Ye gads, but it's been bad for cult TV shows and me, this fall.
First, Joss Whedon, who was behind the greatness that was Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog nailed the final nail in his coffin with Dollhouse. Quite possibly one of the worst shows on TV, ever, in my estimation.
Now, they've managed to savage The Prisoner. This was, folks, the pinnacle of television, for me. If you watch all 16+ episodes of the original series, you'll end up with some of the same outlooks on life that I have. Seriously, it was more than "change your life" Art, it was foundational philosophy.
On paper, this remake had several of the trappings of a good remake- some great actors, beautiful sets, a great soundtrack. But, the writing, the directing, and yes, the acting destroyed any greatness that could have been. As it stands, this thing was unwatchable. Yes, pure drek. Avoid it, if you value your time.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
The Bomb- Speed is Everything
I like Punk rock. Having said that, I know that Punk Rock involves some artificial limitations that turn a lot of musicians off. Ideally, the Punk ethos is that "Anybody could do it". That's actually a pretty tough row to hew if you think about it. It's like writing haiku- of all the sounds available, you have to cling to only these few.
But, also like Haiku, if you maintain the discipline, you are rewarded with a kind of Freedom- in that you can explore vast worlds of music.
That universe of music is large enough that I can honestly say that I detest some stuff that fits under the rubric of "punk rock' more than I dislike whole other genres, while still really enjoying "punk rock". If you can understand that, you can start to see the kind of scope I'm talking about.
So, Jeff Pezzati specializes in Punk, which should then tell you zero about the music he makes, right?
What I mean is that he explores whole continents of melody, while sticking with a 4/4 verse-chorus limited pop song format. He's by and large unschooled, and relies upon his guitarists for arrangements. So, his once and future band, Naked Raygun really owes a lot of the sound to John Haggerty's minimalism. The Bomb, the band at hand, right now, seems more collaborative. There is a lot more focus on vocal harmony. Not quite like the Undertones, but still, Jeff is singing much more than his chanting in Naked Raygun. Still the guitars are co-stars, here. Jeff Dean has a lot of force to exert, and deploys his riffs in bursts like he's hoarding secrets. He can be as minimal as John Haggerty ( I think "The Rescue" might have less than 3 chords) But he employs strategies worthy of Robert Fripp- using chromatic dissonance to create tension in "Haver", using minor-to-major modalities in "Not Christmas Night" to slow down the melody- almost to a hover while keeping the tempo at appropriate Punk rock breakneck speed. So, yes, it's pretty, and has a lot of energy, but this is a far cry from "stupid". There's even a canny re-imagining of a Flock of Seagulls' "Space age Love Song" as a postpunk shimmer.
This stuff also points out the strength Punk Rock has, which almost always gets ignored. For sheer ferocity, heavy metal beats Punk rock. There are dozens of Hardcore, electronic, and even new music composers who can summon up more of an unfocused threat than punk rock ever has. No, the strength that Punk rock has is in re-shaping aggression, and passion into structured Pop music. Anybody can scream, but Art is made by conveying a scream without screaming. That's what The Bomb has done.
A special mention should be made of the production- J. Robbins had a big hand in shaping this sound, and as he always does, his touch on this is perfect- I defy you to find more ear pleasing production than he works up!
So, if you want to hear what the platonic ideal for Punk Rock is, in 2009, Speed is Everything!
But, also like Haiku, if you maintain the discipline, you are rewarded with a kind of Freedom- in that you can explore vast worlds of music.
That universe of music is large enough that I can honestly say that I detest some stuff that fits under the rubric of "punk rock' more than I dislike whole other genres, while still really enjoying "punk rock". If you can understand that, you can start to see the kind of scope I'm talking about.
So, Jeff Pezzati specializes in Punk, which should then tell you zero about the music he makes, right?
What I mean is that he explores whole continents of melody, while sticking with a 4/4 verse-chorus limited pop song format. He's by and large unschooled, and relies upon his guitarists for arrangements. So, his once and future band, Naked Raygun really owes a lot of the sound to John Haggerty's minimalism. The Bomb, the band at hand, right now, seems more collaborative. There is a lot more focus on vocal harmony. Not quite like the Undertones, but still, Jeff is singing much more than his chanting in Naked Raygun. Still the guitars are co-stars, here. Jeff Dean has a lot of force to exert, and deploys his riffs in bursts like he's hoarding secrets. He can be as minimal as John Haggerty ( I think "The Rescue" might have less than 3 chords) But he employs strategies worthy of Robert Fripp- using chromatic dissonance to create tension in "Haver", using minor-to-major modalities in "Not Christmas Night" to slow down the melody- almost to a hover while keeping the tempo at appropriate Punk rock breakneck speed. So, yes, it's pretty, and has a lot of energy, but this is a far cry from "stupid". There's even a canny re-imagining of a Flock of Seagulls' "Space age Love Song" as a postpunk shimmer.
This stuff also points out the strength Punk Rock has, which almost always gets ignored. For sheer ferocity, heavy metal beats Punk rock. There are dozens of Hardcore, electronic, and even new music composers who can summon up more of an unfocused threat than punk rock ever has. No, the strength that Punk rock has is in re-shaping aggression, and passion into structured Pop music. Anybody can scream, but Art is made by conveying a scream without screaming. That's what The Bomb has done.
A special mention should be made of the production- J. Robbins had a big hand in shaping this sound, and as he always does, his touch on this is perfect- I defy you to find more ear pleasing production than he works up!
So, if you want to hear what the platonic ideal for Punk Rock is, in 2009, Speed is Everything!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Instrumental
Music isn't quite as categorical as it might seem. I mean, to hear music critics, you'd think there are walls between genres- and when someone dares to leap one of those walls, they achieve "crossover", like they went behind enemy territory. Really, such considerations are only for marketers, advertisers and the people duped by them. Not you, right?
So, when I say there are bands out there at the nexus point of "indie rock" and "metal"- somewhere between "Stoner Rock" and "shoegaze" and making music that resembles both Sonic Youth, and Mountain, you're not surprised at all, are you? It makes perfect sense, because all these labels make no sense to music fans, anyway.
Well, ever since bands like Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath got tagged "Heavy Metal" there has been loud trippy bands with extended jams that weren't really trying to cop jazz, or bluegrass licks, like the so-called "jam bands" do when they improvise. So, the newer instrumental, or semi-instrumental "Metal" bands that have sprung up in Neurosis' and Isis's, and Godflesh's wake might be inspired by newer music, I hear more echoes of the very early 70's in them, which might be a turn off to some folks, because they associate it with lazy, uninspired riffing. Me? I think about Can, Neu!, and their Krautrock peers. Simultaneously, I think about some of the most artistic loud bands of the past 10 years, like Queens of the Stone Age, and Deftones.
Well, here are two of the newest, so you can decide for yourself-
The first, from Chicago, Ill, USA is Pelican with their new record- What we all come to need.
Now, they are not a new band, and have practically pioneered a kind of sound, in the past- equal parts Slint and Neurosis, but with this new record they're headed into new territory- this is like what Mogwai would sound like if they gave up their pretensions of being "post Rock"- meaning it's intriguingly complex music built around a foundation of very hard rock. You know the long jams in an Isis song? Yeah, take that, speed it up, add a drummer with an exceptionally light tough for metal, and guitar interplay up there with Television, and subtract most of the vocals, and you end up with this cinematic sound- imagine Mad Max, or playing Fallout 3 with this sound track, and you'll get the idea- it's sweeping post-apocalyptic intense rock- both pretty and brutal.
The second is a northern European juggernaut- partially from Berlin, mostly from Arhus, Denmark- The Manipulated Living, with their newly-remastered demo "Prelude to Oblivian". Unlike Pelican, who specialize in a kind of twangy pounding- like a an Ennio Morricone sound track made by Ogres, the Manipulated living make a sound that's a kind of molten shimmer- like the heat distortion from a desert road in summer. In other words, there are echoes of different more gauzy types of hard rock- like the more pastoral elements of the Deftones, and the echoing drone in "Home" by Jane's Addiction. The result is less Cinematic, less airy than Pelican, and more oceanic, more trance-state. The song length in either case is Epic- figure about 8 minutes per song with Pelican, and about 10 minutes per song with The Manipulated Living- but that epic length is not an excuse- this isn't Pop music with a bridge section, like the Grateful Dead! Especially in the case of the Manipulated Living- the whole is meant to be taken in at once- like getting on a surfboard- you don't experience the ocean in parts, you feel the whole thing, then learn to isolate bits from it. This isn't the greasy kid stuff of some screamo band lost to their own inflated sense of self-worth- this bears more in common with composers like Glenn Branca and John Cage- a new way to experience the familiar. A swooning new visualization of loud music.
So, when I say there are bands out there at the nexus point of "indie rock" and "metal"- somewhere between "Stoner Rock" and "shoegaze" and making music that resembles both Sonic Youth, and Mountain, you're not surprised at all, are you? It makes perfect sense, because all these labels make no sense to music fans, anyway.
Well, ever since bands like Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath got tagged "Heavy Metal" there has been loud trippy bands with extended jams that weren't really trying to cop jazz, or bluegrass licks, like the so-called "jam bands" do when they improvise. So, the newer instrumental, or semi-instrumental "Metal" bands that have sprung up in Neurosis' and Isis's, and Godflesh's wake might be inspired by newer music, I hear more echoes of the very early 70's in them, which might be a turn off to some folks, because they associate it with lazy, uninspired riffing. Me? I think about Can, Neu!, and their Krautrock peers. Simultaneously, I think about some of the most artistic loud bands of the past 10 years, like Queens of the Stone Age, and Deftones.
Well, here are two of the newest, so you can decide for yourself-
The first, from Chicago, Ill, USA is Pelican with their new record- What we all come to need.
Now, they are not a new band, and have practically pioneered a kind of sound, in the past- equal parts Slint and Neurosis, but with this new record they're headed into new territory- this is like what Mogwai would sound like if they gave up their pretensions of being "post Rock"- meaning it's intriguingly complex music built around a foundation of very hard rock. You know the long jams in an Isis song? Yeah, take that, speed it up, add a drummer with an exceptionally light tough for metal, and guitar interplay up there with Television, and subtract most of the vocals, and you end up with this cinematic sound- imagine Mad Max, or playing Fallout 3 with this sound track, and you'll get the idea- it's sweeping post-apocalyptic intense rock- both pretty and brutal.
The second is a northern European juggernaut- partially from Berlin, mostly from Arhus, Denmark- The Manipulated Living, with their newly-remastered demo "Prelude to Oblivian". Unlike Pelican, who specialize in a kind of twangy pounding- like a an Ennio Morricone sound track made by Ogres, the Manipulated living make a sound that's a kind of molten shimmer- like the heat distortion from a desert road in summer. In other words, there are echoes of different more gauzy types of hard rock- like the more pastoral elements of the Deftones, and the echoing drone in "Home" by Jane's Addiction. The result is less Cinematic, less airy than Pelican, and more oceanic, more trance-state. The song length in either case is Epic- figure about 8 minutes per song with Pelican, and about 10 minutes per song with The Manipulated Living- but that epic length is not an excuse- this isn't Pop music with a bridge section, like the Grateful Dead! Especially in the case of the Manipulated Living- the whole is meant to be taken in at once- like getting on a surfboard- you don't experience the ocean in parts, you feel the whole thing, then learn to isolate bits from it. This isn't the greasy kid stuff of some screamo band lost to their own inflated sense of self-worth- this bears more in common with composers like Glenn Branca and John Cage- a new way to experience the familiar. A swooning new visualization of loud music.
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