Back from the Grave
I was always fond of the L.A. band 45 Grave. You’ve heard of death metal? I guess they played death punk, much like Christian Death, the Flesh Eaters and TSOL. They had a Goth look, but a punk/new wave sound. They’re probably best known for their song “Partytime,” because of its [...]
“I never hammered my mind out…”
In the history of rock, there have been a number of gifted artists who struggled with mental illness: Syd Barrett, Peter Green, Daniel Johnston. I think there is a tendency to treat such individuals as having an extra cool cachet, like rock musicians with extreme drug addictions. Having schizophrenia ain’t nothing cool, kids.
Roky [...]
From the shadows
Halloween rapidly approaches. A fine time to take a walk on the dark side.
Dark Shadows (1966-71) was a great TV show for its time. It was a soap opera, with all the standard trappings, but it was about werewolves, vampires, reincarnation, time travel, and so on. Its producer, Dan Curtis, died earlier [...]
The fire down below
Human beings are funny. It’s what makes us interesting. There are moments of incredible intimacy we engage in and the way we act during those times is wildly individual.
If you could aim a camera at people’s faces right then, you would observe a lot. Our faces are very expressive, to a much higher [...]
Two tunes for no particular…
Two new songs dropped into the ol’ mailbag this week and I’m passing ‘em along. No theme today. No reason. Just stuff I liked.
Four Tet’s new release is Remixes. It includes a 2003 mix from the late, great Jay Dee of “As Serious As Your Life,” a track from Four Tet’s [...]
“Your colour schemes delight…”
This past week, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack for Marie Antoinette. As you’ve probably heard, the film mixes in a few contemporary touches with the period drama. For example, the music features Baroque with New Wave and New Romantic bands, such as New Order, Siouxsie & The Banshees and Bow Wow Wow.
A [...]
The sound of the human voice
I’m always interested in the fine line between what is considered musical expression and what is considered noise. I consider it a very fine line, indeed.
You can point to something like Hendrix’s audio pyrotechnics or the soundscapes of Trent Reznor. Some Eastern musical instruments sound like a bunch of noise to Western ears.
Or [...]
My weekend at the lake
This weekend, I went away to a friend’s lake house in Virginia. It was a real pop culture weekend.
There’s a dock down by the water. Stepping onto it all I could think of were movies: Indian Summer, Friday the 13th, The Deep End. I’ve been on docks before, but there was [...]
Gettin’ Down With Corinne Bailey Rae
What’s to say about Corinne Bailey Rae?
She’s from Leeds, England, up in Yorkshire. She sang hymns in church. She had a teenage love of Led Zeppelin. At 15, she started the band Helen, in the mold of Veruca Salt and L7. The band fell apart. While at Leeds University, she [...]