The Battle for Who Could Care Less

Ben Folds.  He is a pianist.  He is a vocalist.  He is a guitarist.  He plays a lot of instruments.  He’s been recording solo for over a decade now, having more or less disbanded the Ben Folds Five (a pity really…Robert Sledge is a killer bassist).  But most of all to me, Ben Folds is a showman.  My wife says he can’t sing.  Sure, he’s not Billy Joel or Elton John, but he’s not terrible.  I’ve certainly heard worse.

I heard Ben Folds Five’s “Battle for Who Could Care Less” and was instantly reminded why I love listening to Ben Folds’ music.  He injects fun into his songs in a way that some bands just cannot do.  I’ve unfortunately only seen him perform once, which was at the Big Shindig in Raleigh, NC, back in 1998, but I’ll never forget the scene.  The Ben Folds Five were the last band to play if I remember correctly, and they played many songs from their album Whatever and Ever Amen, which was in regular rotation for me at the time.  There wasn’t a song on that album I didn’t like, so to hear them live was a treat.  At the end the band jammed out, and Folds proceeded to stand up to play ala Jerry Lee Lewis and ultimately slammed his piano stool into the piano repeatedly until the music was over.  But in between the time they started until that destructive finale, I was mesmerized.

Listen to “Battle for Who Could Care Less” and tell me that’s not a fun song.  Or try “Song for the Dumped”.  Folds channels all these feelings that are all too representative of a male’s teenage and college years—getting dumped, dumping someone, getting drunk and trashing a party, being lazy—into many of the Ben Folds Five songs.  When he went solo, his lyrics were more mature and indicative of what an adult male would go through, but the fun hasn’t been lost.  He’s still got the adolescent rebelliousness in him (see “Bastard” from Songs for Silverman or “B*tches Ain’t Sh*t” off of Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the LP), but a lot of times that’s tempered by the reality around him (see “Gracie” off of Songs for Silverman or “Kylie from Connecticut” from Way to Normal).

You’re not going to get Lennon/McCartney here or Brian Wilson or other songwriters with an ability to write music that seems timeless with Folds’ music.  And I’m sure for some people Folds’ music will be too juvenile to try.  But I urge you to listen to him play.  Try to feel the energy that went into the songs.  There is something there in Ben Folds’ music that I think could appeal to just about anyone.

No new entry for my other blog, Music Meteorite Motion Player, but I did want to chirp a little about music.  I just finished listening to “Voodoo Chile” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which is a great record that I unfortunately don’t have the attention span to hear out.  However, I did today because I wanted to enjoy the virtuosity of Hendrix, who has always been one of my favorite guitarists.  I still like Clapton more overall, but Hendrix definitely was my first inspiration for picking up a guitar.

“Voodoo Chile” is a fifteen minute blues jam that soars in and out of the left and right speakers.  I remember I had a copy of the vinyl records way back when and reading the musicians that helped on this track, several luminaries in the business at the time and even to a degree now:  Steve Winwood on organs and Jack Casady (from Jefferson Airplane) on bass.  I had known Winwood for years at the point (“Roll with Me” was a hit in the household betwixt my brother and dad and me), and I knew of Jefferson Airplane.  I just remember being fascinated by the song, how Hendrix gave traditional blues steroids and feedback to create this epic track.  Muddy Waters would have been proud or was proud.

The song that followed is another long track, “A Pot in Which to Piss” by Titus Andronicus (from The Monitor record).  That track is a little more than half the length of “Voodoo Chile”, but you can hear the Hendrix influence in the track.  Granted, there are no sweeping guitar solos or superstar guests, but there is feedback and a touch of the blues mixed in.  Hendrix’ influence on electric guitar and music lives strong even in this ADD world we live.

More Grammy Fallout

Since the Grammys last weekend, there has been a lot of post-Grammy chatter online and publicly (though I guess both act congruently now).  Most of the buzz has been positive, at least from my friends and coworkers.  I think most were fine with the Arcade Fire winning Album of the Year.  Justin Bieber not winning was a shock, but personally I was glad of that.  Most people liked the performances.  Lady Gaga’s new song “Born This Way” sounds eerily like Madonna’s “Express Yourself”.  All in all, a lot of people tuned in, and I think it was for the most part a good show.

Then this morning I read that Steve Stoute, a veteran marketing and music executive (Stoute is the manager of rapper Nas, a highly respected artist who has enjoyed critical and commercial success), publishes in the New York Times on Sunday a scathing advertisement against the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the Grammys for “losing touch with contemporary culture and failing to acknowledge the talents of hugely successful artists like Justin Bieber and Eminem” (see http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/02/20/music-exec-slams-grammys-for-snubbing-justin-bieber-eminem/). Stoute also made comments that criticized how the producers picked certain artists to perform that contradicted the system of voting that determines who wins.  Essentially he was arguing that they asked artists like Bieber and Eminem to perform just to boost ratings despite the fact that neither won one of the bigger awards.

Stoute’s argument in this case essentially sounds to me like he would rather the artists of major labels be recognized rather than artists of independent labels.  His reasoning is part of the reasoning why I tuned OUT from the Grammys years ago.  For far too long I believe major label artists of sub-par quality have been picked over indie label artists of above-par quality.  He argues that Justin Bieber should have won New Artist of the Year over actual winner Esperanza Spalding, stating that his “cultural impact and success are even more quantifiable if you factor in his YouTube and Vevo viewership….”  I emboldened “quantifiable” because that’s exactly how he sees importance—by the numbers rather than the substance.  I’m sorry, but there is nothing about Justin Bieber’s music that inspires me.  His story is fascinating, and he is a talented artist, but he is not a talented songwriter, at least not yet.  His songs seem shallow and immature, which is great for a younger audience but does little for an older, more mature audience.

This is not to say that Bieber has no impact on adults.  I am sure there are millions of adults who love his music, the simplicity of it, and would rather have his music any day over someone of Esperanza Spalding’s ilk.  That’s their prerogative.  But to me people like Stoute and others are looking at a “who’s sold the most, who’s on TV the most” artist/band rather than a substantive artist/band.  I would argue that of the list of artists that were nominated for Best New Artist (Bieber, Spalding, Drake, Florence & the Machine and Mumford & Sons), Drake probably most deserved it.  He would be a more ideal balance of popularity and depth than the other artists.

While Stoute doesn’t directly question Arcade Fire’s Suburbs winning Album of the Year, he does question their being picked to perform right before the announcement of the Album of the Year award.  This does seem a little suspect, but it’s not exactly a new concept.  I am certain (though have not researched to confirm) that at least once an artist that has been nominated for Best Original Song on a Motion Picture at the Oscar’s has also performed right before winning the award.  I did question Arcade Fire’s choice of “Month of May” to perform but figured that was the artist using leverage in order to perform.

I admit I was shocked (in a good way) that Arcade Fire won over Eminem and Lady Antebellum.  I thought both Eminem and Arcade Fire were underdogs in the category since Lady Antebellum had already won two awards earlier in the evening.  Eminem’s record Recovery is a very good record and one of my favorites of his.  I think he shows immense depth at attacking his own demons rather than those of others (as he used to) and assumed that the album would follow the typical Grammy trend and win (based on popularity).  Recovery is good, but The Suburbs is better.  Really all of those bands were fortunate that Janelle Monáe’s ArchAndroid album and Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy weren’t nominated in that category because those albums were better.

I despise the hypocrisy on both sides (Stoute along with other major label execs as well as the RIAA and the Grammys) to be honest.  Both sides have frequently fought off more talented artists and picked the “flavor of the moment” for winning awards.  If they want to make that argument, then make the Billboard Awards a bigger deal.  Those awards are based on popularity and sales.  The Grammys should be about awarding artistic excellence regardless of sales.  When award ceremonies start awarding artists based on artistic integrity and depth, I’ll tune in.  Chances are this will never happen again.

Grammy Wrap-Up

I’m not going to while away about what the artists and entertainers were wearing, but I wanted to take a little time to talk about the Grammys.  I’ve long disliked the Grammys because I felt like major label bands were the only ones ever in consideration, and this is still basically true, though this is starting to change (see more later).  I should also clarify that when I refer to “major labels” I mean the primary mass record distributor for a particular genre.  I felt that there were some fantastic records released by independent labels (further known as “indies”) that deserved far greater attention.  I still think this is true.

I also hated the Grammys because back in the day of Napster the president of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) made some obnoxious remarks about how free online file downloads were ruining the industry and preventing major labels from distributing their artists’ music.  While I understand the position he took and how file sharing was taking money away from the artists, I also have argued that the business itself needed to and has to change to catch up with technology and youth in general.  I think the hardest thing they had to deal with is that technology advanced fantastically in a short period of time.  They didn’t want to accept that things were changing, that bands and record companies needed to find other sources of revenue besides physical albums.   The fact that he made this statement annoyed me to no end and basically turned me off completely from the shows.

My anger started to subside a couple of years ago, and I have caught patches of the shows.  I’ve rarely if ever used the Grammys to determine what music to listen to since most indies were shunned.  However, the diversity of artists that were represented started to intrigue me, so I started to watch.  This year’s show did a better job of holding my interest, at least in the artists who actually won.

First, Album of the Year going to the Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs was a major win to me.  The record was released by Merge Records, an indie label that has been around for a long time.  Like most indies, though, Merge had never had a Grammy winner.  This win was a major coup for the indies.  Hopefully more focus will be given to their albums as well as other independent record label albums.

Second, Cee-Lo should have won for “Forget You”.  That song to me was the catchiest song I have heard in a long time, and I only just heard it four months ago.  Sure it’s a revenge song, but he does it with such straight-faced giddiness that I can’t help but like it.  In fact, that entire album deserves some more credit because it is a very solid album from beginning to end with great singing and music.

Third, Lady Gaga is rehashing old Madonna tunes.  It’s true, you cannot deny it.  “Born This Way” is “Express Yourself” all over again.  Even the underlying themes are practically the same.  While I acknowledge she has some talent, I worry that this is a pattern that will continue.  Some of her earlier stuff has harkened to Madonna’s glory days.  And her gimmicks certainly also reflect Madonna’s influence, though Gaga takes it further.

Fourth, the Black Keys won three awards on Sunday, though none were done live.  Though I like a lot of their music, Brothers was their first release to really gain popular acclaim.  So long as they don’t lose sight of who they were when they were just two making lo-fi blues records, they can do no wrong in my eyes.

I enjoyed the performances of a few artists on Sunday night.  Janelle Monae, whose ArchAndroid record is fantastic, was electric and has a great voice.  Bruno Mars, despite the fact that I really am not a fan of his music, exudes the soul of the late 1960s, so I have to give him props here.  Mumford & Sons performed as well as they usually do.  Eminem with Rhianna and Dr. Dre also did an awesome job.  Eminem was the only other band I would have liked to see win Record of the Year.  Recovery is a different record for him but a very good record.

Hopefully next year’s ceremonies will be as good as this year’s.  I think that if the organization shifts some of its focus away from the majors and looks at some indies, I think they’ll do all of us a favor.

Sticking with resolutions

Earlier this month I promised to write more in this blog since I'm probably going to be continuing this blog in the future whereas my other I probably will not.  Unfortunately, I have been extremely busy at work and just haven't been able to commit any time to this blog.  But I have been doing a lot of thinking, and finally I have the chance to commit some words to this.

The last few days I have been feeling a little troubled about my music.  I know, a silly thing, but still, it bothers me.  As I've mentioned ad nauseum in other entries, I am currently writing another blog that takes the top 200 rated albums from the last 11 years on Metacritic's website in March 2010.  Although I have only written on about 50 of them, I have listened to at least 95 of them and may have heard more of them at some point.  These albums have more or less dictated what I have listened to over the last 5 months.  I'm a bit bummed out about this because there are a load of songs already on my computer and my Zune that are being neglected by this project.

For instance, I still love to listen to classic rock, particularly Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, and especially the Beatles.  A lot of times the Beatles will take precedent over anything I am listening, regardless of if it's a project or not.  I also like listening to current rock, as well--the Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, etc.  I also like some country music...Kenny Chesney is a favorite in the house, and I learned quite a bit of guitar listening to Garth Brooks and Clint Black.  And I love listening to Kind of Blue; that record I will never tire of.

Some would say why not stop the project for a while and listen to your other music.  I do that, but this project is important to me.  I resolved to see this project through, even the albums that are going to be difficult to find.  I do like this project a lot because it has opened my ears to new stuff.  I wouldn't have heard Flying Lotus or the Streets without this blog.  I wouldn't have had as good of an appreciation of the National as I do now.

So despite my sadness that I haven't listened to any other music besides my project blog albums, I am glad I am doing it, and I will make the time to listen to some of my older music.

So, here are some songs I heard today that I thought I would pass along.

• Tom Waits "Walk Away"
• Titus Adronicus "Theme from 'Cheers'"
• Nine Inch Nails' cover of the Queen song "Get Down Make Love"
• Talking Heads "Girlfriend is Better"
• Kanye West "Jesus Walks"

Super Behind (not referencing the anatomy, people!)

I've gotten really behind on this blog.  Unintentionally.  I wanted to do the "favorite 5 or 10 songs" daily thing, and I will try to revisit that later this month when work is a little less hectic and I remember.  But I've really been digging into my other blog and haven't had any clear thoughts about music or other things in general to post about.  But I figured tonight was as good as any to discuss my whereabouts.

I did follow some of the top album and top song lists from the different music magazine and e-zines.  I was happy to see that I had heard at least 50% of the records, but more importantly I was glad that a few artists I like who released an album last year received some critical praise.  First and foremost I am glad the Black Keys released a very good record that was well received (I have spoken ad nauseum about my love for this band in an earlier blog).  Arcade Fire released the fantastic The Suburbs, an album that gets better and better by the listen.  LCD Soundsystem released This is Happening, which I am 50-50 on; I think I need to listen to it again.  Vampire Weekend released a good album, as did Spoon and Eminem.

Even more, though--I feel like I have expanded my musical palette this year in leaps and bounds.  If I hadn't started my first blog, would I have heard Janelle Monae? M.I.A.?  The National?  Sleigh Bells?  And those are just rock bands, rappers, and R&B stars.  I also heard a great jazz record by Vijay Iyer Trio, great country albums by Emmylou Harris and Patty Griffith, and many other albums that I may not have heard otherwise.  I may have gotten stuck listening to the tried and true or lesser albums from artists I like.  I am glad music evolves.

So anyway, I do plan to write more.  I will get back to my daily postings...er, maybe not always daily, but more frequently.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Back in the '90s

Did you ever start reading something and have several series of reactions? For instance, when you start reading, you laugh at a couple of the passages and say “hey, I can relate to that”, then you find something that annoys you or pisses you off and you want to stop reading but you can’t, and then you get to the point where what the writer is saying makes sense and you begrudgingly admit it. I’m experiencing that now reading this: http://www.avclub.com/features/whatever-happened-to-alternative-nation/. 

Like the writer, much of my formative years were spent in the 1990’s, listening endlessly to the music of the times. I was a few years younger (from what I can tell maybe three years younger), so things affected me a little differently. A lot of my musical interests were driven by two sources: friends and MTV. I only read magazines like Spin or Rolling Stone when I was either at the local bookstore or working at the library (which was an experience in and of itself). Anyway, by being “controlled” by these two mediums, my musical tastes tended towards the popular: Kris Kross, Bell Biv DeVoe, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, C&C Music Factory, etc. (Being the music psycho I am, I still listen to some of the corny stuff I did as a fifth grader, but that’s beside the point.) When I got my first boom box, these were the first few CDs I had: C&C Music Factory’s Gonna Make You Sweat (I have happily parted with this), KLF’s The White Room (in retrospect I wish I had held onto this), and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s Homebase. I had tapes, too—some good (Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill), some dreadful (Vanilla Ice’s To the Extreme). Oh, and I was OBSESSED with the Batman movie (with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson). But I didn’t know any better and didn’t care what the artist was “saying”. I just liked the beat, and I’ve always been driven by that first.

Anyway, Nirvana’s Nevermind didn’t hit me until fall of 1991 or maybe even spring of 1992. I remember my first impression of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” being why are they writing about a deodorant. It wasn’t until a little while later that I realized they were mocking it. Then I thought it was a little cool. It was “Come As You Are” that put me on the Nirvana bandwagon. I loved the scene in the video where Cobain is hanging on the chandelier swinging around (which I tried to replicate on the jungle gym at the park while at a birthday party of a friend), and that’s what hooked me. Around that same time a friend of mine was playing “Mysterious Ways” by U2 a lot, and I started to like that. My CD collection grew two more CDs. The same friend lent me his tapes of Pearl Jam’s Ten (which I appreciated immediately) and the Black Crowe’s Shake Your Money Maker (which took me another year before I really got into them). With Ten especially, I felt like I connected with the singer. Maybe I didn’t fully understand everything Vedder was saying, but “Jeremy” meant something. “Black” meant something. “Release” meant something.

By this point I was a raving mad lunatic for “grunge” music (I have a growing distaste for too many labels), trying to get more and more. Unfortunately, my need far outpaced my resources, and it wasn’t until I was older that I was able to grab stuff that was seemingly slipping away. But I tried. I went to the library to borrow stuff. I embraced the artists that the bands I was listening to were influenced by. I raided friends’ music collections. I tried whatever I could to some degree of success.

And thinking about this stuff—the writer’s posts, my own life—I realized that the writer is not just evaluating rock music in the 1990’s—he’s coming to terms with his own past, where his life was then compared to where it is now. He’s doing this unintentionally, but when you read his comments about what he was like as a teenager and how the music affected him, you can’t help but think this.  In reading this, I was doing the exact same thing (intentionally). I loved the Spin Doctors when I was younger, but I listen to it now and it means nothing. Do I still enjoy the music? Sure, but it just isn’t the same. Gin Blossoms—the same thing. There are quite a few bands that I loved back then that I just don’t love anymore.

But then there are some albums and artists that impacted me and continue to impact. The writer in his last posting on music in 1994 refers to Superunknown, an unbelievable album by Soundgarden. That album got me through a miserable family vacation to Myrtle Beach with songs like “Fell On Black Days”, “Black Hole Sun”, and “Spoonman”. I listen to the same songs now, along with the title track and other songs, and still feel the message. Likewise Alice in Chain’s Jar of Flies EP, which was a musical departure from their earlier two albums.

Yet all of this meant something different to each of us that heard these records and was impacted by the music of that period. Some people hate the music of the ‘90’s now. Some people can’t get out of it. I for a long time was stuck in the rut of listening primarily to music from that period. But I’m getting older now, and my desire to find new music has propelled me into multiple directions. And I think all of that is a part of maturing. I want to be inspired again by music. Some people share this feeling, and some people don’t.

I enjoy the approach the author has taken, and I hope that he continues to evaluate it. If you grew up during this period or know the music from this period, this is a great little write-up about each year.