tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post6248813280354548635..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Rating the BeatlesBryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-5958997137109450062017-06-17T08:19:33.849-05:002017-06-17T08:19:33.849-05:00Yes! That really does capture OK Computer by Radio...Yes! That really does capture OK Computer by Radiohead.<br /><br />Thanks for performing the exercise of listening to the whole of perhaps the best Beatles album and for this excellent comment on it.<br /><br />So our conclusion is that pop music is limited by its idiosyncrasy and it tends to be tied too closely to the time and context of its creation. The best classical music tends to transcend these things. (I enjoy the Buffy theme too!)Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-57650854968704207272017-06-17T06:27:05.093-05:002017-06-17T06:27:05.093-05:00Ah well, on Radiohead we're in complete agreem...Ah well, on Radiohead we're in complete agreement. Someone said it perfectly to me recently: 'moroseness and obtuseness appearing as profundity'.<br /><br />So I listened to Revolver all the way through on the bus this morning (admittedly not ideal, but good enough for basic impressions).<br /><br />I think it probably is the idiosyncrasy of it. I don't like the kind of whiny vocals (for example in I'm Only Sleeping, which I think is Lennon?). Then the reverse guitar solo. Then the sitar -- in fact, the whole of Love to You is incredibly dull -- even the singer seems bored. Then the organ. I was just waiting for a mellotron!<br /><br />By the time Tomorrow Never Knows came around, with the singers singing as if through their teeth and with sound effects that gave the sensation of a mouse gnawing through my skull, by then I'd had enough.<br /><br />For No One was a track that worked much better as it striped away most of the then-fashionable stuff and was simply content to be a good pop song, albeit with a couple of interesting (and natural) instrument choices, and ending in a modest, melancholy way.<br /><br />And there lies another problem with pop albums: a couple of tracks are always significantly better than the other 10 tracks.<br /><br />I think the general problem with pop music is that it has to be connected to something non-musical for me to like it: either it tells a compelling story, or was written by someone incredibly interesting or under remarkable circumstances, or it has a particular memory for me, or performs a social function. That's why a song like Strange Fruit still gets me. And it's why I enjoy the Buffy theme: if you haven't watched the show, that piece probably seem at best mediocre. The same with the Sopranos theme, 'Woke Up This Morning'. But something like Also Sprach Zarathrustra is plenty enjoyable without having seen 2001. Revolution has no meaning for me.Stevenhttps://sluggingavampire.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-82727702577537556442017-06-16T20:04:13.358-05:002017-06-16T20:04:13.358-05:00Will, you were writing your comment as I was writi...Will, you were writing your comment as I was writing mine. Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-16580282003798289372017-06-16T20:02:40.973-05:002017-06-16T20:02:40.973-05:00Hm, interesting. I was hoping for this kind of per...Hm, interesting. I was hoping for this kind of perspective. I feel pretty much the same about OK Computer by Radiohead. I just don't get it! On the other hand, I do think that there is an objective element to aesthetics. There are quite a few composers about whom there really isn't much disagreement, unless you hardly know the music. But with popular music, is it too idiosyncratic? Does none of it rise above the ordinary?<br /><br />Steven, have you ever sat down and listened to all of, say, Revolver from beginning to end?Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-84333491891365090642017-06-16T20:01:28.237-05:002017-06-16T20:01:28.237-05:00Yup, Strawberry Fields and Day In The Life --GREAT...Yup, Strawberry Fields and Day In The Life --GREAT stuff!Will Wilkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997868915978439364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-16559942039665079482017-06-16T14:01:54.024-05:002017-06-16T14:01:54.024-05:00I really don't get the Beatles -- maybe I'...I really don't get the Beatles -- maybe I'm just too young, and a lot of the more psychedelic studio-only stuff sounds horribly dated and silly to me. The earlier stuff largely seems trivial. I know this is basically sacrilegious to many... But I do like Eleanor Rigby. It has that lovely melody that switches between the major and minor sixth. And when I was young, Helter Skelter was a blast to play with the band. Don't think I could stand to here it now, though.Stevenhttps://sluggingavampire.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-16199085326104483542017-06-16T13:22:10.348-05:002017-06-16T13:22:10.348-05:00Octopus's Garden is delightfully whimsical, is...Octopus's Garden is delightfully whimsical, isn't it?Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-31793681882217477872017-06-16T12:12:34.334-05:002017-06-16T12:12:34.334-05:00My favourite of their songs is #138. The sweet har...My favourite of their songs is #138. The sweet harmonies married to the goofy premise is unbeatably delightful. And, speaking quite soberly, I generally like to be in the shade, no matter where I am.Craighttp://cburrell.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com