Musical Q+A

So I’m writing this while I’m at work and about to pass out from exhaustion, so I need to apologize if this reads like the ramblings of a drunken man. Now that that’s out of the way, today I’m going to be answering your questions about music. HURRAY!?!?!!?!? And while they all may not be real questions (it’s about an 80/20 split), you’d ask them if you knew how or had any courage. Let’s get it started.

Q: So every time one of Paris Hilton’s singles comes on, I not only don’t change the station, but I start taping my foot and eventually singing along to it. I feel terrible about all this. It feels as if my soul is dying. What should I do?

- Adam S., Los Angeles

A: I think I can help you out here, except for the fact that Paris’s whole record is ridiculously good. For those of you who haven’t heard – don’t judge and keep in mind that absolutely none of the album’s strong points have anything to do with Hilton, except for the money she spent on producer Scott Storch. This is pretty much the perfect pop album, with shades of Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway*. While Hilton’s voice is more produced than the one’s you’d find on a Zoog Disney musical, it in no way takes away from these great pop songs. Nor does the fact that Hilton is one of the most repulsive human beings currently alive. The album is just really, really, really well done. And in case you’re wondering, the answers yes – it nearly kills me every day that I like this album.

Q: Hey bro, WTF is up with Badly Drawn Boy? His new album blew! I mean Pitchforkmedia.com (a.k.a The Bible) gave it only a 2.8 out of 10! Where has the BDB of his two (or at least 1 ½ ) pop masterpieces gone? In related news, the Grizzly Bears record might be the best Post-Rock album I’ve heard in the last 5 years.

– Max Michael, My Parents House.

A: Um, thanks for the update, I guess. Anyhow, about the new BDB, yes it was a disappointment. But it wasn’t the train wreck most have portrayed it to be. For the most part, the album is just pleasant, ignorable chamber pop. It has some great highlights, esp. “The Time of Times,” which steals its main rift and cord progression from BDB’s “The Shinning”**. While I’m as mad as anyone that BDB is over-producing his songs and trying way too hard to make them grandiose, talk of his decline has been greatly exaggerated. He still has a few great songs per album, while never coming close to his early work. In a way, he’s the British Ryan Adams. His decline just isn’t as Weezer-esque as critics are panning it to be.

Q: So while this has been a decent year for music, I’m already pumped for ’07 with new albums from Modest Mouse, The Shins, Andrew Bird and The Arcade Fire. Any suggestions of what I should listen to while biding my time waiting for the above-mention releases? Thanks.
– CBP, T-Town.

A: I share your sentiments, friend, and here are my suggestions. For Modest Mouse, pick up The Figurine’s album Skeleton. I will say that the comparison isn’t really fair to The Figurines, considering their biggest influence is probably The Flaming Lips. There’s also shades of Hawksley Workman in there as well. All in all, this is just a terrific album. For The Shins pick up the Kite Flying Society’s debut album. The KFS are very solid, yet rarely spectacular. They do a very suitable job of putting out the Lo-Fi pop that The Shins have mastered. As for The Arcade Fire, well, it seems like every new indie band is basically trying to cover The Funeral, so your options are plentiful. No one of theses albums is good from top to bottom, so I’ll just recommend a few songs: “We Used to Vacation” and “Hospital Beds” by Cold War Kids. Also try “The Funeral” and “St. Augustine” by the Band of Horses. And as for Andrew Bird…well, just listen to his old CD’s. ‘Cause truth be told, Andrew’s playing a different game then everyone else.

Q: So what are you listening to these days?

– Claire.

A: Well, current CDs getting heavy rotation in my life are Patrick Park – Loneliness Knows My Name, Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy, Ben Kweller – Ben Kweller, Willie Nelson – Songbird, and Mewithoutyou – Brothers, Sisters.

Q: So there is this interview with Panic! at the Disco in the new NME magazine. In this interview, they declared two things. First, “emo is blullsh*t,” and second, “We are the next Radiohead.” Your thoughts?

–Marko, Denver.

A: I felt like I needed to end with this particular question. I’m not sure what exactly should be my reaction to PAD’s*** quotes should be. I can’t decide whether I should be overjoyed by the humor of their ignorance or infuriated by it. The first thing that I have to say is that if your goal is to be the next Radiohead, you might not want to start out as a cover band for someone as sh*tty as Fallout Boy. Secondly, I find it sort of ironic that Emo has become the new glam metal. No band wants to be branded with the label of Emo. I mean, PAD is a lot of things, mainly sh*tty and obnoxious, but the one thing they are more than anything else is Emo. Maybe the band is saying that they are, in fact, bull sh*t. If that’s the case, then maybe I should ignore their ridiculous quote. But I doubt that’s the case. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go prepare for the Rapture as PAD’s stupidity has convinced me it’s coming at any moment.

Until We Meet Again.

* Another great mainstream pop-rock album. In related news, after admitting to like both these albums, I will henceforth be snubbed by all hipsters at future shows at Solar Culture and the Rialto.
** Seriously it does. Listen to both closely.
*** I’ve never been a fan of people abbreviating band’s names, especially sh*tty ones. But I have to do it here because I’m lazy and don’t want to type it out every time.