This entry involves a bit of nepotism. I met Jason Groteleuschen back in 1997 at the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Internship training seminar. We’ve stayed in touch over the years because we’re both music nuts.
I’ve even reviewed his old band, the Prarie Cats, a number of times in the past.
Before the Prarie Cats, Jason had a band in college named China Digs. He handed me one of their CDs, and I listened to it. I liked it, but I was particular enamoured of a hidden track at the end of the album.
My brother and sisters took an instant disliking to Tears for Fears back in 1985, and at first, I agreed with them. I think it was "Shout", however, that made me break ranks and earn their pre-adolescent scorn.
Songs from the Big Chair ended up influencing me as a musician. I was taking my first steps as a songwriter in 1986, and "The Working Hour" seemed to leak its way into the stuff I wrote.
Rolling Stone magazine once described Tears for Fears as the missing link between Sade and the Cure. "The Working Hour" is perhaps emblematic of that bridge — there’s the requisite ’80s saxophone and that DX-7 piano. But at its heart, it’s still post-punk.
(I’ll make a few of these post this week to get things rolling, then proceed to neglect them with my usual level of attention.)
The major labels really didn’t know what to do with Mandy Barnett.
She got development deals with Music Row before she graduated from high school, but nothing came of them. After she was cast as Patsy Cline in the stage play Always … Patsy Cline, she recorded two albums with two different labels, neither of which reached Kenny Chesney levels of success.
To adapt a phrase from Project Runway’s dapper Tim Gunn, this coming fall release schedule concerns me.
I’ve been putting off throwing together a "Looking Ahead" entry till I get a nice long list of future releases that attract my interest. I’ve been waiting a long time.
That’s not to say it’s not going to be a packed season — it’s just not going to have anything for which I’d throw down money. And that’s true for Japanese releases as well.
I can never be accused of being an early adopter, and I’m pretty sure I’ll look crass jumping on that whole MP3 blog thing. (They’re out of style yet now, aren’t they?)
But one thing I do miss about the old Musicwhore was the audio. It was a pain to maintain, but it was fun to hear music along side reviews.
So I’m going to take a page from those MP3 blogs and occassionally post a file now and then for two weeks at a time.
Yes, I know new content here on Musicwhore.org is sporadic — and in my opinion, quite half-assed — but I tend to spread myself thin. I keep hiding behind my bedroom music project as excuse, which is one of many really.
Eleven months ago, I promised to write every day in my online journal till the 10th anniversary of the site on Sept. 6, 2006. It’s just less than a month away now. I have to say, trying to come up with that much writing is a pain in the motherfucking ass. But there is one bright spot to all of it — I’m retiring that site come Sept. 6.
Spangle call Lilli line has always been a band I wanted to check out but didn’t feel too compelled to track their material down. The band has recorded a number of albums since forming in 1999, and on Oct. 11, they will release a best collection titled since, so says Bounce.com.
Spangle call Lilli line is working on a new album, and one of their new tracks, "Until the end of time", appears on the collection.
Maybe this best collection will finally get me off my duff. I’m lazy like that.
Steve Reich turns 70 in October. A long time ago, I heard a radio broadcast that said Reich and Philip Glass were born on the same day. In reality, Reich was born on Oct. 3, 1936, and Glass followed about three months later on Jan. 31, 1937.
Reich and Glass are the two biggest names in classical composition. Both are credited with refining the minimalism pioneered by Terry Riley and La Monte Young.
When I was first seeking out classical music, I gravitated toward Glass’ more harmonically familiar work. But as my listening abilities matured, I found myself preferring Reich over Glass.
Reich has a nice sense of rhythm and his harmonies, while not atonal, aren’t strictly triadic either. The pulse is an important component to his work, and it’s that pulse — not unlike the muted chug of an electric guitar — that brings listeners in.
This album won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Composition. I listened to it in high school and didn’t get it. I fell asleep. Seven years and a college degree in music later, I listened to the piece on the drive home, and I was moved.
Young people in Russia are practically giving away pianos, many of which became the norm in Russian flats. The Soviet government encouraged piano production as way to boost culture among its citizenry.
The idea of a piano in every flat sounds terrific to me, but I’m biased because I know how to play the instrument. (And my 88-weighted key synth just doesn’t cut it sometimes.) I don’t get the impression the pianos in question were maintained very well, and while the depreciation of a piano is not like a car or computer, it’s still a big item to handle in a move.