Took a break from blogging to build a little snowman (oh yeah, we got snow!)…..it turned into a big fat cat- and this noir filter on the iPad made me think I was listening to Opeth! This is the winter of our discontent.
The Cave Olympics – Metal
The Cave Olympics – Metal
Metal is not my thing, I like some of it but I am not in the club. I am not submerged in this murky subculture – I needed some help from metal heads I know in real life and in the blogging world.
To me- metal is a light and humorous distraction from my other music. I think of it as Van Halen and The Scorpions. (Cartoony with a flair for the over dramatic)
No!! To metal people this is not right.
Just like real drinkers like their liquor aged and neat. Real metal heads like their music black and evil with no touch of water …if you please and thank you.
There is the famous story of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil in order to play guitar like no one before him (the genesis of rock n roll). It may be myth but it fuels this whole thing. https://caveoffame.com/2013/02/20/the-devils-music/
On the other side we have stories of Black Sabbath painting rooms black and doing witchcraft…all while figuring out the small tonal shift on guitar that would forge a new evil sound.
They did not make just make a deal with the devil-they are invited over to the Lucifer Mansion for the Thursday night poker games!
Again-is this myth or reality-is this just for show or are we true believers-it really does not matter- it just matters that this “vibe of hell” is what the passionate of this genre like to blindly follow.
It is the zip in this trip.
So I give you my medal winners of this very scary genre of which I have a new found fear.
The Bronze- Opeth.Blackwater Park
Death Metal is to Sweden like those little funky knives with everything are to Switzerland. It is a factory for this music. And before a “speed metal” or “black metal” freak flames some angry comment about Opeth being really a “progressive metal band with a death metal start that kind of draw influences from everywhere.” Let me say that they are a “progressive metal band with a death metal start that kind of draw influences from everywhere.” And let me also say that the only thing scarier than metal music is any comment thread on a metal website-join in at your own risk!
The Silver-Metallica.Master of Puppets
The vocals are clean and the guitar is fast. You could call this a nice drinkable American blend. Thanks to http://1001albumsin10years.wordpress.com/ for this suggestion!
The Gold-Black Sabbath.Paranoid
There is no argument from metal lovers of all kinds that these guys are the original. I know the song Black Sabbath is considered the first example of the genre but I did want something a little lighter for the gold medal….you know something that is a hit and that the kids can dance to!
Thanks to :
http://heavymetaloverload.com/
another couple of metal aficionadas that helped lead me to this gold.
And as always, Cheers from the cave!
As the crow flies…or maybe the raven
I don’t know how it happens; but everyone has the power to soar.
Even those who feel totally alone while battling serious difficulties.
I really believe that.
This picture says that to me. It is fine if it doesn’t say anything to you-it really is.
This is from my Nikon 5100 and the only thing I did was just a tad bit of unsharp mask in Photoshop to bump up the details…and…O.K.. maybe just a sliver of contrast. Photoshop can be a delicate tool instead of a big mallet as I am just starting to figure out.
Pete Seeger
So long Pete,
You loved everyone-A true man of the people-you lived long enough that we kind of forgot about you-that is our fault.
I never was a fan of your music but I am a big fan of a life filled with conviction.
And you lived on my river.
In fact, you really loved the Hudson River and fought to get it clean.
We have lost a consistent voice for freedom and the river has lost a friend.
The world is not better without you.
Thank you
Do you ever yearn?
Do you ever yearn?
Yearn: to have a strong desire for somebody or something, especially when the desire is tinged with sadness.
That is really what all these unrequited love songs are about.
Maybe it is all this rain gently washing away the January snow that has me in this yearning funk.
I don’t know… but the best way to deal with it-is to find some great songs and let them rain in on my soul.
There is something always pure about something that is unattainable-if you can’t get it then it follows that you can never diminish it. It stands there in all its glory and remains just out of reach.
Mix it with talent and music and magic happens.
These songs are all great and I am just scratching the surface.
Howard Jones. No one is to blame
Bonnie Raitt I can’t make you love me
Cake. The Distance
James Blunt.You’re Beautiful
And for George and his constant craving:
Top of Whiteface
View from the top of Whiteface mountain overlooking Lake Placid- taken in August of 2013
Violent Femmes
The Violent Femmes always warm me up.
It has been cold up here near the Cave-Some of this below zero crazy cold!
The Violent Femmes probably don’t think of themselves as a nice cup of hot chocolate or even a healthy dose of 12 year old scotch to ward off the winter freeze-but they always do that to this one ancient rock guy.
These guys always bring me back. If ever my allegiance to rock music starts to waiver-their songs always sound fresh—-like someone just cooked up the music right in front of you.
And not prepackaged “assemble a sandwich in front of you and call it fresh” like Subway—-I mean like one of those Japanese restaurant deals with the flames going and the knives slashing!!!
Fresh-Dangerous-and I am going back for some more.
I don’t know what the name means and I really don’t care—-It is ironic and it was coined in a time when Femme was a bad thing and Violence was a good thing.
What it means today is anybody’s guess.
This band always brings me back.
This is what music should do.
Warm you up on a cold day.
Talking Heads.Life during Wartime
My favorite Talking Heads song.
It still seems relevant.
It is like we are always in war and turmoil.
I don’t think any of us has ever felt fully settled or at peace since around 1982.
As we age, that is supposed to happen automatically?-I don’t think it works like that anymore.
What I found in 2013- What I hated in 2013
I am not good enough to hear a band and immediately place them in context of music relevance for the year. It takes a while for things to seep down into the cerebral cortex and percolate themselves out.
I will say…, however -This blog has helped me figure things out a little faster- I am more engaged than I used to be.
Here is what happened to me in 2013 as an “out of touch” rock music fan.
I’ll do 5 that caught me and 5 I hated
What I liked:
The Xx– Not a new band, but new to me as I caught the fever- Atmospheric elegant sound. Like getting lost in a really trendy fog and having someone hand you a fantastic drink that quenches the thirst and tickles the soul.
The Black Keys– They went from a band I heard of and thought they were O.K to possibly the most solid rock band of this century- I never hear a bad song from these guys and after repeated listens of their standard hits-they just gain traction.
Arcade Fire-Afterlife– I know-This is arty French hipster self-important pompous drivel—– I know that they stand opposed to everything I love about gritty down to earth rock music. But I love this song- I love it so much that I might be tempted to find a nice puffy shirt and neon pair of kicks to try and comply with their dress code and catch them at a concert this summer. I love it so much that I will try one more time to make it through the whole Reflektor album on Spotify.
Spotify-Yes, I am very late to this party. I am surprised at the amount of music available for nothing on this service. It’s like stealing as it is so much quality for nothing. (kind of like the Cave of Fame blog!)
Wrecking Ball-Miley Cyrus–((((Guilty pleasure alert))))) I hated this song the first time I heard it—-I now secretly love it if my kids turn it up. I thought it was stupid that she was naked on a wrecking ball- I now understand that if you are going to be naked on a wrecking ball—-do it while you are still young! And it plays more like nudity in renaissance art to me now. (I think this Arcade Fire thing has messed up my brain)
But seriously –if Helen Mirron got on a wrecking ball with nothing but her fantastic acting skill and did a photo shoot for Vanity Fair—-all the critics would talk about what a brave and edgy cool-chick she really is—-and would trip over all the compliments that they would throw at her unbridled toes.
What I hated:
Robin Thicke- That blurred lines garbage is still a ripe smell in the air as we hit 2014. Also, don’t forget that he played a major role in the big twerk-off of 2013- Without him providing the “hammer” to Miley’s “nail”—-The whole thing might not have got so insane. I dislike him so much that I was tempted to browse through “Revelations” and check the attributes of the Antichrist….you know….just to rule him out in my mind because I do have some doubts.
Kiss going in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame– I guess they were going to break down the wall at some point to get in. It was only a matter of time before this Cleveland institution that usually gets it right caved in under the force of those boots and rabid fans.
Nostalgia “bait and switch” – Take a band like say “Bon Jovi” with only one original member like say “John Bon Jovi” and sell it like the whole band will be there. Or the R.E.O Speedwagon-Terrible Ted Nugent and Styx –“Mayhem of the Mid-west” tour or whatever it was called. At least Ted Nugent was a standalone product –so that was good. These old bands that dwindle down to one or two and fight over the name to see who has the rights to a half-hearted performance of bygone hits is a bit much. You might as well go see a good cover band.
Losing Lou Reed- This was really sad because even though he was old and not in great shape- I kind of thought he would last forever.
Rush seems to be gaining power and respect. This bugs me because I may have to go back and change my post about being a Rush hater. I am now changing my position from a Rush hater to a Rush “whateverer”. I still reserve the right to dislike music fans that take it as a solid fact that dislike of Rush means no real taste in rock music. (I think my wrecking ball admission is a worse transgression)
Bon Iver.Skinny Love and Guinness
Bon Iver is an acquired taste for a more refined palette.
And for those of you that are still with me after that outrageous statement of pompous indifference- I will try to defend my non-hipster ass.
Note: Hipsters will not take me in and I don’t want to grow the approved fancy facial hair or lease a mini cooper right at this moment-plus I am just too frigging old anyway.
Bon Iver is more like Guinness due to the fact that once you get over that whole “wow, that stuff is so black and thick-it’s not like beer -how can you drink that crap?” phase and just down a few with a little conviction and determination. You find out that it is not that bad after all at first and then you find out in quick succession that it is in fact the best brew on the face of this earth—–and maybe even beyond; I mean when they finally find evidence of life on other planets and look at what they drink for beer…I have a hard time believing that anything in the milky way galaxy will beat this taste. It is sublime and it is all the tragedy and joy of life in a glass (at least if you get it poured right!).
Your palette becomes different not because you are of better stock than the huddled masses around you- your palette becomes different because you make the effort to give new things a chance and not instantly judge them as garbage.
This leads to an enjoyment of new things- this leads to experiencing art in a way that is like fireworks firing off in your brain.
Back to Bon Iver
Once you get over the whole “wow, sounds like a wimpy coyote howling on a cold Wisconsin night” kind of thing and let yourself flow with it. The dude can get right down into the subconscious of fear and love stored up in your brain -give it a gentle scratch and make you feel alive. The words are unspecific enough that it works on you like great abstract art because you get the emotion from the form and composition but don’t understand why you get it. (For those of you that don’t like abstract art-I suggest that you read my paragraph above about experiencing new things and drink a few Guinness before heading back to the museum).
All I mean to say:
Refinement is not about thinking you are better – it is about pushing through that wall of unknown to get to new enjoyment and appreciation.
And:
Thinking you are better than others because they don’t like the same beer (or premium vodka) or music that you like makes you not a hipster but just a prick- Ok…maybe it is the same thing?
Here is Bon Iver and hope you give yourself a chance to enjoy it-because once you really get it- it is something special.
And finally-hearing the Birdy version of this song inspired this post. I admit I don’t love this version or this artist now-but I will give it a chance and let it change my mind.
And Cheers from the Cave!
Cave of Fame 