2010年 02月 2日 火曜日 01:04
(No, the title does not refer to the songs in the list below, it refers to my limp intro and weak song comments. I hope to return to the usual thick, gristly gruel next time.)
Too Much Consensus
Last time we talked about how the the fragmentation of contemporary audience has made critical consensus difficult. Not so fast, says the Village Voice's Chuck Eddy in his comments about this year's Pazz and Jop Poll. Look how closely our poll tracks with the Pitchfork list, says he. These new bands are horrible, and poll voters are both young and lazy, says he.
Ha ha ha! Laugh at the old man with me. Except…well, I almost agree with him. This is the first year I can remember that I've been almost uniformly unenthusiastic about the new music that most critics agree is great. From the short list of new critical darlings, The Antlers and Atlas Sound are the only ones (yet) that have gotten stuck in my regular rotation. Most everything else (Girls, Animal Collective, Phoenix, Dirty Projectors, etc.) is "Cum On Feel the Ambivalence." In most cases, I haven't given these bands much of a chance, but they certainly haven't grabbed me either.
Of course there is always a chance. It only took me thirty years to understand Captain Beefheart, so perhaps some of these darlings will just take time for me to assimilate. At the moment, however, I'm feeling like everybody else can see clothes, when to me it looks like these bands are naked. And that makes me feel old.
You Believe in Things that You Don't Understand, And You Suffer
I have some weird superstitions about my play count. I never stop on a number ending in "13" or "66," and I only stop on "99" when I'm feeling like taking insane risks. I know, I know: that's crazy. To stop on "99" like that.
Well, there is more. Three weeks ago, when the New Orleans Saints were about to play their first playoff game, I stopped on "37777" (that's FOUR sevens!) and ended with Louis Prima's When the Saints Go Marching In. That totally worked, as the Saints beat the Arizona Cardinals 45-14. Four sevens is obviously some powerful voodoo. A week later, the best I could manage was two sevens; again I stopped with the Prima track, and the Saints had to sweat out a dramatic overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings, 31-28. So, before the Super Bowl kicks off this Sunday, you will see my play count stopped at "38777" with the Prima song at the top of the recently played tracks. I hope three sevens is enough.
By the way, apropos of last year's discussion about Super Bowl halftime entertainment: The Who. Eh. Safe choice, and proof that the NFL hasn't run out of elderly musically inclined gentlemen for its big event.
The Top Ten Songs at 2:10
1) Brand New Cadillac–The Clash
So completely badass, it could be a soundtrack for a cartoon villain. Also, a cover that resurrected a great forgotten song, which is perhaps the greatest service that a cover can provide.
2) Long Tall Sally–Little Richard
Supposedly Little Richard wanted to write a song too fast for Pat Boone to sing. Boone was not deterred, although it is unknown whether he personally verified Sally’s built-for-speed construction, and if it was true that she had everything that Uncle John needed.
3) Blue Spark–X
Batting second on the incomparable side 2 of Under the Big Black Sun, which, if I were still in the business of ranking albums, would be on the short list for some prestigious top tens. Curious: for those who only know this or other classic records on CD, are the sides obvious? They seem so to me, but then I was deeply conditioned by the vinyl.
4) Song of the Chief Musician (Part 2)–The Sadies
The Sadies are obviously Byrds disciples, but I think they have surpassed their mentors. They share a lot of the same stylistic traits, but The Sadies' sound is richer and they write consistently better songs. Blasphemy, I know.
5) Mama Tried–Merle Haggard
"Mama Tried" may be the least emo song in existence: "I am a very bad man, and that is completely my fault, and I am pretty much OK with that."
6) Black Out–Pavement
An excellent example of one of Pavement’s favorite tricks, that of the lead guitar playing a swooping countermelody to the lead vocal.
7) Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World–Ramones
The only time I saw the Ramones play live—at a little club in Delaware with sweating walls—three or four nimrods with Nazi accoutrements dominated the pit. They seemed to have taken songs like this one a little too seriously.
8) Have You Ever Been (to Electric Ladyland)–The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Bliss, as Jimi channels Marvin Gaye with the same narcotic feel that would later characterize What’s Goin' On.
9) Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)–Loretta Lynn
Imagine the song fights if Loretta Lynn had gotten married to Merle Haggard or George Jones.
10) Comanche–The Revels
Red light district gutter saxophone music.
Tell me about your last.fm superstitions, if you have any. If you don't, you can ridicule mine from your rationalist/materialist perspective, and then I'll sacrifice a chicken and kill you. Ha! Just kidding. I would never sacrifice a chicken.