If Six Was Nine

Saturday, January 31, 2004

David Bowie concert: So effing awesome!

I saw David Bowie in concert at the HP Pavilion (aka "The Shark Tank") in San Jose on Tuesday. David was nothing short of brilliant. And gorgeous, romantic, and versatile. I attended with my own David - David Duman - and we got to hear nearly all "our" Bowie songs performed by the man himself. I'm glad I took advantage of this opportunity to tack yet another legend onto my lifetime concert list (joining Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, and AC/DC). In addition to maintaining his figure, he's retained the quality of his characteristic voice, no less than 36 years after his first album. The highlight of the show (aside from his sassy banter) was indisputably David's duet with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, who handled Freddy Mercury's vocals on "Under Pressure" as if the part were written for her. I guarantee not a forearm in the house was sans-goosebumps.

Here's the set list:
(orig. release date - orig. album appearance)

Rebel Rebel (1974 - Diamond Dogs)
New Killer Star (2003 - Reality [most recent album, hence "Reality Tour])
Reality (2003 - Reality)
Fame (1975 - Young Americans)
Cactus (2002 - Heathon [Pixies cover])
All The Young Dudes (Written by Bowie for 1972 album by Mott the Hoople)
China Girl (1983 - Let's Dance)
I've Been Waiting For You (Neil Young cover [so awesome!!!])
Days (2003 - Reality)
The Man Who Sold The World (1971 - The Man Who Sold the World)
Afraid (2002 - Heathon)
Fall Dog Bombs The Moon (2003 - Reality)
The Loneliest Guy (2003 - Reality)
Hang On To Yourself (1971 - released by Bowie under name Arnold Corns)
Hallo Spaceboy (1995 - 1. Outside)
Sunday (2002 - Heathon)
Under Pressure (1981 - single)
Life On Mars? (1973 - Hunky Dory)
Never Get Old (2003 - Reality)
Ashes To Ashes (1980 - Scary Monsters…And Super Creeps)
White Light, White Heat (Velvet Underground cover)
I'm Afraid Of Americans (1995 - Showgirls soundtrack)
"Heroes" (1977 - Heroes)
(encore)
Bring Me The Disco King (2003 - Reality)
Five Years (1972 - Ziggy Stardust)
Suffragette City (1972 - Ziggy Stardust)
Ziggy Stardust (1972 - Ziggy Stardust)

For those keeping track, that's a mean release date of 1987.6, a median of 1983, and a mode of 2003. There exists always a battle between a legend playing familiar tunes versus incorporating new songs, but I was very pleased with the result. Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of his post-1981 work, but there have been a few gems from Bowie's last three years of productivity ("Days," example). And it just so happens that I can't stand the songs "Suffragette City" or "Rebel Rebel." I'd argue that old crappy songs are no better than new crappy songs; the audience just knows the lyrics to the former.

It was a delightful experience to see David Bowie live. Without hesitation I'd Rebeccommend the show to any of his fans. Especially if your boyfriend's parents gave you the tickets for Christmas.

Rebecca C. Brown 10:47 PM

Monday, January 26, 2004

Good Boys

The video for Blondie's new single can be seen here. I'm not sure if I'm keen on the song yet, but it's interesting to see where a new wave band like that ends up a few decades later.
Paul 2:42 PM

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Another "What do the candidates like" story

This time, the Associated Press asked around.

The rock fans are Wesley Clark, who likes Journey's "Greatest Hits"; Sen. John Edwards, "The Essential Bruce Springsteen"; and Sen. John Kerry, the Beatles' "Abbey Road."

Howard Dean singled out the music of Grammy-winning hip-hop singer Wyclef Jean. Rep. Dennis Kucinich chose country's Willie Nelson (who has endorsed him), and Al Sharpton favored gospel's Yolanda Adams. Sen. Joe Lieberman's favorite album is "Sueno," by classical Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

Fascinating. Edwards and Clark favor greatest hits collections, while Kerry goes for one of the great album albums. Does this mean that the former two are more "song"-types, while the latter is an "album" type? Do we want a President with a short or long attention span?

Lastly, a prediction based on this report: If General Clark wins the nomination, after his convention speech, the balloon-drop will be accompanied by "Don't Stop Believing", but not the whole song, just the chorus over and over and over again. Which I guess isn't a problem.

(link via atrios)
Bren 10:57 AM

Saturday, January 17, 2004

I love Rock 'n' Roll

If you are looking for an extra unit to pick up this semester, consider Rock & Roll: 195?-1975, Thursdays 4-6 in 201 Giannini. Courtesy of our friendly neighborhood De-Cal.

Also, we have been asked to plug the third semesterly ASUC Bookswap, Jan 20-21, 11AM-3PM on Sproul Plaza. It might be a nice place to find cheap ethnomusicology books :)
Camille 4:51 PM

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Cranking it to a perpetual 11

I took a quarter-long electronic music class a couple of years ago, from which I learned a lot. However, though I recognized their usefulness, I wasn't into using tools for compression and peak-limiting, as I thought they would excessively blunt the dynamics of my compositions.

It seems, however, that the major labels may not share such qualms.

The January issue of Wired has a short but interesting article by Rip Rowan on the record labels' sorry practice of sacrificing sound quality for sheer volume.

The labels' assumption is that what you hear, you buy - and deafening tunes are hard to ignore. So how do you make a CD louder when it holds only 16 bits of audio? Engineers use compressors and limiters to reduce the distance between a song's peaks and valleys and then raise the average signal level. Done well, this can boost the volume without sacrificing punch, definition, or clarity.

Thing is, it's usually done poorly...

Rowan goes on to include some visuals, comaring the audio signals of ACDC's "Back In Black" (a famous "loud" recording done prior to the modern practice of excessive peak limiting), Beck's "The New Pollution" (an example of modern techniques executed well), and Celine Dion's "I Drove All Night" (modern techniques badly done).

I think it was Andy who, in the comments to a prior post, stated that you need to listen to the Darkness really loud to "get it". Apparently the labels think the same goes for Celine Dion.

(link via Mark Anderson's monthly Music & Media Newsletter)
Bren 12:51 PM

Wednesday, January 07, 2004

If this is true, it's just indescribably tasteless.

A doctor forced a weakened George Harrison to autograph a guitar for the physician's teenage son two weeks before the ex-Beatle died of cancer, a lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges.

Filed by Harrison's estate, the suit alleges that the musician tried to resist the request by saying, "I do not even know if I know how to spell my name anymore."

The suit alleges that Dr. Gilbert Lederman responded by saying, "Come on, you can do this," and held Harrison's hand as the musician wrote his name on the guitar "with great effort and much obvious discomfort."

Lederman's denial, interestingly, wasn't categorical:

"This lawsuit is strictly allegations. Frankly, I think it's absurd," Lederman's attorney, Wayne Roth, said Tuesday. "He didn't coerce Mr. Harrison."

So, at best tacky, at worst...ugh.

Now, I can't fault the guy for having the initial inclination to ask for an autograph - I mean, we're talking about the coolest member of the coolest band in the world, here. I'd like to think, though, that I'd resist the urge to pressure a dying man to do me a favor like that. It's just inappropriate and unfair.

Update: According to Josh Marshall (who I didn't think usually covered stuff like this), Dr. Lederman "has already been fined by the New York State Health Department for discussing Harrison's final days with the press without permission." He also points to a more unpleasant account of the story from the New York Times.

Paul 9:19 AM

Monday, January 05, 2004

A Gratefully Undead New Years

This is how I spent the last hours of 2003 and the initial portion of 2004.

It was my first Dead-related show since June of 1995, two months before what was the Saddest Day Of My Life (tm) at the time. Though that's not entirely accurate, as I saw Phil Lesh & Friends from above the Greek Theater in June of 2002, being a cheapskate and all.

I had long been reluctant to attend a post-Dead Dead show for quite a while. (For those who don't know, four of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead reunited a few years back as "The Other Ones", and they now call themselves "The Dead") I was worried that the flow and focus of the band's signature improvisation would be diminished without the bearded, 9-fingered one. I was worried that the on-stage product would seem artificial. I was worried that new member Joan Osborne -- yes, that Joan Osborne -- would stick out like a sore thumb. And I was worried that nobody would show up.

In the end, only one of those four worries would be justified.

First, the setlist:

Set 1:
Let the Good Times Roll
Jack Straw (hell yeah)
Peggy-O
Weather Report, Parts 1 &2 (another hell yeah)
Ruben & Cherise
I Know You Rider

Set 2:
(new years countdown)
Sugar Magnolia (woohoo!)
St. Stephen
The Eleven
Born Cross-Eyed
Mountains of the Moon
Dark Star
drums & space
Playing in the Band
The Wheel

Set 3:
It Must Have Been the Roses
Help On the Way / Slipknot!
Truckin

The song selection was outstanding, I couldn't ask for much more. Well, nevermind, I could (Stella Blue, Throwing Stones, and others), but the setlist was solid. The execution, however, was hit and miss.

Without Jerry around, a variety of solutions were implemented to compensate. "...Roses" featured Joan taking the lead vocal, which worked out pretty well. She did a great job throughout the concert, not showing up the band, and adding a dimension to the band that had been missing since the late 70's, the last time they had a regular female singer.

Phil took some of Jerry's more delicate vocal solos. (Dark Star, St Stephen, and others) Ugh. I'm sorry, I can't fault him for trying, but it's really not the same.

Some of the instrumental jams were, to be polite, meandering. Actually, they were frustratingly unfocused, as if a tribute band were trying to replicate them. Bob Weir is a blues-rocker who is ill-suited for leading psychadelic interludes. Bob's best emulation of Jerry was his new scruffy beard.

Speaking of emulating Jerry, that was the job of lead guitarist Jimmy Herring (who formerly worked with Musselwhite and others). Sonically, his imitation was dead-on (no pun intended). He only faltered in two respects. First, sometimes he played a bit too fast and un-Jerry-like. And second, there's just no replacing the big guy's presence in the middle there. (Herring stood off on far stage left)

All that being said, there was a lot to like.

The overall sound of the show was exactly as I remembered it, and all the memories came rushing back. The Oakland Arena was filled pretty high (again, no pun intended) with a lot of the same concert-goers from back in the day, such as the famous "guy with the Deaddybear suit that lights up" and others. And section 117 was as tripped out as it's ever been, very fun to watch.

Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzman are outstanding and thoroughly underappreciated percussionists. There, I said it.

And hey, who was that guy playing some rudimentary percussion during "Sugar Magnolia"? It was former NBA player, and now annoying NBA commentator Bill Walton! For those who might not know, Bill is a longtime Deadhead who also helped design the Dead-themed basketball shirts for the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic team.

All in all, no regrets at all about going to the show, a fine time for New Years. And how was 2004 rung in? With a big spaceship and a giant drum, that's how! Hart and Walton counted down the last ten seconds with the drum, followed by the requisite balloon drop. Good stuff.
Bren 4:19 PM

Friday, January 02, 2004

The Best Albums Of 2003

And now, the second installment of our year-end best-of poll, the results for the best albums of the year:

Album	Artist	Points	Mentions
1. Hail To The Thief	Radiohead	35	(3)
2. Room On Fire	The Strokes	26	(4)
3. Permission To Land	The Darkness	25	(4)
4. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below	OutKast	22	(3)
5. HoboSapiens	John Cale	13	(1)
5. Want One	Rufus Wainwright	13	(2)
7. De-Loused In The Comatorium	The Mars Volta	12	(1)
7. Thirteenth Step	A Perfect Circle	12	(1)
9. Transatlanticism	Death Cab For Cutie	11	(1)
10. Electric Version	The New Pornographers	10	(1)
10. Everything Must Go	Steely Dan	10	(1)
10. Give up	The Postal Service	10	(2)
13. Antidote	Rockwell Church	9	(1)
14. Dodir	Kran	8	(1)
14. Holy Roller Novacaine	Kings Of Leon	8	(1)
14. I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness	I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness	8	(1)
14. Live At Sin-E	Jeff Buckley	8	(1)
18. Folklore	Nelly Furtado	6	(1)
18. Love Is Hell, Pt. 2	Ryan Adams	6	(1)
18. Missing The Earth	Alla	6	(1)
21. Elephant	The White Stripes	5	(2)
21. Liz Phair	Liz Phair	5	(1)
23. Beneath These Fireworks	Matt Nathanson	4	(1)
23. Rock N Roll	Ryan Adams	4	(1)
25. Make Up The Breakdown	Hot Hot Heat	3	(1)
25. Welcome Interstate Managers	Fountains Of Wayne	3	(1)
27. 12 Memories	Travis	2	(1)
27. Fire	Electric Six	2	(1)
27. How The West Was Won	Led Zeppelin	2	(1)
27. On & On	Jack Johnson	2	(1)
27. Take Them On, On Your Own	Black Rebel Motorcycle Club	2	(1)
27. The Wind	Warren Zevon	2	(1)
33. I Believe In A Thing Called Love	The Darkness	1	(1)
33. It Still Moves	My Morning Jacket	1	(1)
33. World Without Tears	Lucinda Williams	1	(1)

For some interesting comparison and reference, check out Metacritic's Best of 2003 page, complete with metascores and top ten lists from magazines and individual critics.
Paul 2:57 PM

Thursday, January 01, 2004

The Best Songs Of 2003

I'm pleased to bring you the results of our year-end best-of poll. The first installment of results will consist of the results for the best songs of the year. Incidentally, while all If Six contributors participated, nobody else sent in any votes. A pity, that. There also wasn't much consensus - no song got votes from more than two voters. (There was more consensus in the "best albums" category, as you will see soon, probably tomorrow.)

Song	Artist	Points	Mentions
1. There There	Radiohead	22	(2)
2. Hey Ya!	OutKast	20	(2)
3. Stacy's Mom	Fountains of Wayne	17	(2)
4. A Wolf At The Door	Radiohead	15	(1)
5. I Believe In A Thing Called Love	The Darkness	13	(2)
6. Get Your Hands Off My Woman	The Darkness	12	(1)
7. The Outsider	A Perfect Circle	11	(1)
8. Between Love And Hate	The Strokes	10	(1)
9. Lonelily	Damien Rice	9	(1)
9. Runnin' (Dying To Live)	Tupac f/ The Notorious B.I.G.	9	(1)
9. The Way You Move	OutKast	9	(1)
9. Things	John Cale	9	(1)
13. Where Is The Love	Black Eyed Peas f/ Justin Timberlake	9	(1)
14. House Of Jealous Lovers	The Rapture	7	(1)
14. Seven Nation Army	The White Stripes	7	(1)
16. Hands Down	Dashboard Confessional	6	(1)
16. Magazines	Brand New	6	(1)
16. Roses	OutKast	6	(1)
19. So Alive	Ryan Adams	5	(1)
20. 12:51	The Strokes	4	(1)
20. Automatic Stop	The Strokes	4	(1)
20. Bad Day	R.E.M.	4	(2)
20. Go Or Go Ahead	Rufus Wainwright	4	(1)
20. The Scientist	Coldplay	4	(1)
20. You Dance	EastMountainSouth	4	(1)
26. Danger! High Voltage	Electric Six	3	(1)
27. Any Road	George Harrison	2	(1)
28. Dance Commander	Electric Six	1	(1)
28. Obstacle 1	Interpol	1	(1)
28. Stay Or Leave	Dave Matthews	1	(1)
28. Under Control	The Strokes	1	(1)
28. Waitin' On A Sunny Day	Bruce Springsteen	1	(1)

Paul 3:51 PM