In terms of the mainstream, there are few recording artists as intriguing to me as Kanye West. That has surprised me as much, or more than it may surprise anyone else. However, I recently explained it a bit more. I was going back and listening to some older stuff, and I was listening to Tones on Tail, the Daniel Ash side project band between Bauhaus and Love & Rockets. I must admit, I liked Bauhaus more, but I liked Love and Rockets less than Tones on Tail, and a big part of that was how experimental Tones on Tail was. What's interesting to me now, however is the relationship between what Daniel Ash was doing then, around the turn of the decade between the 1980's and the 1990's, and what Kanye is doing between 2010 and 2011. They're both trying to reinvent themselves, and they're both turning to much more "prog rock" sources in that process. Daniel Ash was referencing Roger Waters and Robert Fripp, and Brian Eno. Meanwhile, Kanye is referencing the same sources! Don't believe me? Here are some youtube clips- please play along, in order:
First, Robert Fripp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8kcuqIqmIU
Second, Roger Waters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSH22rJTZ_0&feature=related
Third, Brian Eno:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36B225lLvY4
Fourth, Tones on Tail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gs4MJIcjx8
(warning- NsFW- nekkidness)
Fifth, Kanye West:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7_jYl8A73g
(and apologies that it's so censored)
I hope you can hear the continuity. It seems pretty clear to me that they're all mining the same territory. So, basically, I'm starting to think of Kanye of more or less an intellectual stoner, which is what the rest of them are, and I find such types interesting, always....
