Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
December 21st, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
The first time I was ever made aware of Frank Zappa, it was 1985 or so and I was shopping for records (cassettes, actually) at a surprisingly decent mall store in Fort Collins, Colorado.
One of the employees, a doughy, little nebbish of a guy named “Ralph,” if I’m not mistaken, engaged me in a conversation regarding the actions of the Parents Music Resource Center, which had only recently succeeded in plastering the following graphic all over parts of America’s pop-culture:
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Frank Zappa, The Mothers
Posted in Music | 6 Comments »
December 15th, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
Around five years ago I went through a phase of interest in “Outsider Music:” music composed and performed by folks who know exactly what they’re doing, even if no one else does.
This is music that is not purposefully strange, such as the kind of thing Frank Zappa might do, but music that is pure in its difference because the source isn’t consciously attempting to be odd. (Irwin Chusid’s “Songs In The Key Of Z” book and accompanying cd’s are a wonderful intro to the concept)
Daniel Johnston is one of the more famous purveyors of this “outsider music,” most of his songs containing an accessible pop strain that distracts you from his psychosis and often somewhat broken, lo-fi delivery.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Daniel Johnston, Lyrics
Posted in Music | 2 Comments »
December 8th, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
I go back and forth on Adrian Belew: some of the music he has put out is absolutely brilliant, other things are a real affront to my ears.
I do have a pretty good way of figuring out, before hearing a piece of his, whether I’ll like it or not: If it’s instrumental, I’m interested. If it has lyrics, I’m extremely wary. (of course, that’s my attitude with music, in general) That being said, the man can write the occasional set of lyrics that work for me. This week’s song is such.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Adrian Belew, Lyrics
Posted in Music | No Comments »
December 1st, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
I was introduced to Beck’s music in 1994 by a wack southerner named Aaron via a promo EP he’d scored entitled: “Loser.”
The soon-to-be-famous title track had yet to gain the rotation that would propel its author to stardom and the opinions of most who heard it at the time were that it was a goofy knock-off that would fade as quickly as it had arrived.
Aaron was not so sure.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Beck, Lyrics
Posted in Music | 2 Comments »
November 24th, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
One of my friends writes songs that kind of sneak up on me from time to time and clonk me in the head. It takes a while for them to spring their trap on me.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Chris Gunn, Low Ones, Lyrics
Posted in Music | No Comments »
November 18th, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
Okay, I just listened all of the way through the Durutti Column’s The Guitar and Other Machines album again (for the first time in forever, if you ignore the times my ipod has randomly spit out bits of it) and I think I’ve finally come to the conclusion that it’s actually pretty darned good, if dated.
In any case, it’s better than the Washington State Unemployment Board hold music (a sappy, soapy, female vocal version of Aerosmith’s “Dream On”) presently pumping into my earbud …
Tags: Durutti Column, Vini Reilly
Posted in Music | No Comments »
November 18th, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
I was turned onto the Durutti Column some 15 years or so ago by an over-eager clerk at Wax Trax in Denver. I was looking for something new and, rattling off the music I was already a fan of, said clerk latched onto the name Robert Fripp.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Durutti Column, Lyrics, Vini Reilly
Posted in Music | No Comments »
November 13th, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
This’ll firmly mark me as a nerd (who, me???) but I’ve long felt that one of the most successful set of antidrug lyrics ever written, though they claim that’s not necessarily what the song is about, is They Might Be Giants’ Spiraling Shape.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Lyrics, They Might Be Giants
Posted in Music | No Comments »
November 7th, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
Considering the week’s turn of events, these lyrics, which I love, seem radically inappropriate but when I think of myself and those like me whose natural tendency is to doubt hope (in truth a kind of insulation against disappointment, an emotion that, of late, I’ve had my fill), I think we can use a song like this to remind us that we are as ridiculous (if not more so) as those whom we disparage for displaying an emotion that we are too often too afraid to allow in ourselves.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Andrew Brenner, Lyrics, Steve Beresford
Posted in Music | No Comments »
November 3rd, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
(I’ve had hundreds of ideas over the years and, due to finances or sheer laziness, have only attempted a few of them. As I dribble slowly towards quietus, it is time I quit holding so close to my chest the ones I am likely to never be able to attempt)
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Creativity
Posted in Music | 2 Comments »
November 2nd, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
Jimmy Carl Black, drummer for the original Mothers Of Invention, was more than just another Zappa sideman, fronting and playing an integral role in numerous other groups and recordings and gaining a reputation as a remarkable artist in his own right.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Frank Zappa, Jimmy Carl Black
Posted in Music | No Comments »
October 2nd, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
There is an ugly, seemingly pointless closet (except for the fact that any storage is good storage in a place this small when you own as much silly garbage as I do) that sat gaping and stupid, like a mouth-breather’s maw, at the back of my new flat’s living room.
Now I could just pinch whatever sub-architect decided this was a good place for a closet but there you have it: a monstrous, ugly coat closet right there at the back of the main room where you’re most likely to do your entertaining. How lovely.
So what to do? I don’t own that many coats. Okay, I could fill it with mannequins but that’s beside the point.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Collecting, Construction, DIY, media
Posted in Music | 6 Comments »
September 12th, 2008 by Corey A. Edwards
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a hell of a lot to reminisce about.
My youth was a dull and relatively uneventful series of non-starts and pathetic dreaming that led to little until far later but despite this, I can still look back on it and, with a little help, get a quick taste of something pretty good – and a great way for me to do this is through song.
If my life has one common thread, it’s the importance music plays in it.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Autobiography, Blue Oyster Cult, Heavy Metal
Posted in Music | 3 Comments »
October 1st, 2006 by Corey A. Edwards
this blog began as a section on my site called “Infinite Diarrhea” which I took down very shortly after starting it because … people were reading it. This, in turn, was causing problems in my already failing marriage …
I was shopping at a grocery store last night – Safeway – when a sudden sound caught my ear. I was so startled I almost dropped my wieners.
Over the intercom system, faint but audible: ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ by the Ramones.
Read the rest of this page »
Tags: Elderly, Grocery Store, Shopping
Posted in Music | No Comments »
