Menomena no trend follower

When I listen to Menomena, I feel as if I am stepping outside of time. Rather than looking around to hear what is trendy or looking backwards to a former golden era of psych, vocal harmony, or classic rock, Menomena make music that is uniquely their own. I don’t mean to say that they have created music in a vacuum, that they have no influences. Nor do I mean that they defy genre classification. There is no question that Menomena make pop music. But when I try to place them in time, to categorize their sound and place them firmly within a more specific context, I fail. And this is what makes them one of the most exciting bands playing pop music today.

I heard Menomena play once at the Crocodile in Seattle, in February 2007. They were touring on their second album Friend and Foe. The show was great – their songs played loose and energetic. Even my very picky wife enjoyed the show. Menomena kicked off their tour for their third album Mines just two days ago here in Seattle. Sadly I missed it. But for the rest of you outside of the Pacific Northwest, you may have a chance to see them perform live, and I highly recommend you go.

Mines does not break new ground. But that doesn’t mean it follows any previous forumula. Still here are piano, electric guitar, saxophone, drums, and the voices of every band member. The quality of the latter is another aspect that makes this band stand out. I am not in love with any of the voices, but I find it refreshing that they sound like average dudes that can sing well. They don’t sing in falsetto, nor do they harmonize a la The Beach Boys (and so many of the popular indie bands of the past 4-5 years). This is what I like about them, and what makes them stand apart from the popular music of the day.

Check out their mini-video of "Dirty Cartoons", starring a homeless mime-drummer.

Hip Hop samples indie, prog

I just joined 'rdio.com' to replace the hole left by lala.com after Apple's takeover and shutdown of the music streaming site. I plan on writing a review of all the available streaming sites in the near future, but for now I just want to share a couple findings from my recent streams.

The first is Kanye West's new song "Power." Hip hop has always had a post-modern element; its use of samples from various genres as well as movies and other spoken text is a defining characteristic of the genre. "Power" makes this element its subject matter.

It begins with a chanting unison – wordless and vaguely tribal – over a steady clap. This intro could just as easily be leading into a hippy freakout as a hip hop song. Next, Kanye begins rapping, followed by a layering of somewhat disparate sounds: a siren sound, a rock-like guitar line, a muffled saxaphone, and finally the hip hop drum and bass beat. All of these elements combine to dizzying effect, but Kanye must have felt this wasn't enough to make his point. To really hammer home his commentary on the state of our modern life he pauses everything to play the title lyric of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man." 

I am still not sure what to make of this, although what I feel when listening to this song is something like what I imagine schizophrenia to be like. The content of his lyrics only add to this effect in that they seem to be about a different topic entirely. While this may add to the overall effect, the song could be much stronger if the lyrics made some connection to the '21st century schizoid man' clip used throughout the song.

As a side note, I have to ask my readers what you make of this lyric: "I don't need your pussy, bitch, I'm on my own dick." I have had students ask me "man, why you on my dick?" when I was asking them to get to work. In this context it seems to be another way of referring to "riding someone's ass." Hip hop culture conflates this however with homosexuality, so that in saying someone is on your dick, your calling them queer. At least I think so. This still doesn't quite help me understand the Kanye lyric above. Any thoughts?

The second instance of an interesting sample in hip hop that surprised me recently is done in the Roots' new album "How I Got Over." The song "Right On" uses a sample of Joanna Newsom's "The Book of Right-On" from her first album. This was more shocking because it is a contemporary sample, unlike the decades old King Crimson classic. The Roots don't seem to use it for any apparent reason however, other than to possibly let us listeners know that they have broad tastes.

Anyone else have an example of a surprising sample in a hip hop song?

Aural Hodgepodge

First, an update on the alphabet experiment. We are nearing the end of the ‘A’ section. Yes, you read that correctly! It’s been over three months since we began listening to our entire music collection in alphabetical order and we have not yet completed the first of 23 letters. And we have been listening at a steady rate. The last album we heard contained three works by Arvo Pärt, including Fratres, part of which played as Susie walked down the aisle during our wedding. On our new speakers it sounded incredible. And I had not given much listening time to the other pieces on the disc. I’m glad I finally did. I continue to be impressed with Pärt’s work. While his work doesn’t really break any new ground, it is consistently gorgeous.

Also regarding the alphabet experiment, Susie has finally started her own blog, dedicated solely to this sonic endeavor of ours. Check it out here. Her first post will make you laugh, albeit at my expense. What can I say? Ani Difranco is not only an amazing feminist, but she’s a great musician who is constantly pushing herself musically. Well, at least up until the past few years. Maybe she’s getting tired?

Second, Sasquatch is happening tomorrow. I am very much looking forward to hearing Pavement, Shabazz Palaces, Broken Social Scene, Vampire Weekend, Brad, and Patrick Watson. I’m also looking forward to hearing new bands. The last time I went to Sasquatch I heard Grizzly Bear for the first time. I’ve since seen them live in Seattle at Neumo’s. It didn’t quite come close to what they did at the Gorge, which still impresses me to this day. It’s typical for daytime performances at outdoor festivals to lack the right mood for a band like GB, but they soared that day, there vocal harmonies flying across the vast crowd, and sounding as sweet as could be. I’m hoping to be wowed again this year by someone new to my ears.

And finally, in my ongoing search for the best sound, I have learned that both my laptop drive and my dvd player are far superior to the portable cd player I have been using for years. The difference in sound quality is remarkable. For those of you who know about hi-fi equipment this is probably obvious, but for the rest of you who, like me, have been using the same cheap setup for years, unaware of the possibilities, try this out for yourself!

What I learned at the Seattle Pop Conference, 2010

This year's Pop Conference at the Experience Music Project (EMP) explored the relationship between music and technology. Beginning April 15th, the conference consisted of a series of panel discussions and readings of academic papers. The participants ranged from journalists to academics, with EMP curators, and self-styled critics filling out the weekend's program. This was my first year attending, and I highly enjoyed the arguments and discussions. I would like to share just some of the highlights with you:

1. The player piano may be the first digital technology used in music. It's fascinating history is interwoven with the history of textile manufacturing, the piano rolls having a common ancestor in the punch cards of Jacquard's looms. For more on this, check out the work of David Suisman.

2. Post-punk musicians in the early 1980s Great Britain used reverb to emphasize their themes of isolation and "deep personal alienation." Bands like the Cure and Wire are great examples, as explained by Theo Cateforis in his presentation "Dark Spaces and Empty Places'': Ambient Reverb and the Meanings of British Post-Punk." The Cure's All Cats are Grey uses reverb to create the sensation of listening in a large cave. The sense of distance created by the reverb emphasizes the lyrics:

In the caves
All cats are grey
In the caves
The textures coat my skin
In the death cell
A single note
Rings on and on and on

Cateforis made sure to point out that these bands may not have always been aware of what they were doing, but his work definitely helped deepen my appreciation of the two bands above.

3. Bands like Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors are often accused of appropriating African styles of guitar and percussion for their own personal gain. While that never really rang true for me, Banning Eyre, contributor to the radio program Afropop Worldwide, argues that we need to reevaluate these bands with a different perspective. Eyre pointed out that the kids in Vampire weekend grew up listening to African artists like Fela Kuti and Ali Farka Toure in their own homes, making different African musical styles personal in a way it never was for previous generations of Americans. Besides this, it's pretty clear that Vampire Weekend and similar bands are melding multiple styles to create their own unique sound.

4. The phrase “no homo” commonly used in hip hop is meant to assert black masculinity within the context of lyrical and physical expressions that typically signify femininity. In other words, whenever rappers are acting queer or saying queer-related things, they need to make sure they tell us that they are not in fact queer. What is most saddening is that every day I see twelve and thirteen year old kids who learn how to be men from rap videos. The other day I had a student ask me “why you on my dick?” when I told him he needed to get off the computer because he was only using it to look at women dancing at clubs.The abstract for Leah Pogwizd's paper on this topic is here.

5. Music critics should not be moderators.

6. Journalists who write about music are much more interesting than academics.

Adult Contemporary, Part One

What makes a song “adult contemporary?” Is it the cinematic and over-emotional quality, the earnestness? Must there be smooth keyboard sounds? My first instinct is to say that it means a song is so polished all the beauty has been rubbed away, and all that is left is a smooth reflective surface, like a face under plastic surgery. An adult contemporary song might be sung by Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, or Barry Manilow. Adult contemporary can even cross over into poorly named “world” genre, as exemplified in the collaborative effort by Anoushka Shankar and Karsh Kale, Breathing Under Water. Something happens to Shankar’s sitar on this album that can only be called a travesty. Having just finished listening to her solo album Anourag as part of the alphabet experiment (see previous posts), I knew that Shankar could shred on the sitar. Equally adept at blistering speed and meditative restraint, there is no question she is her father’s daughter. So how does one explain the song “Sea Dreamer” on which Sting croons over easy listening synths, Shankar’s sitar adding “world music” color? There are some songs, some albums, that while their contemporary sounds may induce vomit, something shines through, maybe a voice, or one might hope, a sitar. On “Sea Dreamer” there is no baby to save in the putrid sea bath of this song.

            Norah Jones is someone who, for me, blurs the boundary between adult contemporary and good music. I know many would say that she belongs firmly to the former camp, and that the above claim is nothing more than my justification for liking an adult contemporary artist. But Jones comes from jazz. Her debut album Come Away With Me was released by the well-known jazz label Blue Note. Her backing lineup is filled with jazz players like Adam Rogers, Bill Frisell and Brian Blade. Her work to date may be easy on the ears, but that doesn’t automatically make it easy listening or adult contemporary in my mind. That said, her one track on Breathing Under Water is not strong enough to keep me from wanting to throw this album in the trash.

            This is going to take me a while to really think through, so I plan on coming back to this one. We’ll call this part one. I’m looking forward to any thoughts on this one. What do you think when you hear the words “adult contemporary?” Does it induce vomiting? Is it all you listen too? 

Vinyl vs cd/mp3

Recent tests include Black Sabbath's Paranoid, and Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, the latter playing this moment. As I switch back and forth between the two formats, I notice a significant difference in the balance of instruments. On vinyl, the upright bass sounds real, and clear. On mp3 played from iTunes it sounds like it could be an electric bass, but it's hard to tell as it's further back in the mix. The mids are pushed way forward on the mp3, which results in a somewhat fuller sound in total, but ultimately this is an undesirable difference. The vinyl version sounds closer to real instruments playing live, whereas the mp3 sounds like a poorly produced recording in comparison.

I write this not because there is a dearth of information on this topic on the internet (google this for yourself and be overwhelmed), but because I intend this blog to be a sort of musical diary, recording my personal experiences listening to, thinking about, and occasionally making music.

PS, in case anyone was wondering, I am NOT breaking the rules of the alphabet experiment. Susie isn't here as I listen to the above mentioned albums.

High Fidelity

New Speakers 
Almost a month ago I was at a friend's house for brunch. It was a birthday party event, and we brought with us Joanna Newsom's new album Have One On Me as a gift. After savoring an amazing strawberry shortcake dessert, we put the new album on and I was struck by the quality of the bass notes played on the harp. I had already listened to the same album on my stereo at home, as well as Newsom's two previous albums, so I had a pretty good sense of what the harp sounded like on my system. The sound produced by my friend's system sounded so much closer to a real instrument than my own, that I was pretty much ruined by it. I needed to upgrade my stereo, and quick.

As any savvy 21st century shopper does, I posted a quick note on Facebook: "Time to buy new speakers. Currently considering the Bose acoustimass 3 based on the amazing harp bass I heard on friend's system when playing the new Joanna Newsom. Any other rec's for speakers in the $200 range?" Pretty quickly I had two audiophile friends respond dismissing Bose as "an illusion" and recommending slightly pricier but far superior monitor speakers. I went to two shops to test out some of the recommended models. The first was Definitive Audio on Roosevelt (Seattle). The guy who helped me was extremely helpful, if a bit technical. I learned all about speaker components and speaker companies from him. For instance, Paradigm is a Canadian company that gets R&D funding from the government. This allows them to spend more money on making awesome equipment, whereas Bose spends a much larger portion on marketing. Of the speakers I listened to here (B&W, Paradigm) neither impressed me. They were clearly better than what I already had, but each had something a little off in terms of balance of highs and lows.


The second place I went was Resolution Audio in Ballard. This place has excellent reviews, so I was very excited to check it out, but I also feared everything would be well out of my price range. I don't intend for this to be a review of the shop, so I'll keep this short. I fell in love with a pair of Usher speakers and bought them using a 1/2 price gift certificate from Strangermart, the new discount section of one of Seattle's weekly magazines. I've been listening to several albums a day on these new speakers and it's changed what I hear dramatically. 


What I Hear
The idea behind high fidelity is to come as close to possible to producing all the information from the source, whether it is a cd, mp3, or lp. Instruments should sound like real instruments, and the balance should be what was intended by the artist and producers when it was mixed and mastered. The new speakers I have do this much better than the cheap Sony speakers I picked up over a decade ago on clearance at Circuit City. As I've listened to several different albums spanning a wide variety of genres, I've realized that some music is almost not worth listening to at all unless you have a decent stereo. 
Just minutes ago I was listening to the new opera by The Knife called Tomorrow, In a Year. This 90 minute piece about the life and ideas of Charles Darwin seems to come from an entirely different planet than it's predecessor, the highly regarded electronic pop album Silent Shout. On Pitchfork, Jayson Greene called this "deeply un-portable music: It either demands your complete attention or invites you to shut it off." Greene goes on to confirm what I had been thinking as I listened to this album on the new speakers: "Taking in the album in different settings gave me a little of both reactions. (At home, in front of massive speakers, following along with the lyrics: absorbing. On an iPod during a morning commute: maddening.)" This leaves me wondering, how much music is unappreciated, or misjudged because it was listened to on an inferior system. Do reviewers typically have a good stereo on which they listen to the music they critique? Does this even matter for certain kinds of music? I have also heard anectdotaly that many people when played music on both a very good stereo and a mediocre one, will claim the latter sounds best. People are not used to listening to music on high quality components, so when they do it sounds weird. (I don't know where I heard this, so if anyone has a link for this, please put it in the comments section. Cheers.) I don't know how true this really is, but my wife and I are thoroughly enjoying what we are hearing these past few weeks.