Genre: American Folk, as played by an ageing British independent musician.Bragg started out as a punk, broke up his band, almost joined the Navy, but started busking on the streets instead. His music combines direct and relate-able storytelling with punchy hooks and inviting melodies. Also he is liberal as hell. This is the man the estate of Woody Guthrie chose to bring the great man's last unfinished songs to the public. The result was a well received collaboration with Indie Folk wunderkinds, Wilco.
Where would I have heard of it: Well it's Billy Bragg? He got a few singles on the British pop charts in the late 80s and early 90s, the most successful being the wonderfully silly "Sexulatiy" off Don't Trty This At Home. Never got much traction in the states though, possibly because of lines like
"The cities of Europe have burned before
and they may yet burn again,
and if they do, I hope you understand
that Washington will burn with them
Omaha will burn with them
Los Alamos will burn with them
But he's really just one of those people who are famous because he has had a long, critic friendly career. Imagine if the 10,000 maniacs had never had another hit, but were still putting out albums that just get better and better. More importantly, I think, he is beloved of musicians, and his fans include punk rockers and folk acts. I won't say his output is perfect, but he has more hits than misses and the hits are religious experiences. I heard of him from a name drop in Chixdiggit's song "Folks Are Gone" off their amazing From Scene to Shining Scene, which led me to pick up Bragg's Talking with the Taxman About Poetry, one of his first albums.
Anything of note: I don't have my physical copy of this yet. It's on the way from the amazon but I got it on the cloud, natch. Its fun to enjoy the convenience of new technologies while listening to songs about the possible hollowness of scientific inquiry.
Is it good: It is hard to describe how good Bragg is without sounding obsessive. what he does is extraordinarily simple. Spare instrumentation with an emphasis on vocals, but what is there is warm and full, providing pop hooks, exquisite playing, and jovial, thumping rhythms. The result is an intimate musical space, the closest thing I have heard in a recording to a session in a small, smoky pub. At the heart of this setting are Bragg's vocals: clever, kind songs about all the problems we face in the world that are beautifully sung with humor and sensitivity. As with all his good albums, there is nothing here I would add or subtract. this is the perfect form of these songs and listening to them is a joy. Bragg is now 56, certainly touch wiser than he was in 1977, but the energy he brings to his music has only improved. The more you listen to Bragg the more you want, and if he keeps making albums like this we will all be able to feed our ravenous habits for years to come. Buy this album. you will not be sorry.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Blessed Union of Souls
Genre: Cowpunk. Apparently cowpunk was a thing and it is responsible for "alternative" going from Nirvana to Train in less than a decade. Other notable cowpunk acts include Everclear. To be fair, it was more the slide of the "scene" onto the pop charts that morphed it into alternative country. Cowpunk also includes The Cramps and The Violent Femmes if you go by Wikipedia, and alternative country also includes Calexico, so once again I can't get away with a blanket condemnation of a genre. but fuck, man. This album just sounds like the part of 1995 that you neither actively hated nor ignored.
Where would I have heard of them: They got some serious mainstream success with the single "I Believe," off this album, and "Leonardo (She likes me for me)," the song that is not about Leonardo, New Jersey.
Anything of note: This is one of those bands. I thought they had done "Counting Blue Cars." Turns out that was Dishwalla. Dishwalla is famous as that band that did "Counting Blue Cars," not that band that made the music video with the girl with the bee. That was Blind Melon. So no. Absolutely nothing of note. this band is fucking boring. Their wikipedia page is just a list of albums. Not for lack of trying. someone tried to dig up interesting things. all they got is that a band member toured with Ozzy once.
Are they any good: Good is such a relative term. I often find myself in a store, listening to such of the modern top 40 that whatever corporate entity felt they could sanitize enough to make into an official corporate playlist. And it is horrible. It either sounds like kids bop or like something that was put together in an hour on fruity loops between interviews. It makes me miss stuff like this I grew up listening to stuff like Blessed Union of Souls. And boy did I hate it. Except for the odd single, this is meaningless garbage. There is some feel-good racial politics thrown in, but this is the most sanitary crap ever. On the other hand, this is recognizable as music. I don't mean that they played instruments, I mean that this has both rhythm AND melody, both, at the same time! there's even some pop hooks. In the pop music. That don't even make you want to die. Like somehow now? What passes for a hook is a noise that just gets your attention. Like we are so addled by ADD and the omnipresence of free music that anything that can make us pay attention to the background noise for more than five seconds counts as a success. But back then? a hook required an interesting lyric, or an unexpected melodic development, possibly both. Wow. they don't make uninteresting crap like this anymore. Like sure, this is boring. But it doesn't sound like it is trying to come out of the stereo to hurt me, while also being boring. So that is a plus. This is pretty pleasant, all told.
So there you go. If you take modern top 40 as your threshold, this is like fucking Bach. Otherwise it is boring as hell. I hope they got laid a lot for this but I bet they didn't. I bet they just had wheat-grass flavored yogurt and went to bed early.
Where would I have heard of them: They got some serious mainstream success with the single "I Believe," off this album, and "Leonardo (She likes me for me)," the song that is not about Leonardo, New Jersey.
Anything of note: This is one of those bands. I thought they had done "Counting Blue Cars." Turns out that was Dishwalla. Dishwalla is famous as that band that did "Counting Blue Cars," not that band that made the music video with the girl with the bee. That was Blind Melon. So no. Absolutely nothing of note. this band is fucking boring. Their wikipedia page is just a list of albums. Not for lack of trying. someone tried to dig up interesting things. all they got is that a band member toured with Ozzy once.
Are they any good: Good is such a relative term. I often find myself in a store, listening to such of the modern top 40 that whatever corporate entity felt they could sanitize enough to make into an official corporate playlist. And it is horrible. It either sounds like kids bop or like something that was put together in an hour on fruity loops between interviews. It makes me miss stuff like this I grew up listening to stuff like Blessed Union of Souls. And boy did I hate it. Except for the odd single, this is meaningless garbage. There is some feel-good racial politics thrown in, but this is the most sanitary crap ever. On the other hand, this is recognizable as music. I don't mean that they played instruments, I mean that this has both rhythm AND melody, both, at the same time! there's even some pop hooks. In the pop music. That don't even make you want to die. Like somehow now? What passes for a hook is a noise that just gets your attention. Like we are so addled by ADD and the omnipresence of free music that anything that can make us pay attention to the background noise for more than five seconds counts as a success. But back then? a hook required an interesting lyric, or an unexpected melodic development, possibly both. Wow. they don't make uninteresting crap like this anymore. Like sure, this is boring. But it doesn't sound like it is trying to come out of the stereo to hurt me, while also being boring. So that is a plus. This is pretty pleasant, all told.
So there you go. If you take modern top 40 as your threshold, this is like fucking Bach. Otherwise it is boring as hell. I hope they got laid a lot for this but I bet they didn't. I bet they just had wheat-grass flavored yogurt and went to bed early.
Autopilot Off - Looking Up
Genre: late 90s/ early 00 pop punk. Think New Found Glory meets Fenix TX and you are basically there.
Where would I have heard of it: If you are like me you bought it because you confused the original band name, Cooter, with Custom, a band with some notoriety at the time. They started to get some buzz on the back of touring with Sum 41, MXPX, Goldfinger...everyone from that time period really. Then they got involved with a lawsuit with another pop punk band with the same name and a similar amount of fame. This pretty much killed their career, as it took a long time to resolve and by the time it had pop punk was over. They went on indefinite hiatus in 2005, reformed in 2011, put out an album, and went on hiatus again in 2012.
Anything of note: nah.
Are they any good: Yeah they're fine. I mean, if like me you still own baggy jean shorts because you don't know what else to wear during the summer, this band will probably make you feel happy. On the other hand there is literally nothing to distinguish them from anyone else from this genre and time period. I really feel like I am listening to an album by a different band when I listen to this. I can't put my finger on who, but I sure liked them a lot at one time. Listening to them is an odd act of nostalgia, listening to music from your youth that you never actually listened to at the time.
I'm not sure if i am keeping this. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. I just know some day I am going to want to go on a pop punk binge and I will get through all my standards and wish I had more. That is when I will pull this one out.
Where would I have heard of it: If you are like me you bought it because you confused the original band name, Cooter, with Custom, a band with some notoriety at the time. They started to get some buzz on the back of touring with Sum 41, MXPX, Goldfinger...everyone from that time period really. Then they got involved with a lawsuit with another pop punk band with the same name and a similar amount of fame. This pretty much killed their career, as it took a long time to resolve and by the time it had pop punk was over. They went on indefinite hiatus in 2005, reformed in 2011, put out an album, and went on hiatus again in 2012.
Anything of note: nah.
Are they any good: Yeah they're fine. I mean, if like me you still own baggy jean shorts because you don't know what else to wear during the summer, this band will probably make you feel happy. On the other hand there is literally nothing to distinguish them from anyone else from this genre and time period. I really feel like I am listening to an album by a different band when I listen to this. I can't put my finger on who, but I sure liked them a lot at one time. Listening to them is an odd act of nostalgia, listening to music from your youth that you never actually listened to at the time.
I'm not sure if i am keeping this. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. I just know some day I am going to want to go on a pop punk binge and I will get through all my standards and wish I had more. That is when I will pull this one out.
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