Top 5 for 2008

Top 5 Shows:
1) Radiohead, Great Woods, Mansfield, MA 8/13/08
2) Trey Anastasio, Lupos Heartbreak Hotel, Providence, RI 10/21/08
3) Return to Forever w/ Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA 08/06/08
4) The Dead & Allman Brothers Obama Benefit, Bryce Jordan Center, Happy Valley, PA 10/14/08
5) Stevie Wonder, Great Woods, Mansfield, MA 06/22/08

Honorable Mention:
Zappa plays Zappa, Rothbury Music Festival, Rothbury MI 07/03/08
Phil Lesh & Friends w/Levon Helm, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA 06/21/08
Alan Holdsworth, Johnny D's Somerville, MA 04/16/08
Lettuce, Newport Jazz Fest, Newport, RI 08/09/08
Chris Potter, Newport Jazz Fest, Newport, RI 08/09-10/08
Trey Anastasio, Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA 10/23/08
B3 King's/Public House, Matt Murphy's, Brookline, MA (Any given Tuesday)

My top 5 albums:
1) Radiohead- In Rainbows
2) Lettuce- Rage!
3) MGMT- Oracular Spectacular
4) Apollo Sunshine- Shall Noise Upon
5) My Morning Jacket- Evil Urges

Honorable Mention: Robert Plant & Allison Krauss- Raising Sand
David Byrne + Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes (I just heard this album for the first time this past week and it already gets me)
Return to Forever- Anthology (this is questionable, I know Brian, but it was released this year and it was new TO ME).

Sympathisizer for a Synthesizer

Any instrument can be used to generate a corny pop tune, but the synthesizer has been the most notorious criminal. Until recently, it has been difficult for me to enjoy Electronica or any genre that scoped its sound around the synthesizer. Maybe I was not progressive enough, but the sound seemed unnatural and programmed. Electronica or New Age was a genre of music that seemed it would not stand the test of time and wilt away. Much like the disco, it would be considered a fad that didn’t mean much in the long run. Well, I was wrong. There is something coming out of pop music in this generation and these exploratory ideas are being driven hard by an instrument that does well to imitate as well as create new landscapes of sound.

After experimental uses by various groups in the 1970s and 80s (Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, Devo), the synthesizer will forever be connected to the cheese and excess of the 1980s (Here is a prime example of synth junk). The excess of the 80s certainly had a profound effect on the overall view of the instrument and pop music in general. The flagrant use of the synthesizer can wipe the legitimacy of a song away. In Jazz Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis tarnished themselves in the plastic world of synthesized sound during the 80s. The sound just felt unnecessary and I can never take Herbie seriously when he is onstage with a Keytar or a Guitboard, whichever you prefer. (I had to fit this in somewhere) In Rock there are songs that would feel more appropriately presented without the synth being featured, Rush's "Tom Sawyer" for example. The synth riff toward the end of "Tom Sawyer" is cool but it makes the song sound corny. On the flip side, I would be lying if I said I didn't like songs with the synth as a major participant. This is because some songs are so cheesy that I don't know if I would like it as much without the thing cutting catchy melodies over ridiculous lyrics. I think of Van Halen's Jump, Toto's Africa and anything by Lionel Ritchie. But I digress…

This generalist view has turned me away from getting really into Radiohead, Daft Punk, or Gavin Castleton. I basically shunned Electronica as a whole because of one instrument. Never accepting it as a vital part of an entire album, it often left me wanting more because the feel was robotic and lifeless. On the other hand, Pink Floyd used the synth in ways to create weird soundscapes that made their music outer worldly, but it was still tasteful and did great justice to Roger Waters' lyrical topics. Pink Floyd used the synthesizer to push it's already left of center sound even further, but it was the songwriting and mystique of the group that withstands the test of time. It wasn't until this last year when I heard Radiohead's In Rainbows and witnessed their incredible live show that my mind was blown open to the possibilities of full blown synth usage. There are parts of that album that turn the hair on my neck up and leave me sitting absolutely still waiting for the next passage of tone. It may be Thom Yorke’s voice that stands out, but the arrangements and aura of sound behind him play a vital role. Their live show made me truly reconsider the synth heavy work I had once shied away from. For the first time I saw Electronica as powerful and soulful as R&B. This has turned me onto MGMT, Bjork, and Asleep in a Box who use the synth as a main ingredient with a heavy dose of soul in their writing style.


So, is it life imitating art or art imitating life? This is the age of computer technology and most human interaction is now based around computers. Before the digital/synth sound seemed to have a place only in the distant future, just as robots or flying cars, but now it fits as a perfect backdrop to the music of today. We may have finally harnessed the possibilities and are now seeing the full potential on the horizon. The instrument is able to recreate familiar sounds and drive them into something that seems vastly different. There is a new brand sound of music that is beginning to make a legitimate name for itself. Some call it indie or electronica, I like to think of it as left of center pop that captures your imagination and emotions at the same time. Needless to say, this could prove to be a very powerful time in music history.

Weezer

I recently put together a list of the top 50 albums released after 1990 with co-workers in an attempt to determine what will be considered the classics of my generation. I will post the list when I can figure out how to transfer the layout of an excel spreadsheet on here, but in the meantime take my word for it. The list is skewed to my personal tastes (just like the entries of this blog) but a few interesting observations can be made: 1) 1994 was a huge year in music, specifically grunge rock. 2) Until recently, Radiohead may have been the most important and underrated band of my generation. 3) Rap didn't stand the test of time for me. 4) What happened to Weezer?

Weezer's Blue Album and Pinkerton are both in my top 15. The Blue Album was the first disc I ever purchased (with Green Day's Dookie also on the same Lechmere receipt) and it remains an influential album to many budding musicians. When you look further down the list you will not find any of the other 4 studio albums that the band has released. In fact, those albums may not have made the cut if I had a top 100 list. The bottom line is that I haven't had the patience to listen to any of the albums due to lack of interest. Their sound remains familiar and distinct but maybe I outgrew the styling, maybe they weren't as good as I first thought and the first album just holds a strong personal significance, or maybe I'm just not sure why I never gave them a chance. The world tends to side with me since their albums sales have dropped and varied since their debut.

How can one band, who continued to produce commercially successful albums, suddenly fall off my radar? They took a hiatus in 1996 after Pinkerton (which is a great album no matter what critics say) but I don't think I ever gave it a second thought that they weren't producing records. The other "What happened?" bands that have albums in my upper echelon from this time period are very explainable. Nirvana- Kurt Cobain's death in 1994. Green Day- hard to follow up single-heavy Dookie but remained relevent with Insomniac and Nimrod. then of course the nauseating commercial success of American Idiot. Red Hot Chili Peppers- John Frusciante's departure after the Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour combined with a Dave Navarro (I will eventually write an entire post about my distaste for this man) follow up album all while the band should have been in their prime. Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine- broke up. Sublime- Bradley's tragic death. But what happened to Weezer?

Well, recently I watched Weezer live in Japan on my new favorite HD channel Palladia and it gave me new insight to the band and my thoughts on Rivers Cuomo as a songwriter. During the concert Rivers comes out unaccompanied and with just his acoustic guitar. He enters into a wonderful rendition of "Island in the Sun" from Weezer's 2001 Green Album. There came a moment where i had an epiphany about Rivers as a song writtern, my thought process, and music in general. It was incredible to watch the Japanese fans, most of whom don't know more than the phonetic sounds of the vocals, singing "Hip-Hip" which repeats at the end of each line of the chorus. This simple tune and melody cut across international language barriers and even as I tried to ignore the lyrics myself, the message was still there. It was relaxing and moving at the same time. It made me think; maybe I should give these albums a second chance in the near future. I never liked the song previous to this and had honestly never given it a chance, much like their albums. It's strange how a single moment can give you an entirely new perspective on years of thought. Maybe it's a testament to my eternal optimism and whimsical abilities. Maybe the albums still suck and that was just a cool way to hear the song. Either way, it made me think twice about holding down opinions I may not be able to make well educated commentary about.

I Wish You Would Write Me a Letter

"It's not just about me and my dream of doing nothing. It's about all of us... we don't have a lot of time on this earth! We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements. "- Peter from Office Space

To start my blog I thought it would be ironic if I told you that you shouldn’t be reading this. Do you remember when you were an underage drinker? When beer had an aftertaste of danger? That's how I want this blog to feel; dangerous and underage. Like many of my ideas, this blog is a bad one!

We are flying through the internet age and it has become apparent that the computer is our greatest friend and enemy. We now work with greater efficiency than ever but we may be functioning at the cost of our minds and souls. The computer has become the center of it all; jobs are replaced and created everyday by the effectiveness of these things. My concern is based on the over stimulation and virtual interaction it brings to us. The mind is the most valuable tool we posses as we our judged our entire lives on our capability to think. More recently I have felt my imagination being shut off for the quick fix of the internet. Today, I give myself about 10 seconds of thought before I quit on a question and use my trusty Google toolbar. This is how most of us function in this “Tell Me Now” society.

The computer (specifically the internet) is a great resource that brings information to us very easily. However, nothing in life is easy and there is simply too much information for us to handle. For example, while I am at work doing research for my job I am constantly checking messages, getting up to date news stories, and finding all sorts of fun links that lead me to the point of no return. You may have stumbled upon this blog doing just that; searching all over the internet to be entertained. As the years pass and more information is available it is astounding how much we are expected to process in one day. Do you think Shakespeare would have been as creative if he spent his days blog surfing and checking celeb gossip? I wonder.

After a while, between a pile of e-mails and pop-ups, it’s odd that I feel more and more detached from existence while I simultaneously have more access to all that has existed. At the end of the day, I often feel cloudy and ready to participate in any mental activity that doesn’t involve me staring mindlessly at glowing screen. I would rather do anything that leaves with me with a direct feeling of connection, just anything to feel like I am ACTUALLY THERE! There are simple things that brings me right back to where I feel I should be. Hearing the notes of a nice melody buzzing into my head and shaking me down to my toes, talking to a friend and sharing a moment of laughter, taking in the landscape of nature as a cruise down an open highway, or even sitting outside as I watch the world hurry by from the comfort of my chair. These are the things that make me feel like I am alive, unlike some stupid blog written by a guy who couldn’t finish his English degree. (:wink:)

The absolute worst is when this issue of detachment carries into our personal relationships. With Facebook, AIM, and text there are so many ways to talk to people without actually TALKING! I have found that I will say things on AIM that I would never say to somebody in person. This is because I am looking at a screen of words and images and into the recipient’s eyes. So much vital information is in facial expression and tone. At large social gatherings I am often amused how I can half-listen to somebody I am not interested in just by following their expression and tone alone. I usually get away with it until a question is asked of me and I respond with a simple “Oh, really?” and it’s completely out of place. Joking aside, words are much less meaningful when it’s expressed in a machine than from one person to another.

The last observation in this rant is about e-mail. When e-mail started it felt like a very informal and almost careless way to contact somebody. I don’t feel anything has changed. It’s not as bad as the texting or IMing, to me, but it’s still a pretty poor way of saying hello. Are we just waiting for those special occasions to write letters to the important people in our lives? Don’t get me wrong, an e-card can be great and also quite funny. It does say something that somebody out there took the time to write and say hello. It just feels like there is that personal touch that is still missing. Isn't that what it's all about?!?! I say, it would be nice if I were to open my mail and read a letter penned from somebody who cares.