Claims "the older I get, the better I was."
Veronica Fever
Happy Birthday
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Thu, 10/27/2011 - 5:09pm
October 23rd marked the 10th anniversary of the iPod. As a form of observance, the New York Times published a brief Q&A with Daniel Levitin, the author of a book I have read and enjoyed, 'This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.' The entirety of this interview can be found here.
Two asked-and-answered questions didn't drain through my colander:
Q. iPods change the way we “share” music. For one thing, we don’t listen together. So?
A. Music listening used to be an activity that we did with great ceremony. We’d invite friends over and sit down, pass the album cover around, study the artwork. And when the record started, we’d listen intently together and do nothing else. In short: music listening was deeply social. The iPod has turned music listening into a mostly solitary experience.
Coming Out
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Thu, 09/22/2011 - 2:45pm
Hi, Cedarphiles. It's me, your wayward Veronica. (This calls to mind an album title that is high on my short list of worst ever: Sly Stone's 'Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back.' He was wrong, too.)
The question I am most asked lately (well, other than, 'Where did you *find* those capris?') is 'Why is your 100th blog post taking so long?'
I've had the topic in mind since July. What I have lacked is the requisite defiance and overall crankiness. So here, let's start it with a bit of Q&A from my favorite movie reviewer:
"Dear Mick: One of my cinematic guilty pleasures is the 'OSS 117' series. What are some of yours?"
Ho Hum
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Thu, 07/21/2011 - 4:08pm
Today's writing goose came in the form of a Sunday New York Times article, which went on at considerable length about the current era's lack of a defining sound in popular music.
One working theory is atemporality: because artists and listeners both are overwhelmed with the internet's vast offerings of musical history to gobble up, sounds these days seem rooted in other times. Here is a key paragraph: Read more »
Midterms 2011
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Thu, 07/07/2011 - 4:12pm
I hated Radionead's 'Kid A' when it first came out. 'Noo! Gimme more 'OK Computer!' I want 'The Bends!'
A few months before its release, a few lucky industry types (myself included) traveled to Barcelona to see them open a European tour. The show was terrific (although I do remember whining to my audience neighbor when they couldn't get 'Planet Telex' off the ground). The new material, though, seemed like incidental music to me: bits of enigmatic noodling to bridge the hits. It didn't occur to me that they'd make a whole album with all the warmth of Siberian tundra. Where were the hooks? Where were the guitars? And what was with all the glitch? Read more »
Bottle Episode
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Fri, 07/01/2011 - 4:29pm
Yesterday a writer friend forwarded to me a request from an acquaintance seeking essays about albums and the decline of that form. Here are his words:
'A few nights ago at dinner, a few of us sat around the table talking about music--what was playing over the restaurant-bar's hip stereo, the changes in the way music reaches us (blogs and downloads versus radio and retail), and our favorite albums. We each talked a bit about an album or two that has been significant in our lives, albums we tend to experience only through "sequential listening"--moving track by track, in order, from start to finish, loving every song. We also lamented the shift away from this kind of music consumption via single-track downloads and shuffling. We wondered, do people still love albums?
'Can you send me some thoughts on an album you love, one you have to listen to from start to finish? It can be from any era, any style of music, and your writing on it can be essayish, memoirish, lyric--whatever you want. The only stipulation I'm going to lay down is that I'd like it to be prose. No length min/max.'
This morning I wrote on the subject and sent my words to him. I am also posting the essay here.
Count Mesa Outta Dis One
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Thu, 06/23/2011 - 4:30pm
'We need a Star Wars section.'
While not of historical import along the lines of, say, 'We choose to go to the moon,' this early 1999 line from my boss elicited a similar sprectrum of responses. As he was feared and loathed by most, many of the choicer comments never reached his ears.
At the time Tower Records was an all-media retailer (music, video, books). Oh, there were dabblings. The most notable (unless one counts the wildly out-of-character display of Calvin Klein fragrances) was Sanrio. An enthusiastic Tower store manager sent a persuasive salesperson to see me, and all of a sudden I was pitching Hello Kitty purses and compacts to a bunch of crusty Tower regional directors. Reaction was, um, mixed.
Just What Do You Think You're Doing, Dave?
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Thu, 06/16/2011 - 5:09pm
Have you heard the album 'From Darkness, Light' by Emily Howell? Neither have I. Don't have a particular desire to, actually, but its existence and the creator behind it are grist for musical debate.
Emily Howell doesn't exist in human form. 'She' is the creation of David Cope, a noted music academic. Cope has written several books on composition, including one with a tell-tale title, 'The Algorithmic Composer.' (A used copy is available for sale on Amazon for $999.98. Clever price; makes the buyer believe he's not really spending a thousand bucks.) Read more »
So Long, Monticello
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Thu, 06/02/2011 - 5:44pm
Warning: today's Log Cabin Story alert color is red. Danger level is high. I repeat: danger level is high.
Prior to 1953 there was a farming community in the Berryessa Valley named Monticello, located about 30 miles north of San Pablo Bay in Northern California. It was an idyllic spot with fertile land and ideal growing weather. The problem was it sat right on a spot the Army Corps of Engineers determined as an excellent location for dam-building, which was all the rage during the New Deal and post-war years. The resultant lake could then service nearby military bases and Solano County farmland.
When the project was finally funded all of Monticello's residents were uprooted, including its dead, as the town's cemetery was also relocated. Somewhere under Lake Berryessa, divers could find remnants of a lost civilization, including the still-intact Putah Creek Bridge to Napa. The bridge was built so strongly that it utterly resisted destruction. Minneapolians, take note. Read more »
Every Day is Mother's Day
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Thu, 05/26/2011 - 6:13pm
Just joined Facebook. For the third time. It's a Liz 'n Dick thing. For the record, I'm the Dick.
I dunno. Social site S/N ratios rival those of shortwave radios with coat hanger antennas: maddening, but patience can be rewarded. As I was digesting the news of Buster Posey's gruesome injury, one wag posted, 'So? Didn't Joe Garagiola play an entire season without his head?' Read more »
The View from the Cheap Seats
Submitted by Veronica Fever on Thu, 05/19/2011 - 3:06pm
With passing time, a retired pro's head can veer a bit sideways. A former film star might start donning turbans and go full-on Norma Desmond. An ex-politician might look in the mirror and see a ready and capable warrior emerging out of the billowing smoke and dust of tweets and trivia, once again ready to lead those who won't be intimated by the political elite and are ready to take on the challenges America faces.
A former music industry exec could start believing that the rental model is just crazy enough to work. Read more »
