True, unfettered emotion can be viewed, in the music world, as a rare element. Every album usually contains at least a trace amount of it, but locating a large reserve in one album can be compared to striking it rich San Francisco-style in the 1850's. Mad rare...
Were I an emotion prospector, I would have gone back into town after discovering this album and bought everyone in the saloon a drink and gone upstairs with Miss Kitty and the Madam.
You really can't fathom the depth of this album unless you've heard it. If you're anything like me, than you've probably been unimpressed with 99.9% of the folk you have heard in your lifetime. The hype starts early in life that Dylan, Nelson, and CSNY are the folk artists. So after all of that you begin to realize that, in fact, Dylan was only good early in his career when he actually wrote about "folks", Willy Nelson is okay but nothing really special, and CSNY are, well, kind of boring. Where are the howls from the gut heard in the great blues? The honest depictions of the mis-understood lower class championed by homegrown heroes? You come to find that folk is an often misused word that only serves to limit potential, not widen it.
So along comes Bruce Springsteen, Jersey boy incarnate. He gets really depressed and sits down to write new songs to be performed with the overblown, member heavy E Street Band. What comes out of this process are the songs featured on Nebraska. His manager, Jon Landau, agreed with Bruce that the songs sounded better simple and that is how they stayed: Basic and badass.
Despite being based on the same I-IV-V chord structure, every song is it's own study in absolute meaning and plain spoken brilliance. Springsteen veered off of his course destined for classic rock glory to create this monument to true darkness. As this dim view of the misunderstood salt of the earth continues, you become increasingly fascinated. And while one is fascinated, a profound relaxation occurs, making this one of the ultimate albums not only for depth, but for true and accurate conveying of emotional duress.
A Few of the Old Soothing Classics
My ride to school around the end of the quarter is usually filled with anxiety. This is largely due to projects being due and finals. Anywho, I tend to drive along my route in a white knuckled haze of bewilderment. When this happens, I usually try to combat the situation with a heavy dose of relaxing music. Here are some albums I choose to tame unwanted strife.
Joni Mitchell - Blue
I found this album in a broken Rubbermaid tub in our living room. A roommate of mine, upon receiving flack for the dreaded offense of having fluff picks * in his record collection, had gotten rid of a bunch of records that he didn't really listen to. Among them I found this album, stuffed in with the Woodstock soundtrack and some crappy Police album.
I had heard someone I liked say good things about this album, so I decided to pull it out and keep it (as well as a nifty Roy Orbison compilation). Well after the fluff exodus, I found a moment alone to put this album on the old Gemini. As good old Bret Myers would say "Boom...(hey)...Outta Here". Since then I have spread the love by making everyone I know a copy of this album.
The raw sincerity woven into every song on this record is palpable. I can only liken it to biting into a fresh Gala apple and experiencing the flavor contained within. My friends and I have concluded that this group of songs contain one of the largest known quantities of "straight up shit" every heard.
On a side note, a great sounding new pressing of this album was just released on 180 gram HQ vinyl for only $25. I seriously recommend it.
Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs
Like my sense of humor and blue collar work ethic, I can thank my Dad for getting me into this album. Back when Sound Exchange opened in Brandon, my parents went through a phase of cassette buying the fury of which I has never seen. My Dad had a lot of tapes, some good (Skynrd), some not so good (Aerosmith). Either way, it beat the radio.
While driving down to Miami on business, my Dad was cruising through Alligator Alley when a classic rock radio station played the entire first side of Bridge of Sighs. He hadn't heard the album since the days when he and his friends would throw keggers back in the 70's. Upon returning to T-town, he walked into Sound Exchange and promptly bought the cassette. The rest is history. In turn, this great album made numerous appearances at our cool, albeit less wild, parties.
This record is perfect in every way. The fast/slow song ratio is exact in it's precise mixture of tempo. By the time it's over, you come out with a better frame of mind than when you started. What more can you ask?
Thom Yorke - The Eraser
This record doesn't really have a cool story. My friends and I all love Radiohead, so when Thom came out with a solo album we bought it instantly. As expected, it was the next step in Thom's inevitable journey toward quantum theory.
The whole record just kind of wahes over you. One song to the next, it just flows through it's changes and always can be relied on to chill you out. This album actually really inspired me to re-engage my work with experimental electronic music. Just good stuff.
*Fluff Pick/ (fluf-pik) noun: An item, usually of some collectability, that is included in a collection for the benefit of adding size or credibility to said collection. Use is implied to mean that the owner doesn't not actually use or enjoy said item, but has included the item for some other nefarious purpose.
2 comments:
Those are all great picks. My chill-out albums would definitely have to include Sky Blue Sky by Wilco, The Bends by Radiohead, The Best of REM (the one with Nightswimming, Sidewinder, Daysleeper, etc.), and anything by Jack Johnson. Even though I seem to have lost all of those CD's. :(
I know you were not necessarily prospecting for controversy when you criticized folk, but lord did you find it!
So first of all, folk is not limited to Dylan, nelsen, and the incredibly boring CSNY. Have you forgotten the poetics of Simon and Garfunkel? Have you ignored the tapestry of Carole King (who borders on blues and pop and funk even, esp. with “brother, brother”)? And just sidestep the egotistical James Taylor while you’re at, and one of my personal favorites, the lesser known Erica Wheeler. She compares a relationship to cake, for pete’s sake! She’s a genius! I could go on, naming folk artists who lay out their emotions in slightly less jarring ways, or who express their emotions with carefully chosen words as opposed to guitar solos.
But thank god you redeemed yourself slightly with Joni Mitchell, who has been a love in my life for many many years. Clouds is another album of hers that I adore.
So sorry for schooling you on folk, but give it some more credit!!
Post a Comment