Tastes change, but the song remains the same

When I was growing up, it was either Top 40 or 'album rock' stations, or my brother's record collection, mostly KISS and AC/DC. When I started in high school, it was the early '80s and I was digging on Iron Maiden, Ozzy, and Rush, primarily. Clear narrative lyrics and virtuosity were the things I latched onto, and I would forgive the clunky song structures. As metal devolved into pop, speed, hair, and death metal, I bailed to explore classic rock, especially Zeppelin, the Doors and the Dead. Listening to Clapton and Page, I found a different kind of virtuosity that could move the soul with a single aching note. The people at my high school who were also into this stuff became my circle of friends in the Charlotte area and remain so to this day.

However, I got rutted again, this time with psychedelia and jam bands. The Dead had a huge catalog, and a "friendly" scene. Here, I was enamored with the crescendo. I wanted music that forced you to be patient, that fell apart, became unraveled, and then came crashing back together on the resolving note. When Phish came about, I fell for the less prophetic/more irreverential and goofy lyrics but in the end, they played that same trick the Dead did, of denying the resolving note for an eternity before bringing the house down. They were fun shows, but that trick got old, and Phish smartly disbanded before too many people noticed they couldn't write any other kind of song. It's funny because in this era, I was forgiving terrible lyrics and formulaic songs and sloppy performance for the crescendo.

Coincident with this era, the whole Nirvana/grunge/Seattle thing happened, and I was listening to Bleach and the Meat Puppets and Jane's A and Beastie Boys and old Chili Peppers, and this was the point where I started to appreciate that there was decent rap, or that rap could be art.

I got into a bit of jazz (the late '40s thru late '60s) and classical (mostly the Classical and Romantic eras), when I moved to Michigan, but it wasn't terribly filling. Since those days, and until last year, I got into "stuff that sounds great on a nice system" (Radiohead, Bjork, Sublime), but I wasn't really buying anything new. I had no time to listen to music, until one magical Christmas morning when I got an iPod shuffle. I visited the iTunes site and discovered how easy and cheap it was to download entire albums, and to research unfamiliar music that had some connection to the stuff that I liked. I quickly ran up quite a tab with iTunes. At the same time, I was borrowing and ripping CDs from my friends Jim, Michael, and Karl. Karl has a lot of the indie pop from the past 15-20 years, so I got exposed to a lot through him, which later led to more discoveries to iTunes. Michael is big into the 2nd wave emo, shoegazer and dance scenes.

So kudos to iTunes for having a pretty good site with a ton of content. However, I no longer purchase my music online. I came to realize that the proprietary licensing that Apple applies to their product is a pain to work with. I also came to discover that the sound quality was not as nice as CD, and that I really like having the liner notes. So, I support my local music shops with my patronage, but continue to use iTunes for the research. Most of what I listen to now falls within the areas of indie rock, electronica and dance, and post-rock. Indie rock is some kind of blend of folk and pop that strives to reach a certain challenging listenability without winding up on VH1, and often escapes the "current sound" through use of alternative instrumentation and moderate to heavy post-production. Oh, and it is music that appears on independent (not major) labels. Post-rock uses the standard rock instruments to produce longish instrumental pieces with an ambient, organic aesthetic.

This brings us to the point of tonight's discussion. I'm going to do a capsule review of every purchase that I've made since I began my New Music Renaissance. I'll begin here with five of my favorites that I got from Karl.

I hope you don't hate it too much... *cringes painfully*

1)Tapes 'n Tapes The Loon
This is one of my absolute favorites from 2006. This Austin, TX band brings to mind some weird hybrid of the Violent Femmes and T-Rex. There's a lot of glam in the vocals and garage sensibility in the jangling, slamming guitar and drum rhythms in the opening tracks. There's some R-rated dangerous intimations in the desperate punk of "Insistor", and there's plenty of room to breathe and explore in the later tracks like "Omaha" and "Buckle". After a few listens, this truly feels like a work of art. The Southern roots are unquestionable, but this is just as undeniably a grimy big city record.

2)M. Ward The Transfiguration of Vincent
M.Ward is a singer/songwriter who evokes a simple "O Brother, Where Art Thou" vibe upon first listen. On "The Transfiguration...", this is due to the old-timey gospel arrangements combined with his quirky, understated delivery. Some of the tunes are heartbreakingly sweet, such as "Dead Man" and "Undertaker", while others go feel straightforward and unrelenting, like "Outta my Head" and "Helicopter". I've also picked up Transistor Radio and Post-War, which both have moments that reveal much of Ward's motivations and influences, but this one just feels timeless.

3) The Shins Chutes Too Narrow
I love this album, and even more so after listening to the ones that preceded and followed this one. The Shins are pure pop, with the capacity to get embarassingly pedantic (one song builds up to the point where the narrator dramatically flips off an unseen offender...end of song. The album closer does this repetitive Circle of Life thing). But they can also produce perfect, literate songs like "So Says I" and "Young Pilgrims". To me Chutes Too Narrow captures the best of what the Shins can do. Oh, Inverted World has beautiful pop melodies without the driving energy (and it has crappy production), while Wincing the Night Away is way overproduced and may take itself too seriously.

4) Sigur Ros Aegitus Byrnitum
I don't actually think that's how you spell the name of that record, but it's not handy. These guys are truly great. They play long, slow songs that are wonderfully produced with backing orchestral instruments. Some of the songs drag a bit, but there's usually a payoff. So what if they only sing in Icelandic? It's just more babble for me to sing to Elaine. Great atmospheric rock.

5) Beck Sea Change
Wow! This is Beck without the smirk. Not that he actually smirks, but it underlies much of his faux hip hop persona, with the powder blue suit and big lapels and huge sunglasses busting moves over Serge Gainsbourg-inspired flourishes and turntable beats with an expressionless, deadpan delivery. These songs are like the Glen Campbell era of country and western, only more melancholy, heartfelt, and distant. It's like he's actually channeling some dude who feels things, or he's showing who he really is for the first time.