With admittedly nothing to really write about, I've got 10 shuffle picks to keep things moving since we've got the new Thirce (Major/Minor) coming out tomorrow, and the new Blink 182 (Neighborhoods) coming out next Tuesday. There's definitely going to be a lot to write about in the next couple weeks, but until then random songs on my itunes will have to do.
1. Cat Power- "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" -The Covers Record
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W97TF9PCKWg
A haunting cover of a great song. I wouldn't say it's better or worse than The Rolling Stones, it's just different
2. Rivers Cuomo- "Wanda (You're My Only Love)"- Alone: The Home Recordings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W48yINUF_1A
Rivers' musings alone in his room are all like blueprints of Weezer songs that were just a little too weird to make it to a record. Some of them are SO good, and some are just kinda out there. "Wanda" is a cool introspect into Cuomo's mind outside of Weezer.
3. Radiohead- "Bloom" -King Of Limbs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g6R89fCUBE
Radiohead is doing cool shit as far as releasing their music in a changing landscape. Bloom is a song that I need to listen to more, along with the entire album. I don't quite get it, but I think if I get really stoned it might make a lot of sense.
4. Radiohead- "15 Steps" -In Rainbows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk4goNqMdwE
I love this song. The guitar line is catchy, and Yorke's lyrics and melody line keep you interested. A small relapse into coherence in later Radiohead work.
5. Rise Against- "Give it All" - Rock Against Bush Vol: 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhldbymXK-8
To me, the heart's there, but the music is not. I like that they're trying to send a message in their music, but I think the music is boring and over produced "punk". (read my previous post for my rant on this genre.)
6. A.F.I.- "Bleed Black" - Sing The Sorrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llzNXZ5JFlM
Now this! This, is a quintessential punk rock record in my opinion. Everything in this song and record breathes what progression and punk rock should be; and why they should go hand in hand. I love this song.
7. Mars Volta- "Intertiatic E.S.P." - Deloused in the Comatorium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzRFlXbq-cY
Such a great song. It's a damn shame the band got so incoherent after this album. Octahedron is close to where this band started out, let's hope Omar can sacrifice some of his noodling for melody on their next effort
8. Jimmy Chamberlain Complex- "Loki Cat" - Life Begins Again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMAZubL9VzQ
Though this song gets some help from former companion and Pumpkins bandmate Billy Corgan, The Jimmy Chamberlain Complex sets itself apart from the Pumpkins with its jazz/fusion sound and Chamberlain's booming and complex (but amazing) drum beats. He knows when to be upfront and when to keep the time.
9. The Strokes- "Two Kinds of Happiness" - Angles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J385pjZzfA
I'm sad to say that this record coming out earlier this year was one of the bigger disappointments as far as records go. There was so much hype surrounding its release, and I was greeted by something I was not impressed with. It seems like they got stuck in a rut with this record, and the song is no different. I like this song/record, but I think that they could've done something better.
10. Bloc Party- "Halo" -Intimacy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J385pjZzfA
Bloc Party is one of my favorite bands for so many reason. They are ambitious, different, complex, but they manage to keep you hooked with memorable riffs and melodies. I had a hard time getting into this record, but the time spent was worth it.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
What is punk rock? Or even music for that matter?
The simple statement of these questions can unlock a feud that could never be solved. Even though there is no definitive answer, the question begs for one simply because anything resembling it is SO multifaceted.
So to answer the seemingly unanswerable, let's first look at some basics here.
Punk rock was started as a counter-culture movement. Whoever we deem "the founders" (i.e. Sex Pistols, Ramones, Velvet Underground) It doesn't really matter. It started as a group of artists and musicians that disagreed with the popular culture of the mid 70's and wanted to change it by doing something different. By creating a community and culture that thrived on seperating from the norm, an amazing group of people; and eventually a genre flourished into something many people could call "home". It was a thing where the freaks and the geeks were in control.
Unfortunately, like anything else the genre got flooded by people that believed they could make money, be cool (how ironic), and capitalize on something like punk rock that had become so near and dear to people's hearts. Through the incorporation of punk as a genre, people seemed to quickly become judgmental within the punk community as to what is deemed "punk rock" by calling out any band that came along that strayed from the blueprint that the genre had created for itself.
So, when you think about it, punk rock as a whole completely turned it's back on it's very own musical ideals. Eventually bands like Bad Religion, Rancid, and NOFX were thrown into the well known pop-punk pile and advertised as sell outs because they wrote catchy songs people from the "popular culture" liked. Bands that take D.I.Y. ideals, or punk rock song structures, are characterized as posers, sellouts, etc.
That brings me to my next point, music is about making it your own. There would be no culture or genre if everything followed a blueprint of what your music was supposed to sound like. Who cares if a band like Yellowcard has a violin, and embraces pop music song structures and hooks? Who cares if Blink 182 puts out a record that doesn't sound anything like their last one? I also feel like Elliot Smith fits ideally into the category of punk. He also did something different, but embraced the ideals of a community he grew up in.
To me, this is the most punk rock thing someone can do; which is go against what the status quo has made punk out to be. Music is about progression. Art is about progression. Passion is passion, and chastising someone for their art should be a crime. If you're not into it don't listen to it.
With all of that being said, the simple answer to "What is Punk Rock?" is doing something that you want to do. In the words of Mathew Lillard's character in SLC Punk! : "If you want to break it down, the best way to do it is from the inside."
If you want to change what popular music is, the most punk thing to do is become part of it by doing something that is different and that people will recognize as doing so.
So to answer the seemingly unanswerable, let's first look at some basics here.
Punk rock was started as a counter-culture movement. Whoever we deem "the founders" (i.e. Sex Pistols, Ramones, Velvet Underground) It doesn't really matter. It started as a group of artists and musicians that disagreed with the popular culture of the mid 70's and wanted to change it by doing something different. By creating a community and culture that thrived on seperating from the norm, an amazing group of people; and eventually a genre flourished into something many people could call "home". It was a thing where the freaks and the geeks were in control.
Unfortunately, like anything else the genre got flooded by people that believed they could make money, be cool (how ironic), and capitalize on something like punk rock that had become so near and dear to people's hearts. Through the incorporation of punk as a genre, people seemed to quickly become judgmental within the punk community as to what is deemed "punk rock" by calling out any band that came along that strayed from the blueprint that the genre had created for itself.
So, when you think about it, punk rock as a whole completely turned it's back on it's very own musical ideals. Eventually bands like Bad Religion, Rancid, and NOFX were thrown into the well known pop-punk pile and advertised as sell outs because they wrote catchy songs people from the "popular culture" liked. Bands that take D.I.Y. ideals, or punk rock song structures, are characterized as posers, sellouts, etc.
That brings me to my next point, music is about making it your own. There would be no culture or genre if everything followed a blueprint of what your music was supposed to sound like. Who cares if a band like Yellowcard has a violin, and embraces pop music song structures and hooks? Who cares if Blink 182 puts out a record that doesn't sound anything like their last one? I also feel like Elliot Smith fits ideally into the category of punk. He also did something different, but embraced the ideals of a community he grew up in.
To me, this is the most punk rock thing someone can do; which is go against what the status quo has made punk out to be. Music is about progression. Art is about progression. Passion is passion, and chastising someone for their art should be a crime. If you're not into it don't listen to it.
With all of that being said, the simple answer to "What is Punk Rock?" is doing something that you want to do. In the words of Mathew Lillard's character in SLC Punk! : "If you want to break it down, the best way to do it is from the inside."
If you want to change what popular music is, the most punk thing to do is become part of it by doing something that is different and that people will recognize as doing so.
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