Whatcha' Readin'?
Today I finished reading Rob Bell’s
Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, a very quick read. He talks about a very liquid church, one with no place for dogma, hard-and-fast doctrines-a church that is largely defined by its’ constant change and tweaking by participants therein.
Bell’s writing style is conversational and pretty accessible, and like I said, this is a quick read and Bell is a very hopeful person. But the whole of this book is about the church. Or should I say, The Church. I’m so fatigued with conversations about this. Everybody’s got their great serious ideas and answers for the ills of “the church.” I’ve never heard or seen people become such boorish idealogues in conversation as when they talk about “the church” and religion. I don’t know if it is the same everywhere you go, but I’ve heard enough.
I’ll go to the discussion group for this book, but only out of reverence for the relationships that I’m forming there, not because I have any answers for fixing “the church,” (as if it is a thing that exists), or for fixing the “Christian faith,” (as if it is some monolithic thing that can be pointed to and defined.)
I think I’m going to pull out my Buddhist books again.
I Am a Golden God
I was reading Francis Bacon’s
Essays recently, and came across this amusing quote:
“Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.”--Aristotle
Politics I.2
Standard Time Vol.3-The Resolution of Romance by Wynton Marsalis (1990)
A Random CD Review from the Stutzman Memorial Library
Standard Time Vol. 3-The Resolution of Romance by Wynton Marsalis (1990)“That’s baby-makin’ music, that’s what that is,” I said one time when someone noticed this album playing in the background at my house.
Well, the Excel random-number formula spit out #337 today. As I’ve said before, Wynton is one of my all-time favorite musical artists and on this album he takes on some down-tempo, smoky jazz with his dad Ellis on piano. Wynton is pretty much the epitome of “cool” to me. I came to this realization after seeing him live with his septet several years ago. He speaks in a slow, deliberate manner, sometimes with playful humor and a vocabulary just barely out of his reach, and there is always the hint that he might be saying something profound in a southern way.
I certainly can’t remember any of the tunes on this album in particular. This is a real “vibey” record. You put it on with the lights low and allow the quartet to massage your soul and tell you, “everything’s gonna be all right, baby.” I’ve actually got a bunch of jazz albums like that. They only exist for me in the moment of audible perception. Due to their improvised nature, they are fleeting. The exact opposite of this would be, say, a Beatles song-something that “stays with me.” I can hear “For No One” with my mind’s ear right now---the bright piano, Paul singing “Your day breaks, your mind aches” in his lower middle register, the brilliant horn solo by Alan Civil in the middle, the harmonium…I could probably work out the form from memory.
Not so with anything from this Wynton album. And that used to kind of make me feel bad, as if I wasn’t being faithful to what Wynton and the guys were doing. I’ve always been an analysis-first kind of listener. But jazz just defies that need for specifics. I don’t have the background or education to fully understand what’s going on in a standard performed by a small combo like this. It’s just a bunch of nice “vibey” sounds to me. As I get older, I am slowly getting to the point where that’s ok. I don’t have to be hyper-aware of all the technicalities when listening. It’s becoming ok to surrender to the musical moment.
And I think that “letting go” is spilling into other areas of my life. The world around me doesn’t just suggest, it
forces a multitude of questions. I’ve never had the answers. I’m slowly becoming ok with that again. I say “again,” because when I was a kid, one of my favorite bits of Biblical advice was “lean not on your own understanding.” And I loved God’s response to Job’s reasonable complaints, basically saying “I’m God. Get used to it. I didn’t ask for your permission or opinion when I created all this.” College, (with its’ emphasis on argument-and defense), and ego kind of forced that advice into the back of my head.
I’m getting back to a “what the hell do I know?” mindset these days.
ChangesBowie by David Bowie (1990)
A Random CD Review from the Stutzman Memorial Library
ChangesBowie by David Bowie (1990)
Well now. Is there anybody in the business of rock music that is more iconic than David Bowie? Obviously Elvis. Bob Dylan? Maybe John Lennon? Bob Marley? Pre-Disney Elton John? I don’t know.
All I can say is that I am largely confused by Bowie. I say he’s “iconic,” but that might not be true anymore. It certainly was true when he was indistinguishable from his stage persona of Ziggy Stardust. And maybe that’s a large part of why he’s confusing to me. If you factor out the visual element and try to pin him down musically, it’s still a rough go- even with the relatively limited chronological scope of this greatest hits album, which was made when songs like “China Girl” and “Fashion” were still pretty new songs.
If I was a critic, I would be confounded with Bowie’s output, even up to the point covered by this album. Stylistically, he’s a bit of a shape-shifter, isn’t he? The only commonalities would seem to be his distinctive voice and his ability to write long-ish melodies. I mean if you think about the two poles of this album-“Space Oddity” and “Blue Jean,” they really don’t sound like the same artist, from a compositional standpoint. Of course, that’s one of the things I like about Bowie, his willingness to try new things.
Favorite tracks from this album: “Space Oddity,” “Changes,” “Heroes,” “Ashes to Ashes,” and “Modern Love.” I’ve never been able to get into “Jean Genie” or “Diamond Dogs.”
Surely there are some Bowie appreciators out there. Any favorites you care to discuss?
The Wurst of PDQ Bach by Peter Schickele (1986)
A Random CD Review from the Stutzman Memorial Library
The Wurst of P.D.Q. Bach by Peter Schickele (1986)
“PDQ Bach” is the nom-de-plume of Peter Schickele, a classically-trained musical humorist. I can’t say I know an awful lot about him or his music-surprisingly, since I’m a fan of satire and music. But based on this album, I can say that goofy music theorists and music historians are this guy’s target audience. I remember hearing his take on the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth as if it were a baseball game way back in music history class, studying sonata-allegro form. So, the ideas behind his humor-pretty highbrow. The sounding music-pretty low-brow at times. I’m going home to listen to this album since it’s been awhile.
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So, what Schickele does is mess around with a listener’s expectations. When listening to Mozart, there are just so many broad categories of sound you are likely to hear. There are musical patterns that are common in music of his time and about a hundred years before and after. What Schickele does on this double-CD set is establish an aesthetic and then subtly, (and not so subtly), go off into foreign territory. Sometimes he deceptively resolves a passage, or doesn’t resolve at all, or abandons keys for another with no preparation, or uses odd instruments or rhythmic figures. It’s all kind of amusing stuff. I really should listen to it more often.
When listening today to his mock oratorio _Iphigenia in Brooklyn_, there were several passages scored for trumpet mouthpiece and bassoon reeds that made me chuckle out loud.
I remember when I was in college, presenting a paper that compared the satirical methods of Jonathan Swift and Frank Zappa, one English teacher suggested I should instead focus on Schickele. I bristled at the mere idea. (As I’ve said before, Zappa was a hero to me.) And as I think about it, the textbooks should include these two as the opposing archetypes of musical satire: Schickele being the more good-natured, Horatian satirist and Zappa being the Juvenalian example. I don’t know why, but I like Zappa’s music more, maybe because he is conversant in a larger scope of musical styles that Schickele, who is more of a specialist in skewering the music of the Common Practice Period.
Putting Away Childish Things
As I said before, the hard drive crashed late last week and I just got back in the swing of things yesterday. One of my tasks was re-entering all of my internet favorites and it was with much deliberation that I decided to NOT include Pitchfork Media on that list.
Over the last few months I came to realize that as I visited that site ritualistically every day as I had for several years, very rarely would I stay to read anything. No longer could I work up any interest in reading about tour dates for obscure bands no bigger than my own. No longer could I pretend to care what pretentious snobs had to say about doomed, insignificant albums by equally obscure bands. Oh, I’m sure there is some tiny little sub-culture of bespectacled goons out there who would shudder at my usage of the word “insignificant” and who actually care about the latest Wolf Parade single. But for me, Pitchfork has finally turned the corner to
irrelevance.
I’m moving on, baby.
My hard drive crashed up here at work on Thursday and I have been trying to recreate my life since then. I never knew how important something like a C: could be. Luckily, I had most of my large files on another drive. I can't imagine how disjointed I would feel if all of that stuff was gone. As I move around the office over to other people's desks and computers, I am finding out how much I had grown accustomed to my own way of doing things- even things as simple as how I arrange my desk and the position of my chair. Hopefully I'll get my new computer tomorrow. Aaron's chair is killing my back.
The Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy (2000)
A Random CD Review from the Stutzman Memorial Library
The Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy (2000)I don't know much about the band Grandaddy, other than the fact that the singer's name is Jason Lytle and that they are now defunct. I must have bought this CD based on a review, but I must say that I like it a lot. One thing this band has (had) going for them was melodies. Catchy melodies. The kinds of melodies that make you feel warm all over. Another thing that this album has going for it is a flair for the epic. There are all kinds of vintage synthy bloops and whooshes that serve as the icing on the indie rock cake. I will say that at times, this album sounds like a Flaming Lips tribute band, but in the grand scheme of things, there are worse musical thefts. Like, say, a Menudo tribute band or...a Debby Boone tribute.
Anyway, I digress.
So, as I was saying, you have these very well-crafted song structures, interesting arrangements and sprawling instrumentation throughout the album as a whole, bringing in the fuzzy guitars exactly when appropriate. All in all, I'd say this album strikes a great balance--not too artsy-fartsy to the point of being incomprehensible, but also not being just a bunch of love songs or "let's dance" schlock. And as I've said before, I'm a fan of artists trying to create an album-length work of art and I can tell that they had some of those ideas in mind. Whether or not they actually accomplished creating an album where all the songs are somehow less if taken by themselves, I
do think that they managed to create a consistent vibe with this batch of songs.
I kind of compare this album to Radiohead's
OK Computer, but this one has a tad less variety as far as tempo goes. And there's the requisite blah-blah-blah about how both deal with technology at some level, but I'm more of a fan of its
music, not necessarily what they're trying to "say." The first time I heard the persistence of "The Crystal Lake" and it's fantastic, clean sounding lead guitar sound, I was convinced these guys could deliver the goods. On the opposite end of the spectrum is "So You'll Aim for the Sky," a beautiful, string-filled ballad. The only song I don't like is "Miner at the Dial-a-View," with bridge sections I don't understand.
But overall, this is one of my favorite latter-day albums. (When I say "Latter-Day," I mean more recent than say, oh, 1995.)
RIP Grandaddy
Electric Scooter Holiday Blowout Released Tomorrow!
T-minus 28 hours and counting until the new Grandpa Griffith album will be available for purchase! For all you fans out there I suggest you buy it soon in its pristine 16-bit 44.1 kHz form before all of the ugly MP3 versions start showing up. And by the way-yes, this IS a headphone album, with all kinds of technical, stereo doo-dads employed to swirl the music around your head before hitting you right in the gut.
This CD wouldn’t be nearly as exciting if it weren’t for the fact that there are some surprises on it: some never-before-heard songs, a few new musical parts on songs we’ve been playing live for awhile and some other niceties that shall remain unnamed.
In my head, this CD is going to be a real catalyst to world peace. If somehow George Bush and the Iranians and the North Koreans could get their hands on a copy of this, we would enter into a new era of world relations. If every fifth grader in the world were to hear some of the stuff on here, there would be no more need for schools. All you need to know about life and death are contained within, digitally encoded as subversive, super-catchy, eargasm-inducing audio art.
It has been such a struggle keeping this thing under wraps and ultra-secret for all this time. Now I know how the Knights Templar must have felt guarding the Da Vinci Code over the centuries.
But as of tomorrow night, the waiting will be over. If you’re local, I suggest you come to our CD Release Corporate event at MetroTech Auditorium at 1700 SpringLake Dr. (Just little bit down the street from the Omniplex in the opposite direction of Remington Park on MLK between NE 50th and NE 36th.)
Electric Scooter Holiday Blowout. I challenge all of you listeners to unlock the meaning of it all.
Also, in the last week, at my house, I have completed the compilation of rarities, demos, and madness called
Holiday Leftovers, the exclusive bonus disc for those who donated to our worthy cause all of those months ago. There is some interesting stuff on there as well, some of it ultra-rare--so rare that the rest of the band heard it for the first time last week. So, if you were a donor, don’t forget to pick up your copy of that as well.
Anne and James, we need to schedule dinner with you guys some night. I have been polishing up on my cooking skills. I now know that you put the pop-tarts
in the toaster.
Thanks to Will Hunt for recording, engineering, and producing us at such a cheap rate. It takes a very special person to keep up with the flood of ideas and imagery that mostly flows out of Jeff’s mouth. Here’s the website for his
studio.
Roseland NYC Live by Portishead (1998)
A Random CD Review from the Stutzman Memorial Library
Roseland NYC Live by Portishead (1998)
Well now, here’s another fortunate pick by my electric randomizer. I can’t say I know a whole lot about Portishead or about trip-hop in general but I really like the blending of source materials in their music. This is a very dark, moody band. They create mesmerizing, groove-based music using all manner of instruments: real drums, samples from records, guitar, bass, upright bass, vintage synths…And on top of all of this is Beth Gibbons’ smoky voice-at turns fragile, other times sounding like a European she-dictator from a 50s noir movie.
But what’s so great about this album in particular is that it is live. Their music sounds to me like it is largely studio-created, never really based on an actual “performance” that ever happened in time. But they manage to pull off the resultant complexity by marshalling a huge force of additional live musicians on stage- a horn section and medium-sized string section. It’s really quite impressive when rock musicians bring in classical instrumentalists and not have it turn into schmaltzy easy listening. The “classical” has a way of overtaking the “rock.” (Listen to any of those The _______Symphony Orchestra Plays the Music of _________records to hear what I mean.)
Now, one gray area in rock musical aesthetics for me is the question of consistency. This Portishead record can start to sound a little “samey.’ They have a particular set of sounds they like-turntables, atmospheric harmony, plodding tempos and melodies that span a very short total range. For most rock critics, (and more importantly, for marketing teams), this is a good thing. They call it having “a sound,” or “an artistic vision.” And I suppose there’s some value in that assessment. But the side of me that gets bored easily without musical stimulation just stops listening after awhile. Variety is the spice of life, after all. So, though I really like what Portishead does, a little of it goes a long way for me.
