tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post116673069017632155..comments2023-03-30T01:32:12.632-07:00Comments on .: MusicologyAnthony Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15344532091414013818noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post-1166977465501700912006-12-24T08:24:00.000-08:002006-12-24T08:24:00.000-08:00I think Do the Collapse is the worst GBV record, a...I think Do the Collapse is the worst GBV record, and that Alien Lanes, Bee Thousand, Propellor & Vampire on Titus are the classic GBV albums, w/ Under the Bushes being near-classic. But I actually think the slippage in quality is related to the slick production, but isn't necessarily tied to it -- I think the large part of the slip is Pollard's attempt to write songs with more traditional structures and lengths. Which he's competent to good at, but which makes for much less inspired listening than million great ideas and hooks an hour pace of Alien Lanes. <BR/><BR/>It's a complicated matter, though: the more competent post-Tobin Sprout lineups probably necessitated different structures than the more bashing around lineup of the great albums. But I think it's not necessarily the production (tho Ric Ocasek's production job is just brutal), but a shift in approach. So maybe in this case the slicker production signaled a different structure. But I think of Oldham's album along the lines of maybe Nashville Skyline, an idiosyncratic figure outside the Nashville system utilizing that system as a kind of instrument for an experimentation that doesn't sound 'experimental' in the usual sense, but is so within each singer's body of work.<BR/><BR/>Dunno. Kind of stabbing at my intuitions here.TThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15765857872778493229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post-1166976664589862852006-12-24T08:11:00.000-08:002006-12-24T08:11:00.000-08:00Hey, anyone have a copy of the Rain like the Sound...Hey, anyone have a copy of the Rain like the Sound of Trains CD? that's what I need!NEGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06256297219916308405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post-1166966639766666292006-12-24T05:23:00.000-08:002006-12-24T05:23:00.000-08:00Hey Tost, I wonder what your thoughts are on lo-fi...Hey Tost, I wonder what your thoughts are on lo-fi GBV vs. slick Rick Okasick production GBV. This is something I have thought about a lot and maybe should blog about.andy mr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13537015322710124840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post-1166942637717558692006-12-23T22:43:00.000-08:002006-12-23T22:43:00.000-08:00I love Sings Palace Music as a concept, of testing...I love Sings Palace Music as a concept, of testing out great songs through an entirely different persona and context. I'm also a complete country music nut, and I love the album because it does a type of traditional country that I love but that hardly any Nashville-type country artists do well anymore -- the sort of Don Williams/Charlie Rich intimate song that has a lush, but not over-the-top, production.<BR/><BR/>I have to go song-by-song as to what versions I prefer. Although I love the original Gulf Shores, the Sings Palace Music version might be my favorite single Oldham track -- just beautifully cinematic, and the arrangement and playing set up lines perfectly ("you have let the family down . . "). Let's see, other tracks where I prefer the Nashville version: Agnes Queen of Sorrow, The Brute Choir. I prefer most of the original versions of the Days in the Wake tracks, as well as New Partner. The rest I'm about even on.<BR/><BR/>Another aspect that I like about the album is that I don't get any sense of ironic distance in the performances, or insincerity, whatever that word happens to mean. I think Oldham gets that sloppy playing/cracked singing/lo-fi values don't have the monopoly on expressiveness or sincerity. Maybe, at some point, they did as a kind of negation of certain systems of production and distribution: a slick production job had connotations of an entire structural apparatus that went along with it, one that seemed to get in the way of any kind of human emotion, invention, etc. And a lo-fi recording would connote the opposite. But I don't know if that's the case anymore.<BR/><BR/>But who knows, I prefer the Basemant Tapes versions of just about any song the Band, Dylan, the Byrds, Fairport Convention or anyone else re-recorded under more professional conditions.TThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15765857872778493229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post-1166914994539762462006-12-23T15:03:00.000-08:002006-12-23T15:03:00.000-08:00Kasey, Nice to see you here. And yes, I like pret...Kasey, <BR/><BR/>Nice to see you here. And yes, I like pretty much anything Oldham-related but will continue to champion _Ease Down The Road_ as I believe it is severely underrated.<BR/><BR/>Andy,<BR/><BR/>Congrats on the secret blog. Your post today on the Nascimento cover send me over to Thrill Jockey where I just listened to the entire album. I can't believe I hadn't heard it sooner.<BR/><BR/><BR/>NEG,<BR/><BR/>I got your books. Glad you're enjoying the chap. I'll read yours soon and post a scathing commentary on this very blog!Anthony Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15344532091414013818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post-1166800992724590372006-12-22T07:23:00.000-08:002006-12-22T07:23:00.000-08:00Hey Kasey, I See a Darkness is definitely my favor...Hey Kasey, I See a Darkness is definitely my favorite BPB album. And glad to hear that even the old folks dig P-ment!<BR/><BR/>Noah, I'm curious, in 1997 did you stop actively trying to find new bands (I mean old bands/music that was new to you) or did you just listen to your old favorites? I was thinking mainly about seeking out contemporary music, which I don't really do anymore, but I still obsess over obscure bands from the 60's-80's that are reissued. I've definitely slowed down even in this respect over the years, and I am beginning to wonder if this activity will one day stop completely. <BR/><BR/>Latest find: The Blops!andy mr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13537015322710124840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post-1166777004261043962006-12-22T00:43:00.000-08:002006-12-22T00:43:00.000-08:00KSM,This is an under-40 blog. Mr. Mr.,1997 is the ...KSM,<BR/><BR/>This is an under-40 blog. <BR/><BR/>Mr. Mr.,<BR/><BR/>1997 is the year I stopped paying attention to current music<BR/><BR/>AR,<BR/><BR/>enjoying yr chapNEGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06256297219916308405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post-1166758022724859332006-12-21T19:27:00.000-08:002006-12-21T19:27:00.000-08:00For what it's worth, I'm 44, and I love Pavement.I...For what it's worth, I'm 44, and I love Pavement.<BR/><BR/>I also think *everything* Oldham has done, as BPB or otherwise, is great. He could just make pig noises into the microphone while hitting his guitar with a shoe and it would be great. Though my favorite album is probably I See a Darkness.<BR/><BR/>None of this is intended to confute or prove anything. It's just fun to talk about music.Kasey Mohammadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13353259413006470925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37593326.post-1166733282514197362006-12-21T12:34:00.000-08:002006-12-21T12:34:00.000-08:00I like the Dead, American Beauty and Workingman's ...I like the Dead, American Beauty and Workingman's Dead are both great. I also like Moby Grape, but what does that have to do with anything.<BR/><BR/>I don't really understand your generation gap argument here, Tony. I was 18 in 1997 which was the first year that I started to really pay attention to current music (I guess this really started a couple of years earlier, but I wasn't looking at Pazz and Jop, etc.), but I kept following contemporary music (especailly indie rock) really obessively for the next 8 years or so. So by your generation gap logic, you should have been finding out about all the great 90's bands while they were coming out (Royal Trux, Pavement, Smog, Palace, The Sea and Cake, this list could go on and on...). But instead you say that you didn't listen to contemporary music after you turned 18 or. So what were you listening to? I don't think this is about a generation gap as much as it's about emersion is a certain genre of music. Or a obsession with music that makes very little difference of 7 years. I just don't see the generation gap here. <BR/><BR/>You know what band I like a lot, The Kinks.andy mr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13537015322710124840noreply@blogger.com