tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269925294673930988.post6409759999467921957..comments2023-11-22T09:17:05.368-08:00Comments on TAD's Back-Up Plan: Mr. Know-it-All...?TADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853931230081777310noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269925294673930988.post-45364346429213626272009-11-10T19:00:22.130-08:002009-11-10T19:00:22.130-08:00If you want input on these you probably should hav...If you want input on these you probably should have broken this into a couple of posts. I have no idea where to begin! In fact I don't even have time to begin right now. I will say that several of the artists you have listed are my all-time favorites (Jethro Tull and early Genesis are #1 and #2 in fact) but it still took me a while getting into some of their stuff, even the so-called classics. I'll see if I can say something more substantial later, but yikes!Mattnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269925294673930988.post-51552159899790387452009-11-09T01:44:33.047-08:002009-11-09T01:44:33.047-08:00BTW, R: Can I note the deep thoughtfulness that Cm...BTW, R: Can I note the deep thoughtfulness that Cms 2 go in2 everything U post, whether it's an essay on yr own site or a reply 2 something I've raved about here. U always Cm 2 have thot deeply B4 writing, & I think it's pretty neat.<br />Since I tend 2 take all this stuff 2 Seriously, I tend 2 try 2 make feeble jokes & mangle the language even when I'm trying 2 B serious. About the only time I write in Real English these days is if I'm really angry, or if the subject absolutely requires a straight face.<br />What I mean is, yr sincerity makes me feel kinda silly about joking around & blowing stuff off so much. I AM trying 2 have fun here, & I DO try 2 do my homework -- this stuff means a lot 2 me, just 2 B able 2 communicate & know there's a few folks out there reading it.... U've given me a lot 2 think about.<br />& now I'll also B looking 4 Eno's TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN.... -- TAD.TADhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13853931230081777310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269925294673930988.post-74296042368518865132009-11-08T14:59:50.143-08:002009-11-08T14:59:50.143-08:00R: Thanx 4 the advice, seriously. Eno is 1 of thos...R: Thanx 4 the advice, seriously. Eno is 1 of those folks I've Always Wanted 2 Get 2, But....<br />I CAN B overwhelmed & sucked-in by impact & flow & inevitability & noise, but I havta have something 2 hang on2 1st....<br />& I actually have some NEW stuff in the house (something from THIS YR even) that I will B listening-2 & reporting-on here, eventually.<br />Part of the reason I read yr site & others is 2 C what's hit other people hard that I might've overlooked in the past, & I often follow others' recommendations. But I'm NEthing BUT methodical in my investigations -- never seriously listened-2 the Faces either, tho what I've heard I've liked. I might like them just 4 their drunken sloppiness....<br />Thanx 4 the words of wisdom. -- TAD.TADhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13853931230081777310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4269925294673930988.post-88274854104666096342009-11-08T10:15:39.368-08:002009-11-08T10:15:39.368-08:00A post with many possible points of comment, as I&...A post with many possible points of comment, as I'm sure you know.<br /><br />My immediate reaction was to write something like 'STOP whatever you're doing and buy Eno's <i>Taking Tiger Mountain</i> this very instant . . .' <br /><br />But reading through, if you're unsure about Mahavishnu and unsure about the Soft Machine, maybe you WOULDN'T think that "The True Wheel" was just this side of the Godhead, as I do.<br /><br />So I'm gonna step back a second. I'm thinking, OK, Tad doesn't get the punk, doesn't get the metal, doesn't get the noise, so what now?<br /><br />Well of course, first off, maybe it's nothing now. Maybe the best approach is to simply keep listening to Caravan and Badfinger, nothing wrong with that. <br /><br />But if you're determined to give some of this stuff another try, maybe what you've been lacking is the proper *strategy*<br /><br />If you're trying to approach the punk and the metal and the noise, if you're trying to figure out what unites them, you might conclude that they all look *away* from melody as an underlying foundation. <br /><br />With punk and thrash-metal and their ilk, speed is more important than melody. With doom-metal and noise (and ambient, too, since we're there) it's all about texture.<br /><br />Simply put, if you're listening to <i>White Light White Heat</i> and find it lacking because you don't find it melodic enough, you're using the wrong perspective anyway. Treat the noise from "Lady Godiva's Operation" or "Sister Ray" as the blanket it is. Feel its texture and allow it to enfold you. Instead of worrying about any one note and its relationship to the last one a half-second ago, or the next one a quarter-second from now, step back and see how the texture shifts over larger units of time. Eno recognized that metal and ambient were when they'd stripped off their dresses sisters, and the same is true for noise rock.<br /><br />it goes similar for punk and that other brand of metal which came from it: since it's all about speed, don't worry so much about what's happening now, try to approach the music in terms of where it's going. The best punk and speedmetal has a sense of inevitability about it; when you're immersed most totally, you achieve an almost intuitive sense of its ultimate direction. <br /><br />I'm exaggerating of course. No song anywhere (or at least none I'll like) can totally ignore melody. But what these other genres do is ignore its <i>primacy</i>. If you can find yourself able to do the same, perhaps your second listens to the Pistols or Wire or Sonic Youth or Metallica or even Soft Machine's <i>Third</i> (although on that one the noise is just window dressing to the all-ruling melodicism at its core) will be more sympathetic.<br /><br />As far as something of this century I can recommend that's not too weird, how about Arctic Monkeys? They remind me of nothing else but The Faces ca. 1975. It certainly doesn't get any more British than this, and they've got that winning snarky attitude down pat. Not all songs make the grade, but the ones that do are spot on. Try "Fake Tales of San Francisco" to start: it's what I did.<br /><br />A good emo band is Panic! at the Disco. Cleverness to exceed even Arctic Monkeys, and an attitude to match them. Again 2 out of 3 songs end up scoring, but ahh! that 67%!<br /><br />Spoken of on my site in the past, but mentioned again here are The Mercury Program. They are not without their noisier moments, but the core is easy to listen to, and in a sense Easy Listening. Melanie shares my fandom for them, and that says something, as she's mostly into Pacific Jazz and Exotica. . . .rastronomicalshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16475251545087211066noreply@blogger.com