Before: Cyndi! Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Cyndi! Now, she's putting on a show in Las Vegas Cyndi. She's in Cyn Cyty. Lololol okay let's go!
After: I think this would make excellent 80s prom music. She has a talent for singing, for sure.
I'm almost feeling some ska... The Dirty Heads, 301, Sublime come to mind?
I love how, in "I'll Kiss You", she manages to partially sing, partially exclaim-speak while sounding like such a GIRL. She spews her voice across the song in phrases and solo words, all backed up by a very regular beat.
"He's So Unusual" has an introduction that solidifies that it's not him but her who's so unusual! She does this contortion with her voice that sounds like the vortex of voice in the B-52's "Rock Lobster".
Very short album. I'd prescribe it if you were in deficit of:
-Valley Girl stereotype
-Uber girly yet surprisingly wise lyrics (some songs)
-an idea of her music other than "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Time After Time"
-spice in your life
Thanks for the art, Cyndi, but you were so-so. You're definitely something, though, so don't lose hope.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
488: Husker Du, "New Day Rising"
Before: I don't think that name has even passed within an acre of my ears.
After: Huh! Very unexpected!
I think they're foreign. (After research: They're not.) And the supporting sounds are like a blizzard with snowflakes whose edges are icy sharp. This is rock, right?
The singer sounds like a jeep wibbling and wobbling over an uphill gravel path. In the dark woods. In a serious, intense place like South Dakota. Or Minnesota. Up there.
I like how unexpected the songs are- the length of one I just heard must've been less than 2 minutes long.
"Perfect Example" has the perfect mixture of chords and whispers to transport me to another place. It reminds me of R.E.M. (now that I've read their biography, ...duh!) but covers me with a musical embrace not unlike Radiohead or the Goo Goo Dolls. For that moment, I felt the 90's punk sound just lift me up into a sensitive state. That was very unexpected. But it was so nice, so dear, in the way that honestly connecting with a new friend can feel. Or how it feels to crack a barrier into vulnerability.
Here's my "Perfect Example" fantasy:
I'm a girl and he's a boy and we wear a lot of black. We feel an acute confusion and sadness (but not anger) stemming from lack of acceptance in society and furthermore instability because we are so unsure about who we are and where we are accepted. We listen to this song while we're sitting side by side at some neglected bus stop and feel the reverberations pulse through our tortured teenage souls. Then, when the majority of the song has been absorbed by our pale skin, we raise our lowered heads incrementally until we see each other's eyes and observe the other's face for a minute. Not judging, just looking. Then we leave the bus stop without a word, walking in step, our loneliness trailing in our wake because we've found each other and understanding is more abundant than air. Then some (very monochromatic) indie romance ensues. The end.
"Books about UFOs" made me chuckle even before I heard lyrics because the sound was so much more jovial than the previous songs. Come to think of it, the songs definitely morphed from an aggressively edgy feel to a more welcoming tone. The rock aspect is maintained throughout the album although the layers closer to the surface vary. Huh, haven't thought of music quite like that yet.
Their influence on punk was pretty major, so once again I'm grateful I was able to learn about musical history.
One more thing: I doubt I'll ever reach the #1 album- this project is too enormous, too time-intensive to even think about truly completing. But for me, it's not about that. It's about learning as much as I can, not about becoming a music historian.
After: Huh! Very unexpected!
I think they're foreign. (After research: They're not.) And the supporting sounds are like a blizzard with snowflakes whose edges are icy sharp. This is rock, right?
The singer sounds like a jeep wibbling and wobbling over an uphill gravel path. In the dark woods. In a serious, intense place like South Dakota. Or Minnesota. Up there.
I like how unexpected the songs are- the length of one I just heard must've been less than 2 minutes long.
"Perfect Example" has the perfect mixture of chords and whispers to transport me to another place. It reminds me of R.E.M. (now that I've read their biography, ...duh!) but covers me with a musical embrace not unlike Radiohead or the Goo Goo Dolls. For that moment, I felt the 90's punk sound just lift me up into a sensitive state. That was very unexpected. But it was so nice, so dear, in the way that honestly connecting with a new friend can feel. Or how it feels to crack a barrier into vulnerability.
Here's my "Perfect Example" fantasy:
I'm a girl and he's a boy and we wear a lot of black. We feel an acute confusion and sadness (but not anger) stemming from lack of acceptance in society and furthermore instability because we are so unsure about who we are and where we are accepted. We listen to this song while we're sitting side by side at some neglected bus stop and feel the reverberations pulse through our tortured teenage souls. Then, when the majority of the song has been absorbed by our pale skin, we raise our lowered heads incrementally until we see each other's eyes and observe the other's face for a minute. Not judging, just looking. Then we leave the bus stop without a word, walking in step, our loneliness trailing in our wake because we've found each other and understanding is more abundant than air. Then some (very monochromatic) indie romance ensues. The end.
"Books about UFOs" made me chuckle even before I heard lyrics because the sound was so much more jovial than the previous songs. Come to think of it, the songs definitely morphed from an aggressively edgy feel to a more welcoming tone. The rock aspect is maintained throughout the album although the layers closer to the surface vary. Huh, haven't thought of music quite like that yet.
Their influence on punk was pretty major, so once again I'm grateful I was able to learn about musical history.
One more thing: I doubt I'll ever reach the #1 album- this project is too enormous, too time-intensive to even think about truly completing. But for me, it's not about that. It's about learning as much as I can, not about becoming a music historian.
Monday, October 14, 2013
489: Kiss, "Destroyer"
Before: The tongue. The monochromatic makeup. Hard rock. Repulsive voice tones. Wanna get this over with...
After: Okay, their voices aren't nearly as bad as I expected. One song in, it makes perfect sense why you'd want to see them in concert. I won't experience half of what KISS is by their recorded album.
They're actually FULL of cheese. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if their guitar strings mozzarellized right off. It's almost cute. I have taken a liking to "King of the Night Time World" because of its little story and catchiness. But it's the sort of condescending liking.
I feel like I'm in a 15-year old boy's video game. With vortexes and deep gravelly voices and primitive chest-beating and lightning and apocalypses and earthquakes.
Not saying they're not talented. Because they are talented.
The album title perfectly encapsulates what this album was to me. A collection of tacky songs about men who think they are epic. Wasn't for me.
After: Okay, their voices aren't nearly as bad as I expected. One song in, it makes perfect sense why you'd want to see them in concert. I won't experience half of what KISS is by their recorded album.
They're actually FULL of cheese. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if their guitar strings mozzarellized right off. It's almost cute. I have taken a liking to "King of the Night Time World" because of its little story and catchiness. But it's the sort of condescending liking.
I feel like I'm in a 15-year old boy's video game. With vortexes and deep gravelly voices and primitive chest-beating and lightning and apocalypses and earthquakes.
Not saying they're not talented. Because they are talented.
The album title perfectly encapsulates what this album was to me. A collection of tacky songs about men who think they are epic. Wasn't for me.
Friday, October 4, 2013
490: ZZ Top, "Tres Hombres"
Before: I have seen the name blow in the wind through my ears while others mention it in passing, but don't have a good understanding of ZZ Top. Let's get going, shall we?
After: It was a pretty mediocre experience. Perhaps I wasn't in the right environment for optimal listening. It reminded me of Phish in that the songs were long and full of jamming. Maybe if I had a beer in hand at an outdoor amphitheater on a beautiful day and possibly a joint, I'd really connect with ZZ Top. But in my Hewitt 8 kitchen, chopping apples for homemade applesauce, I didn't hop on the right wavelength. I can definitely view their appeal from afar, though. But right now, my nineteen-year-old eyes won't "adjust."
After: It was a pretty mediocre experience. Perhaps I wasn't in the right environment for optimal listening. It reminded me of Phish in that the songs were long and full of jamming. Maybe if I had a beer in hand at an outdoor amphitheater on a beautiful day and possibly a joint, I'd really connect with ZZ Top. But in my Hewitt 8 kitchen, chopping apples for homemade applesauce, I didn't hop on the right wavelength. I can definitely view their appeal from afar, though. But right now, my nineteen-year-old eyes won't "adjust."
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