Music Log

Friday, November 30, 2001

I was very sad to hear about the death of George Harrison. The New York Times published a long and loving obituary today.

It's hard to believe that the youngest Beatle is gone. He wrote some of my favorite Beatles songs, including "Something," "Here Comes the Sun," and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." And I always loved his voice on the Beatles' recording of the Lennon/McCartney song "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" From his solo work, some of my favorite songs are "My Sweet Lord," "Give Me Love," and "Dark Horse." And of course I enjoyed his work with the Traveling Wilburys. Such fun!

The world lost a great songwriter and a beautiful artist yesterday. And now I am going to go home and listen to "My Sweet Lord" several times in a row.

Thursday, November 29, 2001

Today I'm listening to the Broadway cast recording of The Music Man (2000). We went to see this musical last Saturday in New York.

I think I first saw The Music Man when I was in high school. It wasn't one of the musicals I knew from childhood, at any rate. But I loved it immediately. I got the original Broadway cast recording and listened to it nonstop for weeks. To me, this show has some of the prettiest melodies in musical comedy. And I love the story, too.

This new cast recording is very good -- different from the original stage and screen versions that you may be familiar with, but very good nevertheless. The music sounds so bright and lively, and the voices are great.

Tuesday, November 20, 2001

Noooooooo!

I should thank Sonal for pointing out this article, except I'm really sorry to know about it...

Why, Scott, why?

Monday, November 19, 2001

Loud Music

Last night my husband and I went to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I liked the movie very much, but since this is my music log I'd like to talk about the music a little.

It was a John Williams score. His work is very recognizable, of course, and certainly has added a lot over the years to movies like the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. But after seeing Harry Potter, I have to wonder whether he's losing his touch.

The music was intrusive in several scenes, and in some cases just seemed unconnected to the action on the screen. Sometimes it seemed that scenes actually would have worked better without the music at all.

Possibly, Williams' style is just not well suited to this particular movie. In several spots, the score was bombastic where it needed to be subtle. But even in the big action sequences (the quidditch match, for instance), the music seemed added in, rather than an integral part of the scene.

The score was also unnecessarily loud, I thought. I didn't feel that way about the vocal soundtrack, the speaking voices. I actually had a headache when we left the theater, and I think it was because of the music.

Cheese Food Pop Product

I know you've all been waiting with bated breath to learn what are my favorite NSYNC songs. Just the fact that I can put those four words together -- my favorite NSYNC songs -- is really something to be scared about.

Well, here they are:

• Pop
  
• Up Against the Wall
  
• Just Got Paid
  
• Space Cowboy
  
• No Strings Attached
  
• I Want You Back

Monday, November 12, 2001

Those Were The Days

This week's Mix of the Week at Art of the Mix features the Filthy Fifteen -- the 15 songs selected as the "worst of the worst" by the Parents' Music Resource Center (PMRC) back in 1985.

1 / Motley Crue / Bastard
2 / Prince / Darling Nikki
3 / Sheena Easton / Sugar Walls
4 / W.A.S.P. / Animal (F*** Like A Beast)
5 / Mercyful Fate / Into The Coven
6 / Vanity / Strap On Robby Baby
7 / Def Leppard / High n' Dry
8 / Twisted Sister / We're Not Gonna Take It
9 / Madonna / Dress You Up
10 / AC/DC / Let Me Put My Love Into You
11 / Judas Priest / Eat Me Alive
12 / Black Sabbath / Trashed
13 / Mary Jane Girls / In My House
14 / Venom / Possessed
15 / Cyndi Lauper / She Bop

Do you remember the PMRC? It was a group of Washington wives, organized by Tipper Gore, who were outraged by the current state of the music their children were listening to. The story goes that one of the Gore girls was listening to Purple Rain and her mother was shocked and offended by the song "Darling Nikki," and so the PMRC was born. (You remember Nikki, right? I met her in a hotel lobby, masturbating with a magazine.)

I was just starting my senior year in high school when the PMRC Senate hearings took place. The musicians who spoke in defense of rock music were Frank Zappa, Dee Snider, and John Denver. (Click on their names to read their statements before the Senate committee.)

All three of them gave logical, reasoned statements in support of rock music, calling for parents to parent, rather than depend on legislation to raise their children. Senator Al Gore told both Frank Zappa and John Denver that he was a big fan of their music. And now they're both dead. Hmmm.

Just a couple of excerpts I found interesting:

Senator EXON. Mr. Denver, thank you very much for being here. I appreciated your testimony. I do not know you, but, although it may lead to the beginning of the end of your career, I like your music.

Sunday, November 11, 2001

My Secret Shame

I said a week ago I wasn't buying any 'N Sync. And I haven't. But I downloaded a bunch of tracks.

It's interesting to listen to this music in the context of other slick, professionally-produced pop. Sure, it draws on the whole teen boyband phenomenon of the last 15 years, but it also has direct roots in ABBA and other disco music. There's nothing wrong with it. I wouldn't want to listen to it all the time -- it might be like eating Lucky Charms for every meal -- but it's a fine as part of a balanced musical breakfast.

Anyway, I made myself a mix out of all those tracks. And I did a little bit of reading. This is a thoughtful review of 'N Sync's latest album, Celebrity. I thought it was very on target, as far as how they're presenting themselves these days. Also, check out below the review and see what All Music has identified as "Similar/Related Albums." Some of them I can understand -- Boney M for instance -- but Blondie? Phil Collins? Huh. Interesting.

Saturday, November 10, 2001

Big update to the music section: Burn, Baby, Burn is just about all caught up. These aren't all my mixes, of course, but a pretty representative selection.

This morning I am plotting CDs to make people for Christmas...

Thursday, November 08, 2001

Funk. Punk. Same Thing!

I received this in a weekend update e-mail from CTNow.com yesterday:

Iggy Pop Brings Funk To Toad's Place
The Godfather of Funk is landing in New Haven Thursday. In a career spanning nearly 50 years Iggy Pop has offended, enlightened and always entertained audiences with his aggressive guitar-dominated sound. Pop, who rose to national attention with his band the Stooges and later with David Bowie, will take the stage at Toad's Place at 8 p.m.

Wednesday, November 07, 2001

Meet Slim Shady

I almost hate to admit it, because it just proves how little self-control I have where CDs are concerned, but just two hours after I posted that last entry I went to CD Revolution in Orange and bought used copies of Eminem's CDs, The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. I've been playing both of them for the last three days -- well, I've been playing them in the car. Obviously, not at work.

No, I did not buy any 'N Sync, and I don't intend to.

I don't know exactly what to say about them. I guess the fact that I've been playing these two CDs exclusively since I bought them shows that I'm enjoying them. I like the beats a lot and I already have some favorite songs (I'll list them below).

Despite the extremely disturbing content, some of the songs are just downright funny. The emotional and personality issues the albums reveal are fascinating. And Eminem's expression of anger and fatalism is without peer. I certainly can't reconcile many of his views with my own, but I'm enjoying the songs as songs. But I also feel like these CDs work best as albums -- they are best played from start to finish. They're really well put together, with all kinds of little surprises and sounds along the way. I especially like the phone calls from his lawyer.

Most of the rap I like is old school. Eminem, of course, is very different. Sometimes I am completely taken aback by what he says, but I suppose that's the whole point. I do find it disturbing that kids listen to this, but not so much because I'm afraid they're going to be corrupted, more because I feel like they're probably not hearing anything new in this stuff. The way life is now, with the pervasive presence of the media and the internet, it's hard to imagine kids -- at least teenagers -- not having been exposed to these ideas long before they heard this music. As a matter of fact, Eminem makes that point himself on Marshall Mathers. I think he's right.

But in the end, how is listening to this any different from watching a movie about something I wouldn't want to imitate in life, like Trainspotting or Reservoir Dogs? I guess it's a little different because Eminem blurs the lines between himself and the character he plays (if it is a character, which to some extent it obviously is). But I guess I can appreciate the music without agreeing with what he says.

The songs I like best so far:

From Slim Shady
"My Name Is" - kind of like Slim Shady's calling card
"Guilty Conscience" - this one is very smart, a duet with Dr. Dre
"'97 Bonnie and Clyde" - yeah, it freaks me out, but I like it

From Marshall Mathers
"The Way I Am" - probably my favorite on either album
"Stan" - everybody's probably heard this one already, but it's excellent
"The Real Slim Shady" - this one is great to sing along with
"Kim" - talk about fucked up... this is the "Bonnie and Clyde" of MM

I imagine if Eminem could see me sitting at the intersection in my Subaru wagon, singing along to "The Way I Am," he would probably be very, very unhappy. I am not part of his target audience, and I know he doesn't want me for a fan. But I'm glad I gave his music a try anyway. I don't think it'll go on my all time top ten or anything, but it's different from other stuff I listen to, and I like it.

I'm not Mr. 'N Sync, I'm not what your friends think,
I'm not Mr. Friendly, I can be a prick...

I am whatever you say I am
If I wasn't, why would I say I am?
In the paper, the news every day I am
I don't know, it's just the way I am

Monday, November 05, 2001

I'm all over the place right now. Here are some songs I've been listening to:

• "Sugarbuzz" by The Marvelous 3
  
• "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin
  
• "Authority Song" by John Mellencamp
  
• "Sex & Candy" by Marcy Playground
  
• "Greased Lightning" from the Grease soundtrack
  
• "Boogie Shoes" and "Jive Talkin'" from Saturday Night Fever
  
• "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid
  
• "Bust a Move" by Young MC
  
• "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice
  
• "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC

Thursday, November 01, 2001

The Odd Couple

Well, I never claimed to make sense. I woke up this morning with a hankerin' for two very different albums, and I've played both of them several times today. I consider both of these to be nearly perfect albums:

Depeche Mode, Violator (1990). God, does this bring back memories. This is my favorite Depeche Mode album, ever, hands down. Every song on Violator is a gem, and the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts. Still, of course I have my favorite tracks: "Enjoy the Silence," "Personal Jesus," "Halo," and "Policy of Truth."

Playing it always reminds me of sitting in the basement lounge of Mary Lyndon Hall at UGA with Celeste in 1990, monopolizing the television so we could get our RDA of MTV. It also takes me back to the fall of 1997, when I was in the process of leaving grad school. I just about wore this CD out that fall.

Grease movie soundtrack (1978). An even older favorite. I was 9 when Grease came out. I went to see the movie with my cousins, and I remember being a little shocked and thrilled at how racy it was. Of course I had the LP (a double album!) and knew every word to every song. I played it and played it. But what nine-year-old girl didn't, in 1978? The lyrics are embedded deeply in my psyche; I still sing "There are Worse Things I Could Do" in the shower.

I loved the original songs best, the ones sung by John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, and Stockard Channing, but after awhile I became obsessed with "side 3," the section of the soundtrack with all the oldies performed by Sha-Na-Na. It's kind of weird to have all 4 sides of the original LPs on one CD, but I still know where you have to stop and turn the record over...

Listening to it today has given me an idea for a new mix, featuring "Greased Lightning," in honor of my new car. Hee!

Music Log Archive

Burn, Baby, Burn
>Some of my CD mixes
More of My Mixes
>Featured on Art of the Mix
Music Review Archive
>My reviews of various CDs
My 10 Favorite CDs (February 7, 1999)
>Still a mostly-accurate list of all-time faves