Listening at Work

I've been experimenting with listening to music at work - just as I input data, at the end of the day as I get notes together, and get organized for the next day. I am sticking to ambient-ish stuff that won't interfere with my ability to work - the hope is that it will actually make me more productive. I've tried this before and abandoned it after awhile - I think because I got tired of the same wordless sleepy material over and over again - or maybe it was the work (!) of hooking up my Zune at the end of the day. So far, it seems to be working - I think I've been a faster and happier worker. We'll see how long it lasts.

Learning from Eno

I'm now reading the Another Green World entry in the 33 1/3 series of books. The book is organized around, and apparently written with the aid of, Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies cards. The writer is trying to mirror the artistic process of the album itself which used the cards throughout the writing and recording process. I once gave a set of these cards to an artistically inclined friend. I don't know if she uses them to solve her creative dilemmas but I'm attracted to the idea of them as a useful tool. Thing is, I don't really consider myself a creative person despite the fact that my job is sometimes classified as "Artistic" within the Holland Codes system of vocational interests, I do this writing thing many days, and I devote huge chunks of my time to music, books and movies. If I had my own set (or if I accessed any of the web based strategies sites) I could start applying them to my own work - professionally or otherwise. I find I often admire artists who are willing to fail in the attempt at doing something different but I'm not willing to do the same.

The hipsters have taken over

I was listening to Sloan's Action Pact today and one lyric jumped out at me: "One thing I know about the rest of my life/ I know that I’ll be living it in Canada" (from "Rest of my Life"). Normally lyrics in general don't jump out at me but this one did. What I found was that I imagined being at the show (I'm seeing them next week) and the reaction that such a lyric might have. It seems to me that this sort of obvious patriotism is designed for a reaction in a live environment - we can all sing along! And we should actually believe it! But it just seemed weird to imagine singing such a uniting lyric in these times. It seems like the ironic detachment (dare I say "cool")  that is so common today would make actually singing something you mean seem weird and quaint. I hope this is not the case because, you know, I do like Canada and want to live here for the rest of my life, and might enjoy singing something like that with other people who feel the same.

Kids these days

I went to see Death Cab for Cutie last night and although I enjoyed the show (the band, the music, song selection), I was a little disappointed in the audience. It seemed that they just weren't responsive, often not clapping long enough or loud enough after songs (at least in my opinion). For example, many times between songs nobody was clapping except maybe me and my concert-mate. Out of the thousands of people there. Usually at shows that large there is always someone clapping between songs. Ben Gibbard told us we were a "great crowd" and my eyes rolled because I thought he was being generous or even sarcastic. The other time I felt so disappointed in a crowd was at a Bright Eyes show (coincidentally they opened the show last night) that  was also the youngest crowd I'd ever been part of. At the time I blamed their disinterest on their age. Last night was an older, more diverse crowd so that can't be it. Normally I blame a poor show on the band - I feel it is their responsibility and see it as a cop out if they blame the crowd. But I thought the show was good - maybe I was wrong? Maybe DCFC should have played fewer old songs or even fewer off the yet to be released album? The Plans and Narrow Stairs songs did go over much better - even the acoustic ballad - although it is the one that mentions Calgary.

Jingles

I just finished reading the Pink Flag entry in Continuum's 33 1/3 series of books and I'm now working my way through the Spiderland edition. Both are pretty standard biography of the band and story of the development of the record kinds of stories, which, while illuminating, doesn't necessarily make them great books. For that, I'd like something with something more personal, or something that argues a point. I'm hoping the thing that the Spiderland book can provide is some insight into the process by which the album took on its prominence as the seminal post rock album other than the "Steve Albini told everyone its great" story. One bit of coincidence I noticed was that these two albums - more than a decade and ocean apart, but sharing a similar detachment, cold sound and often spoken vocal quality - were both recorded in studios designed for jingle work that have seen little rock music recorded in them.

The 80s

The 1980s as a decade are often criticized. It seems the developments of the fifties (rock & roll), sixties (Dylan's folk rock, the Beatles), seventies (disco, punk) and even nineties (grunge, alternative generally, electronic music) are held in high esteem while the eighties, which is seen as synthetic, shallow and cheesy, is reviled. As a contrarian generally, I tend to disagree in part because I think writing off genres, years and decades is a lazy way to be a music fan. I think there is plenty of good music of all types, genres, and time periods - you just have to do the work of finding it. Recently, I've been noticing an eighties influence seeping into a lot of newer music. Vampire Weekend and Cut Copy being perhaps more popular examples but also Austra and tUnE-yArDs. What I notice is the influence of a certain branch or "art-rock" of the eighties. I'm thinking of Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Laurie Anderson, the Talking Heads, Jane Siberry,  Suzanne Vega, the Parachute Club and even Tears for Fears. This all fits in well with a book I'm reading (Music: a Very Short Introduction by Nicholas Cook) which, aside from providing one of the better explanations of constructivism that I've read, also helps explain appreciating music not in terms of offering "new things to hear" but "new ways of hearing things." I think the above mentioned eighties artists can be appreciated in this way quite well, especially when we think of the inclusion of avant garde experimentalism (perhaps via Brian Eno's influence) and most noticeably, the influence of "world music." By hearing the sounds and rhythms of African (especially) and other "world music" influences, we hear those influences in new ways and appreciate them more. This is one of the gifts of the eighties: allowing us to appreciate music from beyond our limited western, white perspectives. Maybe this is something I think about more obviously because of recently listening to Peter Gabriel and Tears for Fears - just listen to the rhythms in just about any Peter Gabriel track and songs like "Mother's Talk" or "Change" by Tears for Fears.

Serendipity

Yesterday I wrote this and today, for work, I wrote this . And also today, at lunch, I read this entry into Pitchfork's Resonant Frequency column. And I think they are all related. The point that Mark Richardson seems to be making, and one that I was making in my work piece, is that sometimes sad, depressing, dark, angry and otherwise miserable music can be a good thing. He specifically points to Run DMC helping him play better football and Swans helping him through depression; thereby illustrating my argument very well. He argues that these types of music can put a voice to hidden emotions and that this process helps us process them, manage them and heal from them. He begins to argue that perhaps Odd Future are doing the same: voicing hidden emotions and providing release for some of their fans although not him, and certainly not me. By extension, if they are providing release for someone, then maybe they are a good thing after all. Which relates to yet another reason I think people do not speak out about them as much as Sara Quin would like people to. I think with our fragmented media world people just shrug them off, knowing that although Odd Future may not be their thing, they may be someone elses'.

PS When I started this blog, I started it with the idea that my musical life and the rest of my life rarely interact. What I'm listening to or thinking about musically exists parallel to and not interfering with the rest of my life at work, home and with friends. Today I guess I proved that theory wrong.

Dear Sara

Sara of Tegan and Sara recently offered a Call for Change. I, for one, am in support. The background is this: there is this rap collective known as Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All who are led by a rapper known as Tyler, the Creator. They are known for being brilliant and controversial. Controversial for their lyrical content which reportedly includes many instances of murder and rape. I have to say reportedly because I only heard one song, downloaded free from Pitchfork's best of 2010 list, I listened once and deleted it - the only song that I deleted from that list, and yes, because of the lyrical content. Sara is right to call for a change here. I too have heard wonderful things about this group and much of the time the lyrical content is mentioned as statement of fact rather than criticism, and it does seem that people are afraid to issue any critique of the lyrics. I will add another reason to Sara's arguments regarding class and race. I think some people are afraid of having their own hypocrisies pointed out to them. For example, didn't Jimi Hendrix sing about murdering his woman, didn't John Lennon write a song about threatening to kill a woman because she cheated, didn't the Beastie Boys make sexist jokes on their first album, didn't Beck write weird R&B and rap about lesbians, didn't Public Enemy say some anti-semitic things? (I picked artists whose work I like and own here for a reason). I think some of us worry that by singling out Tyler, we are opening ourselves up to the criticism that we support artists that portray some of the same ideas. For me, the difference here is that we know each of those artists' true beliefs by their other actions and by their admissions that in some cases they were portraying a character. From the little I know, Tyler or the rest of OFWGKTA, have done little to redeem themselves.

Vinyl

I went to the Calgary Music Collector's Show today and it reminded me of how much of a CD guy I am. There I was surrounded by a gymnasium full of various vendors hawking their wares, which mostly consisted of vintage vinyl of various genres and quality. There was also plenty of collectible stuff and a few bins of CDs - there were a few good finds there ... of stuff I already own. I didn't even bother with the vinyl. I just don't like it - I prefer the clear, full sound of CDs to the thin, muffled sound of vinyl and I am perpetually perplexed by the pervasive attitude that vinyl sounds better - try listening side by side. I have and every time have found that CDs sound better. CDs are also longer lasting (playing them doesn't automatically degrade them), portable, and housed in better packaging. I will give vinyl this: it is cooler. I want to like it. I want to be one of those vinyl collectors with a well chosen selection of classics. I want to be able to say "You should hear it on vinyl." Instead all I'm left with is "You should hear the SACD multichannel version" because if you haven't, you really should.

Rewarding Myself

This week I was at a conference for various post-secondary helping professionals. In one session we were asked what e find rewarding - we had to sort cards with various rewards/motivators on them. I audibly laughed at the idea that food might motivate me. Some of the things I do find rewarding were things like getting the job done, crossing things off of a list, the feeling of accomplishment. The ones I really liked were things like free time, money etc. - basically things that allow me to buy or listen to more music. Thing is, when I really think about it, I rarely do this. I buy and listen whenever I can, not as a reward for work I need to do or after a difficult project is done. I don't know if I did a good job of being at the conference but I did pick up a couple of CDs - Sloan and The Strokes.

Weezer

In the last post, I referenced NPR's podcast on breaking up with a band. They carried the metaphor pretty far, making analogies of breaking up with a band, having them break up with you, growing apart, "It's not you, it's me" vs "It's not me, it's you" and the idea of never letting go. They mentioned Weezer in part because the idea of giving up on them due to their transgressions is so popular and implicit in this argument is that somewhere along the line, Weezer changed making it impossible to like them anymore. Now, I still like Weezer. I do like the first two albums more but to say they changed seems wrong to me. I don't see the evidence of a change in their musicianship ("obvious guitar solos" being one of the complaints), songwriting, or sound. They have always written and performed slick sounding power pop about being a lonely loser. I think many times the listener has changed enough to no longer appreciate their new work but not enough to no longer appreciate it in their earlier work. Maybe, it is you, not them if you no longer like them. By the way, I think the same argument can be made regarding the Star Wars franchise. The accusations often thrown at the prequels can just as easily be leveled against the original trilogy.

Breaking Up with a band

Recently on NPR's excellent All Songs Considered Blog and Podcast, they raised the issue of "breaking up with a band" - essentially ending a relationship with a musical act because of some perceived slight or misdeed. At first I thought " I've never done that" but as I consider the question, it is true and the example is the Cranberries and it didn't take long. I gave up after the first album, which I still enjoy greatly but by "Zombie" I was gone and I never looked back.

The List

I bought a couple of CDs today.  I almost always purchase CDs from "The List" which is my ongoing list of albums I'm planning on getting. Right now most of my list is reissues, remasters - ways of rebuying stuff I already have. The List is organized by artist so each artist represents sometimes several albums, especially those ones where I'm planning on getting several remasters - New Order, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno. When making a purchase several factors come into play - am I seeing them live soon? Like Sloan whose new album I have to pick up soon (tomorrow?) because I'm seeing them in less than a month. Also, I tend toward new purchases because I'm more excited about them. Like the James Blake album everyone is talking about and I'm looking forward to hearing tomorrow. Yet another factor is whether the artist in question has more than one item on the list - if they only have one I get to remove them from the list. Progress!

REM vs U2

So I picked up the new REM yesterday. I still haven't listened to it but it reminded me of an old argument I had through a friend with someone I don't really know about who was better: U2 or REM. Now, I'm not going to argue songwriting or musicianship or even get into a this song beats that song argument but in terms of greatness, as in "The Greatest Band in the World," I am clearly and definitely in the U2 camp. I've realized that several of my arguments can fall into the general category of REM are the little brothers to U2. For example: Peter Buck gets touring with kids advice from Bono, U2 recommended that REM use Jacknife Lee as a producer (which they did on the last two albums), when members of U2 and REM performed a song together on MTV they picked a U2 song! My other big argument is that U2 fail better than REM - Pop may be their least liked album but at least it is interesting and they were trying something different while REM's least liked album is probably Around the Sun, which, let's face it, is boring.

The Jewel Case

I reorganized my CD collection last night ... twice. First I wanted to make room for several oversized box sets, most notably the Pixies Minotaur box, which is a beautifully designed and executed huge heavy cumbersome beast of a set. Also, my wonderful Wilco Book (which a quick Google search reveals is not as rare and valuable as I thought it was) and Limited Edition Band on the Run set along with several other oddly sized packages. I did find room for all of these sets but this arrangement created more issues than it solved so I went back to my old system, slightly tweaked to make things slightly more organized. I am still left with the unsatisfying feeling of having to hide away the truly ungainly 12"x12" sets  and vinyl but fortunately these big square CD sets often contain the CDs in Jewel Cases so I can just file them into the very well organized set of CDs in the three book-cases that house them (alphabetically by artist, chronologically by album, naturally). I love Jewel Cases and I wish every CD and CD set was packaged in them. It has been done simply and beautifully before - Bjork's Surrounded set or the Talking Heads' Brick come immediately to mind. The Jewel Case really is the perfect way to house a CD. It is simple, durable, protects the artwork and CD well, is easily replaceable and makes storage  simple. But it is becoming increasingly rare as artists and labels take greater care to produce unique product or repackage old material.

Kim Deal

One of my bucket list fantasies is to see a band perform twice in different venues on the same tour - it will likely be a Friday/Saturday Calgary/Edmonton situation. The reason for this is in part because I want to see how much difference a crowd or venue can make in a show's success. My theory is this: venue, city, crowd and even setlist make little difference in how a show goes, and the key ingredient is the behaviour on stage. It seems that whatever happens on stage will be mirrored by the crowd: dark & moody vibe on stage=dark & moody crowd, party on stage=party in the crowd. If I'm right, I want to thank Kim Deal for the great Pixies show on Saturday. She truly is the emotional core of that band and her between song banter, huge smile and joking behaviour with the other band members certainly made for a fun night. This is a band that the cynical part of me believes is touring just for the money and takes little joy in performing the exact same setlist every night but on that night the cynical part of me was silenced and the optimistic, joyful part was 'woohooing,' clapping, dancing (as much as you can when you don't move your feet), and yes even singing along.

Me in Grade 12

As I noted in my last post, the music played at the Pixies show when the Pixies and Imaginary Cities were not playing was worth its own post. I don't know how they pick the stuff they play like this. I have read that the artists involved often pick this stuff or maybe they just leave it up to the sound guy - I don't know. But the selection at that show was weirdly appropriate. I got into the Pixies just as I was finishing High School and everything played that night fit so perfectly into my tastes at that time. As i stated several times that night - I felt like an old mix tape of mine was stolen for the night - songs by The Clash, The Cure, Depeche Mode, David Bowie that were all favourites of a 17 year old me. The image above is from a mix tape I made in 2001 based on my memory of a mixtape I made in probably 1990. If you can read it you can see the eerie similarities (click the image to see more closely).