Re: [MMM] Re: Composing basics (OT)

On 6/14/06, Aaron Krister Johnson <aaron@...> wrote:
[...]
> Most rock music is utter garbage, a least common denominator music.
>
> The exceptions (generally prog rock like Yes, King Crimson, Gentle
> Giant, some Floyd, some Beatles) prove the rule.

I love when this happens: someone has almost exactly the same opinions
as me, and lists some of my favorite bands, but there's an extra one
I've never heard of. Which Gentle Giant CD should I get first?

> Nothing nowadays anyway seems any good. It had a peak in the 70s and
> died hard in the 80's.

You don't listen to any A Perfect Circle or Tool, do you?

> I confess a fondness for some U2 however, especially their latest
> stuff, which is no longer I and IV chords exclusively.
>
> -Aaron.

Keenan

Hehehe,

{Keenan, you wrote...}
>You don't listen to any A Perfect Circle or Tool, do you?

And just when I thought you and I wouldn't have *anything* in common! :) Gotta love the way the world works. Now I'm just waiting for someone else on the lists (besides, possibly, Mr. Lumma) who is into Sleepytime Gorilla Museum...

Cheers,
Jon

P.S. Aaron, don't be as un-open-minded about rock as some people are about classical music. It isn't just that there is good stuff out there, there is passion in the music, and that counts for a lot.

For Gentle Giant, I have "Octopus" and a live cd which are both great,
but my favorite is "in a glass house" (probably because it was the
first rock music I ever listened to when I was about 8 years old!)

> And just when I thought you and I wouldn't have *anything* in common! :) Gotta love the way the world works. Now I'm just waiting for someone else on the lists (besides, possibly, Mr. Lumma) who is into Sleepytime Gorilla Museum...

I can't believe you mentioned SGM! I saw them live a few years ago,
it was awesome.

-chris

Keenan

>
> On 6/14/06, Aaron Krister Johnson <aaron@...> wrote:
> [...]
> > Most rock music is utter garbage, a least common denominator
music.
> >
> > The exceptions (generally prog rock like Yes, King Crimson,
Gentle
> > Giant, some Floyd, some Beatles) prove the rule.
>
> I love when this happens: someone has almost exactly the same
opinions
> as me,

+++++++++++++ I like my own posts the best.

and lists some of my favorite bands, but there's an extra one
> I've never heard of. Which Gentle Giant CD should I get first?
>
> > Nothing nowadays anyway seems any good. It had a peak in the 70s
and
> > died hard in the 80's.
>
> You don't listen to any A Perfect Circle or Tool, do you?

++++ Just went to Pandora and created a station called 'Tool'.
Jerk-off (Live) by Tool came up first then:

Megadeth
Armored Saint
Bush
Tool's 'Lateralus'
Death Angel
Slipknot

This is where I search/listen to music on the cheap.
Still free, for now.

-Stephen

>
> Keenan
>

I've gotten into Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and Mono - all of which are
representative bands of the "post-rock" genre ("What is post-rock?"
being a controversy in and of itself).

Mogwai and Sigur Ros both have freely viewable webcasts of their concerts.

Mogwai live in DC at 930 Club (audio only):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5384035

Sigur Ros live in Iceland (streaming video):
http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/media/dldvideo.php

At 08:47 PM 6/14/2006, you wrote:
>On 6/14/06, Aaron Krister Johnson <aaron@...> wrote:
>[...]
>> Most rock music is utter garbage, a least common denominator music.
>>
>> The exceptions (generally prog rock like Yes, King Crimson, Gentle
>> Giant, some Floyd, some Beatles) prove the rule.
>
>I love when this happens: someone has almost exactly the same opinions
>as me, and lists some of my favorite bands, but there's an extra one
>I've never heard of. Which Gentle Giant CD should I get first?

In something like this order:

Acquiring the taste
In A Glass House
Three Friends

>> Nothing nowadays anyway seems any good. It had a peak in the 70s and
>> died hard in the 80's.
>
>You don't listen to any A Perfect Circle or Tool, do you?

Which Perfect Circle album should I get first?

-Carl

At 07:49 AM 6/19/2006, you wrote:
>I've gotten into Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and Mono - all of which are
>representative bands of the "post-rock" genre

I like these, but they don't quite have the richness of
70's prog. Joe Monzo's favorite Sleeping People, and other
bands, come closer, but many lack vocals.

Aaron: The closest thing to 70s-prog-quality music IMO is
Phish (these days Umphrey's McGee) and related jam bands.

-Carl

CL,

{you wrote...}
>Which Perfect Circle album should I get first?

Of their two main albums, it is a bit of a toss-up, but I guess I still like "Mer de Noms" the best. As always, YMMV.

Cheers,
Jon

At 06:18 PM 6/21/2006, you wrote:
>At 08:47 PM 6/14/2006, you wrote:
>>On 6/14/06, Aaron Krister Johnson <aaron@...> wrote:
>>[...]
>>> Most rock music is utter garbage, a least common denominator music.
>>>
>>> The exceptions (generally prog rock like Yes, King Crimson, Gentle
>>> Giant, some Floyd, some Beatles) prove the rule.
>>
>>I love when this happens: someone has almost exactly the same opinions
>>as me, and lists some of my favorite bands, but there's an extra one
>>I've never heard of. Which Gentle Giant CD should I get first?
>
>In something like this order:
>
>Acquiring the taste
>In A Glass House
>Three Friends

Followed by The Power and the Glory and Free Hand.
Octopus is their most over-rated album.

-Carl

Not to forget the chart-topping Mars Volta, which, as some
freak on Wikipedia keeps reminding us, defines prog rock today.
(I never got that much out of it, myself.)

-Carl

>>I've gotten into Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and Mono - all of which are
>>representative bands of the "post-rock" genre
>
>I like these, but they don't quite have the richness of
>70's prog. Joe Monzo's favorite Sleeping People, and other
>bands, come closer, but many lack vocals.
>
>Aaron: The closest thing to 70s-prog-quality music IMO is
>Phish (these days Umphrey's McGee) and related jam bands.
>
>-Carl

On Wednesday 21 June 2006 8:18 pm, Carl Lumma wrote:

> In something like this order:
>
> Acquiring the taste
> In A Glass House
> Three Friends

My take on this:

In a Glass House
Free Hand
Octopus or
Power and the Glory

(not in any particular order, but these I think are the very best albums, and
most GG fans would agree)

But pick up whatever you can! And Carl's picks are good, too, but I think they
are not core Giant, just like 'Tormato' isn't core Yes in the same way
'Fragile' is.

-Aaron.

On Wednesday 21 June 2006 8:28 pm, Carl Lumma wrote:
> At 07:49 AM 6/19/2006, you wrote:
> >I've gotten into Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and Mono - all of which are
> >representative bands of the "post-rock" genre
>
> I like these, but they don't quite have the richness of
> 70's prog. Joe Monzo's favorite Sleeping People, and other
> bands, come closer, but many lack vocals.
>
> Aaron: The closest thing to 70s-prog-quality music IMO is
> Phish (these days Umphrey's McGee) and related jam bands.

Phish's musicianship is high, although the noodley-factor kills them for me,
and shows just how low the taste has gone since the 70's heyday.

>> >I've gotten into Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and Mono - all of which are
>> >representative bands of the "post-rock" genre
>>
>> I like these, but they don't quite have the richness of
>> 70's prog. Joe Monzo's favorite Sleeping People, and other
>> bands, come closer, but many lack vocals.
>>
>> Aaron: The closest thing to 70s-prog-quality music IMO is
>> Phish (these days Umphrey's McGee) and related jam bands.
>
>Phish's musicianship is high, although the noodley-factor kills them for me,
>and shows just how low the taste has gone since the 70's heyday.

Their studio albums aren't noodley, are they? Ever
hear Umphrey's McGee?

-Carl

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@...> wrote:
>
> At 07:49 AM 6/19/2006, you wrote:
> >I've gotten into Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and Mono - all of which are
> >representative bands of the "post-rock" genre
>
> I like these, but they don't quite have the richness of
> 70's prog. Joe Monzo's favorite Sleeping People, and other
> bands, come closer, but many lack vocals.

Fair enough opinion, as I have never been a big fan of 70's prog myself.

For those who prefer prog-rock to post-rock (very disparate genres
IMO), Green Milk From Planet Orange, Tarantula AD, and USA Is A
Monster might be more up your alley.

Paolo

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@...> wrote:
> Aaron: The closest thing to 70s-prog-quality music IMO is
> Phish (these days Umphrey's McGee) and related jam bands.

Finally saw Ozric Tentacles live last night. Pretty good jam band,
but their compositions do not have the relative complexity (more
complex than, say, Doobie Brothers, but less so than Mingus,
Bartok,etc.) of the usual suspects of 70s prog (King Crimson, Yes,
etc.).

>> Aaron: The closest thing to 70s-prog-quality music IMO is
>> Phish (these days Umphrey's McGee) and related jam bands.
>
>Finally saw Ozric Tentacles live last night. Pretty good jam band,
>but their compositions do not have the relative complexity (more
>complex than, say, Doobie Brothers, but less so than Mingus,
>Bartok,etc.) of the usual suspects of 70s prog (King Crimson, Yes,
>etc.).

Ozric's gone way downhill since their golden days, but their
compositions never were complexity-driven. I interviewed
Ed Wynne in Keyboard in, I think, October or Nov. 04.

-Carl

I just gave Mars Volta a listen.

"Rich" is such a subjective term - what it means to you could be
different from what it means to me and it probably is. Suffice it to
say that after this listen I still prefer Green Milk From Planet
Orange and Tarantula 4AD as far as 21st century prog rock goes.

Paolo

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Carl Lumma <ekin@...> wrote:
>
> Not to forget the chart-topping Mars Volta, which, as some
> freak on Wikipedia keeps reminding us, defines prog rock today.
> (I never got that much out of it, myself.)
>
> -Carl
>
> >>I've gotten into Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and Mono - all of which are
> >>representative bands of the "post-rock" genre
> >
> >I like these, but they don't quite have the richness of
> >70's prog. Joe Monzo's favorite Sleeping People, and other
> >bands, come closer, but many lack vocals.
> >
> >Aaron: The closest thing to 70s-prog-quality music IMO is
> >Phish (these days Umphrey's McGee) and related jam bands.
> >
> >-Carl
>

>I just gave Mars Volta a listen.
>
>"Rich" is such a subjective term - what it means to you could be
>different from what it means to me and it probably is. Suffice it to
>say that after this listen I still prefer Green Milk From Planet
>Orange and Tarantula 4AD as far as 21st century prog rock goes.
>
>Paolo

These bands do sound like they're good at what they do, but they're
both too hard for my taste. I've never resonated with aggressive
music like this -- even among the old prog I always preferred Yes
and The Beatles to the canterbury stuff. But even the hardest stuff
from the 70s doesn't seem as metal as mainstream neo-prog like
Dreamtheater etc, or these bands.

-Carl