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Truth Is Malleable
May. 29th, 2018 06:31 am
May. 29th, 2018
Torrid Tuesday
May. 29th, 2018 03:52 pmIt was dull and overcast
We had thunder and a blast
Of vertiginous rain
That lasted all morning long
Well sated by afternoon
Till it poured no more
So i never left my door.
Of couse now it is dry
And time does fly
and too late to go out
Might as well stay put
And hence no need to take flight.
We had thunder and a blast
Of vertiginous rain
That lasted all morning long
Well sated by afternoon
Till it poured no more
So i never left my door.
Of couse now it is dry
And time does fly
and too late to go out
Might as well stay put
And hence no need to take flight.
Book 37 - Alex Ross "Listen To This"
May. 29th, 2018 03:59 pmAlex Ross "Listen To This" (Fourth Estate)
A hit and miss collection, which isn't too surprising, given the range and my own peculiarities as a reader. The first, manifesto-like piece is very entertaining: say no to Classical Music, yes to demanding music, which is what a bunch of boring people call Classical Music! Then a piece on a short sequence which is used across all genres and throughout the musical hierarchy, deftly showing that our separations of popular from classical are more or less nonsense... which is also tremendously boring if you've already been convinced of that. From there Ross attempts to practice, rather than theorize about, this 'music is just music' idea.
He's at his best when writing mini-biographical journalistic pieces, as with his discussion of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bjork, and 'late' Brahms, but take that with a pinch of salt, because it might just be that I love Brahms and like Bjork and contemporary music while not being all that keen on Monteverdi, for example.
The weakness, as with almost everyone who tries to make the leap from classical writing/playing to 'pop' writing/playing, is that he treats pop as if it's a tradition in the same way that classical music is a tradition. The great sounds (string sections; piano sonatas) and composers (from Palestrina on down) are a given set of excellences. Pop music has no such tradition, but writers like Ross act as if the most well-known interesting pop musicians (Bjork, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Kurt Cobain (soi disant)) are actually the most interesting, which is a long way from the truth.
The best pop musicians, and the ones most worth writing about, don't end up with long careers or hit records; they're not very well known. They come up with a sound or two, a song or two, and then often , not always, fade away which often seems the parvenue of the Wire magazine.I imagine that Ross could write about, say, the backroads of experimental metal and the niche sites of electronic music just as well as he does about Radiohead. Is there an audience for that? Now that would be music that fits his "listen to this".
A hit and miss collection, which isn't too surprising, given the range and my own peculiarities as a reader. The first, manifesto-like piece is very entertaining: say no to Classical Music, yes to demanding music, which is what a bunch of boring people call Classical Music! Then a piece on a short sequence which is used across all genres and throughout the musical hierarchy, deftly showing that our separations of popular from classical are more or less nonsense... which is also tremendously boring if you've already been convinced of that. From there Ross attempts to practice, rather than theorize about, this 'music is just music' idea.
He's at his best when writing mini-biographical journalistic pieces, as with his discussion of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bjork, and 'late' Brahms, but take that with a pinch of salt, because it might just be that I love Brahms and like Bjork and contemporary music while not being all that keen on Monteverdi, for example.
The weakness, as with almost everyone who tries to make the leap from classical writing/playing to 'pop' writing/playing, is that he treats pop as if it's a tradition in the same way that classical music is a tradition. The great sounds (string sections; piano sonatas) and composers (from Palestrina on down) are a given set of excellences. Pop music has no such tradition, but writers like Ross act as if the most well-known interesting pop musicians (Bjork, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Kurt Cobain (soi disant)) are actually the most interesting, which is a long way from the truth.
The best pop musicians, and the ones most worth writing about, don't end up with long careers or hit records; they're not very well known. They come up with a sound or two, a song or two, and then often , not always, fade away which often seems the parvenue of the Wire magazine.I imagine that Ross could write about, say, the backroads of experimental metal and the niche sites of electronic music just as well as he does about Radiohead. Is there an audience for that? Now that would be music that fits his "listen to this".
Just Wondering
May. 29th, 2018 09:49 pmDid you ever agree to help out a friend and then instantly regret it?
Do you have a favorite household cleaner that you swear by?
Do you miss men wearing hats?
Do you have a favorite household cleaner that you swear by?
Do you miss men wearing hats?
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Yo La Tengo
May. 29th, 2018 11:42 pmAlong with Radiohead and Low - Yo La Tengo are another of my fave bands - so here are some live clips -
Yo La Tengo - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Yo La Tengo performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded on January 18, 2013.
Songs:
I'll Be Around
The Point of It
Ohm
Before We Run
Host: Kevin Cole
Yo La Tengo - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
Yo La Tengo performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded on January 18, 2013.
Songs:
I'll Be Around
The Point of It
Ohm
Before We Run
Host: Kevin Cole
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