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Post by J. Walter Weatherman on Oct 6, 2011 17:44:32 GMT -8
HG and Friendly, what's your take on AC in regards to drugs and music? HG, I'm guessing you know at least a little bit in this regard.
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Post by Drew on Oct 6, 2011 18:46:46 GMT -8
Circulatory System - Circulatory SystemI've been listening to this album a number of times since Drew put it up, more than any other AotW. I need to throw a disclaimer out here that in no way am I trying to be an asshole, preach, not preach, or talk down to anyone in the following. I'm simply trying to express something that I feel is never really talked about in music and yet it is an undeniable part of it. That thing being, drugs. I'll just start by saying that drugs and art have had a pretty long standing relationship going and it is probably not on display more in any other art form than it is in music. I'll just clarify here that genius and enjoyable music does not need to be influenced by drugs and much of it isn't. But at the same time a LOT of it is. A lot of unexplored musical doors were busted wide open especially by one little devil called LSD. Some of it was genius and some of it was annoying as all holy Hell and incredibly self indulgent. But in the 60's regardless of its quality I find it hard not to see the pervasive influence it has had on all of our favorite artists. As time has moved away from the hippie generation this influence has presented itself as further artist experimentation with drugs and music and building onto the ideas of the past yielding outstanding results, but it has also influenced people to be inspired to think outside the box, possibly not even realizing the grand influence drugs had on the music that blew their minds wide open with their own creative ideas. I just want to reiterate that I'm not trying to say that all music influenced by drugs is the best and that "drugs is music". At the core of everything there is an inherent talent within the musician. Sometimes this talent is thrust into creative overdrive by drugs, for others it is not a part of how they create yet they will still operate at the same hyper creative level. Both remain distinctly unique and wonderful. One isn't necessarily better than the other. On the same token I'm not afraid to say that drugs have definitely allowed all of us to hear some incredible music that almost certainly would not have been made without their kind assistance, yet at its core is not a simple result of just ingesting drugs, but a talent bound within the artist themself. However there is also a very limiting and trapping quality drugs can have on music, where instead of bringing forth an originality that exists beyond the intoxication, all we get are songs that sound like most people's generic trip experiences. Now in the 60's that is totally acceptable as it was all new, not just in music, but drugs themselves like LSD were new and people were having this new experience at the same time. So The Incredible String Band was free to throw in as many AMAZING bird chirps, SUPER SWEET babbling brook sounds and flutes as it needed to. Some ten years later this all probably seemed pretty predictable and more indicative of straight up trips rather than "music". But the fact is that it was made at a time where it was "creative" and very original. Circulatory System have basically made a "Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" to my ears, but in the year 2000. To me it all sounds 100% like LSD. I have a hard time seeing the musical merit it holds beyond soundtracking a trip. Which is fine, but it starts to rub me the wrong way and always mystifies me when I hear people praising these albums to no end. I usually find it is people who've never really done drugs before. Which I suppose makes sense, since it must sound "different", and I say this very genuinely, different is always appealing. But when people start talking about music, like for example The Weekend, as being super original and innovative, all I seem to hear is a dude soundtracking his next night of serious reefer. Again, nothing wrong with it, but not original or innovative. This is where I see Circulatory System, only with LSD opposed to The Weeknds reefer. Drugs and music is definitely a high wire act for artists. A recent example for me would be MGMT's "Congratulations". To me it floats just below the line of being something more than the drugs they've taken and their musical inspirations. However it does have some very original moments scattered throughout. I think by their next album they will have completed a certain psychedelic and musical experience that has the potential to produce something great. I'm writing this all from my phone so I'm sorry if it sounds confusing, all I'm looking to do is express what's on my mind and see what y'all think My first thought when reading this of course goes back to poetry - Wordsworth said poetry was a moment of strong emotions "recollected in tranquility." That last phrase is the most important and defines the Romantic movement. To them, poetry wasn't just an opportunity to lay their emotions out on the page, but rather to reflect on those moments in their work. Recording music inherently mirrors this process. While music may be written, performed and recorded under the influence, at some point presumably the artist makes important artistic decisions in the editing process (at the very least) in "tranquility." So what I'm saying is, any music made on drugs is also sort of music about drugs. So FD, as I understand it, you're saying that there's a "generic" trip experience, and that the Circulatory System album does nothing except describe that experience, and does nothing to transcend the experience, and I disagree with that. I think that while Hart and other E6 dudes were doing the same drugs that we've all been doing since the 60's, that in this instance he came up with something unique and transcendent. I have to say that I have used psychedelics, including LSD, several times, and I've also listened to The Incredible String Band and most psychedelic touchstones of the past few decades (though I defer to you and HG in that respect), I sort of resent the notion that this is drug music for people who don't do drugs. I think Hart's brilliance in the studio and dedication to his craft (i.e. his ability for "recollection in tranquility") make this album great. There's such a weird sonic focus here, and the melodies are half lovely-and-at-ease and half -paranoid-and-tense. I think there's real emotional depth that goes beyond the generic trip experience here. So in summary - if you don't like how this sounds, or you think it's a simple retread - I disagree but differing opinions are always welcome. But I reject the idea that there is nothing beyond the typical trip experience in this music and that it's drug music for the inexperienced. /neighborly rebuttal Maybe it's for another thread, but while I'm addressing you, I'm also really interested to know what you think of the new Feist album, because I know you're a fan. I love it.
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Post by J-Dawg on Oct 6, 2011 20:45:02 GMT -8
Regarding Look Sharp!, aside from Is She Really Going Out with Him I'm not sure I have ever heard anything else from the album prior to this.
The sound felt really well put together and tight, and thankfully sounds quite different from the more corporate rock sound I would generally associate with the late 70s / early 80s.
I don't have a lot more to say; I guess after three listens the album didn't make much more of an impression on me other than I would listen to it again for sure, but I don't think I'm likely to actively seek it out.
And for whatever reason, Is She Really Going Out With Him is probably the track I enjoyed most; I suspect it's partly nostalgia and familiarity playing into that though.
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Post by Friendly Destroyer on Oct 6, 2011 22:27:29 GMT -8
HG and Friendly, what's your take on AC in regards to drugs and music? HG, I'm guessing you know at least a little bit in this regard. I'd say it is pretty evident (by now) that AC have created something extremely artful and unique, they've most certainly turned the corner on being no more than bunch of kids fucking around with drugs. I think Circulatory System and Sung Tongs share pretty much everything in common regarding their LSD influence and musical motivations to sound a particular way while tripping. For me I just hear a much more forward thinking sound from Sung Tongs and can almost feel the building and genesis of something new trying to be put together, this is the biggest lacking element for me in the CS album. AC now sound like a band who has undoubtedly been shaped by their experiences with psychedelics, but are making music whose confines and motivation lie so much more beyond the world of drugs. Plus I read a couple years ago that they attributed their current creative drive and want to hone their craft as a result of "taking way less drugs these days". I think their music most definitely challenges and excites your mind, whether sober or not, in a very legitimate way.
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Post by J. Walter Weatherman on Oct 7, 2011 0:54:50 GMT -8
Thats about what I had gathered, but everything that I've gathered about them has led me to believe that they are something else entirely.
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Post by Horned Gramma on Oct 7, 2011 7:20:05 GMT -8
The comparison of Sung Tongs to Circulatory System works great for me. Both of those albums certainly fall into the 'Guided Trip' category of Drug Music, and I agree that Animal Collective did a much finer job. Honestly, the Circulatory System record sounds just soooo much like an Olivia Tremor Control record minus the sunnier, poppier songs that Bill Doss would have contributed. And every Olivia Tremor Control record is, to me, an exercise in patience as you try to make sense of Will Hart's contributions while simultaneously waiting for the soothing rays of one of Doss's songs (i.e., 'Marking Time' on Cubist Castle).
See, that's why it works though, that's why it IS drug music -- a serious trip is the same way. There's a lot of abstraction, there's a lot of disorientation. Some of it can be kind of frightening. But then here and there you'll have a fit of the giggles, or see something that almost brings you to tears. Sung Tongs emulates these kinds of waves: You go from the upbeat 'Leaf House' and 'Who Could Win a Rabbit' into the wind-chime beat of 'The Softest Voice', and then after 'Winter's Love' and 'Kids on Holiday' fade in and out of coherence for a little while we shortly come across 'Visiting Friends'.
Dark Side of the Moon does the same thing, if you think about it. The exact same thing. Drive -> Ambiance -> Abstraction -> Lucidity.
I complain about OTC's tape collages all the time, but that is like one of the key signifiers of what we'd call 'drug music' : long stretches of what can only be called noise. It has the effect, under the influence of LSD, of drawing your mind out and further out. Your brain has been following the familiar procession of song structures, but then the handrails are taken away and you are left to just kind of float, and you hear things between the sounds.
But what do all three of these records do immediately following these extended moments of 'Brain Space'? They slap you, hard; you are pulled harshly out of that 'Brain Space' by a sudden, brief burst of noise.
Dusk at Cubist Castle: The end of 'Green Typewriters' with the vocal entrance "HOW MUCH LONGER CAN I WAIT!?" Sung Tongs: 'Visiting Friends' -- > 'College' (utterly sublime, by the way) Dark Side of the Moon: As 'On the Run' peters out, then come the chimes of 'Time'; similarly 'The Great Gig in the Sky' is followed immediately by the cash registers in 'Money'.
It's funny to think that albums of 'drug music' really do have a common structure, but they do.
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Post by StormyPinkness on Oct 7, 2011 8:16:55 GMT -8
Sung Tongs: 'Visiting Friends' -- > 'College' (utterly sublime, by the way) This is definitely one of the best transitions ever. Seriously, I remember laying on the bed, tripping out to the abstract noise, and then suddenly being vaulted back to my surroundings with the most incredible and simple idea.
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Post by StormyPinkness on Oct 7, 2011 8:18:41 GMT -8
I don't know if that makes any sense, but it does to me.
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Post by Blacksmile on Oct 8, 2011 11:42:06 GMT -8
Looks like it's my turn this week. Picking one album for a bunch of hardcore music lovers is a pretty intimidating and daunting task. In the end, I decided to follow the lead of my Canadian brethren and choose and album that is Canadian and has carried me through the years. My pick for the week is one of my favourite albums to listen to in the autumn months, as everything changes colour, the leaves fall from the trees and the weather turns from warm to brisk. THE TEA PARTY - SPLENDOR SOLIS - 1993I have owned this debut album since it's original 1993 release and have never grown tired of it. I've seen the band numerous times in concert, including the time that they played with an entire orchestra and another time when they opened for Blind Melon. They are simply outstanding in any facet that I have seen them play. This album is so dynamic in sound and style that it is hard to get bored of it. There are the Can-Con FM radio staples, "The River" and "Save You", slow burning Zeppelin style rockers, "A Certain Slant of Light", "The Majestic Song" and "Dreams Of Reason", the East Indian/Sitar driven tracks, "Raven Skies" and "Midsummer Day" and a beautifully gentle ballad, "In This Time", thrown in for good measure. This album also contains one of my favourite songs of all time, "Sun Going Down", which is an intense blues/folk freak-out. The Tea Party has recently reunited after a six year hiatus and I have yet to decide if that's a good or bad thing. I'm not particularly sure if they can or will ever again match the intensity of their early career, but I suppose I will have to see them live just to find out. In the meantime, I will continue to listen to this album, which is in my point of view, one of the greatest debut albums by a Canadian artist. Enjoy.
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Rusty
North American Scumfoot
Posts: 710
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Post by Rusty on Oct 8, 2011 13:04:55 GMT -8
I've only ever listened to their FM radio hits, I'm looking forward to giving this a spin.
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Post by Cbats on Oct 8, 2011 13:21:52 GMT -8
So. Much. Canada.
...This has been kind of cool cause only a 1/3 of the picks have been albums I've listened to before because the rest are painfully Canadian. And most of them have been pretty good!
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Rusty
North American Scumfoot
Posts: 710
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Post by Rusty on Oct 10, 2011 13:32:39 GMT -8
So. Much. Canada. ...This has been kind of cool cause only a 1/3 of the picks have been albums I've listened to before because the rest are painfully Canadian. And most of them have been pretty good! So true, I really didn't want to pick a Canadian album, but it is just so hard. So many of my favorite albums, especially from a pre-internet world (for me at least) where I didn't know about anything else outside of what was stocked at the local stores, what was on MuchMusic and what was on the radio; probably 80% of the albums I heard before I was 15 were Canadian . I hope you guys aren't getting to sick of it, although I don't think there are many of us left to go.
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Post by J-Dawg on Oct 11, 2011 16:27:37 GMT -8
Regarding the Tea Party, I've only ever listened to their hits and I own a copy of Transmission. I'm definitely looking forward to giving this one a spin.
And for the record, as a Canadian on the board, we didn't (quite) all pick albums by Canadian artists. If we go for round 2, my intended pick also won't be CanCon. I suspect someone else might beat me to the album I have in mind though.
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Post by Friendly Destroyer on Oct 11, 2011 21:28:37 GMT -8
THE TEA PARTY - SPLENDOR SOLIS - 1993I have owned this debut album since it's original 1993 release and have never grown tired of it. I've seen the band numerous times in concert, including the time that they played with an entire orchestra and another time when they opened for Blind Melon. They are simply outstanding in any facet that I have seen them play. This album is so dynamic in sound and style that it is hard to get bored of it. There are the Can-Con FM radio staples, "The River" and "Save You", slow burning Zeppelin style rockers, "A Certain Slant of Light", "The Majestic Song" and "Dreams Of Reason", the East Indian/Sitar driven tracks, "Raven Skies" and "Midsummer Day" and a beautifully gentle ballad, "In This Time", thrown in for good measure. This album also contains one of my favourite songs of all time, "Sun Going Down", which is an intense blues/folk freak-out. The Tea Party has recently reunited after a six year hiatus and I have yet to decide if that's a good or bad thing. I'm not particularly sure if they can or will ever again match the intensity of their early career, but I suppose I will have to see them live just to find out. In the meantime, I will continue to listen to this album, which is in my point of view, one of the greatest debut albums by a Canadian artist. Enjoy. I started listening to The Tea Party around the same time I first got into Tool's Opiate and Undertow, when I listen back now I can almost hear more similarities with Splendor Solis and Aenima than I do with Tool's first two albums (lyrical content and aesthetic aside). The drum production is especially similar to what Danny Carey's would come to sound like. I only bring this up because being compared to Led Zeppelin was their constant criticism while Tool's comparison to Led Zep was always their biggest honor. Time has shown that Tool was the eventual band to learn and grow from the Led Zep influences into the beautiful monster they are today, but in '93 I think The Tea Party had a pretty comparable album and sound to Tool and to what Tool was doing at that time. Are there Led Zeppelin influences? Yes. But listen to both "The River" and "Save Me" (fucking all the way loud) and tell me you really give a shit. It's good stuff, not only captivating in it's sound, but Jeff Martin's sweet baritone. The trippy guitar is fun on "The River" and an example of what I was getting at about its similarities to Aenima. "Save Me" is also just a really good rock tune regardless of its influences. The Tea Party never really did capture me in the end, but I have always had a "greatest hits" playlist that has never failed to be transferred from cassette to CD to iPod over the years. When they nail a song they really nail it and almost make the rest of the album worth the price of admission as a result. "The River", "Save Me", "The Bizaar", "Sister Awake", and "Fire in the Head" are just fucking awesome rock songs and were a breath of fresh air in relation to all the "grunge" shit and "grunge" fallout that was littering rock radio at that point in time. However, "Heaven's Coming Down" and the always emotional and heartbreaking Daniel Lanois cover "The Messenger" are the two songs that sealed the deal on my Tea Party playlist never being forgotten from my collection.
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Post by Shaxspear III Esq. on Oct 12, 2011 0:58:55 GMT -8
One of my favourite concert experiences was the Tea Party playing an accustic show in a small club in Calgary prior to their release of Transmission. They were so damned talented. I got to meet them that night due to mutual acquiantances. Jeff Martin and the drummer were cool as hell. The bass player on the other hand, was a bonafide asshole. Their singer also drew a lot of comparisson to Jim Morrison (looks and sound) which he hated as well.
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Post by Friendly Destroyer on Oct 12, 2011 5:11:08 GMT -8
I got the chance to go backstage and meet them in '99. I was very destroyed which lead me to giving Jeff Martin a big ol' hug and telling him he had "beautiful hair and you guys are awesome!". He was extremely nice about it. I think I've already told this story on here before.
^^^^ This one goes out to all the noobs! Impressed?
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Post by Cbats on Oct 12, 2011 5:43:12 GMT -8
does that get your dick sucked?
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Post by wompwomp on Oct 12, 2011 5:43:48 GMT -8
I've honestly never been a fan of The Tea Party. I've only heard the radio tunes though, so I might be missing something. I've always found that they took themselves WAY too seriously, and Jeff Martin always came off to me as a grade A douche.
I just saw they are coming to town sometime soon, are they back together doing the reunion thing? If I remember correctly, I thought their break up was pretty bad.
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Post by alex on Oct 12, 2011 7:29:11 GMT -8
It was.
A relative of mine did some guitar tech work for Jeff Martin, and was in a band that was a perennial opener for them. He told me he was there the night they broke up, and he's pretty shocked that they're even able to be in the same room with each other, let alone be friendly and go on tour. Time heals all wounds though.
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Post by Blacksmile on Oct 12, 2011 9:53:39 GMT -8
Pretty much a mixed bag in terms of reactions to my pick. Not sure if people don't like the album or the band themselves. I myself have never met them, so I have based my opinion of them squarely on the music. I stand by my pick.
The Tea Party are on the reunion trail. They will be playing at Flames Central on Saturday November 19. Being that the tickets are $45 I may sit this out. I've seen them countless times in the past and I don't think that they will ever be as good as they were back in the day. Plus I hate Flames Central.
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