Anti-Climacus

MUSIC-RELATED LINKS: Because the last few days have been particularly good that way:

*Via Norm, I see this collection of overrated albums. It's a little silly, an excuse for musicians to complain about things they generally don't like. Alex Kapranos of the seminal rock group Franz Ferdinand tries to take down Television by pointing out:

"Really, though, they're a band who give guys who like 20-minute guitar solos an excuse. They were the Grateful Dead of punk, and I always hated all that jam-band stuff. They have the ethos of a jam-band but the aesthetic of a New York outfit."

Unsurprisingly, a band that makes no secret of liking the Grateful Dead will occasionally sound a bit like them (if by 'a bit' you mean 'not at all, unless Grateful Dead just means 'long guitar solo' to you'), and I, at least, am prepared to argue that what made American punk between 1975-1977 so very interesting was how it went to a number of un-punk sources for inspiration. I do agree with the guy from Scritti Politti taking down the Arcade Fire, however: if you look at how those songs are constructed, they rely on the same few basic tricks over and over again. Affecting, sure, but not exactly groundbreaking. Norm also uses the occasion of this article to express his disinterest in the Stone Roses and Nick Drake. I can take or leave the latter's first and last albums, but Bryter Layter is almost perfect, front to back.

*Stylus takes on the Blur v. Oasis dilemma. Normally, I would have little hope for the exercise, but Stylus found an ingenious way out: assign someone to write the article who appears to not particularly like either band. That's how you get brilliance like this, in the "Self-Started Record Label" category:

"After Creation Records folded in 1999, the Gallaghers set up Big Brother Recordings to handle their releases in the UK. The first release on this label was “Go Let It Out,” and all Oasis recordings since have been through Big Brother. This means, in terms of average quality, Big Brother is the second worst record label ever. There are two non-Oasis releases on the label. One, “Playground Superstar,” a Happy Mondays single that you have never heard. Two, the soundtrack to Goal!, a movie that features TITUS BRAMBLE. And after that display of big power from “Bomber Bramble,” they still cast Daniel Craig as Bond. Fools.

Graham Coxon also released his solo material originally through his vanity label, Transcopic. Thankfully he also found time to put on such memorable early ‘00s acts as Ooberman and the Buff Medways..."

*And, of course, Dead Flowers, which you should be visiting regularly, for their Bob Dylan 10-song introduction (an inspired use of an mp3 blog, I have to say; their post on The Libertines converted me from a passive listener to a fan), and their OK Computer anniversary post. On the former, I can only quibble with the omission of Dylan's late-60s work; Blonde on Blonde is not really for beginners, but something from Nashville Skyline, perhaps? Also, I have to represent for "From a Buick 6" and "Queen Jane Approximately," as they were the first Dylan songs I liked because I actually thought they were good, as opposed to having been told they were good.

On the OK Computer post, well, I wouldn't call it the best album of all time, but it holds up very well. For me, Radiohead hit their peak with the "Airbag/How Am I Driving?" EP; this was, as I recall, the period of serious pre-millennial tension in Britain, and it looked for a moment like Radiohead would lead us boldly into the future. What we got instead was Kid A, and a bunch of albums I can only sort of remember (including the one sent to me by an old ex-girlfriend over email before it was commercially released). Apart from Pearl Jam,** it'd be hard to name a band that so thoroughly set about bringing themselves into obscurity.

*The Cardigans? Why not.

*Also, I just discovered that I somehow have a cd of Blur's 13 that's in the wrong order. Starting the album with "Tender" seems a lot like starting with "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands;" "Trailerpark" does seem like a better option.

**Maybe R.E.M., a good case-study in squandering the goodwill of your audience