On Music

I was listening to some Beatles recently, the albums Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour. What struck me about these was the way they were incredibly experimental, and yet extremely popular. These albums were breaking new musical ground, but rather than doing it in obscure genres, they worked with songs that were easy to get behind, and enjoy, either as just catchy pop songs, or as a work of art. I could almost compare it to someone like Quentin Tarantino, who's making really personal, arty films, that are also easily enjoyable by a mass audience.

When you compare The Beatles to rock today, most notably radio successful rock, what immediately comes to mind is the fact that The Beatles is so much more pop. The most popular bands on the radio are either pop punk, which I just don't enjoy, and certainly doesn't aspire to be anything more than a catchy riff, and a decent chorus, or angry rock, from people like Linkin Park or System of a Down. Angry rock is probably my least favorite genre of music. You're successful musicians, what have you got to be so angry about? But, that's not even my main problem. It's more the fact that it just doesn't sound good. It sounds harsh and nasty, whereas music, even dark songs, should have some beauty in them. So much of radio rock today has no beauty.

The Beatles had really beautiful songs that did rock, but also were successful on an artistic level. They were more ambitious than any popluar band before or since. Which isn't to say that they're the greatest band of all time, though a good argument could be made, it's just that the great music being made today, and what's popular isn't in line.

On a semi-related note, something that really bothers me is that popular music today is basically two genres. We've got rock and we've got hip hop/r&b. I love all kinds of music, and listen to a wide variety of stuff, but I often find myself wanting an even bigger variety. One of my favorite albums of all time is Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By, a fabulous album of lounge/trip hop songs that is also completely unique from anything else out there, except perhaps the song "I've Been Thinking" on Automator's new Handsome Boy Modeling School album. That song and the album are an example of an updated version of the sort of songs that were popular in the pre-rock era, singer driven, but surrounded by interesting instruments, just really cool songs, and notable, in the fact that they're not guitar driven. Ever since the creation of rock and roll back in the 1950s, the vast majority of popular music has been guitar driven. Now, there's the exception of hip hop, but that's its own thing, that I'll touch on later.

Because everything is guitar driven, it's tougher for people to adapt to an album like Lovage. It has choruses, but rather than instrumental hooks, it has bass lines, and instrumental samples to construct the melody. Lovage has a level of sonic experimentation that only the best rock can match. You don't know what to expect from song to song because The Automator throws a variety of beats at you. When rock took over, the use of different instruments, other than the guitar, generally fell out of favor.

Now, there is electronic music, and I do love it, I love the combination of electronic with different real instruments the most. Electronic stuff is just another resource, and the best bands take advantage of everything. One of the reasons I love The Polyphonic Spree is the vast variety of instruments they work with. You get a great variety of sound from them, and it makes them really interesting to listen to.

I guess what I'm saying is, don't just rely on guitars, make songs that use all sorts of instruments, and don't be limited by the dictates of a musical genre. The Beatles certainly weren't.

Related Posts
Handsome Boy Modeling School: White People (11/13/2004)
Lovage: Music to Make Love To Your Old Lady By (11/19/2004)

2004's Best Albums

2004 saw the release of some damn fine albums, I've only gotten to a small fraction of what's been released, but there were some good times. Generally speaking, especially with smaller artists, it takes a while after an album has been released for me to actually get to it. But, here's five albums that were released in 2004 that were amazing.

1. The Polyphonic Spree "Together We're Heavy" - The Beginning Stages was an amazing album, but this follow up goes way beyond that, adding so many musical layers to the already great sound of the spree. The album has a great opening, and flows really well. It's tough to isolate standout tracks because every single one has merit. 'Hold Me Now' and 'Two Thousand Places' are probably the best individual tracks, but in the context of the album 'We Sound Amazed' and 'When the Fool Becomes a King' just own.

2. U2 "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" - Their best album since Zooropa, it's an album without a single bad song, and 'City of Blinding Lights' and 'Miracle Drug' are some of the best songs they've ever recorded. U2 has a way of producing musical moments that are just unparalleled, the use of the guitar and the vocal combined in such a way that they perfectly compliment each other, and soar together.

3. Handsome Boy Modeling School "White People" - Mulholland Drive is to David Lynch as this album is to Dan the Automator, it combines elements of everything he's done in the past into one of his strongest works. It's got a ton of guest stars, a bunch of genres and it all works. It's astonishing that one album features Mike Patton, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Julee Cruise and Cat Power. The best tracks are 'Class System,' 'I've Been Thinking' and 'Breakdown.' Never before has an album so nimbly hopped across genres.

4. Phoenix "Alphabetical" - Difficult to place in a genre, they've got both dance and rock elements, but end up sounding like a rock version of Daft Punk. The album is great, and they're my favorite new artist discovery of 2004. 'If Not With You' and 'Everything is Everything' are the best.

5. Air "Talkie Walkie" - Air's first album was brilliant and this one is also. It's very similar to the first album, but that's not neccessarily a bad thing. I love the feeling of the music, it always conjures up pink clouds in a perfectly serene sky. 'Cherry Blossom Girl' and 'Venus' are two standout tracks.

Good bunch of albums, those. Check 'em out.

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Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By

Listening to the new Handsome Boy Modeling School album has prompted me to go back and listen to some of Dan the Automator's previous work, including his masterpiece, Lovage aka Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By. Now, the title is a bit doofy, and I was attracted to the album expecting something that'd be comedic. However, after listening to the album I found that it was hilarious at times, but it's actually a very dark, moody album, far removed from comedy. The album has a very specific atmosphere. It feels like it should be sung in a smoky lounge, with some neon lights, late at night.

The album has vocals by Mike Patton and Jennifer Charles, and the way they sing together is unlike anything I've heard before. It feels very intimate, particularly on the album's best tracks Book of the Month and Sex (I'm A). This is a very different sort of vocal styling from what Patton uses with Fantomas or Faith No More, and it's much more interesting.

The production just owns. Automator uses strings, horns and vocal samples to create a canvas of beats. Some of the best moments are the intro to 'To Catch a Thief' and the horn samples of 'Stroker Ace.' Another highlight of the album, which now includes basically everything about it, are the lyrics, which are both hilarious and so perfectly delivered. 'Book of Month' is a back and forth of metaphors between Patton and Charles, including classic lyrics like "You are the griddle, I am the meat" and my personal favorite lyric, in which Charles talks to Patton about her rotting body, saying "Jealous of the flies and the worms inside me"

The album is completely unique. It's lounge, but also trip hop. Just look at the cover art, clearly this is an awesome album.

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Taking some classes at Handsome Boy Modeling School

So, I listened to the new Handsome Boy Modeling School album, White People, today. I really liked So...How's Your Girl? It's not my favorite of Dan the Automator's albums, not as strong as Lovage, Deltron 3030, but it's probably stronger than Gorillaz. Anyway, there's not that much continuity between the two albums, because White People is mainly about spotlighting guest artists.

Del tha Funkee Homosapien returns on the track, "The World's Gone Mad," which is a really interesting mix of rap, reggae and rock. Some other standout tracks are "I've Been Thinking," "Breakdown" and "Class System," with Julee Cruise of Twin Peaks fame. Julee's track is probably the best on the album with some great, socially conscious lyrics, and a lot of the feeling of Automator's Lovage.

I love the fact that this album bounces between so many different styles. It's a hip hop album in theory, but it's got elements of all genres. I suppose a critique might be that it doesn't have any cohesion whatsoever, but all the tracks were pretty good, so I'm not complaining. Judging only from one listen, I'd say my biggest complain about the album is the rap side is lacking a bit. Del has a great verse, but there's nothing on the level of "The Projects" from the first album. Still, it's a really strong album, possibly even better than the original semester with Handsome Boy.

Related Posts
Lovage: Music to Make Love To Your Old Lady By (11/19/2004)
Top Albums of 2004 (1/2/2005)
Elysian Fields at Tonic (3/18/2006)