6 posts tagged “music”
In the Butthole Surfer's concert/documentary "Blind Eye Sees All" video, there is a scene where a band member takes a bit too gnarly of a bonghit and vomits all over himself. Another bandmember, thinking quickly, grabs a turkey baster, sucks up the juice, and squeezes it into his own mouth. Ick! Not exactly the kind of thing I am into. However, we can find beauty in some very unlikely places.
Much of the work of the Butthole Surfers seems designed specifically to create horrible feelings in reasonable people, and yet behind this are some of the most stunning examples of modern songcraft and truly beautiful sounds. The ring modulator drone in Whirling Hall of Knives rhymes with my neurotransmitter functions in a way that almost no other song I've ever heard does. The rain-smeared chords of "Hey" pull me from side to side in a throbbing rhapsodic stupor that seems more fitting for an old woman being moved by the organ at church than any kind of a punk moment. For whatever reason, from the first time I heard the Butthole Surfers, all of their shock-schlock was lost on me, invisible really, and I was able to penetrate to the core and concentrate solely on the beautiful melodies and evocative lyrics.
I get chills from some songs, especially those on Hairway to Steven. In music appreciation (as a radio major) class in college, we had to write a paper explaining the perception of music and the effects it can have on the listener. I hated this class; the instructor was a very strict old-school opera fiend and almost all of the examples of beautiful music he chose were to me almost unlistenable. He was open in his disdain of all things rock. Almost as a confrontational action, I wrote a detailed dissection of the Butthole Surfers and how I had near spiritual experiences listening to them, even without the (admittedly often added) help of drugs. I was the only student to get a perfect score and the professor embarrassingly made copies of it for the whole class as an example of how to think about music.
Human Cannonball is just another of their songs that has stuck with me*. Its a fairly straight-forward rock song, in fact I've heard it described as a hard rock parody. Perhaps I like hard rock enough that the parody isn't needed and I enjoy it at face value. Anyway its the kind of song I hum in the shower. And recently I had been doing just that. It got to the point that I was singing it in the car, singing it around the house. I had to get it out:
It's usually hard for me to share stuff like this since I don't want to insult my favorite works with my amateurish bumbling. However, I am not really ashamed of loving music so hard that I become a virus-like pawn, forced to replicate and spread it. Its pretty cool actually.
* Embarrassing Bonus Anecdote: In high school I was accusing someone of selling bogus LSD. To demonstrate my conviction that he was selling blank blotter, I ate two pieces at lunch. It was not blank. That afternoon in creative writing class, it was my turn to give an oral presentation on a song with moving lyrics that could be considered creative writing. I had meant to think about it over the afternoon and improvise (as was often my way with schoolwork) but concentrating on not freaking-the-fuck-out pretty much took all my spare cycles and I arrived at class wholly unprepared. Luckily(?) I had Locust Abortion Technician in my backpack, and I recalled that Human Cannonball was fairly listenable as that album goes. So after some struggling I got the tape cued up, stood before the class, watching the reflections and gridlines of the linoleum floor tiles intersect and fold in on themselves as space and time often do. I did not remember the intro to the song being so long. Its about a minute and a half I guess, which really is quite long for a pop song, but really it seemed like about 15 minutes. I kept saying "it starts soon, I'm sure". Finally the teacher stopped the tape and said I should bring my real presentation the following Monday. Woohoo!
I claim to hate talking about music and food. But I will do either incessantly given the slightest chance. A friend has indicated a complete lack of knowledge as to what surf music is. There are actually books on the subject, but I will summarize my take on it and provide some brief examples.
Surf music started as an evolution of instumental garage in the early 60s (which itself came from rockabilly and instrumental garage from the 50s, which came from...). While it was often performed in beachside clubs on the west coast, much of its innovation occured inland in crazy places like Ohio. However, most of the big names were, in fact, from California. There are several versions of history depending on which dogma you want to believe and which self-proclaimed experts you respect. At any rate, it tends to have a few things in common:
- Lack of vocals. The Beach Boys and so on, while at times singing about surfing, and borrowing sounds from surf music, were actually "beach music" and exist as a discrete genre. At the same time, there are instrumental guitar bands often mistakenly considered surf, and they may even cover some surf songs (such as the Ventures doing Wipeout), yet they are not proper surf bands.
- Deep spring reverb. The music in general is meant to convey the physical sensations of the sport. While skate rock provided adrenaline, it could actually be listened to while skating. However, for obvious reasons, surf music is meant to provide the feeling of surfing, not literally accompany it. Its to amp up on the road to the beach, and to wind down at parties afterwards. The inclusion of spring reverb on (usually) Fender amps of the era had the unexpected byproduct of creating a "dripping" sound when turned up past usually recommended levels. This level was later maintained for the whole song, creating sensations of riding in the tube, and swells of sound not unlike waves crashing and washing up on the beach. Other techniques to provide physical emulation of the surfing experience are the rapid stacatto picking, muted picking (again conveying the bumpy sensation of riding on chop) and deep waves caused by gradual detuning with a tremelo bar.
- Tropical and exotic influences. As surf safaris were sometimes taken to exotic locales, these regional flavors started to appear in the music. Scales from Mexican music were quickly adopted as trips to Southern and Baja California were common. Mexican music itself is heavily inspired by European and Asian influences (Spanish Flamenco, Gypsy, Arabic, Turkish) so these threads express themselves. One of the more interesting elements of surf music to me is how it can blend exotic modes from India and Persia with more conventional blues and rock in an almost seamless manor.
- The usual arrangement is a simple drum kit, a bass guitar, a rhythm guitar (or 2), a lead guitar, and sometimes a piano/keyboard and/or saxophone/other instrument. I by far prefer the most common traditional arrangement of 2 guitars, a bass, and drums. A cliched equipment setup would be Fender Stratocaster or Jaguar guitars (single coil pickups, twangy and "bell-like" tone, played almost always on bridge pickup, tone turned to high), Twin Reverb or similar amps (nitpickers can list out all the similar options in comments), outboard reverb tanks, a drum kit with a few but not copious cymbals... and uh I dunno about the bass but probably Fender.
None of these are hard and fast rules. In general, surf music is intuitively obvious, and the songs tend to have revealing names such as "Hammerhead", "Gray Lagoon", and so on. The band names tend to also be formulaic, "The Somethings", where Something is quite often a surf-related term (The Seahorses, The Mantas, The Salty Dogs).
There were a few movements in surf music, referred to, pun-intended I am sure, as waves. The first wave was made up of the acts from the early-mid 60s (and on) who created the genre such as the Lively Ones and Dick Dale (both familiar from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack). The 2nd Wave took place in the early 90s as a sudden explosion of retro surf bands tried to faithfully create first wave sound. The Phantom Surfer, Los Straightjackets, Satan's Pilgrims, Space Cossacks, and so on are typical examples. The Third wave came shortly after (and perhaps actually started before the 2nd in some cases!) and is "non traditional". These bands use synths, computers, and other equipment not available to the 1st wave acts. Pretty much any current surf band will fall into 2nd or 3rd wave, that is to say, will be either "traditional" or "other". Time will tell what the 4th wave may bring.
As I am not interested in 3rd wave, I will provide a slightly unknown 1st wave track, another one you have probably heard, and a favorite 2nd wave track. For the third wave, you are on your own.
Mar Gaya - The Fender IV
This is not at all unknown to surf music afficianados, but it is generally not familiar to those who have not explored the genre. I love it as a crytsal example of what the "surf sound" is, and how different it is from the "Beach Blanket Bingo" stuff that the non-initiated assume makes up surf music. It is a good example of the darker, scarier tones. Indeed, the lead guitarist, Randy Holden, went on to form the psychedelic heavy rock band Blue Cheer.
Pipeline - The Chantays
This is one where people will usually say "oh yeah, I know that one. I guess I did know what surf music is". Its a little interesting in making very good and non-annoying use of a keyboard to add to the tinkly sensation of water spraying.
Intruder - The Madeira
My favorite Second Wave band, this is actually a cover of a Surf Coasters (yet another Second Wave band from Japan) song, which is in part inspired by First-Wave standard Latinia. I really like how they split it into an almost acoustic movement and then a very electric portion. An excellent example of the technical proficiency a demanding surf tune can demand.
Hopefully you've enjoyed this little excursion; now its up to you to buy a chipped up longboard at a garage sale, make it into a bench, ice some beers, and have a backyard party.
What's your musical horoscope? (Put your music player on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that come up.) Inspired by Stephanie.
- Surabian Lament - Layne Martine Jr - Psychedelic Archaeology Volume 1
- Return of the Fly - Misfits - Static Age
- Paul Crump - Phil Ochs - A Toast To Those Who Are Gone
- Beatnuts - Are You Ready? - DJ Pump
- Bo Diddley Jam - Spacemen 3 - Live in Europe 1989
- Mongoose - Eden Ahbez - Eden's Island
- Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-5 - Pink Floyd - Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd Disc 2
- Ring The Bells - The Collectors - Psychedelic Archaeology Volume 4
- The Word - 13th Floor Elevators - Live "S.F. 66"
- Dumb - Nirvana - MTV : Unplugged In New York
It says to me:
1) itunes shuffle sucks hard
2) I didn't know I had any Pink Floyd, I don't think I've even heard this song although I am aware of it's title
3) I have disproportionate volumes of Roky Erickson, 13th Floor Elevators, Misc Psych
4) I never use shuffle unless its within a segmented playlist
I've been listening to this gem quite a bit this week; it certainly stands up to the test of time. I can still clearly remember the fateful day in 7th grade when I discovered it. I was aimlessly perusing the tapes (remember those?) at Tower Records, looking for something new. At this point, I mostly listened to the radio or tried to pick things out of Pulse magazine or Rolling Stone that sounded interesting. Having only minimal allowance, this was a dangerous game to play. Then, quite suddenly, the legendary opening riff of "You're Phone's Off the Hook" blasted over the store's speakers. I was totally transfixed. Exene's perfectly off-kilter vocals only intensified the trance. Whatever employee cued this up has my eternal thanks, not only for choosing it, but for playing the whole album instead of just a song or two. I just stood there, pretending to look at items, listening to it --actively listening-- and grabbing onto every note as soon as it was emitted. I finally gathered the nerve to ask what it was, the lady just said "X Los Angeles". I wasn't sure if that was the band, or the album title, so I looked all over. I couldn't find it. I was too embarassed to ask again for some reason, and left the store. I couldn't stop thinking about it though.
It reminded me of something a year or so earlier, when some bad comedy film showed a "hard rock" band of some sort, and I decided I wanted to actually hear what this "hard rock" was all about. I tuned the radio to the station with the hard rock reputation, and just couldn't understand it. It was not hard at all. I was looking for something really crunchy, the kind of thing that would really scare parents. The station was probably just playing the Rolling Stones or maybe Motley Crue, but X was what I was looking for. It was what I had been waiting for.
The next day I rode my bike up to a different record store, and claimed my prize, 12" of black goodness. Needless to say its probably one of the single greatest investments I've ever made, as it probably more than anything else is responsible for my interest in punk/underground/etc music.
So over the years I maybe played it a little too much, I can still remember a cassette dub I made to christen my first Walkman with... One of those totally black Maxell cassettes, I did not apply a label, just a small X with a black marker, barely visible. And like many others, its slowly slipped by the wayside, not really forgot but a little neglected (although I do try to view Decline of Western Civilization every couple of years at least). So when I recently got ahold of another copy, it really reminded me how important this album is to me personally. I was also really pleased to discover some demo tracks I hadn't heard: The "Adult Books" demo is much better than the later album version, same with "Cyrano De Berger's Back".
I do have one minor criticism though, which has been with me all along :l think Ray Manzarek should have stepped the fuck back with the keyboards. I can't complain about the album's production otherwise, but really, why did he need to play? I'm so glad he at least witheld on the title track. This transgression really made me hate the Doors before I had ever listened to them. I thought of them as "the band that guy who tries to ruin X songs was in".
This is a half-baked thought-train which has been rolling today while I try to get my dayjob done. I'm not bothering to add images or cite any claims, but rather just getting it "on paper" before I forget.
In 1966, the Western world was beginning to turn intself inside-out. Electric guitars were emitting fuzz, men were wearing long hair, women were wearing pants (and getting jobs!), and the youth were realizing that their elders had made a near-lethal mistake in underestimating the power of this new generation. The countercultural scene exploded and splintered into a thousand fragments, united only in wanting -change- (and perhaps in hating the Governor, Ronald Reagan). Motorcycle gangs roved the highways, Victorian mansions turned into enormous labyrinths of lifestyles experiments, and farms were bought by back-to-the-land hippies trying their hand at vermicomposting, dope-growing, and basketry. LSD was still legal, and readily available. It seemed like there was a chance of bringing about a new world. The only problem, and perhaps the main reason for the downfall of this cultural revolution was a lack of unity in vision.
Jump forward 20 years to 1986, when Reagan was still hated, but this time as president. Nearly all traces of the hippie culture have been sanitized, save for the masses following the Grateful Dead, and as laughingstock media caricatures. Punk and New Wave had since risen from the ashes, ushering in a new type of rebellion. As the corporatization of the nation continued, the "diy" ethic spread throughout music and publishing. Kids lived in squats, and still did a ton of drugs, although newer and more dangerous varieties (some of which were indirectly supplied by the government) were replacing the psychedelics and the mind-expanding approaches of the hippies.
A resurgance in conservative Christianity gripped the nation, and the failure of the flower children to build heaven on earth was harped upon in a cautionary tale against any type of liberal idealism. It is perhaps a pale echo, but the cycle indeed bears fundamental similarities to the culture of the 60s. Its execution was very different, but the desire for deep change was the same. A disgust with the failed vision of suburban utopia, a disdain for the corporatization of every element of life, and a contempt for needless authority and moral policing left a new legacy of protest music.
Has the cycle provided another wave? Perhaps in the midst of experience, it is difficult to see. It seems, however, that these movements were anomolies, or perhaps the punk revolution was merely an aftershock of the 60s shakeup, which has now completely diminished. While MTV might still claim that there are punk acts, followers of the music are hard-pressed to agree. DIY applies to websites more than to zines, and if new rebellions are being plotted, they are kept ominously secret. Everybody seems distracted by their various techniques of self-medication, althoug this time around the electronic media are seeming more seductive than the chemical. Disgust with the mess humans have created has not gone away, but the common reaction seems to be cynical acceptance (or more chillingly, even embracing it through ironic re-appropriation of iconography). Branding has become folk-art as people register vanity domains, create personal logos, and market themselves to improve page-rank as a tangible (and lucrative) form of prestige. As the overall body of music continues to grow, tight-knit musical scenes are diminishing into obscurity. Nearly anyone with a hundred bucks to spare is able to carry around the equivelant of thousands of pounds of record albums with them-- far too much to be intimately familiar with for the typical brain. The top 40, commercial, and even "alternative" radio are dying breeds as people move into their own customized cocoons of taylored media experience. There is no palpable sense of a generation coming together to bring about its new vision, unless that vision involves easy-to-implement dhtml APIs or one-click shopping from cellphones.
Two minor movements warrant mention, however. As punk breathed its death sighs, some of its refugees still wanted to rage, and what is best known as "grunge" emerged. This was a much larger, subtler, and important movement than is commonly considered; the eventual commercial success of the music is what history paid attention to, and all that people outside of the scene were aware of. That being said, the cultural and political contributions of grunge are trivial when compared to the 60s or arguably even the punk and new wave booms.
Along a similar timeframe, another subculture was burgeoning. The technologically skilled yet underground "cyberculture" of the 90s did an amazing job of moving itself into a position of tremendous leverage. Electronic music mushroomed out of nowhere to reach near total saturation among a whole generation. In Black Rock City, an entire town complete with electric grid and sanitation was built from scratch-- each and every year. You could sit next to any 20-something on the bus in Seattle or San Francisco and odds were that they knew what apache was, and could probably compile it. These kids took their enormous paychecks and flew around the world to parties, bought houses in nice neighborhoods, and generally had the ability to do whatever they imagined. Perhaps they got greedy and did not prepare for the dotcom crash, perhaps they were distracted by the very technology they helped create, but for whatever reason, techno-utopia has not been brought into existance, and the whole rave scene seems now like little more than a multi-year MDMA hangover. This, compared to grunge, seemed to be a true cultural golden child, albeit a stillborn one.
Chipped fragments of all of these movements still exist. If one looks hard enough, there are some hippies left in the hills and cities. Some punks are still doing shows. The grunge record producers still run the same labels, and the neo-futurists are still putting out desire-inducing magazines about expensive toys.
It is possible, if not probable, that I am merely too old to be involved in whatever might be brewing. It might be that while it is occurring, it is too subtle to witness. Regardless, there is a very sad lack of optimism, of idealism, and of potential for change in the air these days. It seems to have been replaced with an outlook of obvious doom, hopelessness, cynicism, and apathy. The common approach seems to be to find solace where possible, largely through fictional television (or the even more insidious "reality" tv), the internet, drugs and drinking, and above all, consumerism -- the endless pursuit for a magic bullet. While it is possible to find growing evidence of downshifters, functional dropouts, or practitioners of voluntary simplicity having an effect on culture, there does not seem to be much going on which is really threatening to throw a wrench in the works as in the past.
Have we missed the boat? Has it been proven too many times that the juggernaut cannot be stopped? Is the overmind telling us to give up? Is this the calm before the eschatological storm? Is it just me?
