Essential Ending (for now)

It’s pretty clear to anybody who follows this blog that things have slowed to a complete crawl.  Even my typically more-active summer was without any new posts or other commentary.  So I think it’s time to play the final track on Essential Listening.

I am not, however, quitting the blogging world.  You see, Essential Listening slowly became more tedious over time because I had limited myself from the very beginning.  If I was tired of writing about music, it was hard to push elsewhere in a place that had a title about music.

So today I am going to suspend operations on this blog and point you at my new one – In Words and Phrases.  IWP will be focused on “ideas and events.”  Of course, that’s pretty broad – and intentionally so.  I will still write about music (it is a very rewarding adventure), but also my other favorite hobbies and passions – sports, cooking, photography, and other far-reaching topics.  I do hope you’ll join me over there.

And if you’ve been with this blog until the end, I thank you for even so much as pretending to pay attention.  I think it’s time to play the final track:

Back Soon

Brief update on the lack of F9F last week – it’s finals week here so I’m busy and buried under studying, projects and other work.  But fear not faithful blog readers! Things will be back in semi-normal order by the end of the week.

Thanks for sticking with Essential Listening!

Celebrating 22 Years of Doolittle

On this day 22 years ago, something special happened to the world – Pixies’ masterpiece was released.  The recording sessions have been described as difficult – so much so that the band chemistry was forever altered.  The music was not commercially successful (peaking at #98 in the Billboard 200, and the “hit” single only getting to #3 in the Billboard Modern Rock chart).  But here we are more than two decades later, still touched by the impact of this mammoth record.  Doolittle is one of the greatest rock albums ever released.

But why is it still so revered?  The hyper-saturation of modern music can make it difficult to see the singular nature of Doolittle.  So let’s take a step back and consider popular and alternative music in April of 1989, and also see what other artists have said about Pixies.

Essential Listening: Version 3

Hey everybody.  Last night saw a massive overhaul to the appearance of Essential Listening.  I’ve been looking for a new theme for a while, and when WordPress released some of their newest defaults, I was pushed to do something.  So here we are.

Things may be in a bit of flux for the next few days as I get a better background and otherwise tool around with the (semi) final display.  Thanks for checking this out, and hopefully things will be more productive in the coming weeks!

Housekeeping: 2009 and Decade Pages

Hey everyone! Thanks again for reading my blog. The next update for the Decade Albums list is upcoming, but I have some housekeeping to attend to:

Check out the new link up top on the blog, labeled “The Best of 2009.” This is a quick link to my lists for the year.  You can then find links to the original articles in that page.  Just like last year’s stuff (The Best of 2008), check it out for an overview of my opinions.

Coming soon will be a link for the Decade Lists. I haven’t had time to put that one together yet, but it will be up top as well, so keep your eyes open for that link and another housekeeping post.

Thanks again for reading, and feel free to comment over all my posts.  It’s exciting to see such traffic lately, and I hope you’re enjoying this blog.  It’s fun to write about music, and I hope you find my reading somewhat interesting.

Artist Spotlight: Spoon

After recently hitting pretty big (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga in the Billboard top 10), it’s interesting to consider the path of Spoon.  This band out of Austin seems to have achieved that elusive indie crossover status.  However, this wasn’t without effort and great change within the band’s sound.

Spoon is now amongst my favorite artists, but it’s a bit harder to see their greatness in their early days.

Early Days: Pixie Phone

It is effortless to peg early Spoon efforts as Pixies-inspired.  Dynamic shifts, near-scream vocals and thrashing guitars instantly recall the sounds of Surfer Rosa and Doolittle.  However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing: Pixies are lauded as one of the great rock bands.  To copy one of the greats is probably a wise choice.

Unfortunately, Spoon’s first two albums do very little to stand apart from other bands.  Thankfully there are two points that differentiate the group: Britt Daniels and Jim Eno.

For all the derivative sounds, lead singer and main composer Britt Daniels had a knack for sonic quality from the start.  By ensuring that first album Telephono was an excellent Pixies facsimile, the record nearly stands the test of time.

The second facet of Spoon’s early success is in drummer Jim Eno.  Inventive fills and a great sense of rhythm infect every song on Telephono.

One Year Later

Just a brief update today (I’m not really around an internet connection long enough for much else).

It has now been one year since I started Essential Listening.  It’s pretty profound to realize that I’ve stuck with this for so long.  My last blogging endeavors only lasted a month at most.
Thanks to everyone who has read this stuff – it’s cool to look at the stats and realize that some people actual read this at times.

I hope to keep blogging into the future, and maybe mix it up a bit more with different topics – maybe some videogames, politics and other geeky stuff.  At any rate, thanks again for sticking with this blog, even through the slow points.  It has been a fun ride and makes music even more fun.

New Theme Coming

When I picked the WordPress Theme for Essential Listening, I really enjoyed the minimalism offered by this one (Kubrick).  It’s a default blog theme, but I figured that the use of the header photo (the headphones) would be distinct enough to keep things original.

Now I’ve grown a bit tired of what I see.  I still enjoy the writing involved, but I feel like (of all things) the blog is a bit cluttered.

So in the next few days I’m going to play around with new themes.  Be prepared for a bit of visual overhaul as I try to get this to fit my vision of what a blog should be.

Thanks, as always, for reading this blog.  It’s a fun little diversion and it’s nice to see my admin “stats” page have lots of hits.

Artist Spotlight: Animal Collective

They e-hype for Animal Collective’s latest album (Merriweather Post Pavilion) was deafening.  Indeed, it is a very good album, but the band seems to fit within this hype more often lately.  Many smarmy websites will offer drooling praise for the rock/folk group.

I don’t really agree with that assessment.  I feel that, while Animal Collective presents some great songs, they have never made a particular complete album.  Let’s take a look at the problems and a potential solution for those who can’t wrap their heads around the band.

Albums Without Unity: Beginning

The four most recent Animal Collective releases all feature quite similar faults, primarily in the pacing.  We’ll start with the first two songs on each:

Sung Tongs – “Leaf House” and “Who Could Win a Rabbit”

Feels – “Did You See the Words” and “Grass”

Strawberry Jam – “Peacebone” and “Unsolved Mysteries”

Merriweather Post Pavilion – “In the Flowers” and “My Girls”

In each case, the hook is pretty quick and very potent.  The wild abandon in most tracks and uniform up-tempo feel are great to start an album.

“Who Could Win a Rabbit,” “Grass,” “Unsolved Mysteries” and “Did You See the Words” all delve into the fast-paced action-response insanity that makes Animal Collective so loveable.

“Leaf House,” “Peacebone,” “In The Flowers,” and “My Girls” are all showstoppers, full of genuine emotion and inventive musical phrasing.  These aren’t the fast-paced burst of the other early tracks, but impress equally.

If each album were to follow up with similar songs, I estimate that Animal Collective would be vastly more popular than they currently are.  Unfortunately, these starting songs aren’t indicative of things to come.