Random Music Talk CXVIII: Grabbing America By The...

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Ah fuck it's all over-produced and there's some other lame dude sharing vocals. Still probably the song of the year.
 
"This new U2 album is overproduced and total nonsense but U2 is the only music so it's still AOTY"

-The Other Place
 
Listening to Marquee Moon for the first time. Anyone here a big fan and willing to tell me all about it? And where the connection to U2 comes in (it was a big influence on them / The Edge right)?

The title track is fucking amazing
 
cobl04 said:
Listening to Marquee Moon for the first time. Anyone here a big fan and willing to tell me all about it? And where the connection to U2 comes in (it was a big influence on them / The Edge right)?

The title track is fucking amazing
Click to expand...

Yeah, the interweaving guitar lines of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd were a big influence on Edge. He claims that he looked up to Verlaine for his willingness to "tear up the rule book," but to my ears he picked up delay to make that full sound happen with only one guitar.

Television was a really interesting outlier for their era, an energetic CBGBs band with extraordinary musicianship and ambitious arrangements. Not even Television could make another Marquee Moon. I wouldn't want to go more than a few months without hearing that album.
 
That post was aimed mostly at you, considering you're about the only person left here who'd be a big fan.

I can't hear much Edge work on here; I'd venture to say that his fascination with Marquee Moon began and ended with Boy, which is definitely the album that bears the most striking resemblance to some of the songs here, IN MY OPINION. I definitely hear the influences on Edge's signature delay work.

What I do hear is EVERY single 00s indie band that played clipped, angular guitar on songs borrowing literally straight from this album. The title track and Elevation are part of the rule book for modern guitar indie, I'm feeling.
 
There was a thread a while back for favorite moments in songs. If I had to pick a favorite moment from that album, it's that searing guitar line at 1:02-1:05 of Elevation. The energy of punk rock is awesome, but great flourishes like that come from improvisational skill and instrumental talent. That Television had both is why I'm so deeply fond of them.
 
This reminds me I need to buy Marquee Moon on vinyl. It's not a seasonal album per se, but I love hearing it on a nice summer afternoon. I had listened to it somewhat indifferently many times in the past, but about 5 years ago the title track really clicked with me. That little guitar riff pulls me in every time now.

I definitely hear some of the influence on Edge. Although Television's solos are more elaborate, I feel Edge sometimes emulates a few patterns (the solo in the title track is an example, especially early on). And I guess some of the 1980s guitar work ressembles it quite a bit.
 
Television was a major influence on Pavement/Malkmus as well, much more apparent than any Edge connection.

Richard Lloyd also played some sick guitar on Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend album and its follow up Altered Beast.
 
Edge has said that he didn't want to sound like Television, but rather, he wanted to be as fresh-sounding as them. he probably meant that they didn't sound like classic rock cliches. of course he doesn't really sound like either of 2 guitar players of Television.
 
So I recently "acquired" the Complete Stax/Volt singles collection, dear lord what a mammoth collections 28 discs worth. They're divided up into 3 time periods. I think I'm going to alternate periods as I progress through, it might be an overload to only listen to the real old stuff for that long.

Anyway, so far it's amazing. Wondering if anyone has sampled this before.

***

Also, I bought Paul Westerberg's new collaboration with Juliana Hatfield from earlier this year, going under the name The I Don't Cares. IMO, the strongest thing Paul's done since his second solo album Eventually. I imagine some would prefer Stereo/Mono but this one really does it for me. 14 tracks and only a couple are filler. Nothing revolutionary but the mostly instrumental Little People features some great guitar soloing by Paul, and the closer Hands Together, one of the longest tracks he's ever recorded, is phenomenal.

Best of all, it was only $5. If you're a Replacements fan it's worth checking out.
 
If it weren't for Aja, it would be the best thing to come out of 1977 and that was a pretty exciting year for rock music.
 
You can't really believe that Aja is better than Marquee Moon. Then again this forum holds Steely Dan in higher estimation than just about anyplace else on the internet. Hell, Pink Floyd's Animals was in 1977 as well.
 
iron yuppie said:
You can't really believe that Aja is better than Marquee Moon. Then again this forum holds Steely Dan in higher estimation than just about anyplace else on the internet. Hell, Pink Floyd's Animals was in 1977 as well.
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Hell yeah. I second everything here.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference
 
So, sorry for the partially redundant post, but I gave this I Don't Cares another spin today and man am I falling in love with this album. I did a little digging into the backstory, and apparently Westerberg and Hatfield used to date, and are involved again. She dug through a bunch of his demos going back years, and picked out ones she felt were worth recording/revisiting (two have appeared on previous Paul albums). The two played all the instruments and recorded it with few frills, but it's considerably more polished than the stuff Paul has put out in the last 10 years.

So, the joyous sound I'm hearing isn't an accident; this is an album by two people really into each other who are just having a blast playing together. The album cover of two guitars holding "hands" is almost too cute but is such a great image/metaphor.

Anyway, one of the year's best. And it's actually 16 tracks, not 14 as I said earlier, which shows how easy of a listen this is. Flies by, great pacing, a lot of fun, with a handful of lovely moments, particularly the closer, which belongs in the Westerberg pantheon. Rumor has it they may be working on a follow-up already with sessions

idontcares.jpg


If I haven't sold it well enough:

http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/201...s-wild-stab-paul-westerberg-juliana-hatfield/

and here's a long interview with Paul about the project:

http://www.vanyaland.com/2016/01/22...r-wolf-discuss-the-i-dont-cares-debut-record/
 
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cobl04 said:
That post was aimed mostly at you, considering you're about the only person left here who'd be a big fan.
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Seminal album, influenced many bands in many scenes. I feel like the idea that only Lemel would be a fan is a classic cobblerism. :wink:
 
iron yuppie said:
You can't really believe that Aja is better than Marquee Moon. Then again this forum holds Steely Dan in higher estimation than just about anyplace else on the internet. Hell, Pink Floyd's Animals was in 1977 as well.
Click to expand...

I do. Aja was one of my first favorite albums and I've probably heard it more times this year than some of my 2016 favorites, just to put into perspective how thoroughly it has retained value to me. I find its balance of humor, cynicism and instrumental sophistication to be unparalleled in music, not to mention its astonishing production and dynamics. The 4 minute instrumental passage of the title track is one of my favorite pieces of music ever.

My favorites of 1977:

1. Steely Dan - Aja
2. Television - Marquee Moon
3. Pink Floyd - Animals
4. David Bowie - Low
5. Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick
6. Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
7. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
8. Townes Van Zandt - Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas (a tremendously good starting point for anyone looking to explore country)
9. Brian Eno - Before and After Science
10. The Congos - Heart of the Congos (possibly my favorite Lee Scratch Perry production)

The Clash's debut would be somewhere around #6, but I prefer the US version, which wasn't released until 1979. The UK version would sit around #12 or thereabouts.
 
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It's really hard to exhibit an Aja influence. Not many rock bands can play their instruments that well or give that much attention to detail. Ramones and The Velvet Underground and Nico are the kind of albums that any band can pick up and imitate, so you hear them all over the place.

Similarly, I don't think there are going to be too many My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy or To Pimp a Butterfly knockoffs in the years to come. Who has the talent, time or budget to compete with those?
 
LemonMelon said:
I do. Aja was one of my first favorite albums and I've probably heard it more times this year than some of my 2016 favorites, just to put into perspective how thoroughly it has retained value to me. I find its balance of humor, cynicism and instrumental sophistication to be unparalleled in music, not to mention its astonishing production and dynamics. The 4 minute instrumental passage of the title track is one of my favorite pieces of music ever.

My favorites of 1977:

1. Steely Dan - Aja
2. Television - Marquee Moon
3. Pink Floyd - Animals
4. David Bowie - Low
5. Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick
6. Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
7. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
8. Townes Van Zandt - Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas (a tremendously good starting point for anyone looking to explore country)
9. Brian Eno - Before and After Science
10. The Congos - Heart of the Congos (possibly my favorite Lee Scratch Perry production)

The Clash's debut would be somewhere around #6, but I prefer the US version, which wasn't released until 1979. The UK version would sit around #12 or thereabouts.
Click to expand...

If you had put Cheap Trick above Low, we would have had some serious problems. :wink: Low is probably in my top 5 albums ever.

Seems like you have a lot more affinity for the classic rock staple stuff than I do. If I'm ever 50 years old and drinking Coors Light in a Home Depot parking lot, maybe I'll start listening to Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan.
 
Yeah, for 1977, I'd say Low is my favorite. Iggy Pop's The Idiot is up there for me as well. A great year for music.
 
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