The Sound of Pedagogy

The Way We Live Now

I know we no longer read or communicate by this blog.  If we did, you would be clamoring to hear my thoughts on the new Blonde Redhead (get it) or Deerhoof (eh, whatever).  You would also be putting in your two-cents on new albums, reviews, etc. 

Despite our collective indifference to this blog, I have to make one final post as we bring our practicum to a close.  As now months have passed, I have listened more deeply to both "Neon Bible" and Low's "Drums and Guns."  The bombast of The Arcade Fire will always grab your attention over the subtle gestures and hesitance of Low, but I'm beginning to feel like a deaf man at the opera when I listen to "Neon Bible"--I see a lot of big gestures, but I don't really know what the hell's going on. 

Both albums could be described as "timely", the most backhanded compliment this side of telling your obese friend what a pretty face they have.  But "Neon Bible"'s timeliness is so strained and angst ridden that it's lyrical content, something I always hesitated to praise, feels insincere, if not downright childish.  I cringed at the lyric "mirror mirror on the wall/ tell me where those bombs will fall" from my first listen but a friend recently pointed out the perhaps even more heinous "working for the church while your family dies/ you take what they give you and you keep it inside."  Exactly what is this in reference to, other than an angry agnostic's juvenile slam at what he thinks conservative Christian America does?  Not to say that evangenicals and conservatives don't have sins to atone for, but this is so tin-eared I'm lead to believe Win Butler has never been to the US.  Or read a newspaper.  This isn't exactly indie rock Tocqueville. 

But let's look at "Drums and Guns."  D&G is infused with the language of war and violence, certainly a response to our contemporary moment.  But Low is less concerned with diagnosing a cultural moment (an impossible, if not arrogant act) a la Win Butler, than with simply making a good album.  The tone of D&G conveys what it means to so deeply ingest the rhetoric, images, and tenor or war and violence that  it affects your outlook on everything.  The final track, returning to Low's favorite territory of romantic strife, begins "all I can do is fight/ even if I know you're right....pretty fingers, holding fast/ maybe it's your violent past."  Just what it means to "fight" with someone you love, whether noble, necessary, inevitable, justified--- remains elegantly unclear, the kind of ambiguity that allows the listener to rethink the violence in their own emotions. 

Even the more explicit and dark "Pretty People" that opens the album goes beyond mere dissatisfaction and angst.  "All the soldiers/They're all gonna die"--OK, that sounds both obvious and ugly.  But not only soldiers but "babies" "poets" "pretty people"; the son becomes about the firghtening inevitability of death that war images ellicit.  An image of war reminds us of our own deaths.  This isn't a mere slam at the Bush administration ,the war in Iraq, blah blah blah. 

Neon Bible--Join the Love Fest

Why would I bother to write about this album when it's been reviewed by every rock critic under the sun and this blog is read (and my math is generous) by no more than 5 people?  Because it's so god damn good its praises must be sung.  Luke didn't stop writing his gospel just becuase Matthew and Mark beat him to the punch.

I'll keep this brief; buy it already.  Sure, the lyric's can be turgid and overserious.  The orchestrations border on the bloated at moments (but never cross that line).  And some of the power of "Funeral" is lost in the band's attempts to take on a more global perspective, falling back on tired refrains about the sorry state of America.  But fundamentally this album possesses so much rich power that everything else on my Ipod becomes thin and weak by comparison.  This is a rarely powerful album--exciting, passionate, thoughtful, and impeccably crafted, the most well wrought urn of indie rock. 

New Albums to Consider

It looks like 2007 will be a big year for music, at least, major bands are releasing new albums this year.  Here are a couple of new releases from bands I like that I recently picked up.

The Shins, "Wincing the Night Away": I love The Shins.  I mean, a lot.  Their first two albums are packed to the rafters with great pop songs, always with a variety of sounds and styles that keeps their music fresh.  This means The Shins are also built to disappoint me--like when dad doesn't get home from his business trip in time to take me to the Tigers game (why, daddy, why?).  And "Wincing" is kind of a let down.  The first 4 tracks are so good I want to weep with joy (Download "Phantom Limb" and "Sleeping Lessons" in particular).  The rest of the album has a lot of atmosphere--the kind of music you like to hear at a coffee shop--but doesn't make you stand up and take notice like their best work. 

Of Montreal, "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?": Of Montreal, on the other hand, has never really produced an album I love.  They have some great songs (get "The Party's Crashing Us" right this minute, now!), but their albums are spotty and sometimes downright irritating.   "Hissing Fauna", however, has blown me away.  It's an inscrutable album, almost mad.  Of Montreal knows pop music really well, but where The Shins perfect pop's formula, Of Montreal deconstructs it (yes, I said deconstructs, whatever).  Hooks reveal themselves in intense flashes, only to retreat back into sonic density and obscurity.  This makes the album initially offputting, but ultimately a rewarding, fulfilling listen.   Of Montreal takes a pause from dancing to cry, throw a fit, bitch about an ex-girlfriend, take anti-depressants, and then get back to dancing. 

Grocery Store Music

  Last night after class, several of my fellow grad students and I walked into O'Reilly's pub as Annie Lennox's "Why" came on.  This is a great song.  I told my friend Justin that it always reminded me of being in a grocery store, but late at night, when it's 2am and you're one of only a dozen people--it's that intense response when a supposedly positive, familiar space becomes terribly alienating and sad. 

Justin immediately recognized this emotional response and encouraged me to make a mix of "Grocery Store Music".    I'm here to theorize just how I want this mix to go and would love some feedback.  Not every song can have the same punch of "Why", but here are some of my considerations.

Such piped-in music is meant to feel familiar, so the songs  always have a strong sense of recognition. This explains songs like "Why," "On Broadway," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," etc. But  the songs must also be sanitized, for maximum inoffensiveness.  This is where Rod Stewart's cover of "Downtown Train" and the like come in.  Finally, there is a racial bleaching that needs to be considered; "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay" trumps the rougher, sexier, "I've Been Loving You Too Long."  Songs cannot be too aligned with their genre either.   If you hear country in the grocery store, it's Patsy Cline's "Crazy" or Willie Nelson's "You Were Always on My Mind,"  rather than Waylon Jennings or Loretta Lynn.   

The overall effect is one of anesthetized recognition, where your musical memory becomes a kind of Wonder Bread--filling and comforting, but lacking those substantial elements that brought you to the product in the first place.

Please post any songs you consider falling into the grocery store model.  Or if you see flaws in my rationale, give me some insight.

Neil   

Music Podcasts

I'm a relatively recent convert to podcasts and being an iTunes-er it is so very easy to subscribe to regular updates. Here are a few that I've come to rely upon for my daily dose of music I probably wouldn't otherwise be exposed to:

KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic at http://media.kcrw.com/podcast/mb

This is a very interesting show where bands play live sets and then are interviewed by Nic Harcourt.

KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org/

A Seattle, WA station. Need I say more?!

Radio1's Best of Unsigned: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/downloadtrial/radio1/radio1sbestofunsigned/rss.xml

British station that highlights a rotating cast of new, young bands who have yet to sign to a major label. Almost exclusively English/Scottish/Irish bands.

Music Tips

There is a good resource, MusicMatch Jukebox. It is about $8 month, but you can listen to pretty much anything you want (except, I've noticed, whole operas, which is a shame). Just FYI.

Neil's Top 10 of 2006

SInce I bought several of these CD's in the past month, it's taken me a little while to organize my list.  But here it is.  Anyone wants a copy? Let me know and I'll burn it for you.

10. The Pipettes/We Are the Pipettes--Admitting I love this album is like admitting to a morphine addiction; shameful, but necessary in order to exorcise my demons.  It might seem like a self-conscious game, but it's not.  The Pipettes recognize what made girl-groups like The Shangra-Las work, and then do it even better--happier,sexier, and wittier.
9. Sufjan Stevens/ The Avalanche.  Sure, he's got a sissy voice that makes you want to punch him sometimes, but even his album of "also-rans" is better than most artist's best work. 
8. Bonny 'Prince' Billy/The Letting Go--His best album since "I See A Darkness."  No one song necessarily stands out (well, ok, a couple).  BPB's success lies in crafting an album about a break-up/reunion cycle that embodies the emotional ups and downs of the experience.  Must be heard as a whole to be fully loved. 
7. Band of Horses/Everything All the Time--Deceptively simply indie rock album that doesn't have a single lull or uniteresting moment. 
6.Yo La Tengo/ I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass--Nothing new here from YLT, just another amazing album from a band who has made amazing albums for almost 20 years. 
5. The Hold Steady/Boys and Girls in America--Finally, someone remembers the 3 most important elements of good music--sex, drugs, and rock n' roll.  Seriously, let's rock out. 
4. Cat Power/ The Greatest--Muscle Shoals brought out the genius of artists like Irma Thomas and Dusty Springfield, and now, mopey Chan Marshall joins the ranks.  A really elegant album. 
3. The Decemberists/The Crane Wife--I, like every other indie-rock yutz ranking albums this year, think this is their best album. The songs are grand and epic, but not nearly as precious as the weaker moments on "Picaresque."
2. Camera Obscura/Let's Get Out of This Country--Sure, there are terribly innovative, earth-shattering albums released every year (blah blah blah).  But I'm a sucker who still believes in the transcendent power of the perfect pop song.  "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken" is that song.  Brilliant.  These guys aren't another "Belle and Sebastian," they're the next Holland-Dozier-Holland.
1.Midlake/The Trials of Van Occupanther--The opening track sets the bar so high that the rest of the album might almost seem like a disappointment.  But it's not.  This is indie rocks meets 70's CSNY meets an old-fashioned folk ballad.  Amazing.

Also great:
TV on the Radio/Return to Cookie Mountain--Ask anyone in Williamsburg, they can't wait to tell you why.
Belle and Sebastian/The Life Pursuit--thanks for finally wiping up those tears, guys. I like the way you sound when you're happy.
Neko Case/Fox Confessor Brings the Flood--Great vocalist, needs to work on her songwriting.

Music

I have slogged through quite a few "Best of 2007" lists, and this is what I have bought, with appropriate notations.

*Damian Rice, 9. Not as good as O, but fine by me.
*Joseph Arthur. Bought various singles. Ok stuff. Some songs good. Some awful. Duet with REM called In the Sun is not new, but new to me.
* Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins. Album is "Rabbit Fur Coat." I don't know. I just don't know if I like this at all. I might really like it though.
*The Decemberists. Selected cuts from The Crane Wife 3. Some really good. Some just pretty good. I don't like it quite as much as the critics do.
* Josh Ritter. The Animal Years. I think Josh has real potential. A bit of a Bruce derivative.
* Mohair. Small Talk. I LOVE it. Can't explain why. Franz Ferdinance-esque.
" My Chemical Romance. The Black Parade. Was it all my imagination? Did the sample clips sound good? Do I even like this album? I don't know.

N.B.: Bought "Smoosh" for my niece. Highly recommended for a "no belly-button rings or implants" girl band. She rolled her eyes, but really liked it.

Global Warming: James Brown 1933-2006

At Christmas dinner, in DC, we were having a conversation about global warming. It started because my stepfather was writing a review of a book about carbon, and he shared with us the fact that the first scientific paper on global warming (that connected the long term effects of coal burning with potential climate change) was published in the late 1890's. There was a another one before that in 1863 that wasn't quite as explicit but that also suggested such a link. Eventually the conversation devolved into my half-brother Michael pointing out another sign of global warming: that the coolest people are dying (vis a vis the death of James Brown that day.) I went up to Harlem yesterday to check out the scene at the Apollo theatre where James Brown was lying in state. I didn't go in to view him (feel a little bad about that since I did cue up to view Mao when i was in China--he looked like a neon Mao lamp--and he's sort of the anti-James --BUT there were thousands of people waiting in a line that extended over five blocks. Instead, I took some pix of the street scene, and have included a few here. Some others are linked in an album here:http://cetlqcc.typepad.com/photos/james_brown/
click on the thumbnails to view the larger images.--Belle

Welcome to Our Newest Distraction

Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe Belle's suggestion to have a music section our on our blog is the best damn idea I've heard all week.  To kick things off, I am posting a link to the Onion's year end album reviews.   

http://www.avclub.com/content/node/56476

The Onion's review staff is consistently very good and though I haven't heard many of the albums listed here, the choices I do know are well made.  The year in review usually sends me on a hunt for new music, so hopefully post-Christmas I will have some new CDs to share. 

Everybody enjoy your holiday break.   

Neil