not listening to music (very well) and THE FUTURE
Hey it's me, Dan Nordquist, from the Vinyl Score Newsletter. This is ISSUE 6.
There has never been a better time to be a follower of the Twitch channel or a liker of the YouTube channel. Over Thanksgiving, I played two mixtape-length shows - and if you missed it live, you can listen to it on the Mixcloud channel. Therein you will find new Aimee Mann, They Might Be Giants, and El Michels Affair. You'll want to learn more about the El Michels Affair, trust me.
Lyrics and Music
Are you a careful lyrics listener? I am coming to terms with the fact that I am not. Here, watch this Parquet Courts video - one of my top tracks of the past three months - before you continue past the break:
So, quick question: what's that song about? After probably 20 listens I don't know that I would have been able to tell you. The vocal isn't obscured or anything, but your opening couplets are:
I'm making plans for the day all of this is through
Seeing my path and hearing the song I'll sing
And food that I'll taste and all the drinks that I'll consume
Return the smile on an unmasked friend
Not exactly subtle!
You'd be surprised to learn what you could bear to lose
Wanting and needing, not getting either one
And planning the future as if time is yours to choose
Pick out a movie, a sandwich from a screen
To be fair, there's a lot else happening in this song. My brain vibrates with pleasure over the fire-siren guitar lead, that crazy off-beat rhythm, and the collection of all-major chords (which borrow notes from the major and minor scale, a blues trick that Andrew Savage knows well) all fighting for my attention. I'll also note that Savage phrases things, well, unnaturally. He's a wordy writer, and he packs verses with tons of lines, but his syllables kind of bounce around in a way that defy my ear's ability to pick up phrases, maybe.
At the same time, I would have said I understood the feeling of this song just fine. The overall vibe is frenzied and boisterous. The writer is defiant - sad, maybe, but determined.
There's also not a huge "here's the point" chorus: rock songs, you know, have a phrase or line that's repeated 8 or 16 or 32 times, and "Walking at a Downtown Pace" has... well, a chorus-sounding part, but it's different the first time we hear it than the second. That's about it. A serious rock writer would point out that the lack of a chorus mirrors the writer's upset routines - the weeks and months used to have a rhythm of weekends and seasons and holidays, and his life in the pandemic has no refrain. But I'm not a serious rock writer so I won't embarrass myself with that analysis.
Releases to Which I Look Forward
Johnny Marr (ex-Smiths) has had a couple of solo albums but they haven't grabbed me. (His autobiography is excellent and you should check it out.) But one of the tracks ("Receiver") from his upcoming record ("Fever Dreams, Pts. 1-4") really got into my head:
I did in fact see Preoccupations on Nov 30 - it was so good. They are playing new songs on the road before a record is done - always a nice treat for fans. Here check one out:
Just because I didn't go see Elvis Costello doesn't mean he's not a genius. (And just because he's a genius doesn't mean his past 20 years of records have been essential. It's been a rough patch.) But the new stuff sounds good and I'm... interested.
I do have tickets for Animal Collective when they come to town (well into 2022), and they've got a single that's pretty good:
A Calendar
Not only did I not buy a lot of tickets in November, I actually didn't use one of the tickets I did purchase. (I talked myself into buying Mayer Hawthorne, and then my week was awful, and I had a commitment that was going to require a 6am alarm the next morning. So I bailed. I hope Mayer Hawthorne and the good people of the Fine Line appreciate my support, and I can only imagine the people who did head out that night enjoyed a little extra elbow room.) This all still sucks.
Tickets I actually bought (and in all likelihood will attend) in bold.
- 12/7 is Caroline Polachek at First Avenue. She is great and I am hugely looking forward to this.
- 12/7 was supposed to be Joy Formidable, who are also amazing, but that got postponed.
- 12/8 is Gorillaz "live from Kong" at a movie theater near you. I'll be meeting some fellow First Avenue members at the one in Golden Valley or Plymouth or something.
- 12/8 is also the Curtiss A John Lennon tribute, which was a couch-concert highlight last year. You can livestream it if you aren't at a cinema for Gorillaz.
- 12/10 is Bad Bad Hats, who I like OK - I caught them in a couch-concert situation earlier this year and they sort of rubbed me the wrong way. Nur-D opens, and that's another deal where I've said "I will not miss this show if it's ever near me again".
- 12/17 is Soul Asylum, who I have never seen. Same with 12/18 and the Jayhawks. Two local legends - I wouldn't be surprised to find myself at either of those things.
- 12/30 is Dessa at First Avenue. I don't think I've seen Dessa onstage, but I saw her talk at some kind of creativity forum and she's amazing. I am somewhat familiar with her work but I suppose if you are you already have tickets to this.
Bye Now
