On February 14th, Tame Impala gifted all of us a Valentine by releasing their fourth full length studio album, The Slow Rush. More than just putting out a timely album of personal, introspective lyrics supported by elastic dance-psych, Tame Impala prove that they are perhaps the leading band of our generation. They take the best of what is floating around in modern music and fuse it to their foundation of psychedelic rock to make music that is both deep and accessible. It’s a game changing release. Continue reading On The Slow Rush, Tame Impala defy doubters and step into stardom
Category Archives: Music
The Light and Dark Sides of Endings
In the last month of 2019, two things that shaped who I am came to an end. One is Star Wars, the science-fantasy film saga that for decades has captivated the movie-going public; the other is The Who, the British rock band that for decades as captivated disaffected youth. With the release of Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, the franchise officially wrapped up its core story, dubbed the “Skywalker saga” that details the eternal struggle between Light and Dark as seen through several generations of one intergalactic family. And with the release of The Who’s twelfth studio album Who they put the period on what is one of the most laudable careers in rock. These two endings have spurred me to reflect back how on both entities have influenced me and what their respective endings mean to the greater whole. In short, one left me feeling a little hollow, one left me feeling surprisingly fulfilled, and both left me feeling thankful. Continue reading The Light and Dark Sides of Endings
You Know I Had to Do It to ‘Em: Greta Van Fleet, Rock Revivalism, and Youth
Greta Van Fleet put out their debut LP yesterday, and the rock world at large is finally able to see if they live up to the hype. GVF is one of the most hyped and anticipated groups of the past several years, being slotted at festivals all over and nearly ubiquitous in music publications since they dropped two EPs earlier this year. Usually coverage goes something like this: “These guys sounds JUST LIKE Led Zeppelin! And they are only in high school. They are going to save rock!” Continue reading You Know I Had to Do It to ‘Em: Greta Van Fleet, Rock Revivalism, and Youth
Don’t sleep on Screaming Females (Although Tallahassee did)
It’s a tale as old as time: small crowd at a back water spot, and up onto the stage steps somewhere’s hometown heroes, who proceed to lay their life onto the line in a righteous performance. The crowd quietly nods and walks away, the band packs up their instruments into the van. Off to the next city. It shouldn’t be this way – they should always be bigger, always deserve more applause; it never comes. But man, that show.
Continue reading Don’t sleep on Screaming Females (Although Tallahassee did)
Chester Bennington, Nu-metal, Poptimism and Human Dignity
On the night of July 19, 2017, Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington committed suicide. One of the first comments I saw online under the announcement was, “Now that we know it was all real and not just teen angst, Linkin Park is a masterpiece.” Many seemed to agree. The emission struck me on two accounts: first, it fed into society’s wont to lionize newly departed musicians; second, it acknowledges the dirty secret that will be buried behind every eulogy published over the next few days – Linkin Park, for most of its existence, wasn’t considered to be very good. Continue reading Chester Bennington, Nu-metal, Poptimism and Human Dignity
Reenlisting Sgt. Pepper: Remixing the Beatles “Magnum Opus”
As some may know, this year marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ release of their seminal album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. To mark the occasion, Apple Corps saw fit to release yet another edition of the record, this time in a new stereo remix by Giles Martin (son of late Beatles producer George Martin), who worked with them to remix the band’s catalog for the Cique de Soleil Love soundtrack. At first, I rolled my eyes. Again? I remember when they made a big to-do over a remaster for the 35th anniversary or something, then it was released again in 2009 with the band’s entire remastered discography. Do we really need to hear it again? Does Sgt. Pepper still have any surprises up his gilded sleeves?
I have a long history with The Beatles, and know their oeuvre intimately. Perhaps surprisingly, I never considered Pepper one of my favorites. Yes of course it is GOOD, even great, but it seemed to pale next to the revolutionary verve of Revolver, the breadth and depth of The White Album, and the widescreen, crystallized perfection of Abbey Road. In retrospect, I think the “media” is to blame (is there a more 2017 statement?). For the past 50 years, Sgt. Pepper has been held up as the “GREATEST ROCK ALBUM OF ALL TIME,” the moment when rock became Art, and the emblem of 1967’s Summer of Love. Some of this may be true, but as someone born in the 1990s, it’s innovations have been to a degree lost on me. The conventions that the Beatles established have been fully integrated into the modern music scene and pop culture at large: it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. I have always appreciated it, but every time I would hear or see it lauded, I would nod my head and agree with it’s greatness, but never felt particularly fulfilled.
Continue reading Reenlisting Sgt. Pepper: Remixing the Beatles “Magnum Opus”
Out of Touch and Out of Tune: The Grammys
Hello….it’s me, your face in the crowd music fan. I’m not sure whether the Recording Academy can hear me. As with every year, those like me are confronted with the inevitable Grammy controversy, in which some supposedly deserving artist is snubbed by someone deemed less worthy by the cultural media. It happened in 2015 when Beck upset Beyonce for Album of the Year (neither was the best album of the year) and in 2014 when Macklemore & Ryan Lewis beat Kendrick Lamar for Best Hip-Hop album (a crime that only becomes more unforgivable as time goes on).
This year, of course, Adele’s 25 defeated (can’t really say “upset”) Beyonce’s Lemonade for Album of the Year. The collective internet exploded over this slight to Queen Bey, and immediately accused the Academy of having a race problem. They cited both the 2014 and 2015 incidents as examples. I agree that the Grammys have a race problem, but obviously not because the voters are outright maliciously voting against minority races.
The Academy is actually just out of touch – with the current music scene, with modern music fans, and with current artists. Continue reading Out of Touch and Out of Tune: The Grammys
Rock Escapism and Summer Days: The Sword’s “High Country”
I’ve been away for a while. Between moving and starting a new job, I’ve had my hands full over the past couple months. Hopefully I’ll be able to reestablish a regular publishing schedule. Fortunately, I stumbled back into writing organically. After what felt like almost two months of non-stop on-the-go, I finally found myself in that old, familiar position: sitting on a Sunday with nothing to do.
It was one of those long, sunny days in late August – you know them. The weekend festivities were decidedly over, and with the sounds of sports programming somewhere in the background, I lazed in my room. In this kind of Sunday afternoon the hours drag on as the sun seems to sit on the pine trees out your window. School starts the next day, but everyone tries to suppress this knowledge just below the level of speaking awareness. It was the kind of boring Sunday ripe for escape; for The Legend of Zelda and music by The Sword. Continue reading Rock Escapism and Summer Days: The Sword’s “High Country”
Rolling Thunder: Top 15 Bassists
Welcome to my first ranked list! I plan to present many such lists in the future, as they are always a fun challenge for me and stir up interesting conversation and debate. Please keep in mind that, as with everything on this site, it is based solely on my opinion and does not reflect some universal mandate.
The inaugural listicle is going to be my top 15 bassists. The topic has been spurred on due to the unfortunate passing of Yes’ Chris Squire, who surely appears here. It got me to thinking about the roll of the bass guitar in rock music. It obviously doesn’t receive the glory of the electric guitar, and bassists are usually relegated to secondary members on stage within the collective cultural consciousness. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth – the bass is a vital part of any ensemble. It provides the rhythm, the deep bottom end that gives music its power and inspires people to move. It can serve as a counterpoint to the main melody. Finally, there are lots of bassists that have left their unique mark on the instrument and the world of music. Here are my favorite, ranked from 15 to 1.
Note: As per the main breadth of this blog, I am going to focus only on musicians that can fit primarily into the broad spectrum of “rock” music. As such, there are some fantastic players inherently left off, such as Charles Mingus, James Jamerson, Robbie Shakespeare, Jaco Pastorious, Victor Wooten, and Aston “Family Man” Barrett. Also, this isn’t necessarily saying who is all-around “better;” rather it is my preference ranking based on their style and skill.
Then Play On 