Random Music Talk XXVIII: I CAN HAZ COCKROPA?

[Lancemc]

I've gone to two concerts alone; one great - Arcade Fire, another terrible - Blonde Redhead. The second was just really uncomfortable walking around by myself at the venue, and not really getting into the vibe of the show. The first was fantastic because the band rocked, and I was two rows from the stage, but I still can't say the same experience wouldn't have been greatly improved with a friend or two.

Movies on the other hand I almost always prefer to see by myself, or with the ladyfriend now as it should be. Fuck everyone else though. I don't really buy into the whole cinema-as-communal-experience bit either. You're sitting in a pitch black theater fixated on a single massive screen for two hours. The only exception, as has been pointed out, would be the big event films which themselves are usually only as enjoyable as they are because of the event they've been marketed as, and thus enjoyable because everyone else is talking about it beforehand and after. More to do with being a part of popular culture at that point than being a part of cinematic art.

 

[Reggo]

Congrats on the ladyfriend, Lance.

 

[PhilsFan]

I saw Bob Dylan alone. It would have been really uncomfortable if I was sober.

 

[iron yuppie]

I don't really buy into the whole cinema-as-communal-experience bit either.

I agree completely with this. If I am going to watch a movie, I do not want to be distracted by some clown picking up a cell phone or obnoxiously devouring a bag of Cheetos.

 

[No spoken words]

I think we're all kinda agreeing with that one in here.

 

[martha]

Count me in.

 

[Reggo]

Me as well.

The only movie I can think of that would be fun with a group of people would be the Halloween midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Anything else, I could care less.

 

[bono_212]

I really love Pulp. I forget this sometimes.

 

[Lancemc]

Congrats on the ladyfriend, Lance.

It's been almost a year now, but thanks just the same.

 

[Reggo]

It's been almost a year now, but thanks just the same.

You're welcome.

 

[LemonMelon]

Listening to Blur's self-titled back to back with a Guided By Voices record to see if I can discern the influence. So far, totally. I wasn't as big a fan of GBV when I last heard the former, so the similarities between, say, You're So Great and Awful Bliss were lost on me at the time. The record can be considered, broadly, awesome makeup sex between Blur and the United States, so I like their specific choice of influences here.

Personally, Beetlebum, You're So Great and Look Inside America are three of the greatest songs I've heard in my entire life, but I mostly enjoy the rest on an intellectual level: I'll always like Modern Life Is Rubbish and Parklife the most in the end.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I'll always like Modern Life Is Rubbish and Parklife the most in the end.

Those are my two favorites as well.

 

[powerhour24]

I go to plenty of concerts on my own, I don't take dates to concerts if they aren't into the band to the same degree I am, likewise with friends unless I really think they'll be missing out on something and then I try & convince people to go. For the most part I either attend concerts alone or with one of my two best friends, who also share a lot of the same taste in music with me. As for movies, I go with my core group of friends to goofy blockbusters and have fun, I attend other movies usually in pairs, and some of my more out there tastes or re-watches alone.

 

[lazarus]

Listening to Blur's self-titled back to back with a Guided By Voices record to see if I can discern the influence. So far, totally. I wasn't as big a fan of GBV when I last heard the former, so the similarities between, say, You're So Great and Awful Bliss were lost on me at the time. The record can be considered, broadly, awesome makeup sex between Blur and the United States, so I like their specific choice of influences here.

Personally, Beetlebum, You're So Great and Look Inside America are three of the greatest songs I've heard in my entire life, but I mostly enjoy the rest on an intellectual level: I'll always like Modern Life Is Rubbish and Parklife the most in the end.

I heard Pavement mentioned more as a direct influence on Albarn than GBV.

Parklife I'll give you, but I find Modern Life As Rubbish a bit of a slog to get through. I don't think it's as good as Think Tank or The Great Escape, and would rank it slightly above 13. The self-titled scales much greater heights and is impressive beyond simply breaking out of the Brit-Pop genre.

 

[LemonMelon]

I can totally hear Pavement in there too, although the aesthetic is much closer to the crackly lo-fi of GBV.

Modern Life Is Rubbish is a heavy listen, sure, but it has such thematic depth and coherence (and, against all odds, hooks) that your patience is rewarded. And there is no patch on the album significantly weaker than the others; for every track weaker than Chemical World, there's a song right on that level.

Never have been able to get into The Great Escape, even after multiple listens. It's absolutely brilliant and black as hell lyrically, but it is less hooky than Parklife and breaks little ground for the band musically. The switch to American indie was not only a clever one, but necessary also.

 

[LemonMelon]

I've heard three Kate Bush albums now, and Running Up That Hill is still her best song in my view. One of those rare moments in which an artist's biggest hit (for her, the only one here in the US) is still your favorite even if you're a fan. It's just that fucking good. However, disappointing though it may be that I haven't heard any superior song, I'm still loving her music. The Kick Inside, The Dreaming and Hounds of Love are all brilliant pop records and all sound remarkably different from one another. She has a collection of reworked old material coming out this year, and though I have no interest, a tour would be a nice surprise.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i'll laugh so much if she does actually tour.

 

[lazarus]

I can totally hear Pavement in there too, although the aesthetic is much closer to the crackly lo-fi of GBV.

Modern Life Is Rubbish is a heavy listen, sure, but it has such thematic depth and coherence (and, against all odds, hooks) that your patience is rewarded. And there is no patch on the album significantly weaker than the others; for every track weaker than Chemical World, there's a song right on that level.

Never have been able to get into The Great Escape, even after multiple listens. It's absolutely brilliant and black as hell lyrically, but it is less hooky than Parklife and breaks little ground for the band musically. The switch to American indie was not only a clever one, but necessary also.

I'll agree with that. It's not as fun as Parklife but it's probably the most sophisticated Brit Pop album to ever come out, even if as you say it is inferior melodically to its predecessor and doesn't add very much to their palette. I underrated it for many years but I found a recent listen very rewarding. It can be a bit of a slog as well but I find its diversity more appealing than Modern Life which is a bit too samey for me. Both albums are rough to get all the way through (each could stand to lose a few tracks), certainly moreso than Parklife, the self-titled, or Think Tank.

 

[u2popmofo]

Under the April skiiiiiiiiiies
Under the April suuun

Etc.

 

[iron yuppie]

I've heard three Kate Bush albums now, and Running Up That Hill is still her best song in my view. One of those rare moments in which an artist's biggest hit (for her, the only one here in the US) is still your favorite even if you're a fan. It's just that fucking good.

I read an interview with Bat for Lashes in which she cited Hounds of Love as one of her favorite albums, so I made sure that I found the album and gave it a listen. I'm really glad that I did, because it had an aesthetic unlike anything else that I have heard. It's almost like a pop concert taking place at some sort of Druid religious proceeding.

 

[LemonMelon]

i'll laugh so much if she does actually tour.

She's probably going to either not bother at all or Peter Gabriel it and only play a couple of major metropolitan areas in the US, as well as the whole of western Europe. My expectations are exceedingly low.

I'll agree with that. It's not as fun as Parklife but it's probably the most sophisticated Brit Pop album to ever come out, even if as you say it is inferior melodically to its predecessor and doesn't add very much to their palette. I underrated it for many years but I found a recent listen very rewarding. It can be a bit of a slog as well but I find its diversity more appealing than Modern Life which is a bit too samey for me. Both albums are rough to get all the way through (each could stand to lose a few tracks), certainly moreso than Parklife, the self-titled, or Think Tank.

I'm really glad that, even though I don't like it as much as you do, someone loves Think Tank. Out of Time is one of the very best songs I've heard, and it's a rich, varied listen outside of that track. Coxon is sorely missed though, as evidenced by that spine-tingling riff in Battery In Your Leg, his sole contribution, outshining every other guitar part on the album instantly.

You know what's a really great record? Exile In Guyville. I only listen to it once in a great while, but when I do, it's a cathartic and thrilling experience. It sounds great, hitting harder than other albums of its time, and the songwriting is just superb. Canary might be my favorite, but there are countless other classics to contend with. Such a shame that she's total garbage now. I want the boring old shit, like letters and sodas.

 

[LemonMelon]

This shit is getting some love:

Who Kill Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic

is the only reasonable reaction to their music.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

YouTube - The Ramones - Bonzo Goes To Bitburg (My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down)

 

[djerdap]

That's probably my favourite Ramones song.

 

[nirniva]

This shit is getting some love:

Who Kill Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic

is the only reasonable reaction to their music.

Agreed. "Es-So" has been stuck in my head for the better part of a week now.

 

[If you shout...]

I'm a perfectly reasonable man, and I reacted to a set of theirs by leaving the room. So there are at least two reasonable reactions to be had to her music.

 

[lazarus]

You know what's a really great record? Exile In Guyville. I only listen to it once in a great while, but when I do, it's a cathartic and thrilling experience. It sounds great, hitting harder than other albums of its time, and the songwriting is just superb. Canary might be my favorite, but there are countless other classics to contend with. Such a shame that she's total garbage now. I want the boring old shit, like letters and sodas.

Guyville is amazing, and it's not surprising that we're both Joni fans as well, because Phair's playing is very unique on this album, albeit very amateur compared to Mitchell's work.

I will say that, over the years, I've become much more partial to Whip-Smart, as it shows Phair able to write about subjects other than men and asserting her femininity, and here she begins to skew closer to Dylan than Joni. There's a lot of abstraction but she's clearly saying something. I just find something like Dogs of L.A. to be far more interesting from a lyrical perspective than anything on her debut.

And then there's the music itself. By working with the same musicians as before, she retains the D.I.Y. spirit while really branching out into some interesting sounds. I absolutely ADORE that little trip-hop beat on Shane, and Nashville has a real majesty to it. Consider that both songs have a long fade on a repeated refrain, but one does not feel repetitious of the other. And of course Shane has that really cool radio/TV station sample going on in the background to give it that extra curiosity. Or look at something like the whistled chorus of Support System. Little things like that surprise and charm throughout the album.

The rock songs are vicious, too. Supernova and Cinco de Mayo kick all kinds of ass, though I'll admit Jealousy is a little generic and probably the weakest on there. And the title track is probably in my Top 3 songs of hers, probably the coolest and most inventive song you're ever going to hear about impending motherhood (Phair would give birth the year the album came out, IIRC).

 

[LemonMelon]

OK, I wasn't positive if you were a Whip-Smart supporter or not. A huge swath of Guyville fans jump off at that point, but it seems she only started falling out of favor after Whitechocolatespacegg, and for good reason. I myself have only heard Guyville in full, but nothing is stopping me from hearing the other 90s records; probably will very soon. I have absolutely no intention to tread further than that...all of her recent singles have been lousy.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Heard that catchy ass Smith Westerns song on a commercial earlier tonight. Forget what the product was, though.

 

[lazarus]

OK, I wasn't positive if you were a Whip-Smart supporter or not. A huge swath of Guyville fans jump off at that point, but it seems she only started falling out of favor after Whitechocolatespacegg, and for good reason. I myself have only heard Guyville in full, but nothing is stopping me from hearing the other 90s records; probably will very soon. I have absolutely no intention to tread further than that...all of her recent singles have been lousy.

Whitechocolate is also amazing and has even more sophisticated songwriting. It was clearly the major label jump that led to her demise. According to Wiki she tried recording an album with Michael Penn and the record company didn't like it, essentially forcing her to do the pop shit. However, the self-titled does have some catchy songs, if you can stomach the fact that some were co-written and produced by The Matrix. And even more bizarre, Robert Christgau totally stuck by her and gave the album an 'A'. *

Pitchfork's infamous 0.0 rating wasn't as kind.

This song, written by Phair alone, is really the only track that actually could have legitimately been on Whitechocolate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwPyFFEUzbo


*Robert Christgau: Shining Some Glory: "Liz Phair"