Mundanely Profound

In honor of the Intonation Music Fest, I will attempt to offer brief intelligent reviews on the bundle of CDs that I purchased with some birthday money. Most of these I listened to on my train ride, and I managed to doze off nearly every time I played them, but I got the jist of what I was listening to. Oddly enough, none of these bands are playing at Intonation tomorrow and Sunday at the fest. I hope you don't mind the lack of clever music-reviewer words. I'm not a professional writer.

Scissor Sisters -- (self titled) -- This is probably the best first impression of my new CD batch. I haven't heard an album that sparkles with such well-produced modern disco shine ever. It's solid and catchy and has a diverse range of grooves and ballads, all performed with a sense of showmanship. Lo-fi intimate music is important, but its very good to have super overblown music to make boring lives a little bit more interesting.

X -- Los Angeles -- I heard some very good things about this seminal L.A. Punk band, and when their CD reissue of their 1980 debut was for sale for only $7.99, I could not resist. I first heard the band when the title track to this album played on the satellite radio, and then I heard them again as one of the punk bands Daniel Dessario listens to on the episode where he becomes a punk... in 1980, what a coincidence. The album is actually not a fast tempo straightforward romp as I kind of expected listening to the two X songs. There are songs of various tempos and lengths. The title track is such a solid song, but I have to give this album a closer listen to see what makes it special. The hints of rockabilly 50s rock riffs by guitarist Billy Zoom were an interesting touch in some songs, as aurally and without lyrics you see the innocent teeny-bopper sound of "Rock Around the Clock" turn into a dark nihilistic punk doom and gloom.

Beck -- Guero -- A relative dissapointment, at least after 1 listen. I didn't buy this album right away due to price and not very glowing reviews. This is Beck, though I couldn't resist for very long, especially since I have a lot of Beck CDs, Odelay is my sixth favorite album of all time (guess which are my top 5? C'mon!) and Nicotine and Gravy, from 1999's Midnite Vultures album, is in my top 10 favorite songs of all time. And I couldn't hear a track like "Girl" repeatedly with its sole robotically sharp keyboard intro, and never have the opportunity to play it whenever I want. Unlike his previous albums, though, this album does not hit you very strongly with an overwhelming sound scheme or attitude, which gave Beck Hansen's often indecipherable wordplays and style-changes an overall epic arc. He's just not feeling like he has to prove anything on this record, which is all right, but a lot of artists after their inspired crashing into our musical consciousnesses, lose their creativity and drive as they get older and more established. I hope Beck can entertain with new musical ideas for decades to come.

Fela Kuti -- Zombie -- This is a big deal, because Fela Kuti could approach Frank Zappa levels in my admiration, at least as a very prolific artist with an intriguing personally and underground cred. I first heard of Fela because of all the familiar rock bands that were on Pitchfork's Top 100 albums of the 70s list , Fela, a Nigerian who developed the Afrobeat musical genre, had two albums in the top 100, while Frank Zappa had a total of zero! What in Kuti's music appealed to the diehard indie-rock fans at Pitchfork. He was too obscure for me to get into until the 12 minute title track song popped on the satellite radio (noticing a themed entertainment device in all my musical discoveries). It was entirely different than anything I heard before yet suprisingly accessible. From what I understand nearly all his songs are around 10 to 12 minutes, and begin with a long 6 to 7 minute jam combining jazz, funk, and tribal sounds, with Fela and his back up singers sneaking in perfectly to add to the mix. This song actually has a politically charged theme, with the lyrics basically saying that the Nigerian army has no mind of its own and follows whatever its ordered to do, even if it means brutally oppressing populations that are a threat to the government's power. That boring description doesn't do the combined effect of lyrics and sounds justice. It's incredibly groovy with a very angry undertone, especially after seeing the documentary on how Fela's views and music was directly a cause of him being brutally beaten and imprisoned repeatedly by the Nigerian authorities. In the midst of all that, he recorded over 70 albums, many of which have been reissued, of which I will soon own (after I get all the other CDs I want).

This is getting way too long, so TO BE CONTINUED, maybe after a report from the music festival.

My brother told me my posts are too lengthy, but its only in the eye of the blogreader and the subjects he / she is interested. I don't know maybe a possible reader who let's say... plays music semi-professionally... don't know who that could be... (he lives in Vermont)... but doesn't post comments... could chime in with at least an acknowledgement that read through my entire music post. That will make me feel like less of a music geek who won't talk about substantive things. But if you gots new CDs you want to plug here go ahead.

INTONATION tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!