Book finished: 31 Songs
22/10/2014
One man's idiosyncratic take on his musical listening experiences, in the form of a series of essays, or just "chapters", if you like to be non-literary.
It is fun watching him putting himself through hoops trying to write intelligently about pop music without getting or seeming to be all "intellectual" about it. I think he largely succeeds, often resorting to the "well, I just like it, so there" position, rather than getting all pointy-headed about things. I did like that he values the actual experience of those transcendental moments that cannot be explained, but which we value music for. He also discusses many aspects of pop that I have thought about myself; naturally I liked him for that. |
For instance, he uses the expression "having a use for" in regards to why he now or once did or didn't listen to something. I have often thought the same expression when considering why I don't play my heavy rock LPs now. It isn't that I no longer like the music, it is just that I no longer have a use for it: I don't hold parties, I don't need to turn up loud music for that blast of energy, and most of the lyrics are not relevant to my current life. Now I'm going to sound like him, when I say that I still now and then run across artists who can make me want to find a use for them, like say, recently, Alabama Shakes for being an actual real rock band, or back in 2005, Turbonegro for the sheer uplifting energy of "Age of Pamparius".
I will also mention my interest in Iris DeMent, Lucinda Williams and Alison Krauss, whose passion and sadness suited me at the time of my divorce, and who I still love for their music, but no longer have the same use for. I'm over the mood, but not the music, as it were.
There are plenty of references to numbers I have never heard, and it is a pity the book will be returned before I can look them all up.
e.g. From his discussion of originality & sampling, I've just gone to YouTube, that miracle musical reference archive, and listened to:
The Strokes Vs Christina Aguilera - A Stroke Of Genie-us
The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
They are both cool works in their own right, despite being composed entirely of samples, and I was pleased to be pointed in their direction. (p.s. They both get a mention in my later blog post of 02/05/16 "Another Time, Another Pace: The Musical Rework".)
I will also mention my interest in Iris DeMent, Lucinda Williams and Alison Krauss, whose passion and sadness suited me at the time of my divorce, and who I still love for their music, but no longer have the same use for. I'm over the mood, but not the music, as it were.
There are plenty of references to numbers I have never heard, and it is a pity the book will be returned before I can look them all up.
e.g. From his discussion of originality & sampling, I've just gone to YouTube, that miracle musical reference archive, and listened to:
The Strokes Vs Christina Aguilera - A Stroke Of Genie-us
The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
They are both cool works in their own right, despite being composed entirely of samples, and I was pleased to be pointed in their direction. (p.s. They both get a mention in my later blog post of 02/05/16 "Another Time, Another Pace: The Musical Rework".)
This is not a book for anyone who doesn't follow pop music, you wouldn't get most of the references;
this is for those who know and love it in all its stupid glory.
Read as an e-book borrowed from Auckland Libraries via Overdrive, on my Kobo Touch e-reader.
this is for those who know and love it in all its stupid glory.
Read as an e-book borrowed from Auckland Libraries via Overdrive, on my Kobo Touch e-reader.