The deathly stranglehold of retro cool
- Thread starter ChineseArithmetic
- Start date
ChineseArithmetic
It is what it is
The Cabs albums I like the most: Microphonies, Red Mecca, 2x45. Also good: Voice of America, The Crackdown. To an extent you probably did have to be there maybe, but I still really like them. I love the sheer density of ideas in every track on Microphonies, and having evolved over a long period of time as kind of non musicians assembling tracks in their own sweet way, they arrange elements within a track in a way that's wholly their own. They really had their own vocabulary of cut ups and edits that's much more subtle than the dozens of other people slapping recordings of bible thumping preachers over beats in the 80's.
Having said that I never listen to rock music anymore, I listened to Fugazi all the way home from work. Wanted: more bands as good as Fugazi.
Having said that I never listen to rock music anymore, I listened to Fugazi all the way home from work. Wanted: more bands as good as Fugazi.
ChineseArithmetic
It is what it is
Oh God, no. I used to love Penthouse and Pavement, but I think listening to it now would make me cringe. Dare is a much better record, I think.
ChineseArithmetic
It is what it is
I saw Music For Stowaways/Listening on a torrent site yesterday and almost downloaded it out of curiousity.
And I'd rather listen to Heaven 17 than Franz Ferdinand, I guess.
And I'd rather listen to Heaven 17 than Franz Ferdinand, I guess.
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nomadologist
Guest
Red Mecca might be my favorite album of all time
I know I've said this about a lot of albums at this point. But this time I mean it.
I know I've said this about a lot of albums at this point. But this time I mean it.
N
nomadologist
Guest
Have you heard Red Mecca? I highly recommend it if not. You are right about TG, don't know if they're so much like 23 Skidoo...
"nag nag nag" is a very nice rock anthem -- but it doesn't fit with the classic cabs model
i think cabs are oriented more to albums than singles -- i.e., you have to enter their world and listen to the whole album to get something out of it
the only heaven 17 that i like are "play to win," with some reservations, and when in the right mood "fascist groove" -- the rest of their stuff is pretty poor
i think cabs are oriented more to albums than singles -- i.e., you have to enter their world and listen to the whole album to get something out of it
the only heaven 17 that i like are "play to win," with some reservations, and when in the right mood "fascist groove" -- the rest of their stuff is pretty poor
noel emits
a wonderful wooden reason
There are a couple of tracks on Penthouse & Pavement that I always thought must have been very influential on early Detroit techno. The vocals date it pretty badly but there's often some fine electronics going on.
no no it's not just historical document. their pre-1980s stuff sounds absolutely unique and still very good. kind of a subterranean psychedelic electro-punk dub. the only thing remotely similar in approach, not sound, is early Suicide.
this is all you need to be convinced.
N
nomadologist
Guest
Suicide is my jam...saw them at Irving Plaza and they were still amazing. Alan Vega was wearing cataract glasses, a velour jumpsuit with a NY fire dept shirt over it and shorts and a bandana done up 70s gang style. Thee Majesty opened. good times.
when was this? i've heard some f u c k e d u p stories about Mr. Vega
but at his best he's like a demon elvis crawling out of hell to show us our own black souls... do you like those VVV albums? love them to death.
mixed_biscuits
_________________________
I really rate the Bang Wallets' 'Quiztopia' from 2017.
N
nomadologist
Guest
No it isn't--the rehearsal tapes on the reissue alone are worth the cost of the album.
I mean, it's not as good as the first, but it's still good. "Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne" is one of the best songs EVER...
N
nomadologist
Guest
when was this? i've heard some f u c k e d u p stories about Mr. Vega
but at his best he's like a demon elvis crawling out of hell to show us our own black souls... do you like those VVV albums? love them to death.
ehhh let me try to remember when this was. it was cold outside, so i think january or february of a couple years ago? maybe? i don't remember but i could look it up.
vega kept telling the audience that we were brilliant and beautiful and that we were going to do great things, even though it was like the weirdest crowd i've ever seen at a show. it was pretty entertaining
i love second suicide as well. have listened to it more than first actually.
complaining about first wave "electronica"... imagine sickboys fury if people started talking about traditional Madagascar music like i wanted, and tried to get them to
honestly. a LOT, maybe nearly ALL, of the most radical ideas in music of the 20th century, has its roots in traditional musics from Africa, Indonesia, India, etc.
Cage was HUGELY influenced by Gamelan -- how the prepared piano came about: imitation of Gamelan bell tones.
Reich, Glass, etc, got their ideas from Africa, whether they fully admit it or not.
and we all know La Monte Young and Terry Reiley took their micro-tonality from India.
if you are just looking at pure formal construction, pure geometry and musical ideas -- many ancient and traditional musics is a lot more fascinating and "advanced" than any Techno or IDM can hope to be.
complaining about first wave "electronica"... imagine sickboys fury if people started talking about traditional Madagascar music like i wanted, and tried to get them to
honestly. a LOT, maybe nearly ALL, of the most radical ideas in music of the 20th century, has its roots in traditional musics from Africa, Indonesia, India, etc.
Cage was HUGELY influenced by Gamelan -- how the prepared piano came about: imitation of Gamelan bell tones.
Reich, Glass, etc, got their ideas from Africa, whether they fully admit it or not.
and we all know La Monte Young and Terry Reiley took their micro-tonality from India.
if you are just looking at pure formal construction, pure geometry and musical ideas -- many ancient and traditional musics is a lot more fascinating and "advanced" than any Techno or IDM can hope to be.
Woebot
Well-known member
rofl
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@Chinese Arithmetic
i dunno. i hear what you're saying about Mojo and Uncut and Dylan and Neil Young. that music is still great it just needs rescuing from the blahs. one of my pet campaigns was to try and get ian penman to write a book about dylan. like, this is good for *this* reason, not *that* but i suppose it just seals the deal in another fashion.
and it's not just the mojo/q quarter is it, it has infected the entire of culture...even (fr'instance, hoxton cool and electro) one of my quibbles with japanese culture in the late 80s-90s was that it was so appallingly retro, but perhaps they were just infected by a more virulent strain of late capitalism, and they caught the bug before us....
one thing i do think is that it is impossible to navigate from this situation by pretending that (for all intents and purposes) that time has not ended and that we're not surrounded by the artifacts of all the ages. it's just not possible to pretend that it hasn't happened. i think artists NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE all this detritus, and i think that means being much more cannibalistic and self-referential. deliriously so.
@zhao
yes the avant garde used 3rd world music to create cognitive shock tactics in unsuspecting westerners from debussy onwards, but I dont think one can pretend we have exactly the same relationship with the music of the past or exotic music as we did.
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