Music

Appreciating the 1970s Culture: Thoughts on the Passing of Brother Don Cornelius

February 1, 2012
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Appreciating the 1970s Culture: Thoughts on the Passing of Brother Don Cornelius

If ever there was a decade I’d enjoy being stuck in forever it’d be the 1970s. Watergate bothered me, of course, and Vietnam, drugs, and civil unrest were bummers, too. Never mind curfews, parental discipline, and hours of bad television. What redeemed the decade for me was the music, which reached its pinnacle in the era bracketed by the break-up of the Beatles and the third effort by the Clash. True, the era witnessed the advent of disco – but the choices on the radio dial were plentiful, rendering disco merely annoying for discerning listeners aware of the plentitude of options.

Radio formats of the 1970s were wide-ranging, bubblegum pop interspersed with everything from early heavy metal to soul, country, psychedelia, rhythm-and-blues and all sorts of hybrids and cross-pollinations right, left, and center of the dial. The exposure to the multi-various genres was certainly there, but what was missing for a kid like me growing up in rural, northern Michigan, was visual context. . . .

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Rock and Roll Holes of Fame

December 7, 2011
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Rock and Roll Holes of Fame

Finding the gaps at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame By Warren Moore The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its newest class of inductees. While I don’t see any Tom Petty-level headscratchers this time around, I’m pretty much left with a resounding “meh.” Not surprisingly, The Small Faces/Faces are my favorite of the lot, but I can understand the importance of the Beasties and Chili Peppers, both of whom have done some interesting genre fusion over the years, and even though I was never a fan, G’n’R were almost a perfect example of over-the-top in their era. All they needed was a plane crash to become truly archetypal. However, the dearth of progressive rock continues as Rush gets Susan Luccied again, and we have yet to hear from Crimson, Yes, ELP or their ilk. On the hard rock end, Motorhead, Blue Oyster Cult and Deep Purple (all remarkably influential acts) are outside looking in as well. While some critics have argued that this is a result of industry bias, Lauren Onkey, who was a prof of mine during my Ph.D. years, and who is now in charge of educational programs at the Rock Hall, suggests that

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Hubert Sumlin, RIP

December 6, 2011
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Hubert Sumlin, RIP

One of the few guitarists who deserves to be called legendary, Hubert Sumlin, died yesterday at the age of 80. Sumlin was the lead guitarist for Howlin Wolf's band and in the 50s and 60s, on tracks like "Killing Floor" and "Smokestack Lightning," laid down some of the most influential guitar licks of all time. Hubert Sumlin was the guitarist that Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck grew up wanting to be.

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California Dreamin’ . . .

December 2, 2011
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California Dreamin’ . . .

As I was driving around yesterday evening doing some errands with NPR on, as I am wont to do (please don’t hold it against me), a piece came on about songs that remind people of winter. Last summer NPR’s All Things Considered did a series on songs that remind people of summer and decided to do the same for winter. You know, the kind of songs that flood your mind with warm memories of another time. They pick a person, who may be well known or not, and ask them what their favorite winter song is.

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Why Is Today’s Commercial Music So Bad?

November 30, 2011
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Why Is Today’s Commercial Music So Bad?

No, I don't have the answer to this large and troubling question, but one of my favorite underground musical heroes - Robbie Fulks - has been pondering the issue on his website. For those unfamiliar with Fulks (and that may be all of you), he is a whip-smart, fiercely independent, libertarian-leaning singer and songwriter who crafts clever and sometimes challenging pop songs in a variety of genres. Fulks knows the business and artistic sides of the music industry extremely well, which means his thoughts on the decline of commercial music are just as attentive to the "commercial" as the "musical" aspects of the issue.

I agree with Fulks that there's no reason to complain about new music generally; quantitatively speaking, there probably is more of it around than ever, but you have to look for it. At the same time, how can anyone with even a passing knowledge of pop music over, say, the last fifty years deny that something has gone horribly amiss in the digital age? Too many songs getting the most airplay today sound like they were concocted in a lab rather than recorded by flesh-and-blood human beings playing real instruments (probably because that's at least party true).

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Nick Lowe: The Old Magic Is Still There

November 21, 2011
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Nick Lowe: The Old Magic Is Still There

About five years ago, Paste magazine asked 50 music industry professionals to name their favorite living songwriters and compiled the responses into a “Top 100” list.  Of course, any list of the Top 100 living songwriters is bound to generate controversy (Leonard Cohen at number 6?  Tom Waits above Paul McCartney??), but in my opinion the omission of one name – Nick Lowe – is close to unforgivable. Lowe recorded two quirky but classic albums in the late 70s (Jesus of Cool and Labor of Lust), penned most of the songs of the first “supergroup” (the short-lived Rockpile), and continued to record smart, country-influenced pop through the 80s.  He was also one of the most prolific producers of the mid 70s to early 80s who left his fingerprints on nearly every pop music trend of that musically fertile era.  Lowe also wrote at least one undeniable masterpiece – “The Beast in Me” – specifically for ex-father-in-law Johnny Cash, which paints a vivid picture of the Man in Black’s brilliant but troubled life. In the mid-90s, Lowe deliberately refashioned himself as a mellow crooner of sophisticated, “age appropriate” pop songs, most of which he writes.  It’s led to an improbable second

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And They All Think Just the Same

November 19, 2011
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And They All Think Just the Same

Yesterday morning, while driving to work, Malvina Reynold's song "Little Boxes" popped into my mind.

And I pondered it it. All that snide condescension toward people who live unexciting lives, and are able to own houses, however small. Malvina Reynolds was a socialist, so she dreamed of something better for the masses. And it occurred to me to wonder, "What kind of life would she wish for ordinary people?"

I have to assume the glorious Soviet Union must have been her model. Delightful accommodations like those in the picture, where the happy workers shared a fulfilling communal existence. And so I wrote my own version of the song:

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And the Nobel Prize for Literature Goes to . . .

October 5, 2011
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And the Nobel Prize for Literature Goes to . . .

You’ve may have already seen this story but the (literally) odds-on favorite for this year’s Nobel Price for Literature is none other than Bob Dylan. I would be very surprised if this comes to pass, but far from disappointed. Dylan has a remarkable way with words and has produced a singular body of work over the last fifty (!) years. He’s also far more worthy of the award than some other recent winners. And if he wins, he’ll surely deliver the most unique and memorable acceptance speech in Nobel history. The award will be announced tomorrow, and here’s hoping that the kid from Hibbing, Minnesota, who dreamed of being the next Elvis Presley will pull it off. Update The Nobel Prize for literature did not go to Bob Dylan but, instead, to Tomas Transtromer, for his “condensed translucent images” which give us “fresh access to reality.”

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‘A Mighty Wind’ in Madison

September 21, 2011
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If you remember A Mighty Wind, that fine mockumentary of the 1960s folk music scene, you’ll see the resemblance to this cornball, and highly sanitized, video of the protests that – believe it or not – are still taking place every day on Madison, WI’s Capitol square. Music this bad deserves to be heard by as many moderate, undecided voters as possible (H/T Ann Althouse).

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The Evasion of the Earbud People

September 13, 2011
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The Evasion of the Earbud People

It would be a mistake to blame the technology. As usual, it’s how people use — and abuse — it: Now that the Earbud People have invaded, they’ve taken over subways, academia, buses, and sidewalks from coast to coast and around the globe. They’re passively receiving sounds that they alone can hear. Other than mob violence or criminal behavior, theirs is the most antisocial public behavior one can imagine. Its only rivals are the Bluetooth-enabled cell phone conversations that turn all who engage in them into irritating public speakers, exposing their private thoughts to the unwilling listeners in the world at large. The young take all this for granted. They know no other ways of behaving in public. But to those who remember the pleasures of either conversation or solitude, the loss suffered by the Earbud People seems tragic. Earbud people are like heavily-medicated people — swathed in an inner universe that’s at once protective and unreflective. They’re neither in touch with others nor with themselves. Maybe they are once they’re at home, or at work, but they lose a lot of the joys of living when they’re out in public by encasing themselves, like walking mummies, in the sounds

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Moon Safari’s Latest Album Is Not Commercial—But It Should Be

August 31, 2011
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Moon Safari’s Latest Album Is Not Commercial—But It Should Be

Moon Safari is an immensely talented progressive rock band from Sweden, but neither their formidable musical abilities nor the label of progressive rock should scare off potential listeners. The band’s sound is original and highly pleasing in its blend of folk, classic rock, progressive, and even pop elements. Just as a means of comparison that is in no way meant to pigeonhole this highly original group of musicians, I’d suggest that their appeal combines that of some of the more-sanguine, less-grand and somber progressive rock groups of the past, such as Argent, Flash, Happy the Man, and Mike Oldfield, with the complex but appealing instrumental textures of bands such as Visible Wind, Discipline, and Harmonium, along with melodic folk-rock textures reminiscent of Loggins and Messina, Bo Hansson, and the brilliant English band The Amazing Blondel. These comparisons are meant only as  suggestive of some of the musical strands from which Moon Safari draws; the band is not imitative or derivative in any way. You really must hear it for yourself. Moon Safari’s first two albums—Doorway to Summer and Blomjud—are among the very best progressive rock albums of the past decade, and the band’s latest, Lover’s End, is of similar quality.

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Moon Safari’s ‘Blomjud’ Brilliantly Combines Folk, Progressive Rock

August 31, 2011
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Moon Safari’s ‘Blomjud’ Brilliantly Combines Folk, Progressive Rock

Double albums are hard to do. Usually, there’s enough first-rate music for a little more than one disc, and most listeners would much prefer that the artist had exercised a little self-censorship. Sometimes, however, a musician or band has so many great ideas that they can bring it off. Such is the case with Blomjud, by the Swedish progressive rock outfit Moon Safari. With the release of their latest album, Lover’s End (reviewed here), here’s my track-by-track review of Blomjud for those interested in the group’s previous work. Disc 1 is superb, on the same level as the band’s debut album, Doorway to Summer. “Constant Bloom” begins Blomjud with a minute and a half of the group’s trademark complex harmony vocals, done a capella. It’s very pretty. “Methusalah’s Children” begins quietly, with acoustic piano and acoustic guitar, and then other instruments join in, including a theremin-like synthesizer. The song then bursts forth into full rock mode but in an unusual time signature which moves along briskly and with a distinct bounciness. The vocal melodies are cheery and catchy, including more of the band’s engaging harmony vocals, and the music throughout the song reflects the group’s characteristic sunniness. “In the Countryside”

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"Culture is the expression of the guiding philosophy of the day."—Murray Rothbard
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