The sun’s rays are beating down on dry trampled pieces of hay and grass. The dirt is dry and the dust is carried through the air by the sound waves that the music creates. At night, glow sticks light up the dark and people dance freely with arms in the air and heads towards the clear sky.
Music festivals add a completely new and exciting vibe to the music scene. Although ticket prices may seem expensive, averaging around $250, they are worth every dollar. Some of the headliners sell tickets for over $100 to solo shows, so when a fan can buy a ticket to see many of their favorite performers over the course of a weekend, it is definitely a discount.
However, with the economy in the state it is in, some fans cannot afford the $250, so the better option is to volunteer. Many festivals offer discount tickets to people who are on the street teams, advertising and marketing the festival in cities across the country, but volunteers have to work a few short shifts and have a free ticket into a few days of musical paradise.
2009 marks the eighth year of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. It is in a remote location, however for four days Manchester becomes the most populated city in the state, beating out Memphis, which has roughly 60,000 people. Individuals from all over the world attend Bonnaroo for many different reasons; some are first timers while others are founding followers of the event.
This year marks the third year in a row for one attendee. In the beginning she went because of friends who had gone in the past, “it sounded like an amazing experience that I didn’t want to miss out on again”. During her second year, she volunteered for the first time and said working did not interfere with seeing her favorite acts. “It actually enhanced the experience”.
This summer, Bonnaroo seems to have taken a different turn. It started slowly, but over the years Bonnaroo has joined the mainstream music community rather than the jam band festival that it was previously known as. The headliner for 2009 is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, however he will be sandwiched on Friday and Sunday nights by Phish, both bands making their first appearances. Bonnaroo showcases all types of talent, ranging from the Comedy Tent, this year featuring Jimmy Fallon, as well as blue grass band David Grisman Quintet, and rap star Snoop Dogg. The artists vary as much as the fans, but in the approximate 600 acres of empty farmland, everyone finds a common beat, the love of music, meeting new people, and being free from the everyday routines.
When the sun is too hot to sit and bake at a show, you can walk around and cool off in the giant mushroom water fountain that features a new paint job every year. When your legs are tired from walking simply grab a copy of the Bonnaroo Beacon, the festival’s newspaper which is run by Relix, and read of the upcoming events as well as reviews of the previous day’s shows. Find shade under This Tent or That Tent and drink a cold bottle of water or frozen lemonade and relax until it is time to dance once again.
While waiting for the night performances to begin, visit the many tents and stands that sell items ranging from cowboy hats to flowing skirts, glass beads to hammocks. If it is possible to get tired of dancing at live shows, put on a pair of headphones and dance in the Silent Disco. There is never a dull moment, and never a time when you can’t find something to do.
Some might refer to it as the Woodstock of today, however it is something all its own. It is a place where people are friendly, music is always good, ages range from infants with their parents to people who did attend Woodstock in the sixties. Perhaps I am biased because 2009 will be my third Bonnaroo, however every year when the set list is announced and the countdown begins, the excitement starts anew.
Bonnaroo is what you make it and as long as you go with a positive attitude and an open mind to all that is around you, then you will have the most amazing four days of summer 2009. At the end of the weekend, while slowly driving down the long dirt and gravel roads, you won’t be able to keep your mind from wandering and begin counting down the days to next year’s festival. But for now, it is an end to Bonnaroo 2009, out of the gates and back reality.
This weekly feature isn’t a new concept, instead, it is an old concept with a new twist: the recommending of great music by someone who actually listens to it for pleasure! This may not sound like much, but when you think about it, most journalists are handed CD’s and listen and report because it’s their job. But here, music is listened to for enjoyment, not because anybody has to, helping to give this column a genuine feel. This place is not just limited to the Indie/Unsigned Artists, it’s also about “mainstream” artists that are truly taking musical risks, or ones that have seen their hey-day, but continue to make music, only on their owns terms. So we get to know each other better, I will provide you the reader with an introduction to my musical taste. Genre wise, I have a deep and undying love for New Wave, Synth-Pop, and 80’s music (and by 80’s I don’t mean that garbage called Hair metal, talk about posers). I am also deeply into the faceless world of Electronica, including the sub-genre of DJ culture. Take a look through my iPod or CD collection, you will find a diverse rotation of artists spanning each and every realm, such as BT, Paul Oakenfold, Human League, The Police, Sondre Lerche, The The, Boston, Static-X, Beth Orton, Charlotte Martin, Ken Andrews to name a few. What you won’t find in my collection are any Emo, Pop-punk or Indie “darling” bands or any of the like. I firmly believe that there is nothing likable about any of those genres, though I have tried to many of the artists a fair listen. In writing this weekly article, I hope to open up a whole new world of sonic experiences to you, showing you the roads less traveled. I am reaching out to you, the reader, to give the artist that I am talking about an honest shot.
Artists You Don’t Know About, but SHOULD
For my first installment in this weekly series, I have chosen one of my favorite artists, a musician that has never failed to excite or amaze, someone who pushes the sonic boundaries further and further out with each realese; he goes by the name of BT. So where do I begin? One would think that it would be the easiest of tasks to write about your favorite musician on the planet, but alas, it has proven to be one of the most difficult articles that I have ever had to write. Electronica artist, DJ (or not), music synthesist, film composer, these are just a few of the titles that one can bestow upon BT. The only thing more diverse than the man is his music, as evident by his albums, and the constant genre defying work each seems to be.
For starters, those of you that prefer dream-like trance that provides both a good beat to dance to, or soothing rhythms to chill to, one should be guided towards his first full-length effort Ima (1995). The album offers a journey through time and space, complete with pulsing rhythms, whale calling, floating pianos, and what can only be described as breathy, shimmering synth swirls, which help provide an audio journey through some distant far off land. In the U.S. version of the release, the listener is treated to a 2x CD experience, with disc 2 featuring collaboration with Tori Amos on the dance/rock track “Blue Skies”. Venturing further down the road of sound is his second effort ESCM, which expands further on the sonic journey of Ima, and is the first album to begin branching into genres such as hip-hop, drum and bass, and alt-rock (even featuring some live instruments). It features a more club-oriented vibe, which is exemplified in one of his most popular dance tunes “Flaming June” (which also appears at the end of the album as a brief orchestral hidden track). Or there’s the eclecticism of his third album, Movement in Still Life (2000), which gives you access to the inner workings of Bt’s mind, giving you a guide tour of the musical genres that not only influence him, but showing you the areas where he truly runs free. The opening hip-hop jam “Madskillz/Mic Chekka”, transitions into a pumping dance-rock assault (“Never Gonna Come Back Down”), which gives way to symphonic dance (“Dreaming”), right into an alt-rock ballad (“Shame”). The rest of the album continues on this course of action, each song constantly changing and shifting genres, while successfully staying on track to make the album a rocking cluster-fuck of cohesion (and I mean this in the best way). His fourth album, Emotional Technology (2003), represented a musical about face, giving more of a poppier-inflected sound in addition to the dance music that he is known for. It features Bt on vocals for several songs, and showcases more of his rock and acoustic roots, although his biggest hit in “Somnambulist” is still the dance sound known to BT fans. However, the album that represents a true musical journey is best contained within the 5.1 surround sound barriers of his most recent offering This Binary Universe (2006). Instead of dance numbers, flitching ballads, or hip-hop jams, instead the listener is given the access to a 5.1 surround sound world filled with ambient soundscapes, lush orchestral arrangements, and classical arrangements sequenced in time with its electronic counterparts.
Required Listening
ESCM (1997)
Top 10* Sonic Experiences
I originally had created a top 5 list to provide a good introduction to BT, however, upon listening to all of his albums again, I realized that a top 10 list would be needed, as his genre hopping is so prolific, it needs to be properly addressed. SO, for your consideration, here are the 10 best introductions to the sonic realm of Mr. BT:
Flaming June (from the album ESCM)
Tripping the Light Fantastic (from the album Ima)
Never Gonna Come Back Down (from the album Movement in Still Life)
Somnambulist (from the album Emotional Technology)
Love on Haight Street (from the album Movement in Still Life)
Girls Kissing (Music from and inspired the film Monster)
Blue Skies [ft. Tori Amos] (from the album Ima)
1.618 (from the album This Binary Universe)
Fibonacci Sequence (form the album Rare and Remixed)
The Road to Lostwithiel (from the album 10 Years in the Life)
On April 8th, I had the pleasure of seeing Rocco DeLuca and the Burden live at the studio in Webster Hall and Bowery Ballroom.I happened to win some tickets on the rockin’ radio station 101.9 RXP the day before.At Webster Hall, Rocco DeLuca and drummer Ryan Carman played an intimate four song set for a small crowd.DeLuca rocked a Dobro and Carman hit a Cajon. I love their sound; you don’t usually hear a Dobro and bottle neck slide in indie music.It is hard to place someone like Rocco DeLuca in a genre just for the fact that he could be placed under so many.Just know that this band seriously stirs up you musical tastebuds; the fusion of rock, folk, and blues is surely enough to grab your attention.After the performance, there was a question and answer session with Leslie Fram from RXP and the fans.My favorite song performed live was a tie between “Save Yourself” and “I Trust You To Kill Me”.Rocco DeLuca puts so much feeling and soul into his music that it is impossible not to enjoy the sound.I love how his falsetto voice works so well with the delta style blues.
Over at Bowery Ballroom, HoneyHoney was the opener for Rocco Deluca and the Burden.Both bands are on Ironworks Music, owned by Kiefer Sutherland.Good taste Sutherland, and kudos on booking these two together.Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe put on a stellar performance.They talked with the crowd between songs and their set was fun, truly a dynamic duo (backed up with a bassist and drummer).Suzanne sang while alternating between a banjo and a violin, giving their music that country aspect, while Ben played guitars and handled the backup vocals.Their songs tell stories with some amazing backbeats and rhythms.Suzanne’s voice echoes the jazzy flair of Billy Holiday with some brilliant grace notes.When combined with the band, the music has roots in folk, indie rock, and bluegrass.My two favorite songs live were “Little Toy Guy” and “Give Yourself To Me”.If you get the opportunity to see these bands live, don’t pass it up.I think we will be hearing a lot more about these two bands.Check out Rocco DeLuca and the Burden’s new album Mercy and HoneyHoney’s album First Rodeo. To check out RXP’s photo’s, go to http://www.1019rxp.com/gallery/Rocco.aspx
Stan Ridgway at World Café Live, Philadelphia, PA, March 28, 2009
Review by Mark B.
I have to admit; I am not too familiar with the extensive 30+ year musical career of Stan Ridgway. In fact, my only real knowledge of his back catalogue is through his former band Wall of Voodoo, who had their sole hit in 1983 with “Mexican Radio”, and even with this, I only recognize a handful of songs. Yet, being the 80s fanatic that I am, when I discovered that the great Stan Ridgway was stopping at one of my favorite venues on the planet, World Café Live for his “Desert of Dreams” tour, I knew that it was a show that I had to attend. I considered my lack of knowledge to be a plus when deciding to attend this show, as it would allow me to gain a unique perspective on the set, and allow me to get to know the songs for myself, as if I was having dinner with a brand new acquaintance. And I must say, the show was absolutely fantastic.
He began the show on a humorous note, strolling out casually 20 minutes late, explaining to the crowd, “wow, I really wish someone had came back and told me that it was time for the show to begin. Well, here I am, there you are, so let’s get the show on the road”. Yet this mild inconvenience wasn’t enough to filter out the ever-growing crowd around me, who clammed-up with glee as he took the stage, eagerly awaiting the start of the first song. With his low key band of 3, which included his wife on synthesizers, he decided to break the show into 2 parts, the first would be his more folk-oriented material, running more along the themes of the tour, which he called “Desert of Dreams”. With his confident nerd-cowboy voice leading the way, he launched into the show with “The Overloads”, which although had soft guitar strumming and dreamy synth bells to carry the rhythm still gave me the impressions of an industrial setting. He continued along the synth-tinged acoustic roads with highlights such as a Bob Dylan cover (“Lenny Bruce”), “Beloved movie star”, a song which revealed his humorous wit, with Ridgway talking to his beloved movie star, assuring her that he knows “there’s more than cold cream in your jar”, finishing up the first set with the rousing “Goin’ Southbound”, which had the unmistakable feel of a tune one would hear on a road trip, or at a bar just before a fight breaks out.
With the crowd around beginning with the usual fan boy shtick of shouting out requests, he took an audible deep breath, smiled at the crowd and said, “well, I’m not sure about those songs, but I think that the songs I have in mind should be perfect substitutes for yours”. This strange sense of humor helped ease the crowd into the second part of the show, where his more familiar material and New Wave classics began to show up in droves. Beginning with the title cut to his debt solo album, 1986’s “The Big Heat”, he continued the excursion in familiar territory with the title song from the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film Rumble Fish “Don’t Box Me In”. Further highlights include his “love letter” to his current place of residence Los Angeles (“Big Dumb Town”), a dream-like, after hours tale of visits to questionable places (“Lonely Town”), and his wild-west cowboy rhythmed tale of a soldier fighting charlies in Vietnam in the popular minor hit “Camouflage”.
One of the most interesting moments of the night occurred when it came time to play his biggest hit “Mexican Radio”. He started with the offering a humorous aecdote about vacationing in the Caribbean, where he told of sitting at the bar with a drink, and listening to the ambiance, when he heard from the stage the house band playing Mexican Radio in a calypso style. He had wondered what it would be like to cover his own song, and surprisingly asked the crowd if they would be willing to follow along in a musical experiment. And it paid off, as we were treated to a Tex-Mex version of Mexican radio, which offered the feeling of relaxing by a pool during a b-b-q rather than sitting at a nostalgia concert.
It created a perfect segway into “I Want to be a Boss”, which humorously describes the fantasizing and wishful thinking that we all do, wanting so much while trying to be grateful for the lackluster things that you have. Saving the best for last, he offered us the electronic robo-western songs “Call of the West” and the unique pulsing cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”. After wrapping up the show with a 3-song encore that included the crowd favorite “Call Box”, he graciously thanked the crowd for hanging out, and invited us outside to meet him after the show. A large portion of the crowd, including myself, took him up on his offer, which was well worth it. And I have to say; he talks almost exactly like he sings.
By the time The Builders and The Butchers took the stage we all had a band’s worth of beer in us. I visited their MySpace page when I first saw their name on the roster for the upcoming Murder By Death tour, and what I heard persuaded me to show up at Bowery Ballroom when the doors opened that Friday night. I was curious to hear how they would deliver their ghastly blue-grass beats and knew that their live performance would be the determining factor of my fanship. Equally as curious was my desire to see how everyone else responded.
Within seconds, the twang of an acoustic guitar rattled like a cargo train across the Mississippi bayou and we raised our glasses high to welcome it. A voice like a paper cut sprinkled with sugar poured over the crowd to meet the drinks on the ground. My black converse sneakers sliding on the gin soaked floor only made it easier to dance.
I still can’t decide what was the most confusing- the banjo, the washboard, or the fact that it rocked. With forty minutes passed and their set coming to end I found myself completely engrossed in the energy of the audience and the music we were sharing. I swung my hips like a railroad hammer as he sang about his little sister on the tracks.
It wasn’t until the tambourines, the maracas, and the depression style Tympani drum made their way into the crowd from the hands of the lead singer that I could sing along to songs I’d only heard once. So while some of us clapped and some of us danced, the rest of us banged and sang The Butcher’s blues.
There was no doubt that Murder by Death would fail to disappoint this time around. The anticipation began when word first got out that they would be touring with former keyboardist, Vincent Edwards, and playing their second LP, “Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them” in its entirety.
Not that it’s undeserving, but for Murder by Death to sell out Bowery Ballroom is impressive. How far they’ve come from the release of “In Bocca De Lupo” alone is astonishing. We all, as fans, have been faced with this quasi dilemma; the transition from c-list to mainstream underground that makes us wonder how much longer we can enjoy the “GA” stamped in the left hand corner of our tickets.
For some us the experience is bittersweet. Even though we reminisce of the “good old days” as teenagers, seeing our favorite bands at VFW halls and coffee shops, we can’t deny our adult voice as it quietly praises the wet bar and coat check. Parting is sweet sorrow, they say. Especially when it means bidding farewell to ten dollars at the door.
But Murder by Death brought more than surplus ticket sales with them on this tour. They brought The Builders and The Butchers.
I have since purchased their self entitled CD, and it captures the same raw intensity found in their live performance. I did, however, find myself with questions burning to be answered. Who better, I thought, than the brains behind The Builders himself, lead singer/songwriter, Ryan Sollee. He welcomed my inquiries with the same benevolence with which he autographed my tambourine (coolest merch item ever, by the way).
Caroline Frank- I want to start by asking about the song, “Barcelona”. It was not on The Builders and The Butchers and I know quite a few people who are anxious as to when this track will be released? Can fans expect another album anytime in the near future?
Ryan Sollee- The new record titled “Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well” will be released in June of this year, Barcelona will be a track on this record.
CF- After doing a little research I learned that TB &TB is the result of an idea you had with Adrienne Hatkin of Autopilot to start a funeral band. Fantastic! However, I am curious as to where this idea came from? What influenced it?
RS- Adrienne was a member of the Builders when we first started out, originally the idea was to create a band that played funeral dirge music that played unplugged around Portland where ever there were crowds of people, for the bands first year that was what we did. The first builders songs were inspired by this idea, this I think is why the first album has so many sing along parts, during those first shows friends would come and during shows sing along and become part of the band.
CF- And, speaking of influences, what musicians/bands would you attribute to having had the most effect on you? Do you think this is reflected in your music?
RS- I love mining from pre 1950’s America music, old country and blues, bluegrass, as far as contemporary artists, of course Tom Waits first comes to mind. It seems like the Portland scene is really folk driven and there are a lot of bands feeding of each other, but at the same time taking different approaches.
CF- I heard a lot of genres being thrown around in an attempt to label TB&TB. Would you say that there is a certain obscurity to your sound that sparks the confusion or would say that it is simply the absence of soul in modern music? And how would you, as a band, categorize it?
RS- I think there are a lot of bands that are playing with soul, but it also depends on what your definition of soul is, sure there isn’t a modern day Otis Redding, but Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings come pretty damn close, also I think that you can find just as much soul in Bon Iver or TV on the Radio as anything old sounding, it’s just a modern version of it. One of my favorite things about the Builders is that people have a hard time categorizing it, all of my favorite bands can’t be simply described. I don’t think that the sound is very obscure, I actually think its really simple.
CF- You’d mentioned that the original intention of TB&TB was to write “death themed songs”. The macabre imagery is so well executed that I wonder, where do you draw from to write such convincing lyrics?
RS- I went through a major transformation as a song writer about 4 years ago when I stopped writing personal songs and started writing more story songs. I started listening to more narrative songwriters like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, Nick Cave and again Tom Waits, it was like a re-awakening, and a whole new source of songwriting material. I also really have related to dark tales, I don’t really know why, but a lot of people are fascinated with dark stories.
CF- From what I read, I understand that there was no initial expectation for the band. In the experience of positive responses, has that perspective changed at all?
RS- That’s the most difficult thing with any band I think is to keep expectations low. Of course when positive things happen you can’t help but feel that the band is moving forward and with that comes expectations, but it’s always important to remember that writing and performing music is a journey and not intended to be kept static, it’s the journey that makes it interesting and that journey will have good times and bad, just like anything else.
CF- Would you say that “mainstream success” is a goal for TB&TB? And, in the same
vein and at the risk of sounding pretentious, do you think the masses could appreciate, or “get”, TB&TB? More important, does that even matter to you, as a band?
RS- That’s interesting, I think that lately a lot of really great bands have had mainstream success, I never would have thought that modest mouse or the shins would’ve become as mainstream as they did, but they did, and you never really know it really just comes down to peoples tastes. I think we are all a little weirded out about even our small level of success and I’m sure if we become more known that will just get weirder.
CF- As I mentioned in my original message, I was very taken by the energy of your live performance- but I was blown away towards the end when you started handing out the instruments. Not only was the idea fun and clever- it really was the ultimate in audience participation, without compromising the band’s performance. It showed the band’s commitment to the audience and made a much stronger statement than asking us to clap along. I was quite impressed by this, and have to ask where the idea came from and what the usual response is to it?
RS- The idea to try an involve the audience really came from the sing along audience participation of the early builders shows. Those were really special shows and we saw people just naturally reacting to the band in a pretty intense way and after we started plugging in and playing bigger shows we wanted to keep the same connection with the audience.
CF- How has the experience been touring with Murder By Death?
RS- This has been the best tour so far. They are really great people and they have amazing fans, we played 8 straight sold out shows and its been amazing. I wish we could always tour with Murder By Death.
Recommended Tracks:
“Barcelona” – Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well (unreleased – http://www.myspace.com to listen)
“Black Dresses” – The Builders and The Butchers (2007 – available on i-tunes or http://www.cdbaby.com)
“Red Hands” – The Builders and The Butchers (2007 – available on i-tunes or http://www.cdbaby.com)
“Spanish Death” – The Builders and The Butchers (2007 -available on i-tunes or http://www.cdbaby.com)
While our respective music libraries do have some similarities, for the most part, they’re two juxtaposing musical tastes. Every week, one of us will pick an album for both of us to review, and I can guarantee it won’t be pretty. Instead of getting one opinion from someone who either loves or hates the album, artist, or genre, we’ll be providing two very different takes on the same album. For our first column, we’d like to give a brief overview of the music we can’t get enough of.
Tina’s Library (iTunes Library Name: It’s Only Rock n’ Roll (and so much more) but I Like It)
My two favorite bands are The Grateful Dead and The Get Up Kids. I have a vast range of genres I listen to; I like to be open to everything, but sometimes I need to jump right past that cliché indie/emo pop/rock band to find a band that makes my ears ring with the resonance of awesome. Some of the bands that circulate my iTunes are Metallica, The Beatles, Jukebox the Ghost, Alkaline Trio, Joan Jett, Rise Against, Bob Dylan, Queen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ok Go, Bob Marley, and The Living End, just to name a few. My biggest pet peeve with bands these days are their lack of knowledge with the synthesizer, lyrics that have no meaning, and fashion (aka, guys thinking they can get away with v-neck t-shirts)
Dan’s Library (iTunes Library Name: The Euphoria Dome Dance Party Plus)
No Doubt and Lola Ray are my two favorite bands of all time; Kylie Minogue, Cobra Starship, Men Women & Children, The Cardigans (they’re still making music!), Klaxons, The Donnas, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Head Automatica round out the Top 25 Most Played songs on my iTunes. I like pop music that I can move to. Half of my Workout playlist consists of Britney Spears with a side of Beyonce, Kat DeLuna, Kenna, The Sounds and The Blakes for good measure. I’m open to music of all genres, but anything with a bouncy pop undertone is the stuff I crave.
Music Swap #1 : Robyn (self-titled)
Dan’s Review:
Remember that song “Show Me Love” from the late 90’s by a chick from Sweden named Robyn? What about “Do You Know (What It Takes)? That was another one of her singles. What about any other of her songs? I don’t remember them either, but in August of 2007, she released a new EP on iTunes called Konichiwa Bitches – EP. I don’t remember how I happened upon it, but within a minute of hearing the clip, I downloaded all four of the songs and instantly fell in love.
In April of 2008, Robyn released Robyn. You probably didn’t hear any of her new music outside of MTV bumps or “Cobrastyle” on one of those dance shows that are all the rage today. If you’re in the mood for a record that runs the gamut from hip-hop beats to pop ballads and everywhere in between, then Robyn is definitely worth a listen.
Unlike some of the artists who hover around the top of today’s Top 40, Robyn can actually sing, and sing with a heartbreaking sweetness and playful honesty that permeates the entire album. Her rhymes in “Konichiwa Bitches“ are clever; “Jack You Off”s piano-pounding and obscene lyrics will make you smirk; “Robotboy“ is quirky and melodic; “With Every Heartbeat“ will break your heart.
Some editions of her album came with bonus tracks, the must-haves being “With Every Heartbeat (Acoustic)“, “Be Mine! (Ballad Version)”, and “Bum Like You (Alt. Version)“. While they’re not all acoustic, the music definitely takes a back seat to Robyn’s beautiful and sincere vocals.
If you’d like a break from the overproduced pop fare littering the airwaves, give Robyn a listen. It’s a breath of fresh air. It’s fun. It’s quirky. It’s sexy in a look-but-don’t-touch way.
Listen To: Konichiwa Bitches, Handle Me, With Every Heartbeat, Bum Like You…pretty much the entire album except…
Skip ‘Em: Should Have Known, Any Time You Like
Review: 4.5 out of 5
Tina’s Review:
Swedish Pop sensation Robyn has come a long way since “Show Me Love” and “Do You Know What It Takes”, especially to Americans, since she took a ten year break promoting her music on this side of the world. She reminds me of an alternative version of Pink; she’s saucy and full of life, but I feel like there is something missing. Her songs either sound over or under-produced. Because she is a solo pop artist, background beats and tracks make up a good portion of her music. At times, it sounds like there isn’t enough music combining or surrounding her voice, making her intonation detectably awkward. On this self titled album, most of her songs stay in a comfortable range (like five notes) until she hits the chorus, which then broadens up her note selection. I am not about to bad mouth an international pop star and tell her how to do her job, I’m just giving my honest opinion; she could do better, production wise. I do admire her ambition though. She knows what sound she’s looking for and putting her two cents in, since Konichiwa Records is her very own label.
Her prelude track “Curriculum Vitae” was a bit ostentatious, but I hope one day I could reach this Robyn status: “She split the atom, invented the x-ray, the cure for AIDS, and the surprise blindfold greeting. She performed and Choreographed the fights for Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon and Game of death and still does stunt doubles for Jackie Chan on the weekends. She suckerpunched Einstein, outsmarted Ali, and even outsuperfreaked Rick James.” Really Robyn? You outsuperfreaked Rick James? It was a great introduction to the next song “Konichiwa Bitches”, my favorite track on the album. The rhymes are clever and I love her attitude. Robyn covered “Cobrastyle” from Teddybear that was reputable, but made me realize that it shared similarities with Kid Rock’s hit “Bawitdaba”…very interesting. The two biggest problems I had with this CD was her voice in general and the conformity of her songs. Even when she expanded her vocal range, it sounded like she was straining to hit the notes. Maybe she could have used backup singers instead of her own vocal track; it would have at least added some diversity to the music. While listening to Robyn, I constantly thought I was listening to the same song. With a lot of them, the back beats ruined it for me, especially the ones featuring the unflattering high pitches. Also, they were predictable, but then again, what pop song isn’t? Slower tracks like “Eclipse” and “Should Have Known” were more tolerable because they were not bombarded with unnecessary tracks. These songs focused more on her voice, which when stripped down or accompanied by only a piano, is quite pleasant.
Final summation: this electro-pop diva could not get farther away from the music that circulates my playlist, but even after a giving the time for a closer listen, she does not excite my musical desires, unless of course I was in a club and had a few too many. Too predictable and poor background beats.
The millennials, digital natives, iGeneraton, trophy kids. These are terms that I have heard people call my generation. They then say something like, “They all have he attention span of a fruit fly and are incredibly selfish,” or, “Their sense of entitlement is greater then anyone else’s before.” These people try to understand us; they try to relate their experiences and mindsets to ours but continually fail because we are different. We think differently, we behave differently. We even speak differently. From the very beginning of our lives, the entire world stage has been vastly different. We never lived in a world without AIDS or MTV or, most importantly I believe, the Internet. Some of us were alive before it was “the great equalizer,” but none of us can truly remember a time when a computer did little more then word processing, or when mail really was spelled without an “e.” In our minds, the culture wars were a breeding ground of new ideas. We were able to embrace new and different cultures, and then modify our own to include them. We are often not racist, homophobic, or ethnocentric. John Mayer said, “one day our generation is gonna rule the population,” and when that day does come, everything will be different because we are different.
We are the most educated generation in America. To my older siblings, college was an option; to me and all my friends, college was seen as the 13th grade. It was less an option and more of a natural progression of our lives. Nowhere near everyone made it out, but the mindset of constant learning was bred into us when we were young…way back in the 90’s. We were the first generation to be taught political correctness in school. This, however, did not make us politically correct. In fact, we laugh at our differences, yet view everyone more or less the same. It did instill in us the ability to think more broadly: We understand that in this country our differences do not separate us, but in reality provide us with a commonality. I remember my 4th grade teacher asking, “Isn’t it silly to hate someone because of how much melatonin they have in their skin?” That made perfect sense to me, and maybe not everyone heard it put that way, but the idea resonated throughout the classrooms of the ’90s. As we got older, even the way we were taught was different. A research paper does not begin in a library card catalog, but rather at Google. Our learned multicultural lenses were further focused by the international digital revolution. The mystic faraway lands in the stories our grandparents read to our parents are literally a few keystrokes away on Google earth.
The Internet is by far the biggest cultural equalizer to have ever been invented. Anyone anywhere can know anything at any time. This why I call the Internet the great equalizer. On the Internet, everyone and anyone is someone and no one at the same time. Our ideas and self-expressions no longer had to be printed and distributed or broadcast over the air we could express ourselves instantly to everyone everywhere. We were raised to believe this sense of self-expression was paramount to existence. The completely media saturated environment that we were born into is no longer a one-way message. We no longer just absorb – we participate. Even our leisure time is not comprised of a one-way message. We will watch TV and movies and listen to music; and then we will play video games, download whole commercial-free television shows and movies; create something completely new, or just a little bit new, and post it for the world to see. And our taste in music has an extremely broad scope. In the decade most of us were born (the ’80s!), it was likely that most people friends listened to the same music that their friends did. However, we don’t. It has been my experience that we like all types of not only on a personal level, but also on a friendship level. My friends listen to everything from Lil Wayne to the Beatles and everything in between; we don’t need to like the same kinds of music in order to be friends with each other. Again this is because of the time we grew up in and the technology at our disposal. Napster may be responsible for the complete overhaul of the music industry. It is now trying to come up with ways to change that will suit our new form of consumption, but what they don’t get is that we were Napster; we were and are p2p and the torrent. It was not a change of market viability, but rather of ways of thought. We see copyright differently, we see ownership differently, and we see media differently. David Kusek wrote a book called The Future of Music. In it, he explains how the future of music will be like water or cable. We will be able to access all of our music and content for a monthly cost. We will share, give, and be encompassed by our music.
We are the early adapters, the youtubers, the Facebook friends and the pioneers of the digital age. Our level of instant gratification and perceived entitlement, our short attention spans and ability to change our mind in the blink of an eye are cultural constructions of the world we grew up in. You may not understand us, you may not like us, you may even fear for the future because of us, but remember: You made us! We are different, we think differently, we do things differently, and we will be ready when it’s our turn to “rule the population.”
Normally, I don’t go for chains or best of lists because, let’s face it: they are hokey, annoying, and enormous wastes of time. No one is going to die, you are not going to receive $1 for every email address sent to, and that child in a randomly selected third world country is not going to be given money for a much needed cancer operation if 100 people receive the message. And I don’t want to read a list created by one of the scores of pretentious know it alls (also known as “music journalists”) who have been within the confines of their respective mediums long enough to have been involved with and negatively influenced by internal politics. The same goes for the outdated publications attempting to maintain their “street cred” by latching on to sub-par bands that are considered to be hip or edgy (usually based on how many albums they have sold), and frequently utilizing these so-called acts to spearhead their own “best-of” lists. So when I began receiving “tags” in notes on Facebook for similar lists, I immediately ignored the messages, believing them to be more attempts at showing hip-ness or musical superiority. But after taking the time to read one particular note from my friend Sybil, titled “15 Albums that changed your Life”, I suddenly found myself thinking very deeply. Reading through her list reminded me about just how important music is to me, and the HUGE role that it has played in my life. Whether it is the first rock album heard (Boston), having fond memories of my teenage band (Fear Factory), discovering DJ culture and Electronica (Oakenfold/BT), realizing the only good thing to come out of a broken relationship (VAST), or discovering that not all singer-songwriters are self-important asses (Sondre Lerche); each of the albums that I have listed represents a milestone of sorts in my life, and allows each to have a truly special place in my heart. So… here goes nothing. And many thanks to Sybil, as without your list, this piece would not have been possible.
1. Boston- Boston (Spaceship cover Album)
2. The Police- Regatta de Blanc
3. BT- ESCM
4. Love and Rockets- Love and Rockets
5. Paul Oakenfold- Global Underground 007 New York
6. Depeche Mode- Violator
7. Sondre Lerche- Phantom Punch
8. Kate Bush- Hounds of Love
9. The The (as Matt Johnson)- Burning Blue Soul
10. Gary Numan- The Pleasure Principle
11. ON- Shifting Skin
12. Leftfield- Rhythm and Stealth
13. David Bowie- Heathen
14. VAST- Visual Audio Sensory Theatre
15. Fear Factory- Remanufacture
Honorable Mentions: Arthur Russell- Calling Out of Context, BT- Ima, Sasha- Xpander EP, Future Sound of London- Teachings from the Electronic Brain, James Taylor- Greatest Hits, Bauhaus- Burning From the Inside, Duran Duran- Greatest, Language Lab- Burning Disaster EP, NIN- Pretty Hate Machine
Music and politics, politics and music, whichever way you word it the two don’t seem to go together. However in 1993, music helped convict three teenagers of the murders of three eight year old boys.
On May 5th in a town in West Memphis Arkansas, Christopher Byers, Michael Moore, and Steven Branch were brutality murdered and found in Robinhood Hills, bringing sorrow to the families of these three eight year old boys.
Not far from the crime scene three teenagers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelly, otherwise known as the West Memphis Three or WM3, were unaware that their lives would change so dramatically.
The police quickly suspected these boys as the murderers because of their image. Being brought up in a bible belt town, the trio stood out. Known for wearing black, listening to Metallica, and reading Stephen King books, they were considered odd.
Without any evidence, the three were brought in for questioning. Misskelly was questioned normally, even though he had the IQ of 72, which happens to be the equivalent of a five year old. Hours later, a confession was given and Misskelly was released.
Although the teenagers all had alibis, the judge dismissed them all as nothing more than hearsay. During court proceedings, a note book belonging to Echols had been brought in. Sprawled along the pages were some lyrics to songs by Metallica and Pink Floyd. The book also had a few lines from the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by William Shakespeare. These were all considered evidence for proof of satanic worshiping.
The West Memphis Three were finally convicted of the slaughter of the children not long after being accused. Now fifteen years later, music, the very thing that helped condemn them, is standing up to fight for their freedom.
Many celebrities and musicians have worked tirelessly to bring awareness to this case in hopes to set the wrongfully convicted free. Michael Graves, formerly of The Misfits and a New Jersey native himself, has become a big supporter of the West Memphis Three. Playing many events for them, the vast majority of his touring has been charity work. After traveling to Arkansas, Graves co-wrote a song with Echols, entitled “Frostbite”. His work as a musician has really brought attention to this case.
Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines, Henry Rollins, Margaret Cho, and Robert Smith have all been main defenders of the West Memphis Three as well. Showing up for court cases, donating money, and playing charity events are all a part of this fight for freedom. Some even auction off personal possessions to raise money to donate to their defense fund to help pay for lawyer fee’s.
Everyday people, like Kathy Bakken, Grove Pashley, Lisa Fancher, and Berk Sauls have made this all possible by creating the website www.wm3.org to inform everyone about the case. Others, like Paige Haggerty and Anje Vela, have done their part by raising money and hosting charity events. They’re an inspiration to others, showing everyone if we all band together and stand up for what we believe in, anything can happen.
As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Don’t take my word for it though, read the books, watch the movies, form your own opinion about the case, but remember injustice for some is injustice for all.
Lily Allen’s It’s Not Me, It’s You is a big album. It’s full of big hooks, big statements, and buckets of charm. The only thing smaller this time around is Lily herself. Alright, Still was a particular statement made by a particular girl. She sang about whatever she wanted, no matter how flimsy the source material, and threw influences together as she pleased. On It’s Not Me, It’s You Lily is conscious of her audience and aims to engage us in discourse. The lyrics are still sharp, although more careful than before; she no longer sounds like a scrappy Briton but for her accent. The hip-hop stylings are all but removed and replaced with a straight-arrow Beatlesque kitsch, most notably on “Fuck You,” an anti-GWB rant that’s pop perfection and only suffers from horrible timing. Only “Never Gonna Happen” could blend in among the tracks on Alright, Still.
Sometimes she oversteps her reach, as on “Him,” in which her good intentions don’t soften the thud of half-baked “deep thoughts” that she’s just not old or experienced enough to expound upon meaningfully. That’s the only groaner of the bunch, and the tune is still awfully good. “The Fear” and “I Could Say” show Lily successfully inhabiting a more mature pop landscape, but the winner here is “Who’d Have Known”, in which she sings about the boring, mundane, absolutely wonderful things that color the beginning of a new relationship. It’s goofy and inconsequential but also completely brilliant, like Lily herself.
Nevermind The Posers 