This past Sunday’s Chicago Tribune featured a book excerpt where two music critics debated the merits of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in the psychedelic, late 1960s, Sgt. Pepper vs. Their Satanic Majesties Request era. An interesting read if only for the suggestions that the Rolling Stones laughed their way through the psychedelic era while the Beatles, Paul McCartney in particular, couldn’t stop themselves from wanting to be accepted by the British establishment.
Tag Archives: music
Considering the legacy of FarmAid
Certain moments in the history of rock music stand out as instances where multiple musicians came together to fight for a common cause. The Concert for Bangladesh. Live Aid. Farm Aid. Live 8.
A short piece in Time considers the legacy of Farm Aid, first held on September 22, 1985. While farmers still have needs, these concerts have helped raise awareness for a nearly forgotten piece of American life. This is also a good example of how celebrities, musicians in this case, have tried to make aid for farmers a social problem that is worthy of more attention.
I wonder how effective concerts like these are. I remember watching Live 8 mainly for some of the musicians I enjoy listening to and not so much for the issues about which the musical acts were trying to raise awareness.
Ben Folds + Nick Hornby = new album
Time reports on the collaborative efforts of musician Ben Folds and novelist Nick Hornby. Here is a description of what the creative process looked like for the album that was released September 28:
For Lonely Avenue, Hornby e-mailed lyrics to Folds, who turned them into songs. “The process almost goes against what I’ve learned, which is that songwriting should be a labor,” says Folds. “I find it so easy this way. It’s natural and quick.”
Well, not that quick. The songs on the album took several months to produce, with Hornby writing lyrics in London and sending them to Folds, who arranged and recorded the music in Nashville. An e-mail between the songwriters, reprinted in the liner notes, illustrates the complex process of turning one man’s words into another man’s music. Hornby wrote a song called “Belinda,” about an aging rock star who has to sing his big hit, a love song about someone he no longer loves, at every concert he plays. “You’ve quoted the chorus of this fabled hit song in the second line of the verse,” Folds says to Hornby in the e-mail, before going on to explain the difficulty of writing a song about a song, and the placement of the fake chorus in between the real one. “It was like a hell [of a] crossword puzzle.”
I am going to have to go to Amazon and listen to the song clips right away. To me, Folds and Hornby operate in the same creative genre: tales of sad sack, hipster, occasionally endearing, 20 to 30 somethings. So if the two are put together, will we get an extra heavy dose of sad sack hipsterdom? Or will they create something new?
Quick Review: 15 years ago, the release of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory
I have lots of music that I enjoy. But few albums rank as high as this 1995 release from Oasis. I estimate that between its release on October 2, 1995 and today (to be fair, I didn’t purchase the album until sometime in 1996), I have heard Morning Glory hundreds of times. (My best estimate at this point would be around 1,200 times.) Some quick thoughts about this masterpiece:
1. This is Oasis at their musical peak. Coming off a very successful debut album, this finds the band both brash and melodic. Many of the lyrics may not make sense (just read the lyrics to “Some Might Say”) but it is an irresistible combination of music, swagger, and atmosphere.
1a. Some of these songs are spectacular, particularly “Don’t Look Back In Anger.” The three-song run from tracks 2 to 4 (“Roll With It” to “Wonderwall” to “Don’t Look Back in Anger”) is great.
2. The popularity of this album would cement their claims of being the biggest band in the world. Perhaps most importantly, it even became popular in the United States with “Wonderwall” becoming a hit, other songs (like “Champagne Supernova”) making some radio headway, and Oasis playing much of this album on MTV Unplugged (which is a very fun album to listen to).
3. There is an atmosphere surrounding this album that comes out in some of the music. This was during a period of music known as “Brit-Pop” though Oasis was on the more traditional, brash side of this movement (while bands like Blur where more on the artistic/experimental side). London was being reborn after years of drudgery, Tony Blair was on the horizon of British politics, and all seemed bright again in England. Part of the irony is that Oasis was leading this charge, a band of working-class members, led by occasionally vulgar brothers, and hailing from the dreary northern city of Manchester.
4. I have many good memories of hearing this album. I was discovering a number of bands at this point, most of them British. The link between the Beatles and Oasis seemed (and still does seem) pretty clear. While some have always been mad that they tried to ape the Beatles, I don’t hold it against them. At the time when I first found this album, it is a short step from listening to Revolver to then listening to Morning Glory.
5. Though they weren’t on the album, there are a number of very solid B-sides from this era. These songs were evidence that Noel Gallagher was swimming in good music at the time – all of the B-sides could have easily made an excellent album in their own right.
All in all, an excellent album. With Oasis being no more and all the albums after Be Here Now lacking their 1990s swagger, I will return to Morning Glory many more times to hear Oasis at its peak.
Quick Review: Once
Once is a 2006 film/musical featuring Glen Hansard of the Irish musical group The Frames. I had heard good things about this film and so I decided to watch it. Here are some quick thoughts:
1. I liked much of the music in the film. Since it is a musical, this is good. Hansard and his co-star Marketa Irglova sing and perform a number of indie type songs: lots of emotions, soft guitar, some strings. The main song throughout the film, “Falling Slowly,” is catchy and wistful. If I had to compare the music to other music I know, it is comparable in tone (though with some big differences) to Damien Rice.
2. Outside of the music, I don’t think the plot has much promise. Hansard (playing “Guy) and Irglova’s characters (she plays “Girl”) meet early on the in film while Guy is playing on the streets. They get to know each other, play and create music together, and ultimately consider a romantic relationship. Perhaps this is a problem common to many musicals: the plot seems to be a device to just help the characters get to another song.
3. The film has that indie-film feel due to hand-held cameras. This seemed to add to the intimacy of watching two struggling people try to build a relationship.
Final thought: I should admit that I am not a huge fan of musicals. While I liked the music (and would like to hear more of The Frames), I couldn’t get into the plot.
(This film was loved by critics: it is 97% fresh, 147 fresh out of 152 total reviews, at RottenTomatoes.com.)
Album sales on continued decline
I still buy a decent amount of music albums in CD form. But apparently I am part of a dwindling crowd: NPR reports that album sales are at a record low (even when accounting for digital tracks), 12% down compared to last year, and way off the peak in 2000.
So what’s the next plan for the music industry?
The demise of Barnes & Noble
Bookseller Barnes & Noble (B&N) is in bad financial shape. According to a commentator in the Wall Street Journal, B&N fell prey to the Internet though they made some missteps on their own.
I, for one, will be sad if bookstores such as B&N and Borders go completely out of business. B&N came to the Chicago area in the 1990s and I shopped at some of the early locations. They were like a new world compared to the bookstores that existed then: relatively large, nice decor, with a varied selection. (I know some would argue this could be found at independent booksellers but I haven’t ever had much experience with these in my suburban life.) As both B&N and Borders expanded into music (a section I spent a lot of time in) and coffee, I found them even more likable locations. I still occasionally am very happy to spend an evening in one of these stores, browsing through magazines, music, and all sorts of books.
Shopping for these things on the Internet has some advantages, including the big factor of pricing. But browsing Amazon.com is still a qualitatively different experience than browsing a large bookstore.
Quick Review: You Never Give Me Your Money
This book by Peter Doggett, which shares its name with a Beatles song from the Abbey Road album, is about the interactions between the Beatles from 1968 through today. While most of the information about 1968 to 1970 can be found elsewhere, the rest of the book was illuminating what happened between the four after the break-up.
Once the Beatles broke up (unofficially in 1969 and officially in 1970), the four members went their separate ways. In the forty years since then, the relationships have been primarily marked by two types of events:
1. Squabbles.
2. Brief moments of friendship.
The squabbles began in the late 1960s as Apple Corps started falling apart and the group couldn’t agree about who should handle the business end of their relationship. Reading about all this took some of the tarnish off what I knew about the Beatles. The author kept hinting at this as well; despite all the great music and idealism, the band couldn’t even be friends after breaking up.The Beatles, heroes to many, were reduced to sniping at each other over money and control.
The brief moments of friendship were pretty consistent. However, a lot of the talk about possible reunions (and they received a number of large offers) tended to push them apart rather than pull them together. It seems that they eventually realized that once they were Beatles, they couldn’t stop being Beatles. But they also chafed at being remembered together, as if they didn’t exist as competent individuals.
Ultimately, the events recorded here say much about human frailty – even some of the best musicians are just human. In fact, it is remarkable that the individual members were able to produce some of the fine solo work that they did while the business and personal fights were taking place in the background.
So while the Beatles will remain known for their music, innovation, and idealism, they can also be remembered for their faults.
Legally Sociable 