They may not be brand new but they are new to me. I hear atmospheric indie pop that is ice cold. I hear The Cure on the way to another galaxy running through the endless void of outer space. I feel like I am walking over the immensity of solid sea ice in constant dark winter as the northern lights dance over my head….
But that might be just me.
That is the great thing about having a music blog and pushing yourself ever so slightly to jump into some strange waters. Once you get over that first shock –you often find that the water is kind of nice and before you know it, you are having a nice refreshing swim.
This blog post is all about not being that guy who thinks the best music has already been done.
That guy who says music today is all crap.
Just slow down –get over yourself—–and listen——-really listen.
Gratuitous kick out the jam Thursday song. The Cult with a basic straight ahead rock song that puts the pedal down for a screaming ride on a dark stretch of highway—in a nonthreatening and exhilarating kind of way. Like most of the music I feature –it was sitting in my head demanding one more play- so here we go!
Joe Jackson, El Macombo, Toronto, May 21, 1979 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is for one of the great lost technicians to ever craft wonderful beat and melody. He arrived on that great flood of new wave/pop-punk that washed a ton of debris on shore starting in 1979. He was one of the few precious gems left after that great flood receded. This post finds him still alive and well and living in Germany.
He not only creates great songs- the dude can sing- the dude can put on a show-grabbing the moment in his fists and squeezing everything out of it. He is a professional-I only saw him once in concert and he did not disappoint.
Am I going a little crazy waxing poetically about a little blip on the screen of pop music?
Maybe- but I hope you did not miss it at the time it happened. I am focusing on that great output of creativity in three short years from 1979 Look Sharp to 1982 Night and Day – 5 solid recordings – I admit that I left him at the scene of Mike’s Murder in 1983—it was over for this fair weather fan but the man kept rolling on through life and all the storms and kept making great music. You have to respect a true professional. And I am tracking him down again. Now that we are both adults (or at least should be by now).
I was looking through all the countries that have visited the cave on my WordPress stat thingy and noticed this big area of Greenland with no hits at all…. So I figured I would take a visit myself and found these guys
This sound is both enchanting and comforting. It is like The Lumineers with some special ethereal Artic-ness added in. But I don’t want to call this band a knock-off of anything else because they are unique. They just seem to fit into this Nuevo folk music revival going on all over the world. I have no idea what they are saying but I know they sing truth because I can feel it. This dude takes regular notes and gently lifts his voice to a higher range flying to the heavens to produce a delightful resolution. This is pure magic. Maybe part of it is the language? I know French and Italian are called romantic but this language of Greenland is made for acoustic guitars and a gentle folk beat.
The Essential REO Speedwagon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I need some kind of rock n roll diploma to hang by my computer to justify me as a blogger of rock music; so I will tell this story from 1982.
My taste in music is not always as good as I think- now or in the past
Case in point:
I once was an REO Speedwagon fanatic.
I am not proud of this but I admit that I may still own the entire REO Speedwagon catalogue. (at least up until the incident in the title)…yes, even those obscure records before Kevin Cronin took over as lead singer-And it gets worse:
I proudly wore a R.E.O belt buckle that I bought at the county fair. Back in the good ol’ days when copyright infringement was not farmed out to Asian countries; we made quality fake stuff right here in the U.S.A!!
While my friends were listening to Pink Floyd and Kiss- I was way ahead of the curve on pure grain-fed Midwestern formula paint by numbers watered down blues. (In my defense- “You can tune a piano but you can’t tuna fish” is not a bad record)
And then R.E.O abandoned their rock n’ roll roots and became the biggest pop/rock band in America with the release ofHi Infidelity.
This was the biggest selling rock album in America In 1982.
And that is when I met my heroes in a bar…and ended up in handcuffs backstage at their sold-out show.
I had planned to take a girl friend but that required finding a girl and having her remain in “active girl friend status” at the time of this show- I had two months to make this happen but as an awkward, nerdy and slightly weird young adult- fate was stacked against me- I had great seats and no date a couple days before the show. I sold my tickets to some happy couple for no profit.
Plus the band was a riot of popularity as mega stars and my infatuation with them was rapidly fading. I told myself they had sold-out.
On the night before the show I am sitting in a bar in downtown Saratoga Springs- It is 1am and the bar band is playing- there are maybe 12 of us in there and the owner of said establishment has stopped collecting the 2 dollar cover charge.
Who walks in but Kevin Cronin, Gary Richrath and one other dude from R.E.O (maybe the drummer?- I guess I need help from one of the other eleven in the bar that night to help me remember?)
They walk to the stage and rip into “Johnny Be Good” with a couple members of the bar band- They did play a couple more songs before departing and I remember slapping Kevin Cronin on the back and saying thanks as they walked out (BTW-he does not like that- just in case you get in range)
But how cool is the biggest band on the planet just going back and playing for fun?
I should have left it right there, but:
Night of the show I am hanging outside the gates at the Performing Arts Center because I have no tickets…some go jumping over the fence and I join them to sneak in.
A security guard chases me and I run away—I am fast but the guard is faster and tackles me in a spectacular dive which could have made the top ten on Sports Center. The crowd loved it!
I am handcuffed and put on a golf cart with other criminals to be processed. They do the processing backstage at the show—which is kind of ironic because that is closer than any of us dreamed of getting.
One scary dude handcuffed to a locker and is yelling obscenities and insults at me largely because I am dressed like a geek. I realize 3 things at that moment:
I am a geek and even getting arrested with people does not automatically make me “cool” with those people.
I am going to be calm and make good decisions from this point forward so that I don’t end up going to jail.
Damn, that guard was fast! He must do a 4.1 time on the forty yard dash!
Thankfully- I was issued a ticket and released- It was a 50 dollar fine.
Soon after this I would get seriously in to more underground music.
Get Lucky is everywhere- causing the kids to dance and the old people to turn up the radios in their hover-rounds and move whatever still works.
Call it house or electronic or just very polished and cool dance music– it has that rare “everyone likes” quality. Cool lemonade on a hot day…it’s just what we need in troubled times. Bubbling feel-good funk is infused with Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers getting sucked into this electronic vortex of clean production.
Daft Punk are quirky arty anti-stars- they are true to their vision. This brings in the hipsters and breaks the ice with alternative rockers.
Daft Punk wear those crazy helmets and have no problem translating to the world of animation. Gamers, geeks and nerds can relate.
The techno- freaks in the clubs were already fans and have no reason to abandon their robot heroes.
Even a stodgy old rock n’ roll blogger like myself is able to get infected by these disco man/machine divas of sophisticated swag.
That must tell you something.
I encourage all classic rock fans to give up their preconceived ideas on funk , disco and electronic music and just give in to this one. You are going to be bombarded by it from everywhere anyway so why not just enjoy it? It took a few listens to wear me down, (O.K, more than a few) but it’s got me now.
And for those few die-hards (Ok, more than a few) that will argue Styx “Mr Roboto” as the ultimate rock music techno hit of all time. It is time to abandon all hope and find an 8-track player to install for your camaro ride to hell. It is over for you. You are now officially the burnt toast of a former generation.
Join everyone else and just let go- that is what music can do at its best. What is the worse that can happen?
I am having one of those weeks when I feel the need for a good alternative agnostic power-popgospel song with some killer guitar. I don’t want to get into a big religious debate in the cave-I just want to say that there are times when we all look for the stuff that got us this far and hope that it still works when we need to get a little farther down the road. This song always hits me that way…the opposite of R.E.MLosing My Religion.
Finally, something the kids can soak up and enjoy without thinking if they are supposed to like it. Without thinking if it is good or bad…without thinking if it is cool or un-cool…or if all their other peeps and haters are onboard—this is just play it and like it. Yes-this is what rock music is supposed to be.
Ska used to be a tonic for the oppressed. Maybe because it has its roots in Jamaica where it seems like economic strife and hardship are permanent fixtures. It found a home in Britain then made its way to America to gain smoothness and swagger. I never think that music loses anything as it gets interpreted by different people in different places. That is part of what makes it so great.
Reggae is the rhythmic offspring of Ska- your body will tell you the difference- Reggae makes you sway and Ska makes you jump.
You know the cave guy loves every kind of music but that does not mean that every kind of music can get this guy moving. So I’m gonna take you on a ride that can be enjoyed no matter what kind of life you have. Beat down by the man or the man himself. Ska will make you move.
I give you three of the English version, including the Clash going back to the start with a cover of Toots and the Maytals .
Step one- Madness.One Step Beyond
Something Special-Specials.Ghost Town
The Clash.Pressure Drop
And two American- One pop music and one west coast swagger.
My apologies to Fishbone who I tried to find a place for in this post but it always felt like you guys didn’t quite fit. Awesome band but we don’t know where to put you…I know –you’re heard that before.
I had Starbucks coffee on a Friday night (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Wow…that is one awkward song to listen to. It may be the most uncomfortable filler song that has ever been produced. I get what they are trying to do and I respect them for giving it all they had-but this was doomed to fail for many reasons….Now maybe rich rednecks (like duck dynasty rednecks or country music stars) hit up Starbucks for a mocha cappuccino on the way down to the creek for some bluegill fishing. But I am not thinking that is too typical. And I have a tough time picturing L.L. Cool Jay as a barista. It seems like the Skynyrd shirt is the least of the things that could go wrong with this song.
You have two very rich and famous men trying to relate to the everyday man in this country. It is just too big of a jump to make. Again, I respect them both for taking a running start and doing a big cannonball into this pool of historical anger and guilt that no one else wants any part of.
This is the first time through and like all first times at everything- it is not going to be smooth.
Brad Paisley tends to write cartoony songs about all kinds of subjects and this is no exception to that style. What makes this approach usually work is his strong sense of humor weaving around the quirky guitar lines. LL Cool J tries to offer the clarifying view from the other side but can’t make the mis-written words fit. There is nothing worse than listening to an unfunny joke poorly delivered and this is how this song comes off.
I thank them for breaking the ice and getting the conversation going.
And to all the critics and distracters out there….Go write your own song about healing these wounds and see how it goes.
I for one am glad that representatives from country music and hip hop music have met and are starting talks. This is a complicated issue that cuts through many layers and generations and I hope this bad song starts the writing of some good songs. I would love to live in an America that lets music bring us together instead of driving us apart.
And maybe it is starting to work…because all the different cultures and sub-groups in this country have gotten together with one single voice to declare “This is a bad song”
Cave of Fame 