Someone once said "All I know is that it aint like it used to be"
I'm sure many of you will agree to having those "If only" moments, wishing you had heard something twenty years ago. I tend to do that less these days, maybe because I'm more objective ("If only I met my wife before I wasted all that time on those other girls..." is easily countered now with, "I'm thankful my wife didn't meet me before, boy did I suck ass").
Or maybe because I know now, that I already had moments of discovery, 20 years ago, that were fun, interesting and shaping... Moments I may have lost if I walked past Great White, and stopped to appreciate just one thing andrew listened to at the time.
This is a great example because at this point in time, I pull a regular shift at my local Walmart music department, standing in the "G" section shouting: "Keep Moving!", but at the same time I greatly value the memory of trading 'Once Bitten...Twice Shy" to my younger cousin for 'Vital Idol'... he's still pissed! I wouldn't pass that up.
I know there is a lot of great music out there, floating around, waiting for me to hear it. And as I have less time to actively pursue my treks into the unknown, I know I still possess that sense of excitement in my core, knowing I'll still come across these gems as the days go on.
Belle and Sebastian's If you're feeling sinister and Laurie Anderson's Big Science both represent this type of discovery for me.
Sinister is only about 8 or 9 years old for me, and Big Science is just a newborn. I'm coming late to the game with both of these.
Both albums made an immediate impact when I heard them. Both I'll listen to again. Both I recommend everyone to listen to if you have not yet.
Big Science is wonderfully unique, a major plus in my book. There just isn't enough spoken word out there. It made me think of Glenn Gould's The Idea of North, nothing much is similar between the two beyond featuring speech as a central part of the music. I also thought of Jim Morrison... He wishes though... throwing big words together don't make it good. I tend to think the early 80's produced a lot of terrible sounding music. Over-produced synth, I guess an early indicator of the impact the digital world would have... most of this music showed the negative side, while Big Science shows the potential... A tool, rather than just dipping songs in synth. And of course, Spiritualized covered a tune from this album, so that has to be worth points in this group.
Sinister on the other hand, isn't treading new ground in the world of music per se, but what it does, it does really well. It immediately catches my interest, and there is a certain flow to the music. It sounds simple, but it isn't. There isn't much I feel like I need to say about it, it speaks for itself.
When I first saw this assignment, I thought Sinister would be guaranteed to go on... yet, I've listened to Big Science numerous now, trying to find something wrong with it. I listened to Sinister just as many times, and it proved each time that it deserved to go on. Earlier in the day, I wrote down why Sinister won, and it had something to do with me being into Easy Listening these days. But that's just crazy... true, but crazy. So now, here's why Big Science ultimately wins... I think it has the potential to open a few more doors for me... could you imagine listening to just the great whites of the world forever... now that's 'easy' listening.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Very interesting about the late discovery stuff. I think about that too. I missed the Belle & Sebastian train, partly because it didn't grab me, partly because I just wasn't buying a lot of albums back in their breakout time -- and now it's like I can't go back. But here's the reason why you're allowed to go back to Laurie Anderson: None of us were really around when she was really kicking it. Our version of the 80s was really just an echo of her version of the 80s, and ours, if we're honest, was actually the early 90s. So you can start in on Laurie Anderson at any time. Belle and Sebastian, though, were during my time, so I just missed it, plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteI admit the Laurie stuff can sometimes sound dated and Theatrical sometimes (ask Sarah BJ to do a thespian hello to get the right image). But my jaw dropped the first time I heard it, so I'm glad to see it go another round.
Yeah, it can be a bit OVER THE TOP. But still, I kind of love her. I think Bright Red best, though.
ReplyDeleteLoved the review, Mark. And I know what you mean. On the one hand, if only I had listened to more of what you liked (I probably would have gotten beat up less often), on the other hand, we wouldn't have spent most of French class writing "The Cure sucks" and "Led Zeppelin" sucks on each other's binders. On the other other hand, maybe I would know how to speak French now, which would be nice. In any case, here are your next choices: (13) Yo La Tengo - I can hear the heart beating as one vs. (20) Mountains - Mountains
ReplyDeleteI just remembered I got introduced to Laurie Anderson by some late night WCYE. The DJ played "Let X=X" and it took me like forever to figure out what song it was and from what album, but I knew I had to find it. Probably I used The Internet.
ReplyDelete