Though at their best, those artists make me want to listen to them further. Which may not make them groundbreaking or influential, but still listenable--they are doing something right. Actually O'Rourke's pop forays (and Bungle's California) make me want to listen to the Beach Boys. Despite each artist having unique qualities, that subliminal connection to the past (not a bad thing) is present. I want to listen to Eric Dolphy sometimes when I hear Braxton's Willisau Quartet, for instance. That just means that artists are incorporating tradition into their music, which, for Skip, is a necessity. At least Bjork gets into your stereo. Zach -----Original Message----- From: Efrén del Valle [mailto:efrendv@yahoo.es] Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 4:58 AM To: skip heller; Zachary Steiner Cc: zorn-list@lists.xmission.com Subject: Re: The Experimental Side of Burt Bacharach Beatles and Sonic Youth are not comparable in pure musical terms, but they do share an open-mindedness, which is a quality that makes them true originals and incredibly influential in their respective fields. Although in a very different manner and in unequal proportions, both bands have become references for many, many musicians from the very beginning of their careers. So when it comes to popular expressions and maybe unconciously, we tend to be attracted by musicians with very rich musical worlds/cultural baggages but the message we receive, because it comes in the pop form, appears apparently simplified. There are so many elements in Burt Bacharach's music, his musical world is so wide and still it sounds so pleasant and "whistleable". And the same goes with Brian Wilson, Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Sonic Youth, Robert Wyatt Björk -whom I can't stand- and Radiohead, regardless of their popularity status. What they have in common is that their surfaces, unlike most of the mainstream stuff today, are "scratchable" and that's helped "Strawberry Fields Forever" survive until today and god knows how longer, and still sound fresh and, why not, groundbreaking, considering how unhealthy pop music is today.
I'm not sure why you selected to compare the Beatles to the Monkees, Sonic Youth, and Steely Dan as these are very disparate groups, both stylistically and artistically. I'm not sure what you were getting at by comparing Sonic Youth and the Monkees, so I will refrain from taking any offense.
I chose those three because thwey are completely disparate. But I chose those three disparate groups because, as much as they deliver competently produced product to their consumers, they sure ain't no Beatles. Comparing any one of those groups to the Beatles is like comparing The Cars to the Sex Pistols.
skip h
_______________________________________________ zorn-list mailing list zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com To UNSUBSCRIBE or Change Your Subscription Options, go to the webpage below
http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/zorn-list ___________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Nueva versión GRATIS Super Webcam, voz, caritas animadas, y más... http://messenger.yahoo.es