A friend was surprised that I didn’t own any records. I can’t remember her exact words but she knew I loved music and the lack of records, for a moment, seemed to say something about me. I do like the idea that a room, a book, a magazine, a record can say something about what kind of person you are, but I try to think beyond the medium. I do have a preferred medium of media storage but to each his or her own. My problem isn’t with listening to vinyl records but with the people who prefer it for the sound that vinyl has. I think the idea of quality of music on vinyl is somewhat analogous to mistaking the trees for the forest. Musicians as artists and composers do care about their sound and the sound that they make, but to bemoan the fact that a CD doesn’t sound like tape doesn’t sound like vinyl is to admit that the music itself doesn’t matter. Music should have the power of transference, if you like the Beatles on vinyl, you should like them on tape, should like them on CD, should like them on high-resolution digital audio (sorry mp3, you do alter sound).
Music is powerful, the combination of sounds, be it word choice, consonance, dissonance, silence make it not only an enjoyable medium but a provocative one as well. At some point music became this weird non-art. I don’t mind the commercialization of music, $0.99 songs are alright, remixing is alright, trading with friends is alright, but the mystical quality of music is something I have quandaries with. When musicians talk about having “it”, the ability to do some intrinsically and naturally, it harms the field of music. Music, like all art, is flawed and it is better for it. The more time is spent talking about who has “it”, what recording spaces have the right “feel”, less is spent on exploring actual music. There are less “what ifs” the minute Abbey Road/Stax/Sun Records/Motown/Hit Factory/Electric Lady Studios are unsactified and time is spent with the record and with the music.
Now this isn’t to go against my post on Ryan’s album, where I mentioned the feel of the record. In that instance, I am concerned as the engineer with making him sound a certain way that I think is appealing, and that certainly is important in the same way that I sometimes buy a record for the producer and his aesthetic. But there it is again, the aesthetic, I know that the musician and the producer created a goal that is certainly about feel and mood but also about sound. Do people discuss tape versus digital or how to release a record, of course but when your favorite musician/composer sits down and writes, they’re thinking of notes, melody, feel, concept, and lyrics.
Or so I hope.
Sounds of a New Life
I spent the last year working on Ryan’s album and it is just getting released today. The mood and feel is all based on the idea of a songwriter down in one of those old studios. Imagine being down in Sun Studios recording songs the old fashioned way but adding the lyrics and knowledge of a contemporary singer-songwriter. At times the record is real sparse but not lonesome. To me, working on this record has been about giving the feel of someone working through his back catalog, giving them a name and a place. When talking with Ryan, he never thought the record would work or go that way, but the more I listened the more I got that Sun Records feel and these songs, no matter how present they may be, speak to Ryan’s influences. The whole time, I heard some John Lennon, not the lyrics, but the feel of a song that is older than either Ryan or I, it’s just like starting over. Enjoy the record, it’s pretty darn good.
I sometimes find that, even though I certainly enjoyed watching six Veronica Mars episodes in a row, a certain feeling of “Jesus Christ” comes over me, and I don’t mean piety. Something more akin to, “What? How? SIX FUCKING HOURS?”
Stakeouts can sometimes take as long as 6 hours.
Why is it that entertainment must charge a fee in the form of self-loathing after providing so many minutes of uninterrupted pleasure? If a thing is great and wonderful, (and in the case of this TV program, seductive and hypnotic), why not just give in and let it work its magic on me for as long as possible?
If I had spent that time working, earning money, I might not wonder what I’d been doing. When a task or process is boring, weak, unfulfilling, or for a specific end (like earning money, to eventually earn more money and someday aspire to the rank of retawded rich), I don’t worry so plainly, so starkly, about what I did with my time. Only when I’m enjoying myself, and time goes by…I say at some mid-night point, “What in god’s name have I been doing for the last [insert number of hours/days here]?”
Perhaps my mind can only absorb so much pleasurable input before the rational part of my brain starts to poke me in the subconscious and mutter, “ALLLLLL right, maybe…that’s enough for now?” with a quaint little upspeak like a third grader. Maybe a lisp.
So why don’t I listen? Why does that impulse remain buried or rather ignored until I eventually “come around”? As I get older life does, in fact, seem to consist largely of convincing myself to do something rather than something else until I get so used to doing the right thing I can safely skip the convincing part.
And I guess it makes sense that: why wouldn’t I want to prolong the pleasurable activity? Even if I DO know half my brain disapproves?
Perhaps it’s a matter of knowing whether it’s actually me choosing to watch another episode, or whether it’s the show deciding. Veronica Mars is one of the most engaging cliffhanger detective series I know of (and the title character embodying the perfect woman doesn’t hurt). If I can’t just say no, maybe it’s because the show itself won’t take no for an answer.
I don't use "perfect" lightly.
So my choice is simple: either avoid addictive, need-to-know-more series like VM, or try not to lose sight of who’s actually doing the watching here: Me. Not Kristen Bell. She doesn’t know I exist.
But isn’t it nicer to pretend she does? And that I matter to her so much, she keeps putting on more episodes, just for me?
P.S. Miss you Paul
Avi Buffalo is a very talented band that has given some of the worst interviews I’ve ever read. The guitarist, Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg has apparently been around for a while despite being in his early twenties. He has been playing for a long time earning his dues and it’s apparent on this record that not only is he talented but he cars about having a specific sound. However, that hasn’t stopped this good record from sounded slightly immature. A lot of critics have pointed out to the lyrical content which I have no problem with, even with the song “Summer Cum”. The problem for me has been their interviews where they mention their influence of Jim O’Rourke and Nels Cline. That’s a tall order considering that both have worked independently and with others not only creating a very defined sound but also deconstructing that sound. Outside of Nels Cline’s work for Wilco, I can’t think of two pieces of music that sound all that similar. He certainly has a style but it seems outside the realm of imitation or influence. The same can certainly be said for Jim O’Rourke who has written minimalist pop records and drone electronica. Now, this is more a pet peeve, but there is something frustrating to me when an artist explains what their sound is like when they have a specific example in mind. With the advent of beached-themed bands, they all define the Beach Boys and Phil Spector as an example of their sound. I know what they mean but I suppose that’s not what I think of when that description comes up. To me the Brian Wilson and Spector present these large orchestrations into a popular format and cover it with a sense of grandiosity with reverb. The new wave of bands, usually just use a lot of reverb to a similar effect. Although trying to rely on positive influences from the past, I’m afraid something gets lost in musical translation that becomes the overall story of the musical history. Simply put, I don’t want bands to define the music of the past. If you like Wavves, you may not like Beach Boys, and I doubt you’d like “Surfin Safari”. And Avi Buffalo’s comparison to Nels Cline or Jim O’Rourke has little to do for those who like O’Rourke’s solo records, Loose Fur or Gastr Del Sol or Cline’s solo records, Geraldine Fibbers, or Wilco. It is possible but the correlation isn’t through that part of the music.
Post scriptL Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg DOES sound like Nels Cline on occasion but he buries his playing in reverb on a lot of tracks.
…and bend over too.
I buy a large portion of my clothes from the Gap, I admit to loving their aesthtic and clean look that seems less about wearing a complete and colorful ensemble than about zany shirts or selling sex more than shirts. But their latest line of women’s advertisements has been weird.
- Zip It and Shut It
I can’t find the other ones but this is definitely the one that has been bothering me. There is a much better way to explain that these jeans have zippers. Like “Zip zam zoom!”, “They Zip”, or “Zippity do dah!” But whatever, I suppose we should all shut up and buy the jeans. Just zip it.
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