Toronto Rocks!!
Sunday, February 20, 2005
A lament of sorts
Here's something that I thought I wrote after the Franz show at the Docks, but the dates in my notebook (04/14/04) don't match up with my remembrances, so I can't actually remeber when I wrote this but it doesn't matter because I was drunk at the time and after review and rewriting I don't think I actually feel any different.
I think I'm still drunk...
A) Admittedly, the easiest answer is because they sound 'Efffing good -
production values, lyrics, voice, riffs, etc...
B) The harder answer, because they matter (more on this later)
I think there is a reductive, cynical form of criticism at work that is doing a
disservice to the music, literature, film and art that shapes and influences our
lives. I say this knowing full well that I'm as guilty of it as the next person.
I can't describe a band I like without comparing them to several other bands I
also like. Maybe it is a sign of the times we live in. There is too much out
their and not enough time or energy to enjoy it all. Are we lazy or overwrought?
I'd say a little of column A, a little of column B. We are over worked, over
tired, over stimulated, over saturated, over indulged, under staffed,
unmotivated, etc...
And, what have you.
At the end of the day, I just think we don't try hard enough. There is so
much good music, film, literature, art and culture out there that there is no
excuse. Why we can't find it?
What do we do?
We listen to voices that boil it all down to a clever "sound bite" or "pull
quote", because we don't have the time or inclination to figure it out for
ourselves.
An example, if you will indulge:
Interpol's "Say Hello to the Angles" is on the stereo. To me, this is
the sound of so many University parties where I drank too much and didn't stop.
So much so, that I came close to something meaningful but drank it way. This
is the sound of climbing stairs up to cramped apartments above another Bank
Street shop, and, drinking beer that was not my first choice, but, that I was
thankful of. I was hoping for at least one meaningful encounter but, at the same
time, I was just happy if the music didn't suck and that I got home in at least
one piece, because there was always the safety of our bed and the reassurance
that the pleasure of MY own company was all I had left, and that was the most
self-indulgent of all poetry. But then we put that song on the stereo and fill
the room with...
This I why music matters, because without it we have no language with which
to expresses that part of ourselves which we hid.
But why should we invest the time in these discs and films and books.
Because they show us that we are not alone, we are not disconnected. They hook
us up to something that is bigger than all of us. Believe me when I say, that
this is something that we need now more than ever. There is something out there that
is more than we are. There has to be. Otherwise, why the hell are we here and
why are we bothering? Because society would crumble. The social contract would
forfeit. All would be lost. But then again, nothing would change.
But this isn't the case. Someone shares our hopes and dreams, we just have
to find them. This is why people turn to religion and/or politics. This is why
these things matter. This is what criticism cannot tell us. This is why we
should care. This is why we should try harder. It may not be enough, but it is a
good start.
We have to try or the black dog wins. We have to try or all is lost. We
have to try or nothing new will ever be good. We have to try or it will all be
sad. We have to try because trying is all we have.
But this was supposed to be about the music and the music is good. It must
continue and it will.
It's like tonight. For all intents and purposes, there was nothing wrong
with the club, and yet there was everything wrong with it. The music was right.
The lights were right. The set dressing was right. Even the first couple of
bands were right, even the crowd was right. The were all pretty young things.
But it was all so wrong. They were so young they didn't know half of the songs
and they didn't care to learn. How can everything seem so right and be so
wrong.
How could I have gone for so many years with out owning The Clash's
London Calling and Combat Rock. I wrote a bloody 5th Grade essay about Rock the
Casbah. Not that I remember it, but Karen Scott made a point of reminding me. So now I make it a point of honour. No wonder I have chip on my shoulder.
How can I be so full of these feelings and not get them out?
Why do beautiful people have to die?
Why do people like this have to leave us?
***more on this later, I'm sure ¶ 5:09 AM 0 comments
I think I'm still drunk...
To say that Bliz-Blahz is the next Flin-Flan is so reductive that it is out and out lazy. Where is the skill or craft in that? It is so easy to say why you
shouldn't like something. It seems to me that we have so few words to express
why something is good. It is not enough to say that The Libertines are the
Strokes UK or that Interlope is Joy Division 2004. Why should people listen to
these bands?
A) Admittedly, the easiest answer is because they sound 'Efffing good -
production values, lyrics, voice, riffs, etc...
B) The harder answer, because they matter (more on this later)
I think there is a reductive, cynical form of criticism at work that is doing a
disservice to the music, literature, film and art that shapes and influences our
lives. I say this knowing full well that I'm as guilty of it as the next person.
I can't describe a band I like without comparing them to several other bands I
also like. Maybe it is a sign of the times we live in. There is too much out
their and not enough time or energy to enjoy it all. Are we lazy or overwrought?
I'd say a little of column A, a little of column B. We are over worked, over
tired, over stimulated, over saturated, over indulged, under staffed,
unmotivated, etc...
And, what have you.
At the end of the day, I just think we don't try hard enough. There is so
much good music, film, literature, art and culture out there that there is no
excuse. Why we can't find it?
What do we do?
We listen to voices that boil it all down to a clever "sound bite" or "pull
quote", because we don't have the time or inclination to figure it out for
ourselves.
An example, if you will indulge:
Interpol's "Say Hello to the Angles" is on the stereo. To me, this is
the sound of so many University parties where I drank too much and didn't stop.
So much so, that I came close to something meaningful but drank it way. This
is the sound of climbing stairs up to cramped apartments above another Bank
Street shop, and, drinking beer that was not my first choice, but, that I was
thankful of. I was hoping for at least one meaningful encounter but, at the same
time, I was just happy if the music didn't suck and that I got home in at least
one piece, because there was always the safety of our bed and the reassurance
that the pleasure of MY own company was all I had left, and that was the most
self-indulgent of all poetry. But then we put that song on the stereo and fill
the room with...
This I why music matters, because without it we have no language with which
to expresses that part of ourselves which we hid.
But why should we invest the time in these discs and films and books.
Because they show us that we are not alone, we are not disconnected. They hook
us up to something that is bigger than all of us. Believe me when I say, that
this is something that we need now more than ever. There is something out there that
is more than we are. There has to be. Otherwise, why the hell are we here and
why are we bothering? Because society would crumble. The social contract would
forfeit. All would be lost. But then again, nothing would change.
But this isn't the case. Someone shares our hopes and dreams, we just have
to find them. This is why people turn to religion and/or politics. This is why
these things matter. This is what criticism cannot tell us. This is why we
should care. This is why we should try harder. It may not be enough, but it is a
good start.
We have to try or the black dog wins. We have to try or all is lost. We
have to try or nothing new will ever be good. We have to try or it will all be
sad. We have to try because trying is all we have.
But this was supposed to be about the music and the music is good. It must
continue and it will.
It's like tonight. For all intents and purposes, there was nothing wrong
with the club, and yet there was everything wrong with it. The music was right.
The lights were right. The set dressing was right. Even the first couple of
bands were right, even the crowd was right. The were all pretty young things.
But it was all so wrong. They were so young they didn't know half of the songs
and they didn't care to learn. How can everything seem so right and be so
wrong.
How could I have gone for so many years with out owning The Clash's
London Calling and Combat Rock. I wrote a bloody 5th Grade essay about Rock the
Casbah. Not that I remember it, but Karen Scott made a point of reminding me. So now I make it a point of honour. No wonder I have chip on my shoulder.
How can I be so full of these feelings and not get them out?
Why do beautiful people have to die?
Why do people like this have to leave us?
***more on this later, I'm sure ¶ 5:09 AM 0 comments
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Efffen' Rock'n'Roll
Just a quick post to say that I got a new efffen' computer that's efffen' fast and efffen' rocks so I plan to be posting a lot more often. High speed's bloody brilliant too.
Prepare for a critique on how the Trailer Park Boys are bigger than Metallica and what I really think of all y'all.
Bloody Brilliant. ¶ 4:57 PM 0 comments
Prepare for a critique on how the Trailer Park Boys are bigger than Metallica and what I really think of all y'all.
Bloody Brilliant. ¶ 4:57 PM 0 comments
