Archive for August, 2009
The Golden Age of Television
Derek keeps pestering me to write about how the last decade was the Golden Age of Television. It’s not that I don’t agree with him. It’s that I wasn’t sure that was enough of an angle and I wondered if it had been said already. I’m not sure. I know that most people, when referring to the Golden Age of Television, are referring to the 40’s and 50’s and not to the last 10 years. But certainly many people I know talk about the last 10 years of television as something very special. I just didn’t think it needed discussing.
But, this summer, after seeing the umpteenth studio film that ran well over two hours, I realized that it’s not just that it’s the Golden Age of television but that we seem to have, concurrently, lost our way with film. Or at least, we’ve forgotten how to edit. And while it’s a gross exaggeration, I would posit that I go to the movies a great great deal, that I love movies, and that I am coming at this from a pretty experienced perspective. I might exempt documentaries from this broad generalization. But basically I feel okay stating that the craft of making a major studio picture is not nearly as taut and rigorous as it used to be. Or, maybe more accurately, as it needs to be or should be.
Something New, Something Different
I remember some of the first few times I got together with one of my friends who’s a producer and composer. We would discuss musical ideas and he would fret about a lot of the artists I was talking about and maybe he’d acknowledge some of my preferences but he’d always say, “It’s been done before”. And at the time I’d find that a deeply unsatisfying response. Because it seemed that if you’re constantly trying to define yourself by whether something has been done before or not, you’ll end up in a near infinite set of dead ends. After all, nearly everything that happens in popular music has technically been done before. We’re not inventing new chords after all. These relationships between the I and the IV and the V. These are old and timeless relationships and they have a history with each other and were I to ceaselessly look under new rocks or new directions I’d wear myself out.
But ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?
Valentine’s Day
We put this song out to the mailing list this week. People seem to like it. I like listening to Noah play guitar on it.
The Living Room 9/3/09
Getting ready for a big show next Thursday night at The Living Room. So I’m doing the whole Twitter, Facebook, email thing. Funny thing is that it’s much more aggressive to ‘unfriend’ someone on Facebook than to unfollow them on Twitter or unsubscribe from the email list. So Facebook is sort of a spammier place around events than either of those other outlets and it’s something that concerns me. But, it’s also a place where you can have some tighter communication.
At any rate, the show is really going to be tremendous and there are probably a couple of reasons you should come, which I also listed in the Facebook event listing. Here are a few:
- It’s free
- The band is incredible. We’ll have a horns, strings, woodwinds, pianos, samples, and a whole host of other things.
- This is not an attempt to hide mediocre songs. The songs are pretty good too.
- We’ll be attempting a cover of Hearts on Fire by Cut Copy. It could fail miserably but our last big cover of ‘All My Friends’ was kind of critically acclaimed.
- Free music all the time and free shows. This is clearly a money-losing endeavor for me but I do it to spread my many many gifts. In the words of the sage from Canada, “I was blessed with the gift of a golden voice.”
Hope to see you there, my friends.
Summer Camp
I wrote a guest column for Chris and the gang at Striker Bill. The essay is titled “How To Write A Song From Your Life” and it was fun to write. Striker Bill had previously written a glowing review of the new record and it was fun to work with them to write this little thing.
The point I make is pretty simple which is to avoid being banal and try to create some mystery.
Here’s a blurb:
The thing about your life is that it is beautiful. And it is worthy of poetry. And the other part of that truth is that you must find, paraphrasing Fitzgerald, a way to say something new or a way to something old but so filled with honesty and raw emotion that it is overpowering.
It goes on. Click here to read the whole thing.
UPDATE: In other news, Pain Is A Reliable Signal, is currently #13 on Top Albums of 2009 on same website beating out people like Super Furry Animals, Pains of Being Pure At Heart, etc.
Girls | Hellhole Ratrace
I just finished reading ‘Dharma Bums’ and this video reminds me of both the best and the worst of Kerouac. But, like the book, I ultimately forgive it for its sins because I find it beautiful and poetic and it’s good more than it’s bad. One day we’ll find a way to romanticize youth that isn’t completely dependent on getting wasted. Until that day we’ll still have images like these. I like the song as well. Reminds me of a Bay Area Spacemen 3.
Enjoy.
