First a bit of context. I am 55 years old, I was born in 1953 and musically I’m a child of the 60s. My favoured genres are Psychedelic, Soul and (dare I admit it) Country. I am still a big music fan and have 40 odd years of fandom and listening to music to look back on. I like melody, it’s much more important to me than lyrics, and I’m moved by music that touches me emotionally. I was brought up in the industrial North East of England and now live in Nottingham in the English Midlands. I’ve been in full time paid employment for 30 odd years and am married with a 23 year old son.
Michael is 32 years old. He describes himself as a student and Gen X slacker extraordinaire He likes Rock and Country (hurrah), and would appear to favour lyrics over melody. He lives in NW Indiana, USA.
Not a lot in common then except a sneaking respect for the good ole boys of country music. Let’s see what his Shuffleathon CD holds in store.
1) Stop, I’m already dead – Deadboy & the Elephantmen (Dax Riggs) – shouty rock music with unsubtle drumming. Guy’s voice (Deadboy?) sounds a bit flat to me. Not for me.*
2) Fort Hood – Mike Doughty. Samples “Let the Sun Shine in” from the 60s musical “Hair”. Quite melodic, decent lyrics, don’t mind this one at all. Again voice somewhat on the flat side. ***
3) Easy Money – Todd Snider. Quite like it but unmemorable. Flat again although I like the overall tone of the guy’s voice. **
4) Not a crime – Gogol Bordello. Very recognisably Eastern European in origin. I know this band and I like them a lot. Gypsy Punk is a good description, lots of manic fiddle playing. Eugene Hutz the lead singer tends to almost shout over the backing track but it works for me. Best track so far by a country mile.****
5) Good Riddance (Time of your life) – Glen Campbell. Now you’re talking! You will see from previous posts that I saw Glen Campbell at the Royal Festival Hall recently; his is a voice that affects me on an emotional level. Listen to his golden clear voice and he’s bang on the note! Vocalists from tracks 1, 2 and 3 please take note!*****
6) Lonesome Blues – Shooter Jennings. Lovely, great pedal steel guitar, again voice bang on the note. I’ve always been a sucker for decent country music. ****
7) Snuff – Slipknot. Not what I was expecting from the tracklisting! My son was a big fan when he was a teenager (he’s now 23) so I heard a bit of their stuff around the house when he still lived here, as Mike describes them a loud metal band. This could almost be described as a power ballad – good guitar playing and very clear vocals, with a power chorus. ***
8) Heart of Matters – Ben Harper. Familiar territory again, I own some Ben Harper stuff. Seems like he’s trying to do Soul on the track, doesn’t do a bad job either, though he’s no Al Green.***
9) Best Damn Fool – Buddy Guy. He could indeed have been bigger than Hendrix. This is great, the man is a legend. He’s a great guitar player and I love those horns. *****
10) Coma – Buckethead with Azam Ali and Serj Tankian. Start reminds me of “Tubular Bells” by Mike Oldfield. I’m going to damn this with faint praise – quite nice. Music to eat Middle Eastern food by. ***
11) Nowhere to go – Mushroomhead. What’s with all this head business? (See previous artist). No No No. Please just go.*
12) The Outsider – A Perfect Circle. Sorry Mike not my scene. *
13) Doesn’t remind me – Audioslave. Better, but I doubt I’ll be rushing out to buy the album. **
14) Heaven’s a lie – Lacuna Coil. Italian Gothic Metal! Has some style about it, like Milan where the band hails from. As you’ve probably guessed rock is not my favoured musical genre but I headbanged along to this , the female lead singer has a good tuneful voice.***
15) Would ?– Alice in Chains. I like the sound of the harmonies in this. Drumming too prominent IMHO but that’s a rock thang. ***
16) Zzyxx Road – Stone Sour. Another power ballad from a Slipknot side project. The guy has a decent voice. I also like the piano but again spoiled by me by over prominent drumming.***
17) 10,000 Days (Wings Pt 2) – Tool. Mike says that he thinks this is one of the best songs ever written, and he wrote quite a long explanation putting the song in context and also forwarded me the lyrics. I’m really glad he did because otherwise I would have just listened and not “got” it – with the explanation I do get it. I’m not going to go into the full details but I’d just say that as the mother of a (sometimes troubled) young man, this to me is a moving piece of music. ****
Thanks very much Michael, I’ve enjoyed listening to and reviewing your CD even if quite a lot of it left me cold. It made me think about why I like particular types of music and how my brain processes what it hears - I also realised that it almost physically hurts my brain when people sing flat. But I’m not going to become a rock aficionado overnight, that’s for sure.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
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