parody by nacrowe
by the time i saw AFI play for the first time in late june of 2001 at a WARPED TOUR stop in VENTURA they were already well in the midst of MASSIVE transition. it was an INSANE period, as i was staying with a childhood friend of mine in nearby ORANGE COUNTY who was basically giving me an education on all things 80s HARDCORE and SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUNK ROCK (think everything from THE VANDALS, ADOLESCENTS, D.I., FEAR, AGENT ORANGE, PENNYWISE, DESCENDENTS and RICH KIDS ON LSD to DR KNOW, BLACK FLAG, NOFX, WASTED YOUTH, T.S.O.L. and BATTALION OF SAINTS). i had left CALIFORNIA in sixth grade to live in AFRICA due to a parent's job and by this point was staying over for an extended period before returning to KUWAIT, of all places, for my senior year of high school. a CRAZY time. anyway, my friend was a PUNK purist, maybe somewhat of the PURITANICAL variety, and loved AFI's string of albums on the INDEPENDENT NITRO RECORDS as well as LIKE-MINDED bands they were associated with like THE NERVE AGENTS and TIGER ARMY.
in 1999 the band released BLACK SAILS IN THE SUNSET (NITRO, 1999) which was a particularly PIVOTAL moment as it represented the first full-release with guitarist JADE PUGET as a full-member and major CONTRIBUTING SONGWRITER. this record sounded more COHESIVE and POLISHED than previous efforts with a decidedly SOPHISTICATED sense of COMPOSITION and SONG DYNAMICS. it was a SIGNIFICANT artistic step forward that was followed up by the similarly CONSISTENT follow-up THE ART OF DROWNING (NITRO, 2000). this album saw them gain widespread attention with "THE DAYS OF THE PHOENIX" single and video. this was the album cycle that i first came across AFI at VENTURA and it proved to be their final album for NITRO RECORDS. in retrospect its intriguing to me the timing of my discovery of AFI. it was essentially through the eyes a longtime fan who was falling out of love with them, seeing the direction they were, as well as the scene itself, going in. namely lots of once UNDERGROUND PUNK ROCK and emerging POP PUNK bands (everyone from TAKING BACK SUNDAY, FALL OUT BOY and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE to GLASSJAW, MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK and NEW FOUND GLORY) were making the jump to major labels, due in no small part to their popularity on the annual WARPED TOUR. AFI had their cultural moment with the two subsequent releases of SING THE SORROW (DREAMWORKS, 2003) and DECEMBERUNDERGROUND (INTERSCOPE, 2006), both incredible efforts that benefited greatly from the increased PRODUCTION VALUE and ENGINEERING prowess of SINGULAR and much sought-after producers like JERRY FINN and BUTCH VIG, respectively. but in my opinion we are currently in the midst of AFI's most FORTUITOUS period. everything after and including CRASH LOVE (INTERSCOPE, 2009) has seen the band explore their underlying POWER POP and POST PUNK roots to great avail as their SOUND and AESTHETIC has really blossomed from their previous 2000s GOTH PUNK pigeonholing. i really feel strongly that they are riding their own CREATIVE WAVE right now and the band has never been more VITAL or COMPELLING as a listener and a fan. everything before seemed to be very much about leveling up to feel CONFIDENT enough as SONGWRITERS and ARTISTS to take up the challenge of DRASTIC STYLISTIC SHIFTS, shedding and reemerging at will in the form that best fits their current taste as they see fit. when the bottom fell out of the recording industry back in the early 2000s it feels like such was freeing for them and their music as catering to their own UNIQUE AESTHETIC and bringing along their core audience at their INTENSE live shows is what kept them going. so that is my take. im always interested to see what AFI has cooked up next and what musical interests they have been basking in as of late. embedded below is a recent DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the EVER-EVOLVING music of AFI. enjoy!
0 Comments
parody by nacrowe
i was talking to someone at the radio station the other day and the subject of HENRY ROLLINS comment about NU METAL in the AMERICAN HARDCORE (SONY PICTURES, 2006) documentary came up, which paraphrased was something to effect of that the way in which those songs are STRUCTURED with the BIG GUITAR RIFF payoff after a whispered DOWNTEMPO PRE-CHORUS was something he would have absolutely been into as a teenager. it got me thinking of what that specific experience was for me of being confronted with a band or genre that up my first listen absolutely instantaneously defined my experience as a young person.
for me that was first coming across the ENGLISH ELECTRONIC MUSIC of THE PRODIGY and specifically their STELLAR THE FAT OF THE LAND (XL, 1997) album during my middle school years in NIGERIA. i can still recall that WIDE-EYED surge of adrenaline when that initial MASSIVE BASS DROP hits in the intro for "SMACK MY BITCH UP." in less than a minute of my first listen to a THE PRODIGY song i was hooked. it was beyond anything i had come across in the more FORMULAIC world of ROCK MUSIC and just seemed intently designed to make adolescents like myself go completely MENTAL. same with other singles like "BREATHE" and "FIRESTARTER," but for me "SMACK MY BITCH UP" is the obvious highlight. other tracks i absolutely adored off that album were "MINDFIELDS," "FUEL MY FIRE" and especially "NARAYAN," which all seemed to have an INTERIORITY about them, as if they were meant as a mantra for an induced COLLECTIVE MIND-SPACE and SHARED CONSCIOUSNESS. i have never taken MIND-EXPANDING drugs, but that concept of shared emotional INTIMACY through RHYTHM and DANCE made immediate sense upon my introduction to THE PRODIGY. fast forward a few years to high school and i am now at a boarding school in MASSACHUSETTS. somewhere along the way i obtained the preceding album MUSIC FOR THE JILTED GENERATION (XL, 1994) which is songwriting-wise is less traditionally structured and more EXPANSIVE with harder-hitting UPTEMPO beats, COMPLEX POLYRHYTHMS and OBSCURE SONIC TEXTURES. i was on a break staying with my uncle in BROOKLYN, who was then still working in lower MANHATTAN, and i was supposed to meet him somewhere near the WORLD TRADE CENTER for lunch before heading up to LINCOLN CENTER, where a charter bus was waiting to take me back to boarding school. needless to say i missed the lunch and barely made the bus. my experience was that i was listening to HARD-CHARGING MUSIC FOR THE JILTED GENERATION tracks like "BREAK & ENTER," "VOODOO PEOPLE," "POISON," "THEIR LAW" and "FULL THROTTLE" while on the subway and loss track of time. this was before cell phones were UBIQUITOUS and in my defense my watch's battery died, leaving it permanently stuck near noon. my uncle called the police and national guard apparently and almost gave him a heart attack. but yeah, i was somewhere else on planet JILTED GENERATION obliviously running around the city having a great time. arguably one of my FAVORITE experiences in high school. almost felt like FERRIS BUELLER running around seeing stores and visiting a museum in the process. for me the music of THE PRODIGY is indicative of where my musical tastes permanently shifted and expanded upon leaving CALIFORNIA and first living abroad. i have long wondered what i would have gotten into if i had stayed put in the UNITED STATES and not been subject to that IMMENSE CULTURE SHOCK at such a tender age. i'll never know. embedded below is a recent DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the INFECTIOUS ELECTRONIC MUSIC of THE PRODIGY. enjoy! RIP KEITH FLINT
parodies by nacrowe
the internet is an INTERESTING place.
when i did my 120th EPISODE of DEER GOD RADIO back during the height of the pandemic in april of 2021, i chose to highlight a SMALL but highly INFLUENTIAL record label responsible for some of my FAVORITE HIP HOP artists of all-time in MF DOOM, MADLIB and the producer J DILLA. it was part of an ONGOING series featuring the ROSTERS of various (mostly INDEPENDENT) RECORD LABELS including at that point LIKE-MINDED firms such as 4AD, DOMINO, STAX, GREENWAY, SUB POP and CHESS and has gone on to include DFA, CARPARK, MATADOR, WARP, NACIONAL, DISCHORD, SARGENT HOUSE, FAT POSSUM, STIFF, FOOL'S GOLD and METAL BLADE to date. for all of these SHOWS i created parodies of their respective LOGOS to say "DEER GOD" instead of their actual name. these are of varying quality but made in GOOD FUN and on SOCIAL MEDIA i routinely tag the LABEL to both let them know about the SHOW and the NONPROFIT RADIO STATION MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC as well as make them aware that i am utilizing, but absolutely not profiting off of their INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. what is intriguing to me is that up until this point, for three years i had gotten pretty good responses from some of the ARTISTS and LABELS that i parodied and highlighted on my BI-WEEKLY RADIO SHOW. in fact, in the two years since (and over 200+ total episodes), never anything remotely NEGATIVE happened until STONES THROW, which i will readily admit saddened me. and its not like they did anything particularly intense, just mocking me with two new versions of their circular LOGO stating "WRONG FONT" and "BUT THANKS" on TWITTER. and point taken, DEER GOD has seven letters while STONES THROW has eleven, so the font wasn't completely a one-to-one facsimile. i was just surprised that they would PUNCHING DOWN at someone promoting their LABEL and ROSTER. i took the time and effort to create a playlist of their ECLECTIC ROSTER and talk during a two-hour SHOW about why their LABEL mattered to me, and they effectively SHIT ON ME. or rather the sadly inevitable VILE comment section thereafter did. if it was a direct message from STONES THROW id have been in on the joke and laughed, but there is something about making it public and having their fans make judgements about me that kinda soured me on their whole operation. which is UNFORTUNATE. they are a RELEVANT underground LABEL that continually promotes unknown artists of an ELEVATED artistic caliber in spite of the whims of the industry at large. but i guess they are also pretty ELITIST in the process as well. my experience being case in point. or maybe i am just too THIN-SKINNED. probably. anyway, below is the EPISODE in question if interested. investigating MADLIB, MF DOOM and J DILLA is most definitely worth your time for the uninitiated. REST IN PEACE DANIEL DUMILE and JAMES DEWITT YANCEY.
parody by nacrowe
ever since i became aware of him in graduate school, ive long been fascinated by the PIONEERING and ICONOCLASTIC FREE JAZZ musician ORNETTE COLEMAN. at the time i was studying to become an english teacher and i remember being tasked in a class with an assignment asking us to derive an analogy for who we were as educators. mine was something along the lines of "if my classroom was a JAZZ ensemble, i was ORNETTE COLEMAN." my professor appreciated it because embedded within it was this NOTION that classrooms (and by extension any mass gathering of people) were inherently COMPLEX, MESSY and UNSTRUCTRED things, but that order emerges from such.
COLEMAN of course is synonymous with the RADICAL FREE JAZZ movement of the late 1950s which sought to confront long-held conventions within the genre, most famously on the CELEBRATED album THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME (ATLANTIC, 1959). traditionally ensembles would be assembled by a leader would walk the players through a tentative roadmap of where the recording session or live gig would venture through in terms of musical elements like TEMPO, KEY and basic CHORD PROGRESSIONS. COLEMAN did away with all that and empowered each participating musician to instinctively play what they felt in real time. free rein. no holds barred. this resulted in DISCORDANT clashing of NOTES and INSTRUMENTS, but often the players would resolve into each other and come to a mutually derived-at UNSPOKEN UNDERSTANDING and ARTISTIC EQUILIBRIUM. the musicians would listen intently to one another. an ORDER would rise out of CHAOS. that PHENOMENA is such a SEDUCTIVE IDEA that expands way beyond music. oftentimes as a teacher i would over-prepare and spend sleepless nights worried about how a lesson would land with my students the next day. in essence i was worried about CONTROLLING the situation instead of letting it happen and taking advantage of opportunities as they naturally emerged. towards the end of my first semester of student teaching at an NYC public high school that INSIGHT was what drove my UNDERSTANDING of pedagogy. i always came prepared (maybe even a little over-prepared), but entered each room knowing that i can only control what i can control and that people are MESSY with their own agendas and that groups of people take on their own COLLECTIVE PERSONALITY and what works well in one classroom has no bearing on the next one. you just have to take it as it comes. same with WRITING, ART, MUSIC or any EXPRESSIVE MEDIUM. for me that was the lesson i derived from ORNETTE COLEMAN and it really impacted my sense of IDENTITY and PERSONA during my brief teaching career, especially when i was abroad in UNFAMILIAR locales. embedded below is a recent DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the career of the LEGENDARY FREE JAZZ icon ORNETTE COLEMAN. enjoy!
parodies by nacrowe
its hard to believe that its been something like seventeen years since the LEGENDARY SOUTHERN HIP HOP duo OUTKAST last decided to put out an album.
that may be in part due to the fact that the ATLANTA HIP HOP scene in the intervening years has long since emerged as a VERITABLE MECCA of cultural activity that has rivaled (along with HOUSTON) the traditional powerhouses that are LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK CITY. look no further than all the local artists out of ATLANTA that haven risen alongside OUTKAST or thereafter to national prominence such as CHILDISH GAMBINO, LIL JOHN, SOULJA BOY, GUCCI MANE, LIL BABY, 2 CHAINZ, KILLER MIKE, T.I., YOUNG THUG, WACKA FLOCKA FLAME, 21 SAVAGE and MIGOS. in many ways it feels like we are very much living in a COMPLEX musical world that is decidedly influenced with a UNIQUE SOUTHERN flavor and seemingly GENRE-LESS AESTHETIC that OUTKAST played an INSTRUMENTAL role in creating. rappers BIG BOI and ANDRE 3000 are DISTINCT to one another. not exactly opposites per se but more DISPARATE CONCEPTIONS of what a HIP HOP artist should that somehow paradoxically complement one another. BIG BOI is definitely from the HARD-HITTING mold of celebrated STREETWISE lyricists like ICE CUBE, NAS, 2PAC, MOBB DEEP and RAKIM whose CRAFTSMANSHIP and preternatural ability to evoke the GRITTY and UNFILTERED ETHOS of daily URBAN BLACK life to the mic are stuff of absolute legend. ANDRE 3000 is likewise a TALENTED lyricist but seemingly more focused on EXPERIMENTAL WORDPLAY and expanding the boundaries of the FORM, writing more OPAQUE CONCEPTUAL NARRATIVES over time in the tradition of artists like Q-TIP, MADLIB, TRUGOY THE DOVE, MF DOOM, TALIB KWELI and even GEORGE CLINTON and SLY STONE. in my mind OUTKAST married those two strains of HIP HOP in a SEAMLESS fashion and the culture itself has been following that lead ever since. i remember getting to see OUTKAST on tour in support of their STANKONIA (ARISTA, 2000) album as part of MOBY's ECLECTIC AREA:ONE tour back in 2001 and just being amazed that this dude wearing blonde wigs with football shoulder pads and feather boas was part of the same group with his more traditionally attired ATLANTA FALCONS jersey, low-brim baseball cap-wearing counterpart. of course in rap this dichotomy was nothing new at the time, just look back at PUBLIC ENEMY with the ECCENTRIC clock-adorned FLAVOR FLAV grabbing attention or WU-TANG CLAN's OL DIRTY BASTARD evading police at industry award shows and taking trophies on stage from others with MEMORABLE impromptu, heartfelt speeches like "WU-TANG is for the children." look at KANYE WEST, INSANE CLOWN POSSE, TYLER THE CREATOR, DANNY BROWN or BIZ MARKIE (RIP) for that matter. i feel like the difference with ANDRE 3000 is that his IDIOSYNCRATIC presentation was less of a calculated conceit for generating attention and more an expression of an ALTERNATIVE ARTISTIC VIEWPOINT, complete with an EXPANDED LEXICON of what constitutes MASCULINITY in HIP HOP culture. himself an acolyte of Q-TIP, i see his lineage in peers and EXPANSIVE-MINDED, THOUGHTFUL and SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS artists like FRANK OCEAN, CHILDISH GAMBINO, KENDRICK LAMAR, RUN THE JEWELS, J. COLE, AB-SOUL, LOGIC and CHANCE THE RAPPER. seeing the sometimes intermingling manifestations of those two DISTINCT STRAINS and TRAJECTORIES of HIP HOP is endlessly FASCINATING and part of the allure of paying attention to how emerging artists RE-CONTEXTUALIZE the form itself, which is in a constant state of rebirth. unlike their ROCK AND ROLL counterparts, HIP HOP as a musical FORM is always EVOLVING and giving away to new permutations and EXPERIMENTAL SONIC JUXTAPOSITIONS that is NOVEL and EXCITING for those who choose to participate and i give some credit to OUTKAST for helping spur such, especially in the somewhat more artistically conservative 1990s. embedded below is a recent DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the career of the ICONIC ATLANTA HIP HOP duo OUTKAST. enjoy!
parodies by nacrowe
i was first introduced to the ETHEREAL EXPANSIVENESS that is the decidedly INTROSPECTIVE music of revered BRITISH SHOEGAZE band SLOWDIVE my senior year of high school when i discovered TRANSGRESSIVE NEW QUEER CINEMA GREGG ARAKI-directed films like NOWHERE (FINE LINE, 1997) and THE DOOM GENERATION (TRIMARK, 1995) of which the group's music is prominently featured. those 90s CULT films showcased characterizations of teenagers trapped outside of society in EXTREME situations and their BULLETPROOF soundtracks included PROMINENT INDUSTRIAL, SHOEGAZE and ALTERNATIVE BANDS acts ranging from SKINNY PUPPY, FRONT 242, COIL, NINE INCH NAILS, MINISTRY, ELASTICA, PORNO FOR PYROS, LUSH, THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, APHEX TWIN and RIDE to LOVE AND ROCKETS, PIZZICATO FIVE, 311, MASSIVE ATTACK, THE CATHERINE WHEEL and SUEDE among many others.
all this to say that the specific context from which i first appreciated the work of SLOWDIVE was a highly charged one in which the music was utilized to engender and describe a CRUSHING sense of ALIENATION and DISENCHANTMENT with AMERICAN culture writ large. such is the power of cinema that it can transform the meaning of all other vehicles of ARTISTIC EXPRESSION (PHOTOGRAPHY / CINEMATOGRAPHY, SET DESIGN, SET DESIGN, COSTUME DESIGN, ACTING, SPECIAL EFFECTS, etc.) that contribute to such, with music being no different. but when you separate SLOWDIVE from that specific use case by a particularly IDIOSYNCRATIC film director, what i hear is not a band attempting to describe a feeling of OVERPOWERING DISLOCATION from the outside world, but rather a unit attempting to aurally represent the SUBLIME. thats how i took it at least when first listening to spellbindingly TRANSCENDENT SOUVLAKI (CREATION, 1993) tracks "DAGGER," "40 DAYS," "HERE SHE COMES," "ALISON" and especially "SOUVLAKI SPACE STATION" and "WHEN THE SUN HITS." there is just the sense with these MERCURIAL, reverb-drenched AMBIENT tracks of a deep emotion springing forth into being from the recesses of one's consciousness, as if as a listening you are taking joint part in this PROFOUND CONNECTION. and that is kind of my point. when i listen to SLOWDIVE, not unlike similar groups in JOY DIVISION, BAUHAUS or MY BLOODY VALENTINE, i dont feel isolated from my COMMUNITY, but part of a greater SHARED HUMANITY. their music to me (some of it created during SIGNIFICANT interpersonal strife including unrequited love) is the aural equivalent of attempting to establish a CONNECTION. an interconnection with what is up for debate, but it feels like there is a sense of deep INTENTION to something emotionally resonate outside of oneself. being a part of a COMMUNITY. the music of SLOWDIVE, even the more recent reunion material, is some of the most emotionally POWERFUL music i have ever come across and definitely feel it should be appreciated by a bigger audience, well outside of SHOEGAZE or CREATION RECORDS aficionados. the radio show i did on them was a gesture, however small, at such.
parody by nacrowe
PUNK bands by definition are not meant to last. just look at that first round of late 70s originators or their HARDCORE brethren during the 1980s, most put out a record or two and then disbanded in near complete OBSCURITY. such being the case, it is almost ABSURD that NOFX are winding down their forty year, fifteen studio album career with a final tour and probable upcoming release or two for good measure. not only that, they objectively got better as musicians and songwriters as they went along is which is the absolute opposite ethos of the genre with the TIRED "LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG" credo. then again, NOFX always was a band that reveled in being a PARADOX.
more than any other MODERN PUNK band that i can think of, NOFX embodied the SNARKY CONTRARIANISM that came with being FORTHRIGHT and SELF-AWARE to the point of (and sometimes beyond) being SELF-DEPRECATING. BAD RELIGION was as politically OUTSPOKEN but more SERIOUS, AUTHORITATIVE and ACADEMIC in PRESENTATION and TONE (which makes sense since LYRICIST and contributing SONGWRITER GREG GRAFFIN is in fact a professor). RANCID were objectively more TALENTED as MUSICIANS and SONGWRITERS, but frontman TIM ARMSTRONG had a more IMPRESSIONISTIC and CONFESSIONAL aspect to his compositions, even the numbers that addressed political issues. as a GENIUS WORDSMITH, for him it was less about a specific point being addressed and more about exploring a DISPARATE POINT-OF-VIEW and MINDSET in his lyrics. BLINK-182 expressly borrowed aspects of the SNARKY CONTRARIANISM of NOFX but really dialed down the INTELLIGENCE and SELF-EVIDENT ABSURDIST comedy behind such, leaving just REDUNDANT JUVENILITY in its stead. and for me, part of the whole SCHTICK around NOFX was that this whole SELF-DIMINISHING "WE'RE JUST A PUNK BAND" routine was a smokescreen for a band that really had a STRONG PRESENCE and sense of AMBITION. just look at THE DECLINE (FAT WRECK CHORDS, 1999) release and its lone 18+ minute track, complete with SOPHISTICATED LEIHTMOTIFS and thematic callbacks a la opera. before GREEN DAY and talk of ROCK OPERAS, NOFX had already been there, done that on one masterfully EPIC track. another case in point was vocalist and main songwriter FAT MIKE's PUNKVOTER.COM campaign to support JOHN KERRY in his 2004 campaign to defeat then-incumbent president GEORGE W. BUSH. lots of HARDCORE bands going back to the 70 and 80s complained about MARGARET THATCHER and RONALD REAGAN, but how many actively built up a coalition to effect change a la FAT MIKE. i'll answer that: no one. the most ADMIRABLE thing about the members of NOFX is that in spite of their DEPRECATING PRESENTATION, these guys are actual doers who take actual real-life risks. FAT MIKE stuck his neck out and ultimately was not successful in ousting BUSH, but so what. he acted where his peer group historically only impotently reacts. my hope is that this is not the end of the road for the band as a CREATIVE ENERY and that if FAT MIKE continues on a solo journey that his former bandmates are common characters along the way, because the band is UNIQUE and has effected change arguably more than any other MODERN PUNK band. this in spite of their TIRED on-stage dad jokes. embedded below is a very recent DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the career of the iconic SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUNK ROCK band NOFX. enjoy!
photo & text by nacrowe
with the loss of the GENERATIONALLY-TALENTED VIRTOUSO GUITAR PLAYER and SONGWRITER EDDIE VAN HALEN from cancer back in late 2020 just a few months into the GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, i still wonder and deep down dont believe the MUSIC COMMUNITY yet has come to terms with his PASSING. much as was the case with other NOTABLE FALLEN MUSICIANS in recent years like PRINCE, TOM PETTY and DAVID BOWIE, EDDIE was something of a cultural touchstone. his very name seemingly evokes a JOYOUS state or frame of mind.
my introduction to EDDIE and his namesake band was the film BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE () when the two ASPIRING SAN DIMAS MUSICIANS have a logically CIRCUITOUS argument about needing a TRIUMPHANT music video to get EDDIE in their band, but then also needing EDDIE to make their music video TRIUMPHANT. and there is a logic there. for me the MUSICIAN and VAN HALEN the band represent a kind of UNBRIDLED EXUBERANCE and ENTHUSIASM for living and enjoying life to the fullest. when i hear their music while driving, much like with AC/DC or JUDAS PRIEST, i have to be careful because often i find my speedometer creeping ever northward without even consciously thinking about it. to me VAN HALEN is the embodiment and spirit of JOY. do they come off decidedly CHEESY at times? oh definitely. but that to me is part of their appeal. i dont think DAVID LEE ROTH and company were worried about being COOL, i think they were more worried about being the center of attention. yes EDDIE was a PRETERNATURALLY-GIFTED musician with INNOVATIVE techniques that left a permanent mark on the vocabulary of guitar-based music like few MUSICIANS outside of JIMI HENDRIX. his example inspired a whole generation of FLOURISHING guitar talent in the 1980s ranging from GEORGE LYNCH (DOKKEN, LYNCH MOB) and WARREN DEMARTINI (RATT) to NUNO BETTENCOURT (EXTREME), PAUL GILBERT (MR. BIG / RACER X) and even his late rival RANDY RHOADS (QUIET RIOT, OZZY OSBOURNE). look no further in the 1990s than ZAKK WYLDE (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY), TOM MORELLO (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE), JOHN 5 (MARILYN MANSON, ROB ZOMBIE) and the late DIMEBAG DARRELL (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN). but i feel he is still UNDERRATED when people just limit his legacy to being on a very short list of GREATEST GUITAR PLAYERS whoever lived. i believe he also was a STELLAR SONGWRITER who had ARRANGING CHOPS and a FINE EAR FOR PRODUCTION like few of his peers (matched or exceeded arguably only by PRINCE). its one thing to be a TECHNICAL WIZARD on your instrument (just look at BORING VIRTOUSOS like YNGIE MALMSTEEN, JASON BECKER, JOE SATRIANI, MARTY FRIEDMAN, STEVE VAI and JOHN PETTRUCI), but it is another entirely to create MEMORABLE guitar moments in songs that are beloved by music fans CHERISHED and internalized as an INTIMATE soundtrack to their lives. i think the latter is where EDDIE's genius truly lied. i know for me his music is synonymous with a certain CASUAL LIFESTYLE and GOOD TIME MENTALITY that originated from my former home community in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. id argue the music of VAN HALEN, like that of THE BEACH BOYS, JANE'S ADDICTION, THE DOORS, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS and GUNS N' ROSES, basically is CALIFORNIA. end stop. maybe i am old and not paying close enough attention, but it is my understanding that nothing has emerged in that lineage of CELEBRATED SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA bands since his PASSING. here is to hoping that he is not the end of an era and that the party will continue unabated in perpetuity. embedded below is an early DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the AMAZING LOS ANGELES ROCK AND ROLL band VAN HALEN. and this is all DAVID LEE ROTH-era VAN HALEN, absolutely no VAN HAGAR! enjoy!
parodies & text by nacrowe
SOUNDGARDEN was a truly MASSIVE band for me during my childhood. as ive written about repeatedly and extensively before, the first two albums i ever owned were SUPERUNKNOWN (A&M, 1994) by SOUNDGARDEN and VITALOGY (EPIC, 1994) by PEARL JAM. both were gifts from my parents back when i was ten years old. interestingly, the first records i ever bought with allowance money were all by LIVING COLOUR, specifically their VIVID (EPIC, 1988) and BISCUITS (EPIC, 1990) albums as well as their TIME'S UP (EPIC, 1991) EP, all of which i acquired shortly after obtaining the aforementioned SOUNDGARDEN and PEARL JAM records. all told, it was a great starting haul to a lifelong PASSION.
looking back, SOUNDGARDEN is such a UNIQUE band. obviously CHRIS CORNELL is a songwriter and frontman of the first order, gifted the preternatural CHARISMA, LOOKS and VOICE of an UNDENIABLE ROCK GOD. ROCK AND ROLL very much feels like may have been invented in order to describe and give context to his PRESENCE and ENERGY. dude was an adonis and to me as a child, CORNELL very much was ROCK AND ROLL. end stop. all that being said, his artistic work was THOUGHTFUL, MELODIC and subtly POETIC, often displaying an underlying DARK VULNERABILITY in the midst of POWERFUL anthemic peons a life well lived. his untimely passing a half decade ago is still SHOCKING and TRAGIC and a deeply felt LOSS to the world. with all due respect to CORNELL, what drew me in as a kid was guitarist KIM THAYIL. the OFF-KILTER RHYTHMS and ODD, EXOTIC-sounding SONIC TEXTURES provided an EXPANDED PALETTE of what a guitarist could produce with the instrument. in other words, dude was a GUITAR WIZARD. i still hold him in high regard and only much later in my musical journey learning about EXPERIMENTAL POST PUNK bands could i see his work in context. for me THAYIL's EXPANSIVE SOUND that was SLUDGY yet kinetically and rhythmically ANGULAR and UNPREDICTABLE like an INDIAN-AMERICAN half TONY IOMMI (BLACK SABBATH), half ANDY GILL (GANG OF FOUR) hybrid. yet his guitar playing never felt forced or strained in the mix, instead providing a push and pull counterpoint with CORNELL and his ETHEREAL PRESENCE and OTHER-WORDLY VOICE. arguably part of what made their songs so SPECIAL was this INTRIGUING dynamic were CORNELL anchored these EVOCATIVE AURAL LANDSCAPES with a MELODIC SENSIBILITY that was equal parts BRAVADO of MELANCHOLY. its a sound that whose ALCHEMY has not been replicated since. i was in junior high when SOUNDGARDEN broke up in 1997, arguably at the peak of their powers post DOWN ON THE UPSIDE (A&M, 1996). despite being bummed about it, i respected them immensely for calling it a day before they felt they were phoning it in and not in control of their own narrative. its hard not to since that is the ULTIMATE PUNK ROCK move. they refused to become a NOSTALGIA act, they refused to become AEROSMITH. i similarly respected their decision to return two decades later and KING ANIMAL (UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC, 2012) basically started artistically where they left off, which is a PHENOMENAL achievement. a minor miracle in fact. that ALCHEMY stayed intact. for me there is a certain MAGIC to SOUNDGARDEN that is as much a part of my wildly IMAGINATIVE childhood projections as it is about the quality of their catalogue. i am obviously biased given my formative experiences, but i find myself still intrigued by their records. the last demoed songs recorded before CORNELL untimely passing are rumored to be in the works as the final artistic statement from the LEGENDARY ALTERNATIVE ROCK band. i have no apprehension that if released, such will be great. and i look forward to hearing them eventually. embedded below is an early DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the ICONIC SEATTLE ALTERNATIVE ROCK band SOUNDGARDEN. enjoy!
parodies by nacrowe
sometimes you come across bands that are too clever by half.
classic case for that is PROGRESSIVE ROCK where VIRTUOSO musicians (cough, cough, DREAM THEATER) are liable to loose the plot and go down CONVOLUTED MODAL and SCALE rabbit-holes with no sense of ARTISTIC INTENT, PASSION or ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the wellbeing of a listener who potentially has to listen to this CHAOTIC, PATRONIZING mess. of course, there are notable exceptions like TOOL, RUSH and KING CRIMSON that use this EXPANDED color-box of TECHNIQUES and MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE sans SELF-INDULGENCE with SPECTACULAR results. in the 90s there was an explosion of genre-blending at hand where PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES related to HIP HOP and ROCK AND ROLL found new JUXTAPOSITIONS and EXPRESSION. some took that PASTICHE idea and really went for it with ADVENTUROUS expansions into LOUNGE, FOLK, JAZZ, LATIN MUSIC, COUNTRY, PSYCHEDELIA, FOUND SOUND, CHAMBER MUSIC, COMMERCIALS, BLUES, TROPICALIA, AFROBEAT, MUZAK and so on like the BEASTIE BOYS, BJORK and BECK arguably most famously. but i think that STEREOLAB may have done the whole EXPANDED PALETTE thing the most cohesively as their ECLECTIC SOUND and AESTHETIC decades later still sounds MODERN and cutting edge. part of that is the EXTRAORDINARY quality of the songs themselves and the UNIQUE, SOOTHING SINGING TONE of FRENCH vocalist LÆTITIA SADIER. whatever the SOUND-BED in the background, her VOCALS put you immediately at ease and envision a nice BRISK walk on a BREEZY, MAJESTIC summer afternoon. the MUSIC itself clears away from HARSH JUXTAPOSITIONS a la BECK and the BEASTIE BOYS that consciously drawn attention to themselves in favor of an ALTERNATE aesthetic whereby you are aware of the UNIQUENESS of the PRODUCTION and SONIC TEXTURES at play, but they are blended so adroitly that you arent consciously sussing them apart like a puzzle. instead you just let it all wash over you. i find the music of STEREOLAB relaxing, which is insane because musically they are particularly TECHNICALLY ADVANCED relative to their peer-base at the time and somehow manufactured a STARTLING achievement of making wildly DISPARATE SONIC ELEMENTS sound COHESIVE and even NATIVE and AUTHENTIC in relation to one another. i know INDIE ROCK snobs love this band, and ive met my share, but this is a band worthy of exploration in spite of such. like MASSIVE ATTACK, DEPECHE MODE or APHEX TWIN, they exceed their own hype. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a playlist celebrating the intensely ECLECTIC and FUN music of STEREOLAB. enjoy!
parodies by nacrowe
so much of the BRITISH INVASION mythology is tied up with BAY BOOMER coming-of-age nostalgia that it is hard not to view it in retrospect from a skewed, decidedly nonobjective perspective. dont believe me, just look at ROLLING STONE magazine founding editor JANN WENNER's STARTLING recent admission that BLACK and FEMALE artists were not INTELLECTUALLY CURIOUS or ARTICULATE enough to be part of his recent publication of past interviews featuring several WHITE MALE members of bands from this period. im a 90s child born in the 1980s so this CELEBRATED BRITISH INVASION cultural movement and its lasting pixie-dust over the imaginations of BOOMERS is thankfully a generation removed from me, providing me some distance on the topic.
undoubtedly musicians in these bands from BRITAIN took inspiration from a variety of AMERICAN musical forms during that period, from ROCKABILLY (EDDIE COCHRAN, DUANE EDDY, ROY ORBISON, CARL PERKINS and ELVIS PRESLEY) and early ROCK N ROLL (BUDDY HOLLY, CHUCK BERRY, JERRY LEE LEWIS, THE EVERLY BROTHERS and LITTLE RICHARD) to CHICAGO BLUES (MUDDY WATERS, LITTLE WALTER, JUNIOR WELLS, WILLIE DIXON, BIG BILL BROONZY) and DELTA BLUES (SKIP JAMES, SON HOUSE, ELMORE JAMES, HOWLIN' WOLF and ROBERT JOHNSON). the list rolls on. the BRITISH INVASION movement of the 1960s was a COMPELLING cultural phenomenon because in a very literal sense it was an admission and a reflection of AMERICA's musical cultural mirrored and staring right back at itself. this is especially the case with the FORGOTTEN BLUES artists of the period. THE ROLLING STONES in particular took several repeatedly on tour and much later in life, it has been reported that they even quietly paid for their funeral expenses. there is a direct link and an acknowledged debt to BLACK CULTURE that is UNQUESTIONED. what is interesting is that it took WHITE ARTISTS from another english-speaking country to turn on an EMERGING WHITE AUDIENCE to BLACK CULTURE. and arguably even that WELL-INTENTIONED exchanged of musical ideas literally got white-washed over the decades in the process, with much of the UNSCHOOLED listenership conceiving ROCK AND ROLL popularly throughout the ensuing decades as a largely CAUCASIAN genre. to the point that the emergence of a band like LIVING COLOUR in the the late 1980s is interpreted by said WHITE AUDIENCE as a bit of a CURIOSITY. anecdotally i remember certain BOOMER parents (not my own) DISMISSIVE reaction to early HIP HOP at the beginning of the 90s. of course three decades later HIP HOP is as ENTRENCHED and OMNIPRESENT as ROCK AND ROLL was a generation earlier. the cycle continues. i have nothing against bands like THE ANIMALS, THE BEATLES, THE WHO, THE YARDBIRDS, THE ROLLING STONES or THE KINKS. i was raised on them. in large part they are the bedrock of my appreciation of music culture having been raised by BOOMERS. more than half a century later what i take issue with is this constant lionizing of that generation above all others by an aging publishing class holding on to cultural relevance for dear life, pushing so hard that they lose all utter perspective. rendering themselves OBSOLETE in the process, which is just SAD and pretty PATHETIC. i am all for putting JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY, KEITH RICHARDS, PETE TOWNSEND, JIMMY PAGE, JEFF BECK (R.I.P.) and RAY DAVIES on an ELEVATED plane of critical praise, but i feel strongly that even they would want to include artists like CHUCK BERRY, B.B. KING, ETTA JAMES, LITTLE RICHARD, ALBERT KING, FATS DOMINO and JOHN LEE HOOKER in the discussion. if only to be identified in the context of their ranks as SHINING beacons and continuations of their REFLECTIVE genius and legacy. and i dont even know where to begin on the NAKED and ENTRENCHED MISOGYNY against including WOMEN in the mix for WENNER's book. you're telling me that past and present DIVERSE, INNOVATIVE and PIONEERING songwriters and recording artists like PATTI SMITH, SADE, ANA TIJOUX, LAURYN HILL (THE FUGEES), CAROLE KING, WATA (BORIS), AMANDA PALMER (THE DRESDEN DOLLS), ST. VINCENT, POISON IVY (THE CRAMPS), TINA TURNER, CHRISSIE HYNDE (THE PRETENDERS), KATE BUSH, FATOUMATA DIAWARA, JOAN BAEZ, RONNIE SPECTOR (THE RONETTES) MISSY ELLIOTT, ALISSON MOSSHART (THE KILLS, THE DEAD WEATHER), ROBYN, PATTI LABELLE, ELIZABETH STOKES (THE BETHS), QUEEN LATIFAH, WARPAINT, KATHLEEN HANNA (BIKINI KILL, LE TIGRE), JANIS JOPLIN, ARETHA FRANKLIN, LA LUZ, AMY WINEHOUSE, TIONNE WATKINS (TLC), MADONNA, BONNIE RAITT, ALANIS MORISSETTE, SALT-N-PEPA, JONI MITCHELL, SOL PEREYRA, FIRST AID KIT, ANNIE LENNOX (EURYTHMICS), KATE PIERSON & CINDY WILSON (THE B-52's), LOVEFOXXX (CSS), JUDY MOWATT, LYKKE LI, LOUISE WENER (SLEEPER), EXENE CERVENKA (X), PEACHES, WANDA JACKSON, DEBORAH HARRY (BLONDIE), ERYKAH BADU, TERI GENDER BENDER (LE BUTCHERETTES), BEYONCE, JASAMINE WHITE-GLUZ (NO JOY), KARIN DREIJER (THE KNIFE), EMMA RUTH RUNDLE (MARRIAGES), ELLA FITZGERALD, STELLA DONNELLY, WETLEG, TOVE LO, LOUISE POST (VERUCA SALT), TETIANA SHMAILYUK (JINJER), SINEAD O'CONNOR, ALICE GLASS (CRYSTAL CASTLES), SHIRLEY MANSON (GARBAGE), POLY STYRENE (X-RAY SPEX), RIHANNA, KIM DEAL (PIXIES, THE BREEDERS), FIONA APPLE, BETHANY COSENTINO (BEST COAST), TAYLOR SWIFT, FKA TWIGS, REBA MEYERS (CODE ORANGE), MALA RODRIGUEZ, HELEN MARNIE & MIRA AROYO (LADYTRON), BILLIE HOLIDAY, SAVAGES, CHANTAL CLARET (MORNINGWOOD), KIM GORDON (SONIC YOUTH), COSEY FANNI TUTTI (THROBBING GRISTLE), BESSIE SMITH, NATASHA KHAN (BAT FOR LASHES), DOLORES O' RIORDAN (THE CRANBERRIES), CARLY SIMON, MON LAFERTE, AMY TAYLOR (AMYL & THE SNIFFERS), PJ HARVEY, EMMYLOU HARRIS, BRODY DALLE (THE DISTILLERS), ETTA JAMES, COURTNEY BARNETT, JUSTINE FRISCHMANN (ELASTICA), JAVIERA MENA, KAREN O (THE YEAH YEAH YEAHS), FOXES, ANN WILSON & NANCY WILSON(HEART), LIZ PHAIR, NINA SIMONE, LYDIA LUNCH (TEENAGE JESUS & THE JERKS), MICHELLE ZAUNER (JAPANESE BREAKFAST), JOAN JETT, DONNA SUMMER, TORI AMOS, COURTNEY LOVE (HOLE), ALICIA KEYS, SIOUXSIE SIOUX, CHELSEA WOLFE, LIDO PIMIENTA, ALICE BAG (THE BAGS), STEVIE NICKS (FLEETWOOD MAC), CHARLIE XCX, DONITA SPARKS (L7), SHARON VAN ETTEN, BJORK, VIV ALBERTINE (THE SLITS) and DOLLY PARTON arent INTELLECTUALLY CURIOUS or ARTICULATE enough for your STUPID publication? you really couldnt find one interview? are you serious?! youre a fool. FUCK JANN WENNER. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes an ECLECTIC playlist of BRITISH INVASION bands, both obvious and obscure. enjoy!
parody by nacrowe
the story of SUB POP RECORDS is so fantastical, it is something akin to fairy tale. in a notoriously SELF-CANNIBALIZING industry with a irredeemably RAPACIOUS and INSATIABLE appetite for SELF-SERVING, DEVIOUS business practices and CYNICAL self-justifications for mercilessly economically raping their CLIENTS and FANS alike, it is a wonder the PACIFIC NORTHWEST INDEPENDENT record label is still standing and functioning today. and not only surviving, but in fact thriving in a MODERN POST-STREAMING DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT where culture is moving and innovating at an increasingly fast clip. since the 1980s SUB POP has basically been a beacon for INVENTIVE established and emerging MUSICIANS alike, providing a platform and opportunity for wide exposure to ARTISTS across HIP HOP, INDIE ROCK, COMEDY, ELECTRONICA, SPOKEN WORD, PUNK ROCK, INDIE POP and TRIP HOP genres alike.
SUB POP began interestingly enough not as a LABEL, but as a FANZINE and RADIO SHOW at EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE by student and music fanatic BRUCE PAVITT. it later morphed into a NEWSPAPER COLUMN and then a LABEL as a means of putting out a compilation album of unknown local SEATTLE acts in the late 80s. this small but close scene, uniquely propelled by its ISOLATION, cultivated an EMERGING ALTERNATIVE ROCK scene that infused elements of PUNK ROCK, METAL and CLASSIC ROCK influences to create something entirely FRESH yet FAMILIAR. by SERENDIPITY and hard work, SUB POP tapped into that vein and promoted the likes of SOUNDGARDEN, GREEN RIVER, MUDHONEY, NIRVANA and so on to the present day. what i appreciate about the LABEL is that they have never attempted to put out the same thing over and over again like so many other SUCCESSFUL AMERICAN INDEPENDENT LABELS (cough, cough, EPITAPH, FAT WRECK CHORDS, etc). i see SUB POP as more akin and in-league with the LIKE-MINDED BRITISH RECORD LABELS (4AD, ROUGH TRADE, XL, MUTE, WARP and DOMINO), as well as a few AMERICAN ones as well (MATADOR, MERGE and JAGJAGUWAR), that nurture and curate INGENIOUS new ARTISTS. whenever i feel jaded about music, SUB POP continues to be an entry point into the AVANT-GARDE of music right now. not thirty years ago at the height of a much BELOVED but IRRELEVANT and BYGONE GRUNGE movement, but right at present at this cultural moment. i just dont understand how they remained intact. its almost as if the COMMUNITY is consciously along for the ride, which is reassuring about HUMANITY in general. and thats exciting. SUB POP is a gift to music lovers. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes an ECLECTIC playlist of SUB POP bands new and old, notable and upcoming. enjoy!
parodies by nacrowe
i wasnt on the bandwagon with the MERCURIAL SHEFFIELD band BRING ME THE HORIZON from the very beginning, but close enough. i first learned about them after their single "CHELSEA SMILE" off of their second album SUICIDE SEASON (VISIBLE NOISE, 2008) came out back in the late 2000s. and really what separated the band from the other BRUTAL and ULTRA-HEAVY METALCORE / DEATHCORE bands emerging to prominence at the time like ALL SHALL PERISH, SUICIDE SILENCE, DESPISED ICON, WHITECHAPEL, CARNIFEX and JOB FOR A COWBOY was ironically their sense of MELODY. i remember listening to that album and thinking that in spite of its beyond AGGRESSIVE sonic annihilation and DEVASTATING lyrical content were actual MEMORABLE, WELL-COMPOSED songs. like the band could actual construct riffs together and their vocalist, OLI SYKES, on occasion, could SING. my initial reaction was that this singer had a wider TECHNICAL and EMOTIONAL range then GIFTED scene peers in MITCH LUCKER (rest in peace), PHIL BOZEMAN or HERNAN HERMIDA.
their follow-up THERE IS A HELL BELIEVE ME I'VE SEEN IT. THERE IS A HEAVEN LET'S KEEP IT A SECRET. (VISIBLE NOISE, 2010) was a more WELL-PRODUCED and REFINED version of SUICIDE SILENCE but the fourth album SEMPITERNAL (EPITAPH, 2013) was the creative and commercial breakthrough. shedding both a NASTY addiction to KETAMINE and a beloved guitarist in JONA WEINHOFEN (BLEEDING THROUGH, I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN), SEMPITERNAL marks the addition of the TALENTED keyboardist and electronic producer JORDAN FISH to the band as an INTEGRAL SONGWRITING PARTNER and as the fork in their career when things got WEIRD. but in a good way. somehow the band maintained their edge while incorporating a wide VARIETY of elements that derived from everything from TRIP HOP, AMBIENT, POST METAL, ELECTRO and even INDIE POP to create an ever shifting and evolving stew of UNEXPECTED sonic juxtapositions that maintains a core of exceptionally STRONG SONGWRITING. and that focus on MELODY and the COMPOSITION of the song itself, rather than the sonic trappings of its relative heaviness or otherwise aural dressing up, is what continues to separate BRING ME THE HORIZON from the pack. it really feels like after the second lease on life post-ADDICTION, SYKES as the de facto leader of the band has really continued to put out VARIED releases that have a sense of DANGER and RISK to them. as if he is attempting to alienate his own audience in the process. contrarily, he has been an innovator in an otherwise stagnant METALCORE scene navel-gazing at and celebrating its own collective sonic BRUTALITY, with no real ARTISTIC RISK involved. you get the feeling that BRING ME THE HORIZON several eclectic albums post-SEMPITERNAL are on their own kick at this point. they have long transcended the scene, which continues to look to them for ideas and concepts (and even band names) from throughout their career. i just love the fact that in the great tradition of other cultural innovators in MODERN ROCK AND ROLL like MIKE PATTON, WAYNE COYNE, DEVIN TOWNSEND, PERRY FARRELL or GIBBY HAYNES, OLI SYKES is likewise unafraid to risk everything in search of a new sound, a new idea, a new expression. which is why i am still very much on the ride. embedded below is a RECENT DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes a BRING ME THE HORIZON playlist from throughout their ECLECTIC catalogue. enjoy!
parodies & text by nacrowe
it was around college in the early 2000s that i got into AMBIENT MUSIC and came to appreciate music that was a bit more EXPANSIVE and not subject to FAMILIAR STRUCTURES, CONVENTIONS and DYNAMICS. shortly after being able to put my head around the work of EXPERIMENTAL ELECTRONIC MUSIC artists like APHEX TWIN and BOARDS OF CANADA, through younger friends of my brother i was made aware of POST ROCK bands like TORTOISE and MOGWAI. although AMBIENT MUSIC had primed me for this genre, it still blew me away that these musicians were creating this LUSH, PALATIAL widescreen landscape of sound that utilized the INSTRUMENTATION and basic building blocks of ROCK N ROLL to a categorically separate artistic end.
after TORTOISE and MOGWAI came GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR and SIGUR ROS, and then POST METAL artists like ISIS, SUNN O))) and PELICAN. it was as if a door had opened on what was emotionally capable in ROCK N ROLL writ large and TRANSFORMED my EXPECTATIONS therein as a listener. in a digital age now where LANGUAGE and our collective attention spans are being COMPRESSED and DILUTED, it is beyond refreshing to listen to CHALLENGING music that has WIDTH and DEPTH that is not easily digested and delights in its refusal to be abridged. it is an almost an endurance test of sorts to sit down and listen and really take in the scope of what these artists are presenting. i go back to these artists all of the time, especially during periods where i need to ESCAPE and just DRIFT OFF into my own thoughts in an EXTENDED, UNINTERRUPTED meditation. for that i am forever appreciative that this stuff exists despite its overt lack of commercial appeal. this episode itself was made during the height of the PANDEMIC and is one of two (the other being POST METAL) that contains footage from years before that i shot from my scooter while driving around the city of MANDALAY in northern MYANMAR. i formerly worked there for a year as a secondary teacher at an international school. the music has a definite PASTORAL flair so i thought the travel footage worked well with it (although at times it is a bit SHAKY). looking back this is one of my FAVORITE episodes. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that includes an ECLECTIC playlist of POST ROCK musicians new and old, notable and upcoming. enjoy!
parodies by nacrowe
there are just too many TRANSFORMATIVE bands that have been on the iconic BRITISH label 4AD RECORDS. acts like BAUHAUS, SCOTT WALKER, PIXIES, THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, LUSH and COCTEAU TWINS, not to mention STEREOLAB, CAMERA OBSCURA, THE BREEDERS, THIEVERY CORPORATION or more recent acts like GRIMES, DEERHUNTER, ST. VINCENT, TUNE-YARDS, ZOMBY, MARK LANEGAN (RIP), PURITY RING and TWIN SHADOW. for the past 4+ decades, it just feels like every successive generation of EXCEPTIONAL musicians with an EXPERIMENTAL and INNOVATIVE edge somehow find themselves on this amazing label.
as someone who is interested in music and constantly jaded by the seeming triviality and copycat nature of new material (even personally experienced the internal pressures and incentive structures of such as a former co-owner of a recording studio), it is A GIFT to have a resource like 4AD available to seek out new acts that are pushing the boundary. whether i am ready for such or not is a different matter, but i love and appreciate the opportunity to be confronted with THE FUTURE by a curation i inherently trust. and that best describes my relationship with 4AD as a listener and music consumer: TRUST. and there are other labels i similarly TRUST as well, namely FAT POSSUM, DOMINO, MUTE, WARP and MATADOR, but first among equals has always been 4AD. im always looking forward to what NEW SOUNDS theyve found and unleashed on the world. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired about two and half years just before the pandemic. the 4AD RECORDS playlist showcases a whole host of ECLECTIC music from throughout their CELEBRATED catalogue. enjoy!
photo & text by nacrowe
i remember back in undergrad having papers galore to write every few weeks and the STRAIN that such put on me MENTALLY and EMOTIONALLY throughout my college experience. somewhere along the way during that period i came across the APHEX TWIN debut SELECTED AMBIENT WORKS 85-92 (R&S, 1992) and became completely TRANSFIXED by it. it became almost like an armor i put on that shielded me from the world when i was writing. i can remember listening to that specific album on headphones in places like the library, my dorm room, the cafeteria, the computer lab and even empty classrooms writing away on my laptop blissfully OBLIVIOUS and UNCONCERNED with the outside world. it helped me focus.
for me that experience of SENSORY TRANSMUTATION is what makes AMBIENT MUSIC so ENTHRALLING as a genre. it is an EXPERIMENTAL form that is not concerned with traditional sound structures as much as it is the flow between AURAL LANDSCAPES and the ALTERED MIND-STATES such projects over your senses. when done well it almost feels like music that is inextricably linked to your EMOTIONS and deeply felt MEMORIES that trigger such. there is also a disconnect between the music and your EXPERIENTIAL, routine appreciation of being awake and cognitively alert in a material world. the music almost forces you to be succumbed by an AMORPHOUS PSYCHIC REALM where geography and time-space have no meaning. APHEX TWIN would soothe and eventually calm me down into a RELAXED MIND-STATE that would thus allow me to just express in my writing devoid of an merciless superego that bashes away at my insecurities, which is my daily lived experience. i could move beyond that. over the years ive come across many other NOTABLE AMBIENT artists including AUTECHRE, BOARDS OF CANADA, SEAFEEL and BRIAN ENO (whom i previously was aware of through his CELEBRATED production catalogue and initial work with ROXY MUSIC). that sense of music without precedent or signifiers or history or embedded meaning is something that still appeals to me. it is part of what makes AMBIENT music so REVOLUTIONARY and TRANSCENDENT in my opinion. it also became a vehicle for later appreciating other EXPERIMENTAL genres like POST ROCK / POST METAL and KRAUTROCK as well as DRONE METAL and MINIMALIST classical composers like PHILIP GLASS and STEVE REICH. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired about two and half years during the pandemic when the station first allowed DJs back in the studio. the ECLECTIC playlist showcases a whole host of DIVERSE AMBIENT artists. enjoy!
parodies by nacrowe
i am a total sucker for pop HOOKS.
as much as i also love BRUTALLY DISSONANT sonic assaults on the senses and UNCONVENTIONAL song structures and soundscapes (a la BIG BLACK, SWANS, EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN, LOU REED and THROBBING GRISTLE), there is something to be said about listening to a WELL-CONSTRUCTED, ORCHESTRATED and PRODUCED piece of music that is LUSH and designed to delight the ears (a la THE BEACH BOYS, HARRY NILSSON, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA). case in point: CHEAP TRICK. they didnt invent the wheel, but they sure as hell perfected the ROCK AND ROLL pop song template they inherited from THE BEATLES. and that is kind of the point of POWER POP, it being a LOOSE genre of like-minded 1970s and 80s musicians that took the earlier, STRIPPED-BACK aural aesthetic of the pre-PSYCHEDELIC early 1960s BEATLES records and attempted to write songs with every bit the same knack for MELODY, HARMONY and HOOKS, HOOKS, HOOKS. in a lot of ways, the later PUNK ROCK bands were a more AGGRESSIVE, CONFRONTATIONAL cousin to the POWER POP movement as they both were attempting to return ROCK AND ROLL to its more pure and ELEMENTAL CHUCK BERRY energy rather than the BLOATED and UNATTAINABLE PROGRESSIVE ROCK of the period. i find myself consistently look back to POWER POP from this era, along with early 1970s GLAM ROCK, to find INTERESTING bands that sought to make SIMPLE, MEMORABLE music that hit you directly in the heart, rather than the brain. the more i listen to POWER POP, the more convinced i am that THE RAMONES were secret admirers of the genre. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired about three years ago on new years day 2020. the playlist includes POWER POP music from throughout the 1970s and 80s, as well as a few more recent bands that expand on the genre. enjoy!
parodies by nacrowe
its difficult to quantify, verbalize or even get my head around the cultural impact of FRANK ZAPPA. when you think about truly INNOVATIVE musicians from the last century, the short list includes the likes of everyone from composers like IGOR STRAVINSKY, ARNOLD SCHOENBERG, GEORGE GERSHWIN, DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH, AARON COPELAND, SERGEI PROKOFIEV and JOHN CAGE to songwriters like BOB DYLAN, JOHN LENNON / PAUL MCCARTNEY, LOU REED, NEIL YOUNG, LEONARD COHEN and DAVID BOWIE just for starters.
what makes ZAPPA so COMPELLING in my mind was that he took a bit from both camps and was an EXPERIMENTAL songwriter and AVANT GARDE composer. not only that but he was politically OUTSPOKEN and seemingly BOUNDLESS in his drive to create, making use of virtually every genre imaginable and molding such to his IRREVERENT sonic sensibility. even friend and out-there creatives he played with and championed, like CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, are today considered musical pioneers for the ages. learning about ZAPPA is endless fascinating because he was MERCURIAL and ever expanding his CREATIVE PROCESS, whether that be TECHNIQUE, PRODUCTION, TECHNOLOGY and/or a new vein of INSPIRATION. for instance, his son DWEEZIL showcased some of his guitars and many had PECULIAR, BESPOKE preamps and out-of-phase pickups installed to expand his sonic palette (video linked HERE). it was an ongoing affair and really speaks to his unending fascination with sound. i also appreciate his ability to speak in opposition concerning causes he passionately believed in, whether that be the VIETNAM WAR or the PARENTS MUSIC RESEARCH CENTER (PMRC) hearings. everything these days related to musicians feels TRIVIAL and part of a branding exercise, even political advocacy. none of this modern crop hold any cultural weight. LENNON had that. DYLAN had that. ZAPPA absolutely had that. not sure who has that sense of CLOUT these days. ED SHEERAN? MILEY CYRUS? DRAKE? we're all doomed. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired exactly four years to the day back in 2019. the playlist includes music from throughout FRANK ZAPPA's ECLECTIC catalogue. enjoy!
parody by nacrowe
its one of the big musical ironies of my life that it took me moving to WEST AFRICA from SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA to learn about one of the greatest WEST COAST HIP HOP groups of all-time, CYPRESS HILL. that transition happened in 1996 when i was in sixth grade and to be honest, i was completely IGNORANT about HIP HOP when i lived stateside since family didnt have cable television (much less any of my childhood friends) and none of my friends or neighborhood kids were into it. shortly after moving to NIGERIA, a LEBANESE classmate of mine (and MASSIVE POTHEAD) basically EDUCATED and INDOCTRINATED me into the church of CYPRESS HILL as he had the first three records at the time: CYPRESS HILL (COLUMBIA, 1991), BLACK SUNDAY (COLUMBIA, 1993) and III: TEMPLES OF BOOM (COLUMBIA, 1995).
while i never got into smoking MARIJUANA, i was very much taken aback by the STREETWISE LYRICISM and PROPULSIVE DELIVERY of the gifted MC tandem B-REAL and SEN DOG as well as the INGENIOUS PRODUCTION of DJ MUGGS which both had the potential to be FOREBODING as well as PSYCHEDELIC. the combination of those two elements made for a CINEMATIC AURAL EXPERIENCE that was CONTAGIOUS and INCREDIBLY COMPELLING to just get lost in for hours. in essence CYPRESS HILL was my entry point into HIP HOP. end stop. looking back at that period in the mid-1990s, NIGERIA was in a transition period whereby things got more than a little DANGEROUS at times, especially where we lived in LAGOS. years of rampant CORRUPTION effectively rendered the place the wild west. even traveling to and from school was everyday was done with an armed guard with a size-able automatic weapon. i say this to make the point that CYPRESS HILL was the absolute perfect soundtrack to this completely FUBAR situation, one in which people visibly struggled for SURVIVAL. the music at its core seemed to CELEBRATE that STRUGGLE and the FORCE OF WILL it took for those trapped in its INSIDIOUS clutches to maintain a sense of HOPE, DIGNITY and HUMANITY. from my love CYPRESS HILL grew an appreciation for later HIP HOP artists and groups i became exposed to over the coming years including PUBLIC ENEMY, NAS, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, ERIC B & RAKIM, THE PHARCYDE, MF DOOM, DE LA SOUL, OUTKAST, RUN THE JEWELS and the WU-TANG CLAN. and it goes beyond HIP HOP, as BRITISH TRIP HOP acts like MASSIVE ATTACK, PORTISHEAD, THIEVERY CORPORATION, SNEAKER PIMPS and TRICKY werent that far removed from what DJ MUGGS was up to on a purely SONIC LEVEL. i know that much of their public profile is surrounded by MARIJUANA ADVOCACY (which i support), much like other NOTABLE acts like SUBLIME, 311, SLEEP, BLACK SABBATH, THE GRATEFUL DEAD and CANNIBAL CORPSE, but for me what make a CYPRESS HILL such a seminal group is their ability to coherently present a COHESIVE LYRICAL and AURAL PICTURE of life in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA for the SOCIALLY UNDERPRIVILEGED and CRIMINALLY UNDERSERVED. if WEED makes that CREATIVE PROCESS happen, then i am all here for it. they are one of the key musical groups of my youth that helped me emotionally make sense of TRAGIC surroundings and TRAUMATIC events that marked my three-year stint in LAGOS as a kid. for that i am still indebted to them. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired on new year's day back in 2020. the playlist includes music from throughout CYPRESS HILL's catalogue. enjoy!
parodies by nacrowe
there is something about the OPTIMISM of REVERED NEW WAVE band THE CARS that always gets me. not sure where it comes from, but their SIMPLE MELODIES and INCREDIBLE MUSICIANSHIP always leaves me in a good mood. when you watch their music videos its immediately apparent how UNORTHODOX a frontman RIC OCASEK was, all GANGLY and AWKWARD, but there is a CHARM no doubt. a certain PASSION and SELF-BELIEF in one's ability to communicate POSITIVITY and PLEASURE that transcends the music. and i dont know where it comes from.
i dont like NOSALGIA or false manufactured memories of the past, but i do appreciate GENUINE HOPE and JOY. and i get both of those from THE CARS who remain one of my all-time favorite bands, even if they are from BOSTON. embedded below is a DEER GOD RADIO episode on nonprofit internet radio station MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC that originally aired on new year's eve 2021. the playlist includes music from throughout THE CARS' catalogue. enjoy! |
NICHOLAS ARCHIVES
April 2024
CATEGORIES
All
|