Pop Music

Michelle Malkin posts a piece noting a high percentage of pop music contains references to mind altering substances.

The comment discussion set off is interesting and contains a comment about not mentioning country music and its propensity to sing about drunkenness, beer, and bourbon. Country and western music is at most a sub-genre of pop music. I call it "pop music with a twang". Doesn't mean I reject it out of hand but someone who tries to distinguish country and western from top forty music does not convince me.

Same too with many other musics that people often characterize as being in their own genres. Such as heavy metal, acid rock, hip-hop, dance, etc its all pop music to me.

Album Review NFL Film's The Power and the Glory

I just obtained the CD The Power and the Glory a recording of the music of NFL Films.

I often hear these songs on various advertising and when I do have an NFL films video playing on the TV. Most notably the song Roundup which was the inspiration to ask for this CD for a Christmas gift. The song without the distractions of someone reading a script over it delivers its hair-raising promise. That song is an electric piece of music and when heard in its entirety delivers quite a bit. I can see playing this song when I need a pickup or want something to drive me (whether it be on the ski hill or the workout gym).

The CD consists of one brief track of John Facenda reading some football related poetry (typically about the game, the moment, the seasons, the men,...) or sounds direct from a game (players talking each other up, a coach exhorting his team) to some of the music in the background, and then the next track is the music without voice over or other distraction (Sorry Ray Scott, when I hear your ads in the morning I am trying to filter you out).

As I said, I asked fo rthe CD based on Roundup, but there are other gems in the collection I have yet to dig out, but a quick listening finds at least four other tracks that eventually will end up in my listening repertoire.

I do not like the CD's title as it is lifted directly from a prayer, but that aside, I think this CD is a good one and sits in the relatively wide open field of those CDs that form the border between pop music and classical music.

July 18, 1989

Can you recall where you were that day? I do, I was at Alpine Valley for the second of a three show Grateful Dead concert set. Unfortunately, circumstances prevented me from attending the third concert and someone scored a miracle ticket.

Shortly after the concert I obtained bootleg copies on tape of the concert and sure, they were fine enough, but rather plain. Well, not too long ago I discovered an Internet depository of bootleg music of all sorts, notably The Grateful Dead (link takes you to the 7/18/1989 Alpine Valley show). Anyway, I had downloaded the music a long time ago and in fact carry the concert around with me on my phone. I would play it when I had an earworm, was bored, or music was called for and no one else could provide.

I finally got fed up with the situation and burned the first set onto CD. OMG! I popped the CD into my car player on the way up to Green Bay and the musical detail that came out of the speakers was incredible, Phil's bass playing is extremely intricate and of course is not able to come out via my phone's MP3 player. I remember some of the highlights of the first set, particularly Jack Straw which is a great version of the song, if you are not screaming out the lyrics along with the band at the end I will summon the coroner! Also notable is the Touch of Grey which is pretty tight but is pretty standard. They also play Jack-a-Roe again nothing real special about it, they jam out New Minglewood Blues, Friend of the Devil played in the slower later style (which was the only style I knew for some years), Memphis Blues a Dylan cover which is interesting but it kinda drags on, Bird Song (standard), and Promised Land.

Promised Land I would often skip over as the intro is not promising however, they jam it out real good and rescue it from standardness and that is the end of the first set.

Due to a mess up on my part I accidentally included the lead two songs from set II Sugar Magnolias with an on the dime transition into Scarlet Begonias. Being the concert was many years ago (NOT because I was "altered", I wasn't – honest!) I had forgotten the order of tunes they played and figured Sugar Magnolia was out of place in the first set. In addition, I could not believe how quickly they turned from jamming out Sugar Magnolia and took up Scarlet Begonias so I doubted the order on that pairing.

However, the second set does open with Sugar Magnolia and they jam it out a bit afterwards and of course, one expects a jam and Sunshine Daydream but nope jam-jam-jam-Scarlet Begonias.

Quick comments on the Scarlet Begonias – very very tight and there is something subtly different in two spots, both spots are identical musically so it is intentional but something normally there was not and its absence piques my curiosity, I want to go back and listen to that to hear what it is, I will probably break out a different version and try to listen side by side.

If you follow the link to the bootleg collection you will find the people who reviewed the show praise it highly, perhaps that mean's their praise means little, but this is a quality show. In fact, you can purchase a DVD of excerpts from the three concerts. On the DVD Downhill from Here they play a recording from the first show and I can recall my exact thoughts during that song.

Walled In

Have been a bit down of late. Nothing too much or too bad, I'll overcome.

However, flipping through the channels tonight I came upon VH1C broadcasting Pink Floyd's The Wall. I thought oh great just what I need now. However, I was unable to tear myself away and I even sat patiently through the commercials. In the Wikipedia link David Gilmour is quoted as saying:

And my view of what The Wall itself is about is more jaundiced today than it was then. It appears now to be a catalogue of people Roger blames for his own failings in life, a list of 'you f..... me up this way, you f..... me up that way'.

Source: Wikipedia – The Wall
The movie is dark – dark – dark. Dave's observation is spot on and watching the movie even as a college student I picked up on that, it comes across even more plainly now.

When I was in college I watched the movie quite a bit and did not quite get it. It has been years since I have seen it or heard many of the songs and part of the downer about it was harkening back to my lost younger days. However, I grew out of The Wall before I left college and recall a friend at a party who had wanted to play the tape (much as I would push for a few years previous), I'ld roll my eyes and withhold comment.

Bruch's Scottish Fantasy.

Blogging musical now and today.

I just picked up a recording of Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy & First Violin Concerto. As you know I listen to streaming radio while I work at my workstation at home. One of the stations I listen to is WCPE and they play the Scottish Fantasy on a regular basis, so much so I recognize immediately the piece's fifth & final movement. In fact, that fifth & final movement is what inspired me to go out and purchase the recording of the Israel Philharmonic (Zubin Metha leads & Itzhak Perlman solos) Orchestra.

Searching the internet we see this comment:

Disparagingly, a friend of mine thinks listeners are “only waiting for the finale’s fireworks”. I think any listeners thus blinkered miss much wonderful scenery, because Bruch’s characteristic refinement creates and encapsulates its own magical, mythical Scotland. Enjoy it - all - at your leisure.

Source: Commentary by Paul Serotsky – Max Bruch (1838 - 1920) – Scottish Fantasy, for Violin and Orchestra (1880) Typical attitude by hardcore classical music listeners. However, I would no way play the first four movements of that piece to a person who is not a devoted classical music listener. Why? Because the one thing I had against classical music before I really started to listening to it was that it was full of slow ponderous music heavy on the strings, and the first four movements are just that.

The elitist classical music fan typically rejects catchy music.

My first classical music recording I purchased was a record album of Mozart Violin Concertos and IIRC it was the #2 & #5 (Vienna Philharmonic, James Levine, & Itzhak Perlman). The opening movement of the #2 is a peppy piece and if it were slow & ponderous I would not be surprised to not being a classical music fan.

In fact, with all music usually a popular or catchy tune is what would lure me to purchase the recording. Then after listening to the whole thing I would find other pieces on the album that are better in some way.

Musical Memories

Right now WCPE (a streaming radio station I have blogged about before) is playing some music by Bella Bartok. I have this piece on CD and obtained it in the early '90s. Can not recall if it was before I went to the UAE or just before.

However when I hear this piece (and other music doing this would be music by Ravel and the Kronos Quartet) I can almost close my eyes and imagine I am in my old apartment in the UAE or driving to Khorfhan with friends. It is amazing how music can bring back such memories.

I find unique smells can do this as well. There is a man's cologne a college buddy of mine wore. I don't know what it is but it is not a common one. Whenever I get a whiff of it I flash back to one of those old fashioned keggers.

Neither my college days or my UAE days seem that long ago.