Other Music-Related Stuff

Sound Opinions
For those that just can't get enough music and love to listen to other people talk about music, there's the self-proclaimed "world's only rock'n'roll talk show" broadcast on Chicago public radio. The show is hosted by two dudes, Jim Rogatis (Chicago Sun-Times) and Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune), who write for bigtime newspapers. They've also written a lot of books between themselves although I can't remember the names of any. Anyway, although you don't probably live in Chicago, because of the wonders of this whole internet thing that's been going on, you can listen to the shows anytime, either as streaming broadcast or as a podcast. I've listened to their shows on and off for a few years, and although they are a little bit older than my tastes, you can rest your fears to rest, they are not baby boomer types out to relive the goddamn '60s. If anything, these guys are more in tune American indie music from the 1980s, which is still not ideal, but they do provide a lot of time to more contemporary genres like grime or stylistic approaches like mashup. So...they're apt to cover everybody from Leadbelly to Journey to Yoko Ono to Kanye West. And they're pretty funny or at least they like to think so, and hearing them laugh at their own jokes is surprisingly funny. It's a little bit like Car Talk but for rock'n'roll. If you're bored on a Sunday afternoon--but then again, why would you be bored? You have a life, do cool things, and know lots of people and are probably being profiled right now for Time Out as the vanguard of a new generation of with-it kids or something. In which case, you're probably not even reading this because you've got better things to do. Just forget about the whole thing.

Guide to Electronic Music
For those who listen to electronic dance music but have no idea what all those funny identifiers mean ("acid house," "techno," "breakbeat," "jungle," "trance," "hardcore," etc.), then this site provides an encyclopedic but palable guide to all of that. Basically, what this dude did was construct lineages for each subgenre and then attach music clips to each so not only can you tell where what came from, but also what it sounds like. It's all here. He also has some kind of "tutorial" which is meant to give you a basic history of what he calls "electronic" music but let's face it, his idea of electronic music is flawed, very post-1982-ish oriented when in fact, the history of electronic music stretches back to the 1930s. But that's just bickering. This is really a perfect guide for outsiders and insiders to get some insight (and outsight) to what the kids are talking about---or what the kids have been talking about for the last twenty years while you were thinking that listening to Rage Against the Machine was the cutting edge of political music. In fact, all of this enormous music was all politics and all fun, all at the same time.


Billy Joel
Speaking of cutting edge music, I must devote a little bit of my time on Billy Joel. I hold no particular animus towards Mr. Joel, having enjoyed a few of his choice melodies while a child in daycare. But the other day, I read the best opening line in a music review I've ever read. It goes like this: "Singling out the absolute worst Billy Joel song of all time is difficult work." I could never have put it better. Apparently, the man himself is in the midst of some massive sold out tour of gigantic stadiums where children by the millions wait for him. I don't have any problem with the teeming millions flocking to hear "You May Be Right" or those standing by their phones to buy tickets to the horror of horrors, an entire Broadway musical dedicated to the music of Billy Joel, Movin' Out. But.... I do have to agree that it's a long, difficult, and extremely painful road to pick out The Worst Fucking Billy Joel Song Of All Time. There are just so many. So many. The reviewer at the Village Voice says it's a tie between "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" and "Only the Good Die Young." However, as bad as those songs are, I would argue that "We Didn't Start the Fire" ranks up there. Either way, I invite Fred readers to vote for The Worst Fucking Billy Joel Song Of All Time. I know it will be difficult, and it will be a tribulation of sorts to think about all this, but just think of future generations, how much of a favor we will be doing them by making a canonical list, one which everyone can use as a guide to avoid a certain kind of pain too horrific to describe.

Prince: "Black Sweat" [video]
New Prince song is the weirdist shit from him in ages. Strange beats, clanging on the dance floor, a synth that is out of some alien computer game. Has he returned to the netherworld of genius and innovation that bequeathed us Purple Rain and Sign O'The Times? Or is this just a blip on the long slide down into easy listening? Check it out.

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