Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Long Live...


(note - this is from two weeks ago... ...time flies) Scene: I'm sitting in a hotel in Boston, drinking my 3rd or maybe 4th Harpoon Imperial IPA, and Scorcese's Beatles doc comes on HBO.

Now, I have to preface this conversation with some context. I am a Beatles fanatic. I recorded the late 90's Beatles Anthology on VHS and watched it (and by "it," I mean parts 1-2... ...starting with Rubber Soul, which I consider their tipping point... ...which is when they started doing drugs.... ...which was TOTALLY cool.... ...or at least i thought... ...think... ...thought... ...think... ...thought... ...) weekly.

What i thought as i watched this awesome documentary was:

1. Brian Epstein and George Martin wore suits and ties to the studio every day. EVERY day.

2. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be a teenager during the 60's. Your teenage years are undoubtedly when you are most impressionable in all ways. Music is no exception. In fact, I would argue that the ages of 12-16 are the years when you are more likely to develop your lifetime musical tastes than any other period in your life.

For me, this period was dominated by Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, and the aforementioned Beatles.

When I was watching this film, I couldn't help but think "this is my parents' band." I just happened to embrace, relate, and adore them. It made me wonder if I could ever really love the Beatles the way my parents did...

The first time I heard the Strokes was 2001. At that point, they were pretty new, and the SOUND was something that our Coldplay/Dave Matthews/Bob Dylan/Pavement world had not yet heard. It's not that I am better able to relate to Julian Casablancas than a kid who graduates high school on 2012... ...it's just that for 2001 Clay, it was new, exciting, and groundbreaking. For 2012 kid, "Is This It" is probably a really great album that also has some killer Girl Talk remixes.

None of these thoughts diminish my view of the Beatles in any way. If anything, it fills me with more of a sense of wonder about them. It makes me wonder, "what is my Beatles-love ceiling?"

Eric Clapton said it best when he was asked if he was ever jealous of one of his best friends in the world, George Harrison (keep in mind that this was during the "Clapton is God" phase - there was no single force bigger than Clapton at this point in time).

Clapton's reply? "It was the BEATLES. Come ON!"

I have no Idea what the point of this was, except maybe a small tribute to the best band of all time, and an expression of my awe that it's possible that I could love them MORE than I do now.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Band: TV on the Radio - Song: DLZ - Album: Dear Science


Hola,
As per usual my new musical influence can be sourced from another form of media. This seems to be an increasingly regular occurrence for me. My new favorite show in the world to follow is Breaking Bad. When this show first aired in 2008 I saw both the Pilot episode and episode 2. I was so grossed out by what happened in the second episode that I had to stop watching...until Netflix released it. Now, I can't stop watching it. It is the craziest, saddest, funniest and strangest show I have ever seen and the acting is spectacular, which explains why it has been such a critically acclaimed show.

This is the story of how I came to find the album Dear Science by TV on the Radio. The song DLZ was used by Breaking Bad to communicate Mr. White's return to being a totally violent Bad Ass, bad decision making crystal meth dealer. A tragic story of a terrible person, but the story couldn't be more interesting and no song could have better communicated his circumstance. I hope you like DLZ as much as I do. The album is definitely worth a listen and DLZ is definitely a smart addition to any music catalogue.

Cheers!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Punkadelic

Zach, although I have not gotten into the new Girls album yet (maybe just not enough energy for me), I love your Gang of Four pick. Punk is great, in the way that it's great to take a shot of whiskey - it kinda burns and it makes you feel a little weird, but it also makes you feel a little more real and awesome than you did in the 5 seconds before you were exposed to it.

The Stooges. I Wanna Be Your Dog. Yep

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Gang of Four: Damaged Goods


It has been awhile since I have said anything. I've been obsessively listening to the new Girls album and I will reiterate that you should at least give it a shot.  ANYWAYS, I got turned onto Gang of Four while reading Simon Reynolds new book, Retromania (Not finished yet but its been interesting so far). I've always had a proclivity toward punk for some reason and since this is post-punk I figured that I needed to give it a listen.  I bought the album Entertainment! (love the exclamation point) and immediately enjoyed it. This is my favorite song from the album but its full of high quality cuts. Hope all is well.