TDDS - 2020 Shelter-in-Place on a Desert Island Music Draft - BONUS 5
- Thread starter VF21
- Start date
Well, I think that pitch correction is so ubiquitous now that it's not really seen as anything other than a deliberate stylistic choice. Listeners' ears have been trained to spot Auto-Tune, so artists have shifted from trying to cover up their lack of singing ability to embracing digital wizardry to morph their less-than-perfect voices into interesting shapes.
That's not to say that there aren't genuine offenders out there (oddly enough, it's contemporary radio "rock" musicians who seem the most enamored with pitch correction and multi-tracking their vox). But few of pop music's biggest artists in 2020 are utilizing it as a means to achieve studio perfection. In fact, this year's Grammy queen has been oft-criticized as a "mumbler" in her songs. Any effects she might apply to her voice are definitely not an attempt to compensate.
And this is all coming from a 33-year-old lover of music who has very little interest in the Top-40, and whom could hardly be considered an expert in what the kids like nowadays. I'm also 100% with you on owning a preference for imperfect voices (my second pick in this draft is certainly evidence of that). But I also have a deep love for electronic music, and stylistic pitch correction plays a huge role in a lot of the music I adore. Technological advances regularly herald interesting choices in just about any artistic discipline.
Anyway, this discussion has now solidified the next pick in my draft.
That's not to say that there aren't genuine offenders out there (oddly enough, it's contemporary radio "rock" musicians who seem the most enamored with pitch correction and multi-tracking their vox). But few of pop music's biggest artists in 2020 are utilizing it as a means to achieve studio perfection. In fact, this year's Grammy queen has been oft-criticized as a "mumbler" in her songs. Any effects she might apply to her voice are definitely not an attempt to compensate.
And this is all coming from a 33-year-old lover of music who has very little interest in the Top-40, and whom could hardly be considered an expert in what the kids like nowadays. I'm also 100% with you on owning a preference for imperfect voices (my second pick in this draft is certainly evidence of that). But I also have a deep love for electronic music, and stylistic pitch correction plays a huge role in a lot of the music I adore. Technological advances regularly herald interesting choices in just about any artistic discipline.
Anyway, this discussion has now solidified the next pick in my draft.
What I mourn is the death of performance as a tight rope act with actual stakes. It's not just vocals, it's instruments too. Everything is chopped up into perfect little 2 or 3 bar loops and quantized to get rid of the "mistakes". Drum tracks are enhanced with triggered samples and compressed into oblivion. To me it's all those so-called mistakes that make music good! There's room for all manner of styles and preferences, I don't want to sound like the music I like is objectively better than anyone else's. It's just the attitude that drives me nuts. At some point actual musicians playing instruments and actual singers performing songs became niche. And I worry about what that means for us collectively as a culture. If we can't tolerate imperfections in other people, how are we going to learn to tolerate them in ourselves?
I couldn't find a spot for one of my favorite bands because all three of the songs that I love the most from them are singles only (or never officially released in one case) and can't be included. It also saddens me to realize that they all might have been on an album together if not for tragic circumstances which ended the band.
We have covered most of the untimely deaths of great artists like Janis Joplin, Jim Croce and Jimi Hendrix. My hats off to everyone who chose one of those artists so I will take for my 6th pick the DOORS.
This album is fantastic from the opening track (break on though to the other side) and the last track (the end) and arguably their biggest hit (light my Fire) throw in soul kitchen, Twentieth Century Fox, back door man and others to make a powerful album to remember.
I find that I believe the bands 3 greatest hits are on this album.
Looking forward to changing up some of my next picks as I have been stuck in the sixties for a few picks.
This album is fantastic from the opening track (break on though to the other side) and the last track (the end) and arguably their biggest hit (light my Fire) throw in soul kitchen, Twentieth Century Fox, back door man and others to make a powerful album to remember.
I find that I believe the bands 3 greatest hits are on this album.
Looking forward to changing up some of my next picks as I have been stuck in the sixties for a few picks.
There was a video about this posted recently. I'll dig it up if interested.
It's crazy. I was blind to it when I was in high school doing the garage band thing and when my brother was doing pay to play shows at the Cattle Club and the like. Later in life when I first gigged as vocalist I had no idea how a proper stage rig went and how now everything is run through PAs and amps are sort of props in most venues. And the first time I was in a studio I really had no clue.
But like the big arena acts, they all play to click - not because it helps them keep it tighter, but because if they don't the backing tracks, pre-sequenced samples and triggers and everything else that is not the band on stage won't be in time to the band. Look, I get that city to city bands that aren't the Dead are going to play the same set list every single night of the tour. And that the encore is fake. And the only variance night in night out is the "Thank You Cleveland!". But at least I once had an illusion that a hot crowd could get an A+ performance out of the band. Maybe inspire them to pick up the tempo or play a passage more inspired. But it's not. It's about 3 steps away from lip sync battle. And it's sad. Because I still want to believe that 2-3 decades ago when I was young I was getting that. And now I can't even be sure.
It's crazy. I was blind to it when I was in high school doing the garage band thing and when my brother was doing pay to play shows at the Cattle Club and the like. Later in life when I first gigged as vocalist I had no idea how a proper stage rig went and how now everything is run through PAs and amps are sort of props in most venues. And the first time I was in a studio I really had no clue.
But like the big arena acts, they all play to click - not because it helps them keep it tighter, but because if they don't the backing tracks, pre-sequenced samples and triggers and everything else that is not the band on stage won't be in time to the band. Look, I get that city to city bands that aren't the Dead are going to play the same set list every single night of the tour. And that the encore is fake. And the only variance night in night out is the "Thank You Cleveland!". But at least I once had an illusion that a hot crowd could get an A+ performance out of the band. Maybe inspire them to pick up the tempo or play a passage more inspired. But it's not. It's about 3 steps away from lip sync battle. And it's sad. Because I still want to believe that 2-3 decades ago when I was young I was getting that. And now I can't even be sure.
I mentioned I considered State of Love and Trust to be one of PJs best tracks, if not the best. Singles Soundtrack. Which was a big jumping off point for soundtracks being bigger than their movies in my mind. Judgement Night should not even exist save for it's soundtrack. Although we can blame that for nu-metal. So ...
Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest. Bill Callahan. 2019
I got to see Bill Callahan at a festival recently (turned out to be the last fun event for a while). Bill and his two supporting performers looked like they really enjoyed the music and being on stage. In this album, I like his sly wit, his voice, his gentle tempo.
I got to see Bill Callahan at a festival recently (turned out to be the last fun event for a while). Bill and his two supporting performers looked like they really enjoyed the music and being on stage. In this album, I like his sly wit, his voice, his gentle tempo.
Eh. The very nature of "art" and of "performance" is a constantly-shifting landscape, particularly when new technologies are introduced into an environment. Hell, Bob Dylan, a subject of this Desert Island Music Draft thus far, was once castigated for daring to introduce an electric guitar--the horror!--to both his recording output and live performances. Eventually, that which is decried as sacrilege eventually gets assimilated into our larger cultural omnivorousness. What was once taboo even becomes passé after enough time has passed.
There will always be gatekeepers, those who believe that they can declare with authority what satisfies the requirements of an artform or genre, what it should or shouldn't be, what it should or shouldn't contain. But this just leads to cultural stagnation. "Rock and roll" was once a music of rebellion. But now it's been sanitized by its own stasis, a corporate-sponsored soundtrack to sh*tty beer and pick-up truck commercials. Bands like the Who and Fleetwood Mac once crafted masterpieces of rock music, but they mostly generate headlines these days with internal feuds, lawsuits, and countersuits. There's probably nothing less rebellious than an aging rock star suing one of their bandmates over royalties.
Of course, that kind of genre stagnation is not absolute. There's still plenty of interesting and challenging music being made with guitars. But most of it is happening on the fringes. And don't get me wrong. There is undoubtedly value in the communal experience of watching musicians who adopt a traditional singer-guitarist-bassist-drummer configuration perform in a live setting. I have been a dedicated concert-goer for much of my life, and have been to hundreds of shows that feature just such a configuration. But I do think it's a bit wrong-headed to determine that "actual music" can only be performed by those who play traditionally-accepted instruments in a way that effectively translates to a performance setting. That seems awfully limiting to me, and an unfortunate bounding device to wrap around an art form as fluid and compelling as music.
I also do not agree that "mistakes" are what make music good. They reveal something human about the process of creation, but they don't in and of themselves make music better or more vibrant. A mistake can undoubtedly be an interesting wrinkle in a song. But interesting wrinkles can also be achieved with intention. There is no "right way" to approach the craft, and as soon as artists start believing they've stumbled upon the "right way," someone new comes along and upends the game. The music that you or I love and cherish will be treated with suspicion and derision by those who come after. It is what it is. Time marches relentlessly on. Kill your idols, and all that.
I suspect that many of my remaining draft selections will be dedicated to illustrating just what can be done with considerably less emphasis on those "actual musicians" and "actual instruments" and "actual singers." It's amazing what can be achieved when sound and noise and melody and groove are organized into legible compositions, and it turns out that the tools are much less important than the creativity required to assemble them.
There will always be gatekeepers, those who believe that they can declare with authority what satisfies the requirements of an artform or genre, what it should or shouldn't be, what it should or shouldn't contain. But this just leads to cultural stagnation. "Rock and roll" was once a music of rebellion. But now it's been sanitized by its own stasis, a corporate-sponsored soundtrack to sh*tty beer and pick-up truck commercials. Bands like the Who and Fleetwood Mac once crafted masterpieces of rock music, but they mostly generate headlines these days with internal feuds, lawsuits, and countersuits. There's probably nothing less rebellious than an aging rock star suing one of their bandmates over royalties.
Of course, that kind of genre stagnation is not absolute. There's still plenty of interesting and challenging music being made with guitars. But most of it is happening on the fringes. And don't get me wrong. There is undoubtedly value in the communal experience of watching musicians who adopt a traditional singer-guitarist-bassist-drummer configuration perform in a live setting. I have been a dedicated concert-goer for much of my life, and have been to hundreds of shows that feature just such a configuration. But I do think it's a bit wrong-headed to determine that "actual music" can only be performed by those who play traditionally-accepted instruments in a way that effectively translates to a performance setting. That seems awfully limiting to me, and an unfortunate bounding device to wrap around an art form as fluid and compelling as music.
I also do not agree that "mistakes" are what make music good. They reveal something human about the process of creation, but they don't in and of themselves make music better or more vibrant. A mistake can undoubtedly be an interesting wrinkle in a song. But interesting wrinkles can also be achieved with intention. There is no "right way" to approach the craft, and as soon as artists start believing they've stumbled upon the "right way," someone new comes along and upends the game. The music that you or I love and cherish will be treated with suspicion and derision by those who come after. It is what it is. Time marches relentlessly on. Kill your idols, and all that.
I suspect that many of my remaining draft selections will be dedicated to illustrating just what can be done with considerably less emphasis on those "actual musicians" and "actual instruments" and "actual singers." It's amazing what can be achieved when sound and noise and melody and groove are organized into legible compositions, and it turns out that the tools are much less important than the creativity required to assemble them.
Truly sorry as I knew some albums would be wanted by others and it was my third album from 1967. I really expected it to be gone before I had picked. I also had not been a participant the last time there was a draft but if I am lucky enough to be invited next time I definitely will go a different direction with Jim Morrison.
It’s taken me a few rounds to kinda get which direction some folks picks were headed. I had thought (wrongly) albums from 50 some years ago would be safe but one thing I have learned Great music will always be great music.
I hope everyone doesn’t vote me off the island after this.
It’s taken me a few rounds to kinda get which direction some folks picks were headed. I had thought (wrongly) albums from 50 some years ago would be safe but one thing I have learned Great music will always be great music.
I hope everyone doesn’t vote me off the island after this.
Vote you off? Hell no. Sneak over when you're not looking and steal your albums? No comment.
Please do not apologize. I'm just happy the music of my generation still resonates today. Part of the fun of this draft is trying to figure out which albums might be safe and which albums won't be safe. Of all the different drafts we've done over the years, I think I like the music ones the best. Music speaks to our souls and the music we love goes a long way towards telling our own story.
I'm also loving all the commentary. It's an interesting peek behind the curtain of those anonymous user names.
It's all very, very good.
Please do not apologize. I'm just happy the music of my generation still resonates today. Part of the fun of this draft is trying to figure out which albums might be safe and which albums won't be safe. Of all the different drafts we've done over the years, I think I like the music ones the best. Music speaks to our souls and the music we love goes a long way towards telling our own story.
I'm also loving all the commentary. It's an interesting peek behind the curtain of those anonymous user names.
It's all very, very good.
@Padrino I think you may be confusing the issue that @hrdboild and I may have with how technology is being applied sometimes deceptively as a blanket hatred of that technology. I use fake drums at home to compose music and I guess if I had to play live I would hook up a laptop and run the track if I couldn't find a real drummer. But if I were to hire someone to mime the drums while that track was playing, behind a curtain, that's cheating your audience. To me at least. I'm not trying to be a gatekeeper, but there is a reason Ashley Simpson and Milli Vanilli had their careers destroyed for something almost all of their contemporaries were doing when their tapes were exposed. Because people don't know basic industry "common knowledge".
Oh man. That's one of my ex-girlfriend's favorite songs. Also, the Judgment Night soundtrack indeed deserves a :chefskiss:
Adding on - there was a cool anecdote about a PJ song -which shall remain unnamed. But basically it started out with a drum machine loop, everyone added their parts, then Matt Cameron decided to play the beat himself, sounding nearly identical to that loop. I'm probably butchering the story a bit.
Adding on - there was a cool anecdote about a PJ song -which shall remain unnamed. But basically it started out with a drum machine loop, everyone added their parts, then Matt Cameron decided to play the beat himself, sounding nearly identical to that loop. I'm probably butchering the story a bit.
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I'd posit that Milli Vanilli's and Ashley Simpson's careers were never long for this world. Listeners will forgive a lot if the songs are compelling. But I seriously doubt anybody would categorize either of those acts as "compelling."
People haven't stopped enjoying Led Zeppelin despite the fact that some of their most famous songs were essentially rip-offs of other artists. Jimmy Page himself has admitted to "taking liberties" with other musicians' work. That seems a much greater offense to me than the use of pitch correction or playing to a click track. Yet I still feel something when Page's solo kicks in on "Stairway to Heaven," even though it's the most famous song in Zeppelin's catalog that was likely stolen.
My point is that it's easy to craft a narrative of romantic virtue around a certain kind of musical artist, the authentic practicioner of "real music." But peel back the curtain on any of the popular artists and bands from whichever decade you grew up in, and you'll find less virtue than you're hoping for.
Beyond that, context always matters. When you go see a pop star perform live, you're paying for an entertainment spectacle, not necessarily a display of musical virtuosity. (Content removed by moderator...)
I'd argue that, in the digital age, young listeners are actually way more savvy than their forebears when it comes to recognizing authenticity in the intent of their favorite artists. I think they're better at sussing out when artists with exploitive approaches are attempting to pull one over on them.
People haven't stopped enjoying Led Zeppelin despite the fact that some of their most famous songs were essentially rip-offs of other artists. Jimmy Page himself has admitted to "taking liberties" with other musicians' work. That seems a much greater offense to me than the use of pitch correction or playing to a click track. Yet I still feel something when Page's solo kicks in on "Stairway to Heaven," even though it's the most famous song in Zeppelin's catalog that was likely stolen.
My point is that it's easy to craft a narrative of romantic virtue around a certain kind of musical artist, the authentic practicioner of "real music." But peel back the curtain on any of the popular artists and bands from whichever decade you grew up in, and you'll find less virtue than you're hoping for.
Beyond that, context always matters. When you go see a pop star perform live, you're paying for an entertainment spectacle, not necessarily a display of musical virtuosity. (Content removed by moderator...)
I'd argue that, in the digital age, young listeners are actually way more savvy than their forebears when it comes to recognizing authenticity in the intent of their favorite artists. I think they're better at sussing out when artists with exploitive approaches are attempting to pull one over on them.
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I'm gonna sneak in here and post my pick and let you folks get back to the discussion you are having.
I'm cheating just a little bit here, as I haven't seen this band in concert. But I have tickets to go see them in July, so that counts in my book.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'n' Roll (1981)
This album contains Joan Jett's biggest hit in I Love Rock 'n' Roll as well as another personal favorite in Crimson and Clover. It even has a rocking version of Little Drummer Boy to enjoy if this all drags on into December. I absolutely had to have a little Joan Jett to listen to during my time in seclusion.
From allmusic:
Track List:
1. I Love Rock 'n' Roll
2. (I'm Gonna) Run Away
3. Love is Pain
4. Nag
5. Crimson and Clover
6. Victim of Circumstance
7. Bits and Pieces
8. Be Straight
9. You're Too Possessive
10. Little Drummer Boy
I'm cheating just a little bit here, as I haven't seen this band in concert. But I have tickets to go see them in July, so that counts in my book.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'n' Roll (1981)
This album contains Joan Jett's biggest hit in I Love Rock 'n' Roll as well as another personal favorite in Crimson and Clover. It even has a rocking version of Little Drummer Boy to enjoy if this all drags on into December.
I absolutely had to have a little Joan Jett to listen to during my time in seclusion. From allmusic:
Track List:
1. I Love Rock 'n' Roll
2. (I'm Gonna) Run Away
3. Love is Pain
4. Nag
5. Crimson and Clover
6. Victim of Circumstance
7. Bits and Pieces
8. Be Straight
9. You're Too Possessive
10. Little Drummer Boy
Eh. The very nature of "art" and of "performance" is a constantly-shifting landscape, particularly when new technologies are introduced into an environment. Hell, Bob Dylan, a subject of this Desert Island Music Draft thus far, was once castigated for daring to introduce an electric guitar--the horror!--to both his recording output and live performances. Eventually, that which is decried as sacrilege eventually gets assimilated into our larger cultural omnivorousness. What was once taboo even becomes passé after enough time has passed.
There will always be gatekeepers, those who believe that they can declare with authority what satisfies the requirements of an artform or genre, what it should or shouldn't be, what it should or shouldn't contain. But this just leads to cultural stagnation. "Rock and roll" was once a music of rebellion. But now it's been sanitized by its own stasis, a corporate-sponsored soundtrack to sh*tty beer and pick-up truck commercials. Bands like the Who and Fleetwood Mac once crafted masterpieces of rock music, but they mostly generate headlines these days with internal feuds, lawsuits, and countersuits. There's probably nothing less rebellious than an aging rock star suing one of their bandmates over royalties.
Of course, that kind of genre stagnation is not absolute. There's still plenty of interesting and challenging music being made with guitars. But most of it is happening on the fringes. And don't get me wrong. There is undoubtedly value in the communal experience of watching musicians who adopt a traditional singer-guitarist-bassist-drummer configuration perform in a live setting. I have been a dedicated concert-goer for much of my life, and have been to hundreds of shows that feature just such a configuration. But I do think it's a bit wrong-headed to determine that "actual music" can only be performed by those who play traditionally-accepted instruments in a way that effectively translates to a performance setting. That seems awfully limiting to me, and an unfortunate bounding device to wrap around an art form as fluid and compelling as music.
I also do not agree that "mistakes" are what make music good. They reveal something human about the process of creation, but they don't in and of themselves make music better or more vibrant. A mistake can undoubtedly be an interesting wrinkle in a song. But interesting wrinkles can also be achieved with intention. There is no "right way" to approach the craft, and as soon as artists start believing they've stumbled upon the "right way," someone new comes along and upends the game. The music that you or I love and cherish will be treated with suspicion and derision by those who come after. It is what it is. Time marches relentlessly on. Kill your idols, and all that.
I suspect that many of my remaining draft selections will be dedicated to illustrating just what can be done with considerably less emphasis on those "actual musicians" and "actual instruments" and "actual singers." It's amazing what can be achieved when sound and noise and melody and groove are organized into legible compositions, and it turns out that the tools are much less important than the creativity required to assemble them.
There will always be gatekeepers, those who believe that they can declare with authority what satisfies the requirements of an artform or genre, what it should or shouldn't be, what it should or shouldn't contain. But this just leads to cultural stagnation. "Rock and roll" was once a music of rebellion. But now it's been sanitized by its own stasis, a corporate-sponsored soundtrack to sh*tty beer and pick-up truck commercials. Bands like the Who and Fleetwood Mac once crafted masterpieces of rock music, but they mostly generate headlines these days with internal feuds, lawsuits, and countersuits. There's probably nothing less rebellious than an aging rock star suing one of their bandmates over royalties.
Of course, that kind of genre stagnation is not absolute. There's still plenty of interesting and challenging music being made with guitars. But most of it is happening on the fringes. And don't get me wrong. There is undoubtedly value in the communal experience of watching musicians who adopt a traditional singer-guitarist-bassist-drummer configuration perform in a live setting. I have been a dedicated concert-goer for much of my life, and have been to hundreds of shows that feature just such a configuration. But I do think it's a bit wrong-headed to determine that "actual music" can only be performed by those who play traditionally-accepted instruments in a way that effectively translates to a performance setting. That seems awfully limiting to me, and an unfortunate bounding device to wrap around an art form as fluid and compelling as music.
I also do not agree that "mistakes" are what make music good. They reveal something human about the process of creation, but they don't in and of themselves make music better or more vibrant. A mistake can undoubtedly be an interesting wrinkle in a song. But interesting wrinkles can also be achieved with intention. There is no "right way" to approach the craft, and as soon as artists start believing they've stumbled upon the "right way," someone new comes along and upends the game. The music that you or I love and cherish will be treated with suspicion and derision by those who come after. It is what it is. Time marches relentlessly on. Kill your idols, and all that.
I suspect that many of my remaining draft selections will be dedicated to illustrating just what can be done with considerably less emphasis on those "actual musicians" and "actual instruments" and "actual singers." It's amazing what can be achieved when sound and noise and melody and groove are organized into legible compositions, and it turns out that the tools are much less important than the creativity required to assemble them.
However, I have been to some great shows that are just DJ and MC(s) and they still had the communal spirit of shared experience that makes live music so exciting. I think you're attributing to me an argument I'm not actually making about what forms of musical expression are or are not valid. If you want to sample white noise and manipulate it in your computer into music, awesome. If you want to use drum machines and synthesizers and pitch shifted vocals in a creative way that's all great too. Again I'm sort of handicapped here by my desire to obey the spirit of the draft and not mention any artists that haven't been selected yet. Some of my favorite albums of all time are experimental and electronic. I've heard some fascinating music assembled entirely out of found sounds.
So there are no rules as far as I'm concerned. But the increasingly granular insistence in popular music on getting every beat to fit the grid, every note pitch perfect, every song EQed and compressed in the same way just kills the humanity of it for me. And I think it cons people into thinking that perfection is achievable. Can a computer recreate an entire symphony note for note with more precision than any actual orchestra? Yep. Would it be worth listening to? I don't think so. The beauty of the orchestra is in all of those people coming together and creating all that majestic sound out of thin air. You can't substitute that with a sample and call it the same thing. As long as people are honest about what they're doing I don't have a problem with it.
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Stealing another one from Cap’s list last time. Had no idea this existed before, and now it’s a cornerstone of my early 90s college-life nostalgia, which is weird because I didn’t go to college until a decade later.
August and Everything After - Counting Crows (1993)
This album is a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. There’s not a song on here that I particularly crave to hear on it’s own. Even the most popular single, Mr. Jones, is fun and snappy enough, but didn’t leave much of an impression on me during its radio run.
Instead, the album plays like a flowing narrative without a true plot. I imagine this being the soundtrack to a movie shot entirely during the golden hour on an east coast campus. It’s like a college freshman putting all his heartbreaking ambition into writing poetry from the mind-blowing knowledge exploding into his universe for the first time through Intro to Philosophy and Lit 101.
I mean come on, the album cover is a poem/song scribbled in cursive-hybrid ink on tanned parchment. No other medium screams 'tortured brilliance' quite like that. Some of the allusions and metaphors perfectly walk a razor-thin line between not making any sense whatsoever, and being too abstruse for simple-minded me to fully understand and appreciate. And sometimes everything is laid out so deliberately I can't help but understand.
I think that's what makes the album so fun. It captures an overwhelmingly exciting time in anyone's life when new experiences and ideas flood into a person's world, forever changing his or her view. Doesn't have to be college. Can be a new job, new relationship, any new situation or experience that demands a perspective adjustment, and the competing emotions of excitement and fear that may conjure.
Tracklist:
August and Everything After - Counting Crows (1993)
This album is a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. There’s not a song on here that I particularly crave to hear on it’s own. Even the most popular single, Mr. Jones, is fun and snappy enough, but didn’t leave much of an impression on me during its radio run.
Instead, the album plays like a flowing narrative without a true plot. I imagine this being the soundtrack to a movie shot entirely during the golden hour on an east coast campus. It’s like a college freshman putting all his heartbreaking ambition into writing poetry from the mind-blowing knowledge exploding into his universe for the first time through Intro to Philosophy and Lit 101.
I mean come on, the album cover is a poem/song scribbled in cursive-hybrid ink on tanned parchment. No other medium screams 'tortured brilliance' quite like that. Some of the allusions and metaphors perfectly walk a razor-thin line between not making any sense whatsoever, and being too abstruse for simple-minded me to fully understand and appreciate. And sometimes everything is laid out so deliberately I can't help but understand.
I think that's what makes the album so fun. It captures an overwhelmingly exciting time in anyone's life when new experiences and ideas flood into a person's world, forever changing his or her view. Doesn't have to be college. Can be a new job, new relationship, any new situation or experience that demands a perspective adjustment, and the competing emotions of excitement and fear that may conjure.
I sometimes pretend the tracklist represents a three act indie film with Round Here, Omaha, and Mr. Jones as the set-up act establishing the scene and introducing the kid to exhilarating new experiences; Perfect Blue Buildings, Anna Begins, and Time and Time Again are the rather crushing second act where things become all too overwhelming and depressing; Rain King the kid gets a new sense of resliancy to conquer these new challenges / demons by returning to his or her roots; Sullivan Street, Ghost Train, and Raining in Baltimore are the somber final act as the kid reaches a bittersweet realization; while Murder of One end things on an upbeat if subdued note of introspection.
Tracklist:
- "Round Here"
- "Omaha"
- "Mr. Jones"
- "Perfect Blue Buildings"
- "Anna Begins"
- "Time and Time Again"
- "Rain King"
- "Sullivan Street"
- "Ghost Train"
- "Raining in Baltimore"
- "A Murder of One"
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