Today would have been the 52nd birthday of D. Boon.
He was the guitar player and primary singer of The Minutemen. To say that The Minutemen made a quick, revelatory and lasting impression on me would still not paint the right picture. The very first sounds of the album Double Nickels on the Dime is Mike Watt starting his car and for some reason it took me to a place I had never been before. A marvelous, exhilarating, nervous energy began running through my body. The album was already ten years old when it fell into my hands. The power it had in the late 90s was immediately palpable and strangely modern. I can't imagine what it must have sounded like in 1984 when it came out!
Every member of the band played direct, honest, confident and purposeful music with the type of urgency that most young bands shoot for and consistently miss. George Hurley barely missed a single beat of the drums and Mike Watt's bass thundered with the type of presence few bassists had at the time and few have had since. D. Boon's simple, zany solos complimented the others perfectly. A great album in every measurable way!
The follow-up album, 3-Way Tie (For Last), has a different kind of power and signaled a more driven, confident band. SST labelmates, fans, friends, critics and the southern California punk/hardcore community was very excited for the future of this seminal band. Instead, the winter holiday season of 1985 brought a dark cloud over all the aforementioned groups. D. Boon died in a terrible car crash on the side of a dark highway...
His death shattered the soul of Minutemen bassist, Mike Watt. It saddened thousands of fans' hopes for the entire genre. It brought everyone involved with the classic label SST to their knees. The Minutemen were the first band to record for the label after label founders Black Flag. There are tribute albums, documentaries, websites, books, etc in honor of the band.
Their discography is impressive, their following is huge, their impact is immeasurable, their music is timeless... Happy birthday, D! Your story lives on!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ!
Americans have pioneered stunningly innovative music for over 100 years. Canadians and Brits have been copying our music for decades. Therefore, there are literally tens of thousands of songs that could potentially get airplay on the radio waves across this land. Why, then, do the majority of radio stations play the same songs over and over?
Sure, some of the music on 'alternative' stations and classic rock and R&B stations is truly classic, but there's also plenty of corporate garbage. I just don't understand the logic behind playing the same songs every day. Being a DJ at a station like that would be horrible. For example, everyone agrees that Hendrix made great music, but it's always the same few songs of his that are played over the airwaves. Instead of hearing 'Machine Gun' we have to keep hearing 'All Along the Watchtower', 'Hey Joe' or 'Purple Haze'. He didn't even write two of those songs.
This kind of repetition takes the power out of a song like Purple Haze and traps the power of a song like 'Machine Gun' in the black hole of the past. It forces true fans to discover the music on their own. This, of course, is fine for someone like me, however the average person doesn't have the drive. The result is thousands of unheralded bands and musicians forgotten by time. Therefore, countless would-be anthems are ignored as people are distracted by temporary "hits" that never end up on the aforementioned radio stations...
In a country with this much talent, it's a shame that groups like Uncle Tupelo, Digable Planets and Television are "nobody's" and Creed, 50 cent and Ke$ha are "huge stars".
Sure, some of the music on 'alternative' stations and classic rock and R&B stations is truly classic, but there's also plenty of corporate garbage. I just don't understand the logic behind playing the same songs every day. Being a DJ at a station like that would be horrible. For example, everyone agrees that Hendrix made great music, but it's always the same few songs of his that are played over the airwaves. Instead of hearing 'Machine Gun' we have to keep hearing 'All Along the Watchtower', 'Hey Joe' or 'Purple Haze'. He didn't even write two of those songs.
This kind of repetition takes the power out of a song like Purple Haze and traps the power of a song like 'Machine Gun' in the black hole of the past. It forces true fans to discover the music on their own. This, of course, is fine for someone like me, however the average person doesn't have the drive. The result is thousands of unheralded bands and musicians forgotten by time. Therefore, countless would-be anthems are ignored as people are distracted by temporary "hits" that never end up on the aforementioned radio stations...
In a country with this much talent, it's a shame that groups like Uncle Tupelo, Digable Planets and Television are "nobody's" and Creed, 50 cent and Ke$ha are "huge stars".
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Ke$ha
I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that a girl with a dollar sign in her name (that kind of juvenile silliness is traditionally reserved for one-hit wonder hip-hop stars) has a number one song or the fact that my nieces and nephew dance to it and know every word. At six years old (the age of my youngest niece) I danced and sang every word to Main Street by Bob Seger. I can't imagine for a minute that my parents would have let me listen to music with lyrics about chugging Jack Daniels. Of course, plenty of music from my dad's collection referenced drugs and drinking, etc. But, generally the songs didn't spell it out like today's "smash hits".
My fascination with degrading music started in middle school with 2 Live Crew. They had some shockingly vulgar songs. Often, the girls I knew on the bus would sing along to the tapes being played in the back. It was somewhat sick that they giggled along with lyrics about "bitches", "hoes", "sluts" and "whores".
Ke$ha's song Tik-Tok is definitely not as vivid as anything by The Crew, but joking about "boys tryin' to touch my junk" is a little much for a six year-old, no? The Billboard Top 40 has always been chock-full of asinine, yet, danceable songs about sex and cliché pop-culture references.
I'm not saying I'm shocked by the song. I have successfully ignored all that bullshit for thirty years. All I'm sayin' is that maybe we shouldn't let our young ones listen to it. If they choose it as adolescents, that's fine. But, six years old? There's so much music out there with positive messages! At the very least, there is harmless, benign pop music that, despite not being challenging, is just as danceable!
My fascination with degrading music started in middle school with 2 Live Crew. They had some shockingly vulgar songs. Often, the girls I knew on the bus would sing along to the tapes being played in the back. It was somewhat sick that they giggled along with lyrics about "bitches", "hoes", "sluts" and "whores".
Ke$ha's song Tik-Tok is definitely not as vivid as anything by The Crew, but joking about "boys tryin' to touch my junk" is a little much for a six year-old, no? The Billboard Top 40 has always been chock-full of asinine, yet, danceable songs about sex and cliché pop-culture references.
I'm not saying I'm shocked by the song. I have successfully ignored all that bullshit for thirty years. All I'm sayin' is that maybe we shouldn't let our young ones listen to it. If they choose it as adolescents, that's fine. But, six years old? There's so much music out there with positive messages! At the very least, there is harmless, benign pop music that, despite not being challenging, is just as danceable!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Murmurs of Easter
R.E.M. was an absolute staple of my childhood. Stipe's mumbled, cryptic lyrics were a thing of great mystery that I spent ages trying to decipher. There were never lyrics printed in the inserts of the records. In fact, there was never much written in the inserts of the records at all. The only albums with any background were the two compilation albums: Dead Letter Office & Eponymous. The name of producer Mitch Easter appeared frequently on those two and of course appeared on Murmur & Reckoning, the two studio albums he produced.
Mitch Easter is a hard name to forget. It's got a great ring to it! Last week, the little cardboard box full of free stuff by the door of my favorite record shop in the country had a single record sitting in it. It had no jacket, just the plastic sleeve. However, the plastic sleeve did have the I.R.S. records logo on it. R.E.M. and Camper Van Beethoven were on I.R.S., so that was enough for me to pick it up.
The record = Afoot. The band = Let's Active. The leader = Mitch Easter.
This six song EP from 1983 went right out the door with me. When I got home it looked like it had never been played. I listened to it straight through, of course, it's only a little more than 20 minutes long. It was synthy, jangle-pop executed to perfection! I loved every second of it!
The following day, I returned to my shop to see if they had any cd's of Let's Active. They had one. A two-for-one combo of the first two Let's Active records: Afoot & Cypress. Apparently, it is a very rare cd and, as always, my little shop had it. And... as always... it was only $6! What a great find! It is catchy, pop-informed music with plenty of experimental and underground undertones! The murmurs of Easter aren't easy to find, but they're worth listening for...
Mitch Easter is a hard name to forget. It's got a great ring to it! Last week, the little cardboard box full of free stuff by the door of my favorite record shop in the country had a single record sitting in it. It had no jacket, just the plastic sleeve. However, the plastic sleeve did have the I.R.S. records logo on it. R.E.M. and Camper Van Beethoven were on I.R.S., so that was enough for me to pick it up.
The record = Afoot. The band = Let's Active. The leader = Mitch Easter.
This six song EP from 1983 went right out the door with me. When I got home it looked like it had never been played. I listened to it straight through, of course, it's only a little more than 20 minutes long. It was synthy, jangle-pop executed to perfection! I loved every second of it!
The following day, I returned to my shop to see if they had any cd's of Let's Active. They had one. A two-for-one combo of the first two Let's Active records: Afoot & Cypress. Apparently, it is a very rare cd and, as always, my little shop had it. And... as always... it was only $6! What a great find! It is catchy, pop-informed music with plenty of experimental and underground undertones! The murmurs of Easter aren't easy to find, but they're worth listening for...
Friday, March 5, 2010
Four Seasons
Just wanted to give a quick shout out to my man Antonio Vivaldi who was born today in 1678! I studied The Four Seasons in high school. I would love to create something that people still found useful hundreds of years later!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
She's Lost Control
Hollow drums bounce out of the speakers, then a hypnotic guitar, then Ian Curtis' haunting voice sweeps in and covers it all up with equally haunting lyrics about the epileptic fits of a teenage girl he once cared for as a lad... or is it about him?
The infectious guitars and droning bass are as engaging as the dark, evocative lyrics. On first listen though, Curtis' affecting lyrics may not sink in as the driving guitars and drums carry you out to sea. But, by the second or third listen the stirring story storms your senses. 'She's Lost Control' is truly a gem on what is arguably the most important album of the post-punk era.
When I finally heard these lyrics I had a vision of a dark-haired teenage girl laying on a gurney in a busy, stark, white and very long hallway with flickering fluorescent lights in the beginning of a seizure trying desperately to get someone's attention before it's too late and she bites off her tongue and swallows it causing her unnatural and untimely death.
"And she's clinging to the nearest passerby, she's lost control. And walked upon the edge of no escape and laughed, I've lost control." These lyrics may seem dark on paper, but within the context of the song as a whole they have extreme power and emotion.
'She's Lost Control' is a standout on an album (Unknown Pleasures) full of masterpieces. The next song on the album, 'Shadowplay', is equally disturbing as Ian Curtis talks of "acting out your own death". To pigeonhole this album as some Gothic relic full of dark stories of death and depression would be to sell this record short of its incalculable historical importance. Untold numbers of musicians and artists throughout the world point to Joy Division as a seminal influence in their artistic endeavors.
Every song on Unknown Pleasures is arresting! The style that this young group, under the direction of producer Martin Hannet, was capable of was nothing short of groundbreaking. The first time I saw the album I was compelled to pick it up. The album cover, which shows a star going nova, was irresistible. Once in my hand, I was sure I needed to buy it. Once I got it home and gave it a listen I was in shock. I didn't quite understand what I had heard, but I was positive that I liked it. It took several listens before I could separate the sounds and take each on their own terms.
Joy Division were not around long... but their music will stand the test of time as evidenced by the many websites, books, movies and documentaries made about them. It sounds today as innovative and immediate as it must have to anyone lucky enough to have bought it in the UK in the late 70s.
The infectious guitars and droning bass are as engaging as the dark, evocative lyrics. On first listen though, Curtis' affecting lyrics may not sink in as the driving guitars and drums carry you out to sea. But, by the second or third listen the stirring story storms your senses. 'She's Lost Control' is truly a gem on what is arguably the most important album of the post-punk era.
When I finally heard these lyrics I had a vision of a dark-haired teenage girl laying on a gurney in a busy, stark, white and very long hallway with flickering fluorescent lights in the beginning of a seizure trying desperately to get someone's attention before it's too late and she bites off her tongue and swallows it causing her unnatural and untimely death.
"And she's clinging to the nearest passerby, she's lost control. And walked upon the edge of no escape and laughed, I've lost control." These lyrics may seem dark on paper, but within the context of the song as a whole they have extreme power and emotion.
'She's Lost Control' is a standout on an album (Unknown Pleasures) full of masterpieces. The next song on the album, 'Shadowplay', is equally disturbing as Ian Curtis talks of "acting out your own death". To pigeonhole this album as some Gothic relic full of dark stories of death and depression would be to sell this record short of its incalculable historical importance. Untold numbers of musicians and artists throughout the world point to Joy Division as a seminal influence in their artistic endeavors.
Every song on Unknown Pleasures is arresting! The style that this young group, under the direction of producer Martin Hannet, was capable of was nothing short of groundbreaking. The first time I saw the album I was compelled to pick it up. The album cover, which shows a star going nova, was irresistible. Once in my hand, I was sure I needed to buy it. Once I got it home and gave it a listen I was in shock. I didn't quite understand what I had heard, but I was positive that I liked it. It took several listens before I could separate the sounds and take each on their own terms.
Joy Division were not around long... but their music will stand the test of time as evidenced by the many websites, books, movies and documentaries made about them. It sounds today as innovative and immediate as it must have to anyone lucky enough to have bought it in the UK in the late 70s.
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