Monthly Archives: April 2006

The Art of Noise: (Who’s Afraid of …?) The Art of Noise!

The Art of Noise played an important role in the development of my music tastes. I was in 8th grade when "Legs" became a radio hit, and I was intrigued by an instrumental group using found sounds as musical timbres.

It didn’t take much of a leap to go from Art of Noise to Kronos Quartet and eventually, a century’s worth of modern classical music.

And yet, the Art of Noise wasn’t that much artful, nor was it much noise. My siblings would argue otherwise, though.

In Visible Silence and In No Sense? Nonsense! were all I needed from the Art of Noise. I didn’t get the impression Below the Waste was worth the effort, and a 7-inch single I bought with "Close (to the Edit)" and "Beat Box (Diversion One)" didn’t convince me to investigate (Who’s Afraid of …?) The Art of Noise!

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ABBA: The Visitors

I refuse to come out of the closet … about ABBA.

Even though ABBA isn’t as anathema as they were 20 years ago — back when it was really uncool to like them — I still remember the teasing I received for even daring to show interest in them beyond 1980.

Junior high is when kids are cruelest, and the social ostracization I received for that mishap of taste left an indelible impression. Looking back, perhaps it was the first sign I knew better, but when you’re already squarely in the unpopular category of that social strata, capitulation meant survival.

So, no, I am not going to admit to any sort of ABBA admiration. You ask me, and I will tell you I’m a fag. You ask me, and I will tell you I have every post-Like a Prayer album from Madonna. (Except American Life. I owned it for a month before I sold it for cash. Man, does Mirwais suck.)

But ask me if I like ABBA, and you will witness the very definition of denial.

So don’t think this review of The Visitors is any indication of fandom. No — it’s an evaluation of a work I could have discovered earlier in my life but didn’t. That is all.

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Redundant, redundant, redundant

It seems I’m posting a lot more to my Last.fm journal than I’m posting here.

I guess I’m still falling into the trap of saving news-worthy content and punditry on this site, whereas my Last.fm journal has more personal ruminations of music I’m listening to.

Just so nobody misses out on either, I’m including the RSS feed of the Last.fm journal on the side there.

And against my better judgment, I’m leaving comments enabled on the Last.fm journal. I enabled comments on a very early version of this site — before it acquired the brand Musicwhore.org — and it attracted mindless LFO teenyboppers and clueless Dynamite Hack defenders who thought the band was, I don’t know, good? So I got rid of them.

I think at the most one of my blog-type sites ought to act like a blog-type site, so I’m leaving comments be over at Last.fm. I’m starting to regret it, though.

Are we in for another wadrobe malfunction?

I’ve always liked Janet Jackson. Control and Rhythm Nation 1814 projected such a sense of independence, it seemed she could stand apart from the pop machine while still reaping lots of cash from it.

Then she started to get fixated on sex. And since The Velvet Rope, she’s re-recorded the same album.

The whole wardrobe malfunction made me sorry for the country — an accident turned Puritan scandal! It may have cut into her album sales more than the fact that Damita Jo just wasn’t that great.

Janet is releasing another album this fall, so says Billboard.com. I’m still optimistic Janet may explore other parts of her being — I mean, c’mon, if Madonna can get all Kaballah on Ray of Light — but the number of albums exploring her freak far outnumber the albums exploring her independence.

Mad Capsule Markets take a break

Mad Capsule Markets has gone on hiatus to pursue individual projects, reports Bounce.com. The band posted an announcement on its official site. No time has been set for when the Mad Capsule Markets will continue.

Web sites for each of the members’ projects were listed in the announcement. Ueda Takeshi is working on Fuzz Rez Zweep, Kyono is involved with Wag Dug, while Miyagami Motokatsu is spending his time on Rhythm Method.

Mad Capsule Markets haven’t been as prolific since the turn of the century. Compared to the seven studio albums the band released in the ’90s, the trio managed to record only two studio albums since 2001. I’m not sure the news of the band’s hiatus comes as too much of a surprise.

How blue? ‘Ultra blue’

Utada Hikaru releases her fourth Japanese language studio album, Ultra Blue, on June 14, Bounce.com reports. The 13-track album will include her last few singles, including "Colors", "Dare ka Negai wo Kanau Koro", "Be My Last", "Passion" and "Keep Tryin’". It’s been four years since Utada released Deep River, her previous Japanese language album.

I wasn’t impressed by Utada’s English-language debut. The experiments on Utada were too heavy-handed and obfuscated her writing. The more recent singles find her still experimenting but letting the songs come through a bit more.

I’m a big fan of "Be My Last", a song I had nearly on repeat last year. "Keep Tryin’" and "Passion" were also well done. I’m really looking forward to this album.