The Village Idiots

I want to draw the idiots’ attention to one of the best critical reviews I have come across. The review–or, to be more specific, the analysis–is of the Harold Arlen song, “Over the Rainbow,” and it comes from the NPR music series, “What Makes it Great,” a series that explains what makes specific, famous songs so good. (I urge you to check out the review here.) Everyone knows the song, but the commentators, Fred Child and Rob Kapilow, walk the listener through the song–with Kapilow playing the song on the piano while he and Child interject comments. Sometimes Kapilow will repeat a phrase until the point is clear; at other times he will play a phrase in a way one would expect and then quickly play the actual way it was written. The approach is highly effective, and the points made are absolutely clear and compelling–so much so that I want to use the words like “enligtening” and “magical” to describe the review.

Now, how often does that happen with a review of a movie, book, or piece of music? I’d say almost never–certainly not in as vivid and compelling a way as this NPR episode. While I don’t expect reviews to be “magical,” I do expect a better job of helping me appreciate the merits (or lack thereof) of the work in question.

To be fair, I think reviewers have multiple objectives: they want to help viewers determine whether they should see a movie or not (which is not always related to the aesthetic merits of a film) and they want to critically analyze the work (at least some of the reviewers). Complicating matters is the high volume of movies/books/music they must review, as well as the limited words and time to write these reviews. It’s no wonder that reviews don’t leave people with a greater understanding of what makes a work of art great or bad.

Here are some changes I would suggest to deal with the problem:

1. Limit the number of works to review I can hear the critics saying, “How can we do this? We don’t have a choice on the matter?” My response is try a different approach. I believe that the majority of works don’t deserve a lot of time and energy to review. I’m thinking of the mediocre works, the cookie-cutter and copycat type of film. A really short review or even just a rating would be sufficient for these films. These works may not be bad, but they don’t warrant a lot of time and energy. This will allow reviewers to have the time and energy to review the films that deserve it.
2. Select a handful of works that deserve the time. These works would be either really terrific films (certainly those that could be all-time greats) or, perhaps, critically acclaimed films that don’t deserve it.
3. Copy the “What Makes it Great” approach. I’m thinking specifically of the way the NPR commentators use specific examples of the film to make their points. The movie review equivalent would be for reviewers show actual clips of the film and comment on them (similar to what filmmakers did in films like The Celluloid Closet, The Cutting Edge or Visions of Light). Yes, this would take a lot of time, but it could also help people understand what makes a film so great.

Helping the layperson to understand what makes a specific book, movie or piece of music so great is one of the most important roles a critic plays in society. While the suggestions above aren’t easy, I think they would go a long way in making the reviews more valuable.

According to me.

I’m leading with the widget so you can listen to the songs while you read my explanations.
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Mitchell and I recently discussed this, and I thought including it here might be interesting, especially if other idiots chime. Of course, we mentioned “Stairway to Heaven” and “Hotel California.” One of the things that I noticed was a recurring quality of the songs was the “epic” nature of the songs. That could mean the lyrics seemed to tell a long, even mysterious, tale; or the structure of the song was more complex and layered, as if the song was a combination of several different types of songs. What are some of your picks for the greatest rock n’ roll songs of all-time? What are the criteria for a great song? Oh, and I think the criteria for a rock n’ roll song is a little unclear, too. Generally, I would say any song that could be played on top 40 radio would qualify on this list. Here are some other songs that we talked about: Read more »

A friend sent me this video of Dengue Fever (you’ll recall they released what I thought was the third-best album of 2008) which I just love. This was my first experience seeing them perform something live, and I gotta say it reawakened all the great feelings I have for this band. Such a cool band.

If you dig this band musically, you might check out a band called the Friends of Dean Martinez. Imagine Dengue Fever with no vocals, and you get a good idea of what FoDM sounds like.

The songs:
* Lost In Laos – 4:51
* Shave Your Beard – 2:59
* New Years Eve – 4:30
* Tiger Phone Card – 3:25
* Hold My Hips – 5:52
* Sober Driver – 4:44
* Mr. Orange – 4:03
* One Thousand Years Of … – 7:40

Oh man. I couldn’t believe my eyes when, this morning, I opened an email that said Fraser & Haas would be performing at Tenney Theater this weekend!

Tickets are $25 and I am totally going. I’m sending an email in a few minutes to the Honolulu Idiots. This is a chance to see some rarely gifted musicians playing the kind of show that we seldom get in Hawaii.

Here are two songs to give you an idea of what’s going on. Fraser is the violinist; Haas is the cellist.

Their websites are here and here.

Click here to listen to their “Calliope Meets Frank” from their album Fire and Grace.

Click here to listen to their “Valley of the Moon Reel” from their album In the Moment.

I have both albums, and there is nary a dull moment to be found on either. Also, Natalie’s sister is Brittany Haas, the killer violinist in Crooked Still (who had the third best album of 2008, if you’ll recall my list).

One of the most thrilling parts of getting into jazz music was the discovering the innovations that changed the music. Learning about the conceptual aspects of these developments was almost as enjoyable as listening to the music itself. This is part of the reason I actively looked for the contemporary musicians pushing the music in new directions. In this pursuit, I’d slowly begin to form ideas about what I would want the music to sound like, what interesting developments I’d like to hear. And then I’d try to find musicians who were doing something like that. I’d also think about who I’d like to sound like if I were a musician and what kind of qualities I’d want my music to have. Which leads me to this thread. If you were a musician, which musicians would you most sound like or want to sound like? What music/musicians would influence you the most if you were a musician? Talk about the specific qualities of the musicians and music they make that appeal to you.

I like a wide variety of music, but there are styles of music or musicians that I really don’t care for. Recently, I was listening to some older groups that I thought I would like (or at least not dislike), but I was surprised by my negative reaction. I wonder what other music I used to like that I no longer do. Here are some of the styles/groups that I dislike: Read more »

Nothing wrong with keeping the What are you Listening To thread going, but I thought I’d keep all music released in calendar year 2009 here so that it’s easier for me to compile my best-of list at the end of the year.

Participants at the V-I share common interests and tastes in film and books, but not so much in music. (Actually Mitchell and Kevin seem to have similar tastes in music.) It’s a little disappointing to write about music we love and get so little feedback; we don’t seem to connect with music. To address that gap, I’m willing to explore music that others reallly love. I’d like to share the same enthusiasm you have for the music you love and if that’s not possible, maybe I can at least develop some appreciation for it. With that in mind, I pose the question: if you had to choose one cd as a way to introduce your favorite music–and possibly get others interested in the music you love–what would it be? Please share some thoughts about the music, too.

Since we discuss/review books, music, restaurants and movies, I thought it might be fun to start a thread about live performances we have attended. They could be a concert, a play, or someone playing in a coffee house.

Hopefully if something is great and we hear about it early enough, others of us can check out the performance if we are in the area. Even if you do not live in Hawaii, write about what live performances are going on in your area.

I was listening to a track from Jimi Hendrix the other day, and the realization of his greatness hit home again. Actually, what I thought was “Man, is there any other guitartist out there that comes close to this guy?” There may be guitarists out there technically better than Hendrix, but in terms of power, orginality and overall artistry, I’m struggling to name someone in the same league.

The only other name that comes to mind is not a guitarist. I’m thinking of Charlie Parker, the jazz alto-saxophonist. They’re similar not only in terms of their talent, but their influence. Basically, almost everything you hear in jazz after him has his fingerprints all over them, and I’m not just talking about saxophonists. He influenced not only the sound and playing of the saxophone, but on jazz itself. So too Hendrix. Can you be a rock guitarist and not have some degree of influence from Hendrix? I don’t think so.

Maybe there’s another guitarist outside of rock that would be in the same class, but I can’t think of anyone. I can’t think of anyone from jazz. The thing that made Hendrix great, too, was that he changed the sound of the guitar. There aren’t many musicians who have changed the sound of their instrument. (I’d be interested in hearing some of the others.)

There are other guitarists that I like and admire, but if I’m just thinking about greatness–and by that I mean the level of originality, artistry and influence–there’s no onne close.

What are your favorite renditions of songs? Read more »

I know there isn’t a big jazz fan base here, but I was reading an interview with one of the more critically acclaimed musicians in Downbeat magazine. One of the things he said sort of set me off on a bunch of things has been bugging me about current state of jazz music. This musician was talking about how he had problems with getting signed with a major record label because he wanted to every cd he made to be entirely different from the rest. A lot of record labels didn’t like this approach.  My impression was that he said that as a point of pride, and I would guess a lot of jazz fans would have the same approach. This kind of mindset in jazz has been irritating me, and I’m going to tell you why. Read more »

I’ve been exploring the itunes category lately, and I’ve been coming across songs from the 80s. The 80s is one era where I don’t hear much praise about the music, with a few exceptions (i.e. Prince). Well, I’ve been listening to different songs and musicians, and I’ve been surprised by good some of these songs have sounded. They don’t seem dated or just plain bad. Here are some of the surprises that have sounded fresh and relevant: Read more »

Who are some of your favorite singers? Here are some of mine off the top of my head: Read more »

About a year ago, I started I tried my headphones on the computer. (I had tried them before on another computer, and it didn’t sound great.) Anyway, this time they sounded great, and since Larri had installed i-tunes on the computer, I began downloading my music and listening on the computer almost exclusively. Now that the sound was equal to the sound from my stereo, there was no competition.

Here’s what did in cds in for me: Read more »

Since I stopped hanging out at music bulletin boards, I’ve noticed that my enthusiasm for checking out music has waned a bit. One of the consequences of hanging out at those sites is that you get interested in hearing different recordings/musicians–primarily from people raving about specific albums or musicians. The more people that rave about an album or musician, the more curious you become.

I like the sensation of becoming interested in a recording because one or more people are really enthusiastic about an album/musician. I also like gushing about my favorite musicians/recordings, particularly if someone gets interested because of this.

Here at V-I, we don’t seem to share the same tastes in music (not specific musicians or recordings anyway) as we do in film and books. But I wanted to start a thread to gush about musicians/albums idiots really love. I encourage you to not only list an album(s)/musician, but talk about why you liked the album/musician so much–in detail and with passion if possible.

Here’s your chance.

In the “Underrated/Overrated” thread, Kevin suggested the Oscars are overrated, and I agree with that. Well, sort of. On one hand, I question the validity of the awards process. From what I understand, the winners depend, just as much, if not more, on factors besides aesthetic values. On the other hand, the award has a way of pushing this cynicism in the back of my mind. Now I would explain that by saying that the Academy Awards have a certain prestige and aura that sometimes I confer more importance on the award than I should. I think that’s part of it, but I also think that I place a greater significance on the award (and others) out of need, a need that I think is rarely discussed. Read more »

“It is a strange American dream, this notion that music can give you a new personality, a new class, even a new race. The out-of-body experience is thrilling as long as it lasts, but most people are eventually deposited back at the point where they started, and they may begin to the music for lying to them.”

This is one of many interesting ideas that come from an article Chris and I will be discussing. While I like the quote, but it does not represent the essence of the article. The author, Alex Ross, seems to focus on examining the term “Classical” as well as an analysis of the history of this term and the music. In addition, he touches on comparisons between popular and more artistic forms of music. New Yorker articles can tend to go all over the place, and this article is no exception (which is not a bad thing). We could take the discussion in a variety of directions. Read the article here and join us in a discussion.
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You all know about the desert island discs game: If you could choose only 10 cds to keep with you, what would they be? I’m essentially asking the same thing, but I don’t want people to get bogged down with making the perfect list or consider every implications of selecting music for a desert island.

That’s why this post is entitled, “This Week’s Favorite Recording.” (Btw, I don’t mean that in a literal way. Current favorites would be more accurate, but I liked using “week” instead.) To make this thread more lively and, hopefully, more enjoyable here are some ground rules:
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