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Soundr - rough sounds for your ears

What makes a song … good?

I’ve pondered this question over the years and have not come to a good conclusion. The best I can say is this: Sometimes it’s the lyrics; sometimes it’s the music; sometimes it’s both; and sometimes it’s neither.

Terrible answer, huh?

DBT


Let me give you some examples. Here is a verse from “Self Destructive Zones” by Drive By Truckers:

The hippies rode a wave putting smiles on faces,
that the devil wouldn’t even put a shoe
Caught between a generation dying from its habits,
and another thinking rock and roll was new
Till the pawn shops were packed like a backstage party,
hanging full of pointy ugly cheap guitars
And the young'uns all turned to karaoke,
hanging all they're wishes upon disregarded stars
If you know the song, you’ll know that the music is … ok. A simple 4/4 rocker in the key of G. Nothing special. But I love this verse. It speaks volumes, no? In a clever, almost poetic way. Great song.

lc2


Same thing goes for this verse from “Hallelujah” from Lenord Cohen. As you all know, it is not always pleasant to listen to Lenny’s voice, but damn, this is a great lyric:
Now I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Wow. Fantastic. Poetic.

For songs where music makes it, think about Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”. Lyrics are almost unintelligible gibberish. But listen to the terrific riffs and various sections (a suite, if you will). Powerful, sweet, and brilliant musicianship
( Really Long Link
Really Long Link )

Another great example of this is Dylan’s “Buckets of Rain”. Lyrics that border on absurd, but a terrific finger-picked chord progression in Open E tuning.


For an example of the “neither” case, we can look at Dylan’s “Knocking On Heaven’s Door”. Lyric-wise, there are only a couple of vague lines. Musically, a simple key of G strummer. But a song that is adored (and covered) extensively.



For a song with “Both”, Iron & Wine’s “Sodom South Georgia” comes to mind. Devastating lyrics; A unique chord progression deftly played with lots of walking bass notes. It has the whole package.

Anyway, I think I’ve rambled enough on a topic with no real conclusion…
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Usually, I write about music related topics, but I thought I’d share a couple off topic ramblings (if you don’t mind). Here goes.

EQ
SoCal EQ


SoCal EQ

Yesterday (July 29, 2008) we had a good-sized earthquake; it registered as a 5.4 of the scale. This was the first in a long while that I really felt (since Northridge in the early 1990’s). It kinda felt like standing on Jello for a minute or that feeling you get after being on a boat all day then stand on dry land – a little wobbly.

No significant damage, injuries or other consequences, which is good. In fact, this earthquake left me with a very satisfied feeling. Let me explain:

I am a structural engineer by profession here in Southern California. That means I literally think about earthquakes every day. However, since they occur so infrequently, my work rarely gets tested, so to speak. To see a decent sized earthquake roll through with negligible damage, I gotta admit: I feel good. The system works. This same sized quake in a less developed (or concerned) location would have spelled disaster.


Comic-Con 2008

As many of you are probably aware, every year San Diego plays host to Comic-Con – the largest comic book / sci-fi / nerd-o-rama convention in the world. It has become a spectacle over the years with Hollywood touting its latest products.

This is the first year I have attended and I was not disappointed. There was a little something for everyone. From Nickelodeon kids stuff, to Japanese anime, to obscure toy makers like Kidrobot, to Dark Horse comics, to Mattel, to adult swim, to Sony Pictures, to …

Great preview type stuff (James Bond, Star Wars, etc.), as well as, fantastic people watching (may favorite costumed attendee was a spot-on Molotov Cocktease from the Venture Brothers) and other odd stuff around every corner: we saw dudes dressed up in LotR gear fencing! The wife and I even got an autograph from Jonathon “Riker” Frakes of “Next Generation” Fame.

The whole convention is overwhelming. It is so large you cannot do / see it all in one day. Not only is the main floor area huge; but there are side rooms with presentations, shows, panel discussions, autographs, …

If you are a fanboy of anything, you really gotta try to make it to this event. It is too fun.

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It’s gotta be Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, no?

d1
Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks


From the melancholy “Tangled Up in Blue” …
to the heartbreaking “Simple Twist of Fate” …
to the condescending “You’re a Big Girl Now” …
to the angry “Idiot Wind” (is there a meaner song? … maybe “Diamonds and Rust”) …
to the sweet and heartfelt “You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” …
to the sad “If You See Her, Say Hello” …
to the hopefulness of “Shelter From the Storm” …
to the metaphoric “Buckets of Rain” …


I can think of no other LP that so encompasses all the wide array of emotions involved in a breakup. Even the throwaways like “Lily” seem like purposeful distractions to try and get your mind on something – anything – else.

A small confession: I am a little biased; I love Dylan. His folky early stuff; the eclectic / electric mid-60s stuff, the Rolling Thunder era, even some of the post conversion(s) stuff is good, too. But nothing compares to Blood. It is the perfect LP. Great lyrics than run the gamut from beautiful:

Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair.
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns.
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm."


To absurd:

Little red wagon
Little red bike
I ain't no monkey but I know what I like.
I like the way you love me strong and slow,
I'm takin' you with me, honey baby,
When I go.


And musically the record is very beautiful. Sparse arrangements, sly guitar work (check the descending bass line in “Twist”), and adventurous tuning (most songs in Open E).

Anyone have other LP’s they think can match Blood?
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Fir those players out there, I just thought I'd share a few of my favorite guitar related websites.


[ Click here to read more ]
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Swapped Tuners (pics inside)

July 15th 2008 02:37
This was something I've been wanting to do for a while. I never like the clunky gold Grovers on my J-45RW. So I finally took the plunge after settling on a set of tuners I liked. I hemmm and hawwwed over the choice of replacements for a while. I settles on TonePros Kluson TPKBW-N 3X3 Vintage Tuners. I wanted the traditional white button look of vintage J-45 and these seemed like the best fit.

Installation was a snap. Post hole was identical and bottom screw very close. Only the top one had to be added. No big deal. Took less than an hour. Recommended for novices wanted to tinker (this was my first tuner swap / install


[ Click here to read more ]
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I know, I know. A "best of" list is a little cliché. But the ‘00’s have produced some great music. And I think it is important for us to review and reflect and the quality work that has been produced recently. One cannot live on Zeppelin records forever.


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I have to admit: I have mixed feelings about Guitar Hero (the video game).

First off, it is clearly silly, isn’t it? Substituting a virtual world instead of joining the Real World (like blogging, right?). It reminds me of a joke from the Simpsons (I’ll paraphrase). Homer asks Bart if he wants to go play catch and Bart refuses. He would rather play a video game. The game he is engaged with: Father / Son Catch. Too funny


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Copy Protected CDs? What's Next??

July 6th 2008 01:12
I just picked up the Best of Radiohead CD.

Best of Radiohead
WIsh You Were Here

[ Click here to read more ]
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E=m(indie_music_cred)2

July 4th 2008 15:33
It is odd how relative things can be. Not just in the physical universe (as Al E. taught us), but in the qualitative human world, as well. Take “indie music cred”, for example.

I like to think of myself as somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to under the radar type music. After all, I own CDs from Gillian Welch, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Son Volt, Andrew Bird, Old 97’s, Elliot Smith, Wilco, Ben Harper, Jayhawks and others of their stature: great bands/artists that never get played on (non-satellite) radio. None of my co-workers, for example, have ever heard of any of these bands. In fact, most of them think Ryan Adams is the dude who did “Summer of ‘69” and “Run to You


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A TV set full of Metal

June 27th 2008 23:44
Metalocalypse might be the best show about music ever.

dk
Best (fake) Band Ever!?!

[ Click here to read more ]
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