An Apology
Hello everybody, and sorry again for vanishing from the blog for more than two months after getting that lengthy anniversary essay off my chest. I wish I could cheer up my small fanbase by announcing that I have stockpiled a ton of new reviews in the meantime — but I havenʼt. Most of the time I actually spent on musical writing during these past two months (and it wasnʼt even that much time) was spent polishing up and proofreading some older stuff that I hope to have online back at the old site in a while.
I will not be returning full-scale in the very nearest future, either, for a variety of reasons (some of which include work overload and a new hobby that is completely unrelated to music but which I might share with some of you some day). Fully refurbished and polished pages on some major artists will eventually appear on the old site, but not before they are completed — I will post links to any relevant updates here.
Just so I donʼt forget about the world at large in the meantime, and the world doesnʼt completely forget about me, Iʼll continue updating this blog on a small scale.
Namely, Iʼve been wanting to share ongoing thoughts about some of the newest music Iʼve been listening to — largely so that all the observations I posted in that essay wouldnʼt seem unsupported by evidence — and then Iʼve also wanted to take up a small project about reviewing my pretty large collection of musical DVDs... and then I thought, why not make this a double bill for fun? A mini-review of a recent album, and then a mini-review of a musical video that, for some reason, came into my mind in connection with the album — why not? Letʼs see how it works, first time around.
Album of the week — Weyes Blood:
Titanic Rising
Heard a lot of good things about Natalie Mering from people with
excellent music taste, and now her latest album seems to be doing pretty well,
so had to check this out for myself. No surprises whatsoever: based on
descriptions, I expected to hear immaculately produced and arranged Seventies-style
art pop, and this is precisely what it is. Mering has a wonderful voice, a
great sense of taste, and the only thing that distinguishes Titanic Rising from a Traveling
Wilburys-style union of Karen Carpenter, Agnetha Faltskog, Emmylou Harris, and
Annie Haslam (with most of their instrumentalists in tow) is 21st century level
production (and even that is not really obvious on songs like the opening ʽA
Lotʼs Gonna Changeʼ). Alas, just as equally predictable is the realization that
most of these melodies are boring as hell — the base melodies milk all the
classic chord progressions, and the vocal hooks are all derived from whoever
her principal idol might be (Harry Nilsson?). Ultimately, just another triumph
of atmosphere over substance, another example of a gorgeously tasteful and
intelligent (and, for that matter,
quite beautiful) human being who loves loves loves good music, but can only pay
it respectful tribute without being able to take it to some other level. Some
people actually seem to go crazy over those soundscapes, though — go figure.
This is one of the better songs:
This is one of the better songs:
Music DVD of the week — ABBA: The
Movie (1977)
Since ʽA Lotʼs Gonna Changeʼ reminded me of ABBAʼs slow ballads for some reason, itʼs as good a pretext as any to put in a good word for this oddity — most people who want a glimpse of live ABBA usually go for the 1979 Wembley concert, which is good, but captures the band very slightly past its peak, right smack in the middle of the disco era. ABBA: The Movie suffers from an odd "plot" where an Australian DJ has to hunt the band for an interview as they jump from one venue to another, but, thankfully, itʼs not intrusive — the main thing is that you actually get to see quite a few of the bandʼs best tunes played live before receptive Australian audiences. This was when they were still in the middle of conquering the world and working their asses off for that goal, and it shows. My only sadness about the movie was that the tour actually took place before The Album came out, so most of the great songs from it had only been included in the form of (slightly surrealistic) music videos — ʽEagleʼ, ʽThe Name Of The Gameʼ, etc. Regardless, now that we all have accepted ABBA into the pantheon, The Movie should definitely be acknowledged as one of the greatest concert movies of all time. (And yes, the sound has been pretty heavily overdubbed in post-production, but we never heard that, did we?).
Here's one very early ABBA song you don't often hear, but they absolutely tear it up:
Here's one very early ABBA song you don't often hear, but they absolutely tear it up:
Stay tuned for more updates next Sunday!
Yay, you're not dead!
ReplyDeleteI am very curious about this new hobby.
maybe it's wood working? That seems like something for GS.
DeleteMaybe drones, or collecting baseball cards, playing chess or perhaps riding vintage motorcycles or even collecting model diecast vehicles ....
DeleteI am delighted that you are still working on the old site...that's where I go first!
ReplyDelete"a new hobby "
ReplyDeleteNow I'm (also) curious.
"will eventually appear on the old site"
Pity - I'd rather see you would do the reverse, ie transferring some old review to your blog. I'd love to comment on your reviews of Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Rainbow. Especially because you hit the nail so accurately so often it would be a pleasure to contradict you. But perhaps I can comment when you link to them?
As for the Abba song, I think it pretty generic. Thus it doesn't have that typical combination of inspiring both awe (because excellent arrangements) and annoyance (because ueber-smooth).
ReplyDeleteI like the Weyes Blood album quite a bit. Although indeed not the most original, I think it'll still go up as my favorite for 2019 as Ghosteen was just a sore disappointment. It is an attest that the best music now is rather an homage to the old greats or great era than something new and inspiring, but a good album that deserves some positive words nonetheless. Or maybe it is an attest of me getting old and not getting the new school music.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I agree on Weyes Blood. It certainly feels like it’s become completely random, the way people choose another record to worship. It is a lovely album, no doubt, but that’s about it really. The above-mentioned Ghosteen, on the other hand, has the kind of emotional depth Titanic Rising can only dream of. Plus, I’d argue that “Bright Horses” and “Waiting For You” have some of Cave’s greatest melodies.
ReplyDeleteAs for this new interest, I imagine something left-field (for whatever reason), like catching butterflies or making wine. Hope I’m not too far off...
Continuing off-topic: “Waiting For You” is the only 'normal' song on Ghosteen. Normal in a sense that it doesn't rely on harmony more than on melody. It's also easily one of the 3-4 best songs on the album, but I think saying its melody is outstanding is pushing it really hard. "Bright Horses" leaves me cold: nothing to recommend about this one, except Nick's vocal delivery.
DeleteI think as follows. When we see someone stricken by grief it is often appropriate to say "Leave that man alone for a while". It is not expected to say "his/her grief is of great emotional depth" - not because it's untrue but because it's not measured as such (rather in physical units). Hence the harmony and the constant uuuu uuuu or what it was (though whoever did the keys should be executed) is an attempt on Nick Cave's side to portray that unusual state of a person, as Mr Cave is a great portraitist of various personae. The only valid question would thus be if such a portrait bears any resembalance to an abstract grieving person - but the question is unanswerable because grief can never be abstract. Therefore, Nick Cave does not give us a measuring device to measure that album quality and in this sense wins immediately (with constant debate as a side effect)
DeleteI see your point. I have to clear it up: when I was writing about 'emotional depth', I was talking about Ghosteen as a Nick Cave album rather than this particular Nick Cave album. For instance, Push The Sky Away has emotional depth. Or, I don't know, The Good Son. And as for grief, well, it's not for me to comment on other people's grief. Much has been said already. Too much, I'd say.
DeleteMine was no intention to criticize your point! However personal that album might be and maybe really is it's, I think, also a smart commercial move. That doesn't in anyway diminish it's possible greatness or the trademark Cave's resonance.
DeleteI think, the truly revolutionary product from Nick Cave is his online creative output named Red Hand Files. It's like he has revived the whole newspapers of olden times, impressive.
Enough said, I think, too.
Post more about hoby. I once bought do it yourself but i didn't because some parts were missing.
ReplyDeleteNice to see your writing in any venue. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteUntil you put out something I don't enjoy, I will firmly stand by the idea that any content is good content. I look forward to hearing more, regardless of what you pursue on this blog/the old website.
ReplyDeletei like new format!
ReplyDelete