me.
I apologize to the world and all those who actually have to
spend time with me for my elevated level of crankiness until
we do away with this monkey business sometime in April. April.
Ugg. Long live sport. If we didn't have the interminable
NBA season, NFL, and March Madness, I don't know how I'd get
through this stretch. Please people, we can put an end to this.
Abolish daylight savings. Keep it light late.
Thanks.
you get out of work. Maybe. Maybe you got out of work
and it was dark two or three hours ago. BONUS: its
also getting cold and grey. So if the lack of light
wasn't enough to send your seratonin levels into a
hellish depressing tailspin, try winter!
This sucks.
There's a longer blog in the pipeline that outlines my
3 Amendments to the US Constitution, but here's one of them:
Abolish Daylight Savings
Replace it with something that keeps the evening lit,
forever and always.
THE REPUBLICANS, whose policy ideas I infrequently agree
with, have floated a proposal to shorten the 'fall back'
period by two months. This is A-OK, like raising the speed
limits in the mid-90s. Official, on the record justification
is that it would save billions on energy costs. Which it
probably would. But the real reason its being pushed is
because the retail industry supports it. Whatever. Lets
stop being coy.
It reallllly sucks for the sun to set at 4:37 PM. Life no
fun. Lets do away with this. Why not? As far as I can
tell, because of the poor kids and farmers. To that I say:
balderdash. Thems not good reasons. Here's why...
(1) Let the kids go to school in the dark. Builds character.
Teaches survival skills. Everything is so posh these days.
Life is served up on a silver platter. Kids got no expectations
on them beyond doing well on silly standardized tests, playing
the violin or soccer, maybe graduating from high school or
going to college. Well, here's a challenge... try finding
your way to the busstop at 6:43 am when its not mid-afternoon
bright outside. Save some of that allowance and buy a flash-
light. Tie a string. We didn't win the Revolutionary War
and write The Constitution getting driven around in SUVs and
watching Chicken Little. Sacrifice. Ingenuity. Perseverance.
I'm finishing my coffee.
Of course I'm kidding. But only a little.
(2) The poor dairy farmers. Without daylight savings, wouldn't
know what time to milk the cows (like, with the mega-
corporatization of farming, are there more than 4 people
in the US on any given day who are actually milking animals
by hand??). Here's an idea. Milk the cows when you can see
them. Buy a cow-themed clock and set the alarm to when it gets
bright outside (in my world, this would be about 90 minutes to
2 hours after it does currently: you don't even need a new
clock). When the alarm goes off, roll out of bed, throw on the
Carhartts, and go milk the cows. They're not going to stop giving
milk, and I'm not going to stop taking milk in my coffee.
Trust me.
I apologize to the world and all those who actually have to
spend time with me for my elevated level of crankiness until
we do away with this monkey business sometime in April. April.
Ugg. Long live sport. If we didn't have the interminable
NBA season, NFL, and March Madness, I don't know how I'd get
through this stretch. Please people, we can put an end to this.
Abolish daylight savings. Keep it light late.
Thanks.
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