catapult magazine

I’ve been a fan of recorded music – 78s, 45s, LPs, tapes, CDs – since the 60s, and I still like much of what I liked then. A lot of the late 50s-early 60s stuff sounds a little junior high now, but on the other hand it sounds a lot like some of the current Brittany, etc. stuff. The 50s and early 60s did turn out stuff that sounds contemporary today – Supremes, Platters. I listen to a lot of Fleetwood Mac, Anne Murray, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Allison Crouse, Beatles, Foreigner, George Strait – it is all “comfortable” music for me. If I neglect any generation, it is rap – I think some of it is good poetry, but music requires more than a beat, I think. Always something good in each cycle – “I’m Like a Bird.” And what is it with Dylan and Barry Manilow coming back? Are these the end times we’ve heard so much about?

I’ve been on a James Taylor kick as of late. The man is plain cool. He embodies it. Like Roy Orbison. Fragment sentence.
It does seem an oddity that I’m digging his stuff. Maybe I’m getting old. I’m a daddy and I dig James Taylor. Maybe it’s time for me to see another Tull show.
Anybody else notice their musical tastes changing, one way or another?
Norb

i’ve been lovin James T. for many years, so don’t feel old, Norb. gaia and carolina on my mind? oooh—makes me feel like a cat that’s found the sunny spot on the floor.

i’ve noticed that i’m digging older stuff more—like i’m growing older in reverse—Tull, Fleetwood Mac, The Doors, CSNY. i’ve also developed a special place in my heart for something i can’t explain—for those musicians who are so totally themselves that their music seems to embody an atmosphere all its own—Nick Drake, Catpower, new Bjork. a lot of music is communal, based on what has been heard before (blues) or geared toward social change (folk), but some music seems to exist in a vacuum, reveling in solitude, becoming an unnamable emotion in itself.

but in spite of all this “theory,” the albums i come back to the most are those i can sing to at the top of my lungs when i’m nightdriving to Sioux Center.

Hey there friends.

I have been listening to the Beatles almost non stop for the last few weeks. I had put them on the shelf for a long time, but, sheesh, they are just plain awesome. I think it is easy to over look the Beatles simply because they are the most prominent rock icons of all time, or at least top three. But their music is just so damn good it is overwhelming.

There are just some albums that are comforting or that you can never get sick of. The albums you need after driving for eight hours and it is eleven oclock so you pop in some Cat Stevens and sing Teaser and the Firecat all the way home. Yeah. Anyhow, that is all I have to say on that right now.

i’m reading ryan’s post with that crazy Sgt. Pepper’s sitar floating in from the living room—funny you mention the Beatles. i was just listening, thinking about how this was one of the albums i was listening to the first time i saw our apartment, many years before i moved in, when the landlords paid me to clean between tenants. strange how music attaches itself to memory, how bits of dust in our minds would be invisible without music’s backlighting.

When I was in Nashville two weeks ago, I heard this great band play an amazing Merle Haggard song. I mean, I flipped out over it. It was one of the more exciting musical experiences I’ve had in a long time. I don’t know if I’m getting older or if I’m just becoming a hick. When does one become a hick? Officially, I mean.

Grant.

as i’ve gotten older i’ve come to the realization that i was born too late. i like almost everything i’ve purchased from the 60s. CSNY, hendrix, beatles, neil young, grateful dead, early dylan, etc.

i guess everything seemed more authentic then. folks were making music to make music, not to get rich and get chicks. it seems like most mainstream stuff now is so incredibly programmed. i don’t know, maybe it’s just the purist in me . . .

when does one become a hick? that is a good question. does liking country music make one a hick? I think that is like asking “What makes someone a nerd?” Personally, I think we are all nerds in our own way. Anyhow. I think there is an earnestness and honesty, a truthfulness, that is present in a lot of music that appeals to people. I think this honesty kind of broke down in a lot of ways in recent years. Like rob said. Does that answer your question? No. Anyhow, everyone should go and listen to the Beatles LET IT BE album, and we will all be happy.

Right, I like country music for similar reasons, but I run into people, especially in the Chicago area or at my church, who consider liking country music to be a cultural thing, like I need to live the lifestyle too (if that means wearing a cowboy hat and large belt buckle, I have no idea). And when I went to a Willie Nelson concert a few years ago, I realized that there really is a culture there that I may never totally understand. People really do mourn over the loss of their dogs and praise the faithfulness of their trucks.

I disagree that honesty can or only does belong to folkier music from earlier times, though. It may take more work to express this kind of authenticity with the newer technologies available, but it can happen. I know I’ve heard it even in some d.j. performances, and not because they were spinning old songs.

The world of music does seem to be looking backwards in some ways. U2, Oh Brother, The Strokes etc.

Its great to have people who work more richness into the existing modes of expression but the world also continues to feel different. I think the rise in electronic music melded closely to the rise of computer-life. I think I spend most of my life stairing at these things. At the same time though my current favourite album is Pavement-slanted and enchanted which is quite unelectronic.

As far as mechanics and technology go in music making there seems to be prominent instruments in each time period. The piano in the 1880’s, Reverb chambers in the 50’s, Wah pedals in the 60’s, multimultitracking in the 70’s, Roland Keyboards in the 80’s, loops in the 90’s. The greatest explorations of each instrument seem to coincide with the greatest gimmicry produced by each instrument.

Interesting Space. I guess I’ve never thought about it.
I was wondering if you or anybody else might have any prophecies on the next wave. It seems now like we’re rehashing the 80’s. Belinda Carlisle (my first love), Debbie Gibson, Tiffany = Brittney Spears, Christina Aguilera and however else. Then you have the New Kids on the Block and Menudo experience being revitalized by N’sync and the Backstreet Boys.
Does anybody else see this, or am I just a bit paranoid? Is there anything else we can look forward to?

A bit off from the original thread, but I started it so I can change it. Nyah.