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2009.01.05

Question of the week: I don't know; you ask me

This was fun to do last time I had so much going on that I had no time to think. So go ahead -- ask me a question.

Posted at 07:50 by Tad Dickens | Category: question of the week | 15 Comments

15 Comments »

I'm now officially old and can't keep up with new music and bands. I grew up on good ol' Rock n Roll - Beatles, Stones, Allmans, Who, Kinks, etc. Anybody out there today playing catchy, slightly heavy music?

Comment by Chris — January 6, 2009 @ 8:49 am
To Chris... sadly, they are broken up now... but Sweeden's Hellacopters and their former guitarist's band Backyard Babies are two of my favorites... Hellacopters are more Stonesy punkesque music, while The Babies are more Glam... both worth listening to.

To Tad...

Why do music writers think that by adding -sy or -esque onto band or genre names that it makes them more able to communicate their meaning?

Comment by Brooks — January 6, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
and yes, I do know that Sweden only has the two e's.

Comment by Brooks — January 6, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
-sy and esque. I've probably been guilty of using one or the other of those, though I try hard to avoid it. When you'd like to write five column inches about an act, and you have only one or two column inches of space, they can help. It's still lazy, though.

Chris, are you talking local or national acts? Locally, I've been liking this band Affliction Kid.

Comment by Tad — January 6, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Brooks and Tad, is using those suffixes lazy, or lazy-esque? Surely they can still legitimately be used to differentiate the real thing from something that only resembles or suggests the real thing, as long as the rest of the reference avoids bullsh*t. Brooks' point is well taken about how they have been devalued by rampant and idiotic overuse, but I would also point out that musicians and bands have been as guilty of this as writers, in seeking to claim stylistic affiliation while avoiding comparison. That is where the process CAN become really absurd, as in the old vaudeville joke that Jon Stewart still occasionally uses: "Is he a Jew? Or just Jew-ish"?

Comment by Pete — January 6, 2009 @ 8:10 pm
Tad, what was your favorite song of 2008?

Comment by Quinn — January 6, 2009 @ 11:46 pm
First, let me say that when I'm on this blog, sometimes I feel like Larry King on Quaaludes, or in the parlance of an olden time, disco biscuits. I get so busy, sometimes I'm practically spitting up stuff on these comments. So, sorry Chris -- I gave your question short shrift.
Affliction Kid is a fine local act, but they are probably heavier than what you are looking for. Still, it's a good act, and you should check it out.

Royal Greens (plenty of good classic rock influences), Bastards of Fate (kind of heavy sometimes, kind of quirky, too) and Crobar Cane (for the Allmans' side of things) come to mind from the local scene.

Nationally, I have to admit I have not paid detailed attention to new bands out there, unless they're coming to play in Roanoke. Otherwise, I don't have much time to dig in.

But from what I've heard this year, I would highly recommend you check out Alejandro Escovedo's "Real Animal." Great rock record with killer lyrics. Also, I am really anticipating Derek Trucks Band's upcoming "Already Free."

Comment by Tad — January 7, 2009 @ 10:52 am
Pete, my favorite is when publicists use "sy" and "esque" to describe they acts they're pitching, then you talk to the artists, and they don't feel at all like those comparisons fit.

Comment by Tad — January 7, 2009 @ 10:55 am
Quinn, my favorite song of '08 is coming through my headphones as we speak. It's called "Scapegoat Blues" and it's on the Jimmy Herring CD, "Lifeboat." Personnel: Herring and Bobby Lee Rodgers on guitars, Oteil Burbridge on bass, Kofi Burbridge on Hammond-style organ and Jeff "Apt. Q-258" Sipe on drums. It's post-Dixie Dregs jazz rock, and it's loaded. Herring and K. Burbridge take killer leads, and Sipe takes advantage of drum-break time at the end.
Sorry man. I'm a geek.

Comment by Tad — January 7, 2009 @ 10:59 am
I liked The Raconteurs release last year, 'Consolers of the Lonely.'
Mixes heavier songs with some bluesier rock,and a few bare bones acoustic numbers.They also incorporate guitars, horns, keyboards, and violin on a lot of the songs.Surprisingly well,too.
You could hear a lot of Beatles and Zeppelin influence on their first CD, which I liked as well, but this one is a more solid album.
I mention all this because the original poster seemed to be looking for music akin to classic rock and roll and I feel The Raconteurs are a good,modern band mixing the old and the new.

Currently I've been digging on Los Campesinos' CD 'Hold On Now,Youngster...' but it is decidedly more quirky indie pop stuff. Still some good guitar playing on it though.

I'm a big Hellacopters fan as well.

I don't know exactly what you're looking for,Chris,but as far as
finding new bands to get into, I sometimes have good luck by going to websites that review new music and then going to the band's myspace website to check out a few songs for free and see if I like them enough to purchase the CD.
There's a lot of new music constantly coming out and it can be really hard to keep up with and wade through all of the crap to find good stuff.

Thanks for the mention,Tad!! We're mixing 4 new songs, and adding keyboard to 1 of them, next weekend that we're really happy with.
We'll put a couple of the tunes up on myspace in a few weeks and the others will go towards a new CD we hope to have out by summer's end.

Comment by Dylan — January 7, 2009 @ 1:26 pm
Good choices, Dylan, though I have to say I am unfamiliar with Los Campesinos. I'll have to check that out.
Looking forward to hearing the new stuff, man.

Comment by Tad — January 7, 2009 @ 4:38 pm
Speaking of the Raconteurs, http://www.bonnaroo.com/ has streamed the first song of that band's '08 Roo set. It's a killer version of "Consoler of the Lonely." Live, this reminds me of Led Zeppelin. Obviously, this is a great band to see live.

Within the next few days, Bonnaroo site members (sign-up is free) can get the full concert stream for free.

Thanks to Dean Browell, for the tweet that made me aware.

Comment by Tad — January 7, 2009 @ 5:02 pm
Yeah Tad, Los Campesinos' 'Hold On Now, Youngster' is an interesting album worth checking out. Their song "It's You, It's Me, And It's Dancing!" is one of the most infectious songs of the last year.

Comment by Quinn — January 7, 2009 @ 5:11 pm
I think it fair to note that, rather than making an actual "point" as writer-types like to refer to it, I was merely making fun of myself for using "-sy" and "-esque" in my initial response to Chris' question. I use them all the time, to my detriment, I guess. The point is well noted that promo people certainly overuse these types of comparisons to push acts on to unsuspecting music fans.

Comment by Brooks — January 7, 2009 @ 5:26 pm
Writery. Reporteresque.

Comment by Tad — January 7, 2009 @ 5:54 pm