Subject: old music
Date: Fri Sep 30 13:53:47 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:At the John Hiatt concert mentioned above, I took a pic of the bass player’s amp. Full of tubes. The tubes will deliver a rich sound, but need a lot of power.
Link: https://ibb.co/sqTdbRP
Date: Fri Sep 30 18:28:13 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Beautiful.
Date: Fri Sep 30 21:24:20 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Oh, yes, Klepp. Gorgeous.
I sent the pic to my young friend in the recording industry. He totally got his geek on.
Date: Mon Oct 10 14:47:29 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Recalled this recently...some part of my brain greatly appreciates this song's odd tempos...
Link: Pearl Jam - Tremor Christ
Date: Tue Oct 11 10:02:05 2022
User: MrFixit
Message:BuzzClik - small-ish for bass and appears to be an open-backed cabinet. That's a weird call for a bass amp.
I like tubes for guitar (altho modeling amps are starting to change all that) but for bass probably one of those super light weight high power class D heads for punch and definition with a closed-back 15" bare minimum. Tho if I was playing bass with Gov't Mule a big honkin tube Ampeg SVT would be more appropriate.
Date: Sat Oct 15 11:41:13 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Looping back to a couple of pages previous in this thread...
I bought some tickets to a Bela Fleck concert for this December; Fleck started his tour with Michael Cleveland and Billy Strings, but they moved on. I was disappointed that I would not be seeing Billy Strings live. BUT! Strings and his band were added to a festival I attended. I wandered to the stage early for a good view -- the band Phoenix drew a crowd so enormous that you couldn't get within 100 yards. I wanted to avoid that fate.
I was about 50 feet from the stage, dead center. The set was incredible. There were five instruments: mandolin, standup bass, guitar (Strings), banjo, and fiddle. The bass player apparently was in charge of an array of looping pedals that took care of any lack of percussion. These guys are amazingly talented. Strings was an electric guitar that looked like an acoustic guitar and sounded like an accoustic on some tunes. Strings would press a pedal, quickly retune, and leap into some hard edged southern rock/country fusion with screaming electric guitar. The crowd was totally insane for this and equally appreciative of the country ballads and metal-ish craziness.
Yep. Bucket list item ticked off.
=======================
The virtuosity of all five members of the Strings band is a huge contrast to some of the garbage I have witnessed recently. I suffered through an opener in which the band zero ability on their instruments. The approach of all four guitarists on stage was strangle and scrape: no attempt at fingering the strings or playing chords. This approach has its place in punk and other genres where "wall of noise" is key. But this was a pop band. So miserable.
Date: Sat Oct 15 13:25:49 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Tickled you got to experience "my boy", even tho ginormous crowds now attend his every action. Fortunately, he handles all that extraordinarily well, it seems. Billy can also wear out a mando and banjo, too, which you're probably aware of. And I'm guessing he had Billy Failing on the latter? To my knowledge they've stuck together thru all 'this'.
Clearly, Strings attracts, and plays with, "everybody who is anybody", and has now for a feindwelling. His collaborations are among the best this earth has seen, imo.
"Some" folks don't rightly grasp the utterly extraordinary musicianship of the top couple of tiers of the Americana scene. It's quite something to behold. Will never forget my first few seconds of him performing (with Don Julin) on their very first performance in the South, unsure if they were "worthy". LOL. Doc was still alive then, but it was more than obvious his 'spirit'(?) had already found its new home to indwell. One of the highlights of my entire musical journey. And he's still so freaking nice - and at least outwardly, humble.
Date: Sat Oct 15 13:29:44 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:"feindwelling" above? Got no clue. My phone's spellcheck obviously got pretty original on that one. 🤔 "For a while", I think.
Date: Sat Oct 15 13:47:30 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:I assumed that "feindwelling" meant he bought a big house.
Date: Sat Oct 15 14:19:33 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Well, actually he *did* do that, on a lake near Nashvegas, but that's not what I meant. :)
Date: Tue Oct 18 05:36:49 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Old news, I guess...not up-to-date, like a millennial.
Date: Fri Oct 28 16:37:37 2022
User: Klepp
Message:When each side riots simultaneously versus the other, it's called CIVIL WAR.
Link: Dead Kennedys - Riot
Date: Wed Nov 2 12:55:59 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:A lifetime friend called me an hour or so ago, on the road near Lufkin, TX, headed thataway. We briefly discussed the music and culture of southern east Texas, mostly about Cajun and Zydeco influences (he said he'd been listening to zydeco from a station in Lake Charles), but after we finished our conversation, my mind went on down to Port Authur. This maybe isn't quite as astonishing as "Ball & Chain" from Monterey (posted elsewhere on this forum, likely in this thread), but it sure is powerful. Great horn work. May I suggest it be enjoyed loud?
Link: Janis: "Maybe" from 1969
Date: Tue Nov 8 21:25:06 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:I wandered down to my favorite little jazz bar to hear a talented local "quartet" (they're a five piece) play a couple of sets. To my shock, they played a song that has been haunting my brain for the past week. I first heard "Scotch and Soda" when I was ten years old on a Kingston Trio album played my in parents basement by a friend of my much older brother. The throaty vocals, the minimal accompaniment, and the lyrics stuck deep in my psyche. The song bubbles up in my head every now and then in quiet, peaceful times.
The young lady tonight did wonderful justice in her interpretation of the song, and I emptied my wallet into the tip jar.
[Dave Guard is given credit for the song on the record, but he confessed he has no idea of its origin. It dates back at least to the 1930s.]
Link: "Scotch and Soda," The Kingston Trio (ca. 1958)
Date: Mon Nov 14 16:03:39 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:(fyi -- my bar for "old" is 10+ years)
I was listening to a podcast of some artists for whom I have tremendous respect, and the normal dabbling in "new" music morphed into a sketch of some of their all-time favorite songs. I have heard this song a few times over the years, but very little recently. A quick search revealed a bunch of covers, some better than others. Peter Gabriel's stands out, but the original is still my favorite.
Link: "The Book of Love", The Magnetic Fields
Date: Mon Nov 14 18:34:31 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:That a very good song, that I'd never heard before, by a group/artist I'd never heard of. So different are our worlds.....
(For me, "old" is *at least* 25 years old, and 30 really. Which is why I'm often taken aback by some of the selections Klepp posts in this thread, as they seem very 'modern' to me.)
I also went and listened to the live operatic(-ish) Peter Gabriel version, which imo seemed contrived and pales in comparison.
But of course...........all that said, it begs the question.......who wrote such a weighty tome?
Link: Who wrote that book?
Date: Tue Nov 15 10:45:46 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:[noted about the bar for "old"; I'll use 25+ going forward. We might need a different thread for the 10-25 year old tunes.]
I listen to music nearly nonstop unless I am around others or I need intense focus on a task. Still, my spectrum of listening is limited. The discussions here about music are great because the music is so meaningful to the posters. We get raw, unfiltered opinions (and a peek into the inner workings of the contributors).
The "different worlds" makes these discussions worthwhile. I don't want an echo chamber or validation of my taste. I doubt that I would have camped out in front of the stage waiting for Billy Strings if not for this discussion board. I would not have discovered Buffalo Nichols or invested in a ticket to see Bela Fleck. Although I saw John Hiatt with a friend, the discussions here of Sonny Landreth added a lot of depth to my appreciation of the performance.
Date: Tue Nov 15 12:02:34 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:"Inner workings of the contributor"? How about a bit more of that?
Unfortunately............several years ago, I was in a bad car accident, and nearly kilt. I think (not positive) I wrote a tad about that at the time herein. Anyway...........as my recovery progressed, I was undergoing physical therapy (altho it was months before I could begin that). Only after 3-4 months of that, when some of my musculo-skeletal injuries were better, was I able to realize that I was left with tinnitus. Presumed to be a result of the wreck, but could have been precipitated (or aided by) a bunch of loud music decades earlier. Will never know. Most of my knowledge of that indicated/s that tinnitus from that cause tends to occur much earlier, instead of waiting decades to appear. But whatever...........................it's a tough thing to live with, especially since immersing myself in mountain wilderness (thus silence) had always been one of the main components of who I 'am'. So haven't been able to enjoy that the way I used to (and that's quite a loss). Worse, it doesn't come and go; it's always there. I'm nowhere near this point, but can see why some people kill themselves because of it. I *nearly* always have music going, too, but - and here's the point - most of it, or a lot of it, comes from inside my own headbone. We all have the experience of different songs going thru our heads from time-to-time. But this is quite different, and I came to be convinced it's my body's self-developed coping mechanism against the tinnitus. (Ain't the human body amazing?) What's interesting is my "playlist". It can be almost anything I've ever heard in my life, or something I may have heard on the radio the day or week before. Thank goodness I have a ridiculous library of tunes up there to 'entertain' me. 90+% of the time it's not something I call up; they just come to visit - more often "out of nowhere". Often, it's only maybe several seconds or 20-30- seconds; occasionally longer. And they can stay for days, or occasionally for weeks. I've reported this to my two most familiar internal med. docs, and both say they've never heard of that before. (One was fascinated by it.) Same with an audiologist friend. It's kinda neat - but kinda intrusive at the same time. The further good news is that maybe 85-90% of said tunes are 'good' music, and thus enjoyable (considering). These things 'rotate' over time, or not rarely are a 'once-and-then-gone' thing. In general, it's a rotation of maybe 5-10 things during each day, but that can vary widely. It's quite intriguing to 'observe'. The phenomenon is also amazing in that it impresses upon one how utterly astonishing is the ability of our minds to retain tiny nuances of thousands of songs for decades and decades. When it is said that the capacity of the human brain is limitless (or something along those lines), this makes it easy to believe.
Sorry to go on and on, but I think it fits in this thread, and is really quite the thing.
Buzz, I don't think you need to change your definition of "old", nor do I - we just need to realize that difference. And we already do. :)
Date: Tue Nov 15 13:05:06 2022
User: HopDiriDiriDattiriDittiriDom
Message:"The "different worlds" makes these discussions worthwhile."
Here is one from the different world. This tunes always makes me think "Hey, this (the entry) sounds similar to a western tune" but I cannot name it. Maybe you guys may come up with something.
Link: Ahmet Kaya
Date: Tue Nov 15 13:45:32 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:That's interesting cellmate, but I don't think that's what's going on. (A rose by any other name??) Actually, I'm certain it's not. This is 'like' the 'normal' experience that all, or most of us have, just going thru life, of having some tune playing in your brain every once in a while. Just much, much more frequent. It's not quite constant, but if I have no other auditory stimuli ongoing, it nearly is. Of course in one sense, it's an hallucination, but I'm certainly under no impression that what I hear is 'real' - so I think that calling it that would be incorrect.
[That (that everybody experiences this somewhat) said, I was astonished a few years ago when I was telling a very close friend about it, and comparing it to 'normal' songs in your head, and she said she never has songs in her head. That totally blew me away, since for a short while she was a performing professional musician, and is *very* musically aware. Still can't reconcile that, because I had thought *everybody* had that experience.]
Date: Tue Nov 15 13:54:56 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:TN,
That was the first I had heard of any of this. Very disconcerting. It's fascinating that your brain and body have found a path to recovery for you, though your brain's approach is somewhat unexpected. You seem to have a mental juke box that bounces between shuffle and loop -- and it doesn't have an OFF switch. Knowing your remarkable ability for recall, I don't doubt that your library of music is gigantic. For me, my "mental music" is an escape from the nibbles and pinches of everyday annoyances. I use the physical media as a more complete immersion.
As for "inner workings of the contributor": I have a long-held opinion that a person's music can give a glimpse into their deepest, more personal self. Not to the point of a thorough psychoanalysis, but it can provide clues. This is especially true of musical obsessions and, surprisingly, "guilty pleasures" -- music you think you should hate but actually treasure. This gets a little complicated because musical attachments can be situational, dictated by when and where the song latched onto us. The music often remains very important to us even after we have moved on. (The opposite can also be true; I have had songs ruined by negative circumstances associated specifically with that song.)
Date: Tue Nov 15 13:55:47 2022
User: cellmate
Message:
oh... it sounded close
how about 'aphantasia' for your friend
Date: Tue Nov 15 14:09:38 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:No, that's not the case at all for my friend. She's quite imaginative and creative. That facet doesn't fit the rest of her in the least - which is why it shocked me so.
And your first paragraph is a pretty good description of what's going on. Disconcerting, yes. I would call that 'ability' to be some sort of silver lining, I guess. But man I miss the capability to experience silence.
And despite the usual description of tinnitus (altho it varies), mine is not a "ringing" in my ears, but a very high-pitched tone. Despite all that........I'm very thankful to still be alive after that experience, and to ("more or less", they chimed in) have retained most of my mental faculties. I had short-term memory difficulties for a few weeks, but that did not linger ("more or less" they chimed in again).
Date: Tue Nov 15 14:33:15 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:And your second paragraph, Buzz, I also agree with to a high degree. However, I don't really feel the "guilty pleasures" thing. Yes, as discussed herein years ago, I like the Archies' "Sugar, Sugar", and altho I know it's vapid, I still like it. Same with maybe 10-15%(?) of disco. I've always been of the opinion that the universe is filled with resonances (and from quantum mechanics, we have later learned that this is true, altho not described exactly in that manner). And so different frequencies (for lack of a better term quickly) will resonate with different folks. But those 'vibes' are there preceding us - and apparently surrounding us. I once knew a guy (not well, tho) who would constantly move, even while sitting, sort of like he was grooving to some unheard music. He said he had these "rhythms" (but not music) that he couldn't resist moving to. It was truly odd to see. With my situation, I can now better grasp, maybe, what he was experiencing.
And the resonances idea reminds me of the Captain Beefheart quote I put up in one of the quote threads: "I wish I didn't have to charge money for my songs, because where I got them from, they were free." And reminds me of Carlos and Jimi (as examples #2 and #1) - who seem to be attuned somehow to frequencies oblivious to most of us, but they can catch them and 'translate' them for our pleasure. (Altho I'm still mystified that perhaps such things could exist for (c)rap music.)
And yes, musical "attachments" can be situational, but very, very rarely for me. I'm not immune from that effect, but thankfully(?), it's minimal.
Date: Tue Nov 15 19:57:49 2022
User: Klepp
Message:New artist Mariah belts out an unreal aria, with songbird's vocal range (four octaves, possibly).
Link: All In Your Mind
Date: Tue Nov 15 20:42:09 2022
User: Dr.Bombay
Message:Hop,
The opening music of your song reminds me of “Call Me” by Blondie.
Klepp,
hearing Mariah, always brings to mind the utter tragedy that was Whitney Houston. Whenever Whitney and Mariah sang together, it was clear (IMHO) that Whitney was a superior singer. Alas, Whitney spent her life singing crap songs, got into drugs, and died far too young. Sigh.
Date: Tue Nov 15 20:48:29 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Maybe she unwittingly got hold of fentanyl, like Prince did...
Date: Tue Nov 15 23:32:05 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Just received Sarah Sharp's entire catalog this afternoon -- direct from her garage to my mailbox. I was listening to her being interviewed (a few months ago) while I was doing other tasks. She stated she was trained at Berklee. Yikes. Several other musicians have been mentioned on this board as being trained there (e.g., Gillian Welch and David Rawlings). Not surprising ... the list of Grammy Awards given to former Berklee students in huge.
Date: Thu Nov 17 00:01:33 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Tried to get the daily total to exactly 99WP%...but instead, I land on 72...thinking this...
I recall the old days when I'd heard it fewer than a handful of times and thought "oh yeah, it's 64"--but NO...no...
It's 72...72, COUNT IT.
I should have known it was 72, duh!, factors up the azz.
Link: Dance Yrself Clean - LCD Soundsystem
Date: Tue Nov 29 13:21:35 2022
User: outskirts
Message:A friend posted this on fb and here is what she wrote:
"Emmylou with Ricky doing some Cajun fiddling on one of their best ever songs of all time, as the old expression goes, from back in their young days. "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" is a humorous song written by Rodney Crowell and Donivan Cowart about actress Mary Kay Place while they were working on a recording and television series with her. Below is the story behind this actually fairly hilarious song."
And all she posted was this video, so I reckon the story is in the lyrics. Or she forgot something.
This is vintage Emmylou ❤️
https://youtu.be/F8ga7kVoY8c
Link: https://youtu.be/F8ga7kVoY8c
Date: Thu Dec 1 04:52:26 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Christine McVie, at 79. I link the RS article below as just one of dozens I could have chosen, with no particular reason. She was a fighter, tough, and had a good head on her shoulders.
For those unfamiliar with her earlier solo work, I've always liked her rendition of this standard. Not the best version, I don't think, but she handles it well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EKZZSpfEzk&list=PLKjjIa7cwTkLVU0mK_cgaOttbJElUGkQK&index=6
Link: Tributes to Christine McVie
Date: Fri Dec 2 04:10:11 2022
User: Klepp
Message:I always preferred her and Buckingham's Fleetwood Mac stuff to Fleetwood and Nicks' stuff...
Date: Fri Dec 2 04:51:55 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Well, the old, 'original' Mac was of course mostly a blues band, and a pretty good one. Those albums, tho a tad spotty (with the guitar personnel 'variable', shall we say), are pretty solid overall. When Buckingham and Nicks were added, it really became something completely different. But of course that's common knowledge. I liked both versions. It's hard to argue, tho, that those first two albums after that lineup jelled are somewhere in the pantheon of top 100 albums of all-time. Yes, they're commercial, but nothing wrong with that if they rock like they do. That was a marriage made in music heaven - even if it concomitantly wrecked the internal marriages.
Date: Wed Dec 7 04:13:45 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:I've been hesitating to post this, because I'm sure some won't dig it, but maybe some can see/hear it for what it is. Woody Wood (guitar) is an "old hand", and altho from the Piedmont area of NC, is mostly a western NC guy for quite a while now. However............he occasionally collaborates (along with other western NC/Asheville area hotshots) with some N.O. guys like Trombone Shorty, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Wild Magnolias (and who knows who else). They call it "bluebrass". There's an album or two of their stuff, but I don't have it/them. Probably scarce. Anyway................................this is long, so just go to about 22:03 for some extraordinary picking and sawing of Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind". While Woody is pretty great, Don Lewis's fiddle, I think shows what level Appalachian fiddle work can reach. I've listened to just this song now about 12 times (no exaggeration). Don't hesitate to listen to more if it catches your earbones. These guys are all consummate musicians, but esp. Wood, Lewis, and Cortese (banjo).
Link: just sittin' on the front porch in downtown Asheville
Date: Wed Dec 7 10:36:37 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:That was excellent, TN. (That's a pretty fancy porch!)
This musical genre is out of my wheelhouse, but I have been seeing more bluegrass/Americana lately, so I'm getting a better appreciation for it. Quick observations:
1) These guys can really play. (duh)
2) The recording is really good considering it's a single camera. The perfect example the the quality is the clarity of the sound of the bass solo; it helps that his buddies rested to allow his bass lines to punch through.
3) Now, the tricky part. The fiddle player is really good and his style reminded me of something I'd heard before. With limited choices, I looked at Papa John Creach (which I eliminated based on listening to a couple of Hot Tuna songs). I then thought, maybe, the fiddle solo in the studio version of "This Old Cowboy" from Marshall Tucker. Yep, that was what I was thinking. Ends up that was Charlie Daniels. (I would hope this wouldn't be an offensive comparison for your friend.)
One more thing: about 50% of the indie rock bands I see cannot play their instruments. At all. One headliner faked it entirely with the real musicians playing off stage and eventually joining the group on stage. I walked out of that show. Every bluegrass/country/Americana band I've seen (small sample size) can play lights out.
Thanks for the vid, TN.
Date: Thu Dec 8 13:54:07 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:I have to compliment you, Buzz, on your ear for the fiddle section. Well, sorta. Papa John wouldn't even be remotely close, but you're apparently not too familiar with his stuff - or certainly his older stuff. But the comparison to Daniels isn't far off at all. Certainly a different tone of their fiddles, and in general Daniels is more 'aggressive', but some of that is the tune. That MTB utter masterpiece. I've always wondered how many takes that involved, but they're not slouches on it in person, so.........maybe not all that many. I think Hartford would be happy with either doing his stuff. The banjo guy, Cortese, tho, isn't as close to a Hartford style - but then hardly anybody is.
Not that that matters here. And I don't know Don Lewis, but we have several common friends, I think. He comes from the "Sons of Ralph" band, and (semi-)legendary family of the Asheville area. I think at least 4 generations (likely even more) of mountain musicians. And any physical resemblance of myself and Woody Wood is "a stretch" as they say. I think he's the only one I've even met, but I could be wrong about that. There are many more of that series of performances - with a rotating cast of players, at least one (performance) of which I posted some time ago.
As to your last paragraph.............I'm minorly stunned, but a few other comments you've made should have clued me in. But what I don't get is "HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!" With the scads of talented, but commercially unsuccessful musical artists "out there", how do non-players "make it"? It seems like the key to success in indie music is just to have a 'creative idea' - and then wing it from there? Even if the "creative idea" isn't musical, but stylistic, or fashionistic, or genre-bending in some way? Looking at what passes for music on SNL so much of the time the last decade or more, one could come to that conclusion, I guess. My general memory is that what was called "indie music" from, say, 20 years ago wasn't as musically-lacking as now? But I do remember thinking, "gosh, I know 100 guys who can play better than that", even back then. Oh well........
But congratulations on 'progressing' into the light. ;) And.......................just fyi..................there's much, much, much more where that comes from.
Date: Thu Dec 8 14:49:05 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:In re-reading my post, 50% is far too high. I think I was just struck by the level of talent of every country/bluegrass/Americana group I've seen. I can name indie groups who are just awful musicians, but they are in the clear minority. Only one headliner in my experience had no musicians in the band (they've been mentioned here by name, but only in passing). Another huge indie group was formed as a trio of vocalists who were talented enough to learn to play, but they were only passable. During their performances, one would sing only, one would have a guitar, and the third would play an electronic keyboard. For a couple of songs, they ran off all of their backing band; the one with no instrument sat in on the drums, and the keyboard player would bounce between bass and keys. It was okay.
I have seen some jaw dropping performers, too. The entirety of the group, Pavement, is lights out on their instruments, and St. Vincent is really artistic with her playing of her guitars. Stuart Murdoch (Belle and Sebastian) is a master on the keyboard and piano. And the lead guitarist for Real Estate (Julian Lynch) is really, really good. I mentioned Pirranha Rama. The list goes on.
Certain groups can get away with strangling the neck of their guitars and just ripping at the strings, but they are generally somewhere in the "punk" circle. I am not counting them in my list of "no-talent"; they might be able to play but simply don't need to.
One related side note: I have seen the group, Big Thief, four times. The first was at a festival, and they opened at about noon on one of the small stages. It was me and about 30 other people. The creative force, Adrianne Lenker, is a fantastic writer and vocalist, but that day showed only okay talent on guitar; no big deal because Buck Meek is really good. The last time I saw them, they were headlining was at Austin City Limits. Lenker's guitar work had made a quantum leap, to the point the Meek was looking a bit forlorn. I'll be seeing them again early next year in a smallish venue. I'll brave the packed audience to get close to the stage to really absorb their multiple talents.
My venture into bluegrass/Americana I owe to you and one of my fellow concert-goers. I felt so bad about taking this person to a concert that truly hated that I promised I would go to concert of their choosing. It started with Chris Stapleton and has moved on to some of the others I've mentioned. Billy Strings, however, was purely due to your discussions.
Anyway, it's good to branch out.
Date: Thu Dec 8 15:25:23 2022
User: HopDiriDiriDattiriDittiriDom
Message:FUNGO MUNGO was a San Francisco Bay Area funk rock band that has faded into the obscurities of history after releasing their one and only album HUMUNGOUS. They were quite popular in the bar scene and scored a record deal with Island Records even.
Link: Fungo Mungo – Humungous [FULL ALBUM]
Date: Fri Dec 9 03:31:51 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Hop......nothing personal, of course..........but that's, to my senses, quite horrible. I gave it a very good listen - the first half or so, and then considerable minutes here and there of the second half. I actually found it offensive, and I'm not a prude. Your tastes and mine are just way, way far apart. Death metal with a side of funk, and some tiny samples thrown in, in a trite and derivative mash-up of styles? Again, nothing personal, to be clear.
Date: Fri Dec 9 04:06:19 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Buzz, I was wondering if that 50% might be too high, but still - even that you would mention it and put *any* number on that as a factor is quite, uh, alarming(?).
I have seen St. Vincent, 2-3 times, on tv only, of course, and I would agree that she is "artistic with her playing of her guitars". But what does that mean, in a musical context? (And I'm not being critical of her, as I did think she had some form and degree of talent.) Maybe I'm too much a purist, going 90-95% for the musical musicianship quality and inventiveness, with only the small remainder judged on "showiness" or whatever. Just like I'm no fan of a raucous goal celebration in futbol, I'm no fan of pyrotechnics, smoke, light shows, etc., etc. Something like CSN&Y used to do (and there are plenty of others later, but they *may* have been the first) in terms of having a video backdrop/background, for portions of a show are ok, but wouldn't take much to be distracting. I think I posted on this board way long time ago that one good thing about the Eagles (among others like the Dead) is that they just played - they let the music and singing 'speak' for itself.
As I've noted before, a few of the things you've brought forth in the "New Music" thread were interesting and enjoyable, and I regret that I don't have time to explore those more. I really do.
I haven't seen Stapleton - at least as a solo act. I saw the Steeldrivers at least twice, tho, as they used to play around here quite a bit, but honestly don't know if he was a member back then. They were good, but I don't recall being blown away by any vocals, and maybe I would have been if he had been a part of them at those times. I can't remember if they'd signed with Rounder (I think) yet, but they were already 'a thing' regionally here, so I just don't know. If I hadn't stopped with my concert list long before then, I'd be able to figure it out. Oh well; no matter. And as a solo, he's newer than when I stopped paying 'real money' for shows, but I know he's talented, and his voice is among the best - at least of that genre. And from what I hear he's a nice guy, too.
Now then........................I have another source to turn you on to, when you're ready, that I've been holding back. It's akin to the WNCW thing, but different, as they say. It would be challenging to you, but no doubt there'll be some nuggets. Let me know when you're up for it. ;)
Date: Fri Dec 9 04:09:28 2022
User: HopDiriDiriDattiriDittiriDom
Message:I didn't say it's my favorite. I came across that CD about more than 20 years ago. The only song I could remember was "Sex sells" after all those years. When I fed the name to Google, it didn't come up with anything. Later I could remember the song "Hype is stupid" and that helped me locate it. Look at the number of views. Looks like many people agree with you.
Date: Fri Dec 9 10:27:37 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:A few things to address:
1) A wonderful surprise is when a richly talented local act (who drove directly to the venue from their home) opens for a big name. I recall some pudgy, middle-aged guy who simply sat on a chair and played his acoustic guitar in such an artistic fashion that the audience watched in total silence. Those hidden treasures help balance the untalented.
2) St. Vincent has evolved a lot over the years. I have seen her three times live (with a fourth ticket that I had to abandon). I first saw her over 15 years ago in north Chicago in a tiny venue. It was just her. No backing band, no video effects. She took off (traditionally) on her guitar once or twice, but mostly preferred showcasing odd ways of playing. I saw her a few years later in a concert hall, touring her album with David Byrne. The third time was at Austin City Limits, and it was as you described: the performance was emphasized as much as the music. She again was alone on stage with her guitars, but she was accompanied by a wall of pre-recorded music and lots of distracting videos. My audiophile buddy was not happy. He had seen her four times previously, and wished for something else. The only time I saw her on television was at the Oscars when she was accompanying and singing harmony for Sufjan Stevens's performance of "Mystery of Love." https://youtu.be/kgO3TbjFiuY . I think she is sporting the same hotpants she wore in Evanston. ;)
3) Stapleton started out pretty humble, but his tickets are really expensive these days. His concerts are quite the production, but not in the bad sense (no fireworks or stupid, unrelated videos playing in the background [cough, cough Elton John cough, cough]). The vast majority of the audience in the sprawling arenas (football or basketball) were too far away to see or hear without fantastic audio and video systems. Our seats had a clear view of the audio mixer and video control panel, and these guys were pros. The camera systems were highly sophisticated with fixed cameras in key places and a roving dude with a steadycam. Back to the music: I like the way that Stapleton blends blues, rock, and just a taste of R&B into his performances. His openers tend to be pure country (not my fave). I am seeing Bela Fleck (formerly of the Rounder label) this weekend as he continues his tour of "My Bluegrass Heart." I am excited for this, and I'll let you know.
As for the new stuff: bring it on!
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