Dane D. Lion's Music Den ##############
Abebe: important retraction / note on camp
The first time I wrote about Lana Del Rey, in a column, a few months back, I said I was pleased that when she invoked the name “Lolita,” she actually seemed to be talking about something like the character in the novel, and not whatever strange mincing porny thing people use that name to refer to today.
Now, having heard her song “Lolita,” I would like to apologize and mostly retract that.
I wrote a review of her album for Vulture, findable here. I suppose the bullet points are as follows: It’s a so-so moody pop record that stumbles around a bit, and there are things about Del Rey’s attempt to pull off a persona that are campily interesting and/or poignant, and a lot of it reminds me of Showgirls. I have many more thoughts and feelings about related topic,* but I’m sure there’s more than enough to read about this artist at the moment, so I’ll save the bulk of them for another time.
Except for one thing. One novel I really adore is Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman. It’s about two prisoners, in Argentina, sharing a cell: Molina’s there because he’s gay, and accused of corrupting a minor; Valentin’s there because he’s a leftist revolutionary. Through most of the novel, Molina is recounting to Valentin, from memory, the plots of films he loves. He has a keen memory for the sensual, glamorous, swooning side of them.
One of the films he recounts is, essentially, a Nazi propaganda thriller, and he describes the things in it the way the film sees them — at some point, he’s describing all the beautiful, masculine German soldiers marching through Paris. This annoys Valentin, who challenges him on it. And Molina’s answer, as I remember it, is to just let the issue pass for a moment, and appreciate the type of beauty that this film, right or wrong, is trying to offer at that moment.
And that issue, the thing that’s contested between them at that moment, has more to do with “camp” than laughing at things because you think they’re bad — to me, camp is always about seeing some overblown proposition of what beauty is, and knowing that the fundamentals behind it, the belief system it grew out of, is defunct or rotten or collapsed. It’s like a touchingly grand expression of a belief that has no worthwhile purchase on the world.
“Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)” - A Flock of Seagulls
Anthony Gonzalez, Daniel Lopatin, and I don’t think this band is a joke.
(Source: youtube.com)
The collecting of cultural objects can satisfy any number of needs, among which snobbery may not be the most important. Here is a tentative list:
1. The need to make beauty and pleasure permanent.
2. The need to comprehend beauty.
3. The need to distinguish oneself as a consumer.
4. The need to belong.
5. The need to impress others, or oneself.
2011 Lists: My 25 Favorite Songs of the Year!
I’m not going to pontificate about the year in music, 2011, before listing my favorite 25 songs. I’ll just say that I really enjoyed a lot of music this year - more so than 2010’s yield. The 25 songs in my list are “pop” in structure, with vocals and melodies, no matter their genre. I have chosen not to write new commentary for songs included in my 2011.5 list. After the list, I run down my favorite electronic tracks and a couple other notes for posterity. Lastly, the art above is by Oliver Laric and it’s part of a series entitled Missile Variations.
25. “Messes” - David Bazan
24. “Believer” - John Maus: Read/watch this guy’s interviews and have your mind blown. Or, just listen to his music.
23. “Rigamortus” - Kendrick Lamar: I can’t think of a more technically impressive rap performance this year.
22. “County Line” - Cass McCombs
21. “You With Air” - Young Magic: Timbaland would be proud. I’m surprised this song didn’t get huge this year.
20. “The Party” - The Weeknd / “Nature Feels” - Frank Ocean: Two sides of the coin. Both of these guys can effectively flip an indie track. I don’t want to like The Weeknd because of the project’s lyrical bent, but the production is just too good to stop listening. Ocean’s original beats are quite lacking in comparison, but his soulfulness does not rely on his singing about his lack of a soul.
19. “Regent’s Court” - The Get Up Kids
18. “Long Boat Pass” - Tennis: A prolific band this year. I wonder what they’re going to do on their sophomore album next year. Filled the Vampire Weekend void for me.
17. “Sadness is a Blessing” - Lykke Li
16. “Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me)” - Ford & Lopatin
15. “The World (is Going Up in Flames)” - Charles Bradley
14. “The Wilhelm Scream” - James Blake: I just found out that this is a cover of a song Blake’s dad wrote. Blake has CHOPS (writing, playing, and producing) for days, but this song is probably one of the subtler moments on his eponymous album. Here’s a video I made for this song to display how Blake’s aesthetic deconstructs the meaning of the repetitious lyrics over the course of the song:
13. ”How Deep is Your Love?” - The Rapture: Another reason 2011 was the Year of the Sax Solo. Also, VERY tricky to use in a DJ set because it skips the last 16th of a measure here and there. Jerks.
12. “Calgary” - Bon Iver
11. “Otis (feat. Otis Redding)” - Kanye West & Jay-Z: So audacious!!! Who raps over such a beat? Seriously - have you noticed how ridiculous the beat is? It’s built from vocal vamp. I mean, Ghostface has rapped over R&B vocals (like in the last 2 bars of each turn, here) before, but not a beat made out of unchopped scat.
10. “Wildfire (Drake Remix)” - SBTRKT feat. Little Dragon: As much as I try to hate Drake, I’m a sucker for his flow if the track is right - and this track is righteous. Yukimi Nagano should receive 2011’s 6th Man award with all of the awesome session work she did on tracks this year.
9. “Polish Girl” - Neon Indian: 2011: Chillwave With a Vengeance. It had been a couple years since the summer of ‘09, when NI, Toro Y Moi, Washed Out, and other bedroom synth pop romantics first reverberated their nostalgic sounds. This year saw the return of most of these artists, and Alan Palomo seemed to care the least about switching it up. And, he, of the three aforementioned artists, made the most tuneful and immediate album.
8. “Swerve…” - Shabazz Palaces
7. “Last Night at the Jetty” - Panda Bear: These days, nobody writes a better harmony than Panda Bear.
6. “Honey Bunny” - Girls: See my post from earlier this year.
5. “Recollections of the Wraith” - Shabazz Palaces: Similar to this year’s Bon Iver album, Black Up took awhile for me to process. I think it’s because it doesn’t rely on familiar musical and lyrical tropes - there were very few short cuts into the unpacking of what was happening on the album. My breakthrough with this song was listening to it in the car at night. The song says, “Clear some space out, so we can space out.” This is a message to the listener - not some rhetorical, ironic play. Follow the directions and reap the deep inspiration.
4. “Down the Lane” - Royal Headache: 2011 led me down few musical paths that featured guitars. Fortunately, this song came along and kept my air guitar chops keen. Perfect rock’n’roll.
3. “I Never Learnt to Share” - James Blake
2. “Holocene” - Bon Iver: Bon Iver, the album, continues to grow on me. Each time I listen, I go deeper into the songs; however, my first few times through the album I could only hear the beautiful & varied production. This track, in particular, has a genius that keeps unfolding exponentially. Justin Vernon blows me away in that he can write a great tune, arrange it, and record it - with acuity. It’s no wonder that Kanye searched him out (see: his Rick Astley turn on the bridge in “That’s My Bitch” from Watch the Throne).
1. “Midnight City” - M83: “Hey guys. I’m going to make a song that uses an approximation of that yippie dog down the street as the hook. And Victoria’s Secret will use it in an ad.” Also features the greatest sing-along line of the year: “The city is my chuuuuu-urch!”
Artists to Honorably Mention: Toro Y Moi, Little Dragon, Holy Ghost!, Oddisee, Youth Lagoon, Purity Ring, and St. Vincent.
Favorite Electronic Songs of 2011
- “Ultra Thizz” - Rustie
- “Street Halo” - Burial
- “Come1” - Machine Drum
- “Natalia’s Song” - Zomby
- “Hip Love” - FaltyDL
- “Keys Open Doors” - Salva
- “Pencil Pimp” - Sepalcure
- “Coreshine Voodoo” - Lone
- “You Always Start It” - xxxy
- “Let You No” - Kingdom
Honorable Mention: Andy Stott - both of his 2011 EPs
Favorite Remixes of 2011
- “1nce Again (Loot Remix)” - A Tribe Called Quest
- “Ready for the World (xxxy Remix) - How to Dress Well
- “My Boo (Balam Acab Remix)” - Ghost Town DJs
Favorite Covers of 2011
- “I Wanted to Tell Her” - Holy Ghost! feat. Nancy Wang
- “Try a Little Tenderness” - Peter, Bjorn, and John
- “Is It True?” - Tennis
2011 Lists: My Favorite “Musical Things” of 2011
It’s funny how music fan-dom is often fun/rewarding/meaningful for reasons beyond the music. Heading into this year, I was feeling a little burnt-out as a listener & collector of music. Ostensively, we can listen to any song at any time. Have we reached the end of music history? In a realm where everything exists at once, is evaluation and classification moot? The only way to break out of my existential funk was to find ways to make music meaningful again. Here are ten “musical things” that helped make music meaningful for me in 2011 (in no particular order):
- The musical dialect & dialectic I share with my brother. Hosting and writing about his mixtape, Endless Weekend, is just a small example of our continuing conversations. See my essay from October for more details.
- The Lana Del Rey debate. Which side are you on? LDR prompts questions of artistic authority, the politics of image, authenticity, music stardom in a post-physical music market, indie vs. mainstream, Nabokov, and plastic surgery, just to name a few. I thought that the “rules” had been tossed out years ago: indie kids listen un-ironically to pop stars like Katy Perry, and no one bats an eye at the “provocative” lyrics of Kesha and “challenging” image of Lady Gaga. I was wrong, though. We/I still care about something(s), and Lana Del Rey has challenged this/these something(s). Please read Nitsuh Abebe’s superb essay about the topic on Pitchfork. Which side am I on? I am deeply bothered and annoyed by LDR’s aesthetic, voice, and “story,” which is a good thing. So, I guess I would say that I’m pro-LDR, but because her presence gives me something to ponder, debate, and/or hate. Also, I think “Video Games” is a ho-hum song. Lots of phrases sound poignant when set to reverbed-to-high-heaven, dramatic background tracks. Especially when they’re cooed like a baby. A 26-year old baby, with a millionaire father. Whose album is titled Born to Die, like that’s some kind of epiphany. Don’t get me started. Don’t EVEN get me started.
- Nitsuh Abebe’s music criticism. See above.
- Evan Eisenberg’s The Recording Angel. A birthday gift from Cy, this book is GENIUS. It’s a tough read (and I’m only halfway through it), but every couple of pages includes a brilliant metaphor or particularly astute analysis. From my current page, for example: “By finding and stimulating these exceptional performances and making them permanent objects, [ethnomusicologist Charles Seeger - Pete’s father, btw] and his good colleagues turned folk music into art music. And his bad colleagues, by taking the typical and making it rigid, turned folk music into popular music.”
- The Needle Drop. Anthony Fantano is the most cogent and dependable amateur (?) music critic I know. He is able to put words to my latent musical reactions and is quirky. He’s also serious and passionate about what he does - but not about himself.
- Robyn’s performances.
- Taran Killam’s imitation of Robyn.
- Brian Wilson’s release of the original SMiLE. This makes me think that Hell indeed may be freezing over (maybe that’s where all the snow is). Though, if this is the soundtrack, maybe it will be okay.
- Shabazz Palaces on Yours Truly. This performance blew me away.
YTGVB: Shabazz Palaces “The King’s New Clothes Were Made By His Own Hands” from Yours Truly on Vimeo.
- This blog. I’ve invested much more time and thought in this thing than I have in a while, and it paid off. From day one, I intended for this place to be my musical journal, a way of marking my growth and development as a music fan. This year, the real value of such an outlet started to become clear. I’ve started to care less about completism and more about completing my own thoughts in the moment. Laying out the bare bones, I would say that it’s become more about me than the music. The irony is that this growing self-interest has led me to appreciate the music all the more.
Tomorrow: My top 25 songs of 2011.
2011 Lists: The Re-Education of Dane D. Lion, 2011 Edition
This list runs through the songs - from a variety of genres and periods - that I came to love in 2011.
Tropicalia
- “Divino Maravilhoso” - Gal Costa (Whoa.)
Yacht Rock (NSFW - RIP, Koko)
- “Thunder Island” - Jay Ferguson
- “This is It” - Kenny Loggins (Messina is swimming in sadness.)
Classic R&B/Soul
- “The Double Cross” - David Ruffin
- “Lover and a Friend”/”The Hook and Sling (Full Vocal)” - Eddie Bo
- “Ace of Spades”/”Nickel and a Nail” - O.V. Wright
- “Cross My Heart” - Billy Stewart (Jay Electronica - “Exhibit C”)
- “Nothin’ But a Heartache” - The Flirtations
70s & 80s Rock and Pop
- “Darkroom” - Paul McCartney
- “Metal Guru” - T Rex
- “Big in Japan” - Alphaville
- “Enola Gay” - OMD
- “Hanging on the Telephone” - Blondie
Funk/Jazz
- “Stay Together” - Soul Excitement
- “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”/”Mystic Voyage” - Roy Ayers
- Fat Albert Rotunda - Herbie Hancock
- “Me and Baby Brother” - WAR
- “New Generation” - The Universals
80s Electronic/Dancefloor
- “Your Love” - Frankie Knuckles
- “Never Want to Lose You” - Virgo
- “No Way Back (Vocal Mix)” - Adonis
- “Operator” - Midnight Star
- “I Found Lovin’” - Fatback
“Oldies”
- “Look at the Sun” - Felt
- “A Woman Like You” - Bert Jansch (RIP)
- “She May Call You Up Tonight”/”Pretty Ballerina” - The Left Banke
- “The Witch” - Adam & Eve
- “Let No Man Steal Your Thyme” - Pentangle
Hip Hop
- “The Style You Haven’t Done Yet”/Ghetto Music LP - Boogie Down Productions
- “The Main Ingredient” - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth
- “Wake Up” - Brand Nubian
80s/90s College & Indie Rock
- “Solar Sister” - The Posies (So ashamed that it took me so long to get into this band. No excuse for such negligence.)
- “Half-Thought” - Bedhead
- “Sorry Again” - Velocity Girl
- “Everyone Else is Evolving” - Chappaquiddick Skyline
- “Up on the Sun” - The Meat Puppets
Tomorrow: My favorite music “things” from 2011.
2011 Lists: Late to the Party (Overlooked Gems from the Oughties)
Since the advent of high-speed internet, I’ve taken way too much pride in being a music head. I feel it in the way that I’m a little too happy to oblige my friends with their musical quandaries, or in the way that I have this blog. While I appreciate the glow of authority when it is given to me, I’m never very comfortable with it because I’m well aware of my ignorance. Nothing knocks me down a peg more than returning to a time that I thought I was fully musically conscious, only to find a song/album/band/genre that I overlooked. This list runs through the songs/albums from 2000-2009 that I just came to love in 2011.
- Lesser Matters - The Radio Dept.: I heard last year’s “Heaven’s on Fire” from these guys’ Clinging to the Scheme, but it never stuck with me. Then, in February, the band released Passive Aggressive, a collection of singles and b-sides, which is how I was introduced to “Ewan” and “Where Damage isn’t Already Done”, two songs from 2003’s Lesser Matters. The melodies and energetic arrangements that these Swedes cook up - less Balearic at this point - fully engage my indie rock performer imagination; I always vividly visualize myself playing the parts on all of the instruments in these tunes. And, yes, that’s a good thing.
- “Reckless with Your Love” - Azari & III: The single for this track dropped in 2009, but I found out about it in January after sifting through FACT mag’s online list of the top tracks of 2010 and falling in love with its full-on early-90s remix by Tensnake. These guys are BAD. They seriously know their way around classic 80s Chicago house sounds and Robin S/CeCe Peniston/Crystal Waters diva jamz. Can anyone not dance to this? Watch out for other tracks from their full-length: “Manic” and “Hungry for the Power”.
- “Hold On” - Holy Ghost!: I really liked this band’s 2011 singles, so I went back to ‘07 and found this. Whoa. I wish ‘11 Dane could reach back to ‘07 Dane and hand him this jam. That way, ‘08 Dane would have not been so absolutely mind-blown by Cut Copy; that way, ‘08 Dane could have played it cool for once.
- “Reconstruction” - The New Year: Actually, as you’ll see in tomorrow’s list, I came across The New Year’s music after digging into Bedhead’s stuff. Beautiful. Thoughtful. Meticulous.
- “Scared Straight” - The Long Winters: More early 00’s indie rock. Somehow, I missed this song when I cherry-picked John Roderick’s catalogue. Love his voice, his sense of melody, and his arrangements. If you ever loved a John Vanderslice song, you’ll definitely enjoy Roderick’s stuff. Barsuk records 4-eva!
- “95 North (Instro)” - Oddisee: Another tale of a great ‘11 release sending me back in time. My go-to backing track for freestyle battles against myself on the way to pick up groceries in the car: Big Kaddy Dane vs. Dane Ah Dane.
- “Midnight Request Line” - Skream: Respect the dubstep OG.
- “Goodbye Girls” - Broadcast: Trish Keenan (1969-2011) RIP.
- Every song James Blake put out in 2009.
- “Anti-War Dub” - Digital Mystikz: More dubstep OG science. How does Skrillex get huge and jawns like this get no love? Seriously.
Tomorrow: My list of the best pre-millennial songs that I heard for the first time in 2011.
2011 Lists: Last Year’s Model
Every year, I get to the end of December, and a confluence of four events causes me to rethink the musical year:
- School Vacation: I finally have time to listen carefully to music - especially that which I’ve acquired from late August on.
- Top n Lists of the Year: Whoa. I never even read about that song/album/artist! How’d I miss that?
- Cy’s Christmas/B’day Gifts: My birthday falls on the 18th + my brother also spends much time with music = lots of GREAT music in the mail in December.
- The Annual LHS MixChange: Upwards of 10 CDs worth of other people’s preferences (OPP?) - never fails to send me down a few new musical pathways.
This list (the first in a series of five that will run through the new year) marks the tunes that end up in my headphones a year later than everyone else’s. Here are my 10 favorite songs of 2010 that I acquired/heard for the first time in 2011.
- “Hey Lover” - Blake Mills: Cy put this on his Endless Weekend mix a couple months ago, and it hasn’t left my head yet. I’ll be out running an errand, walking the dog, photocopying handouts for class - whatever - and I start singing this song (making up lyrics here and there, naturally). It’s a mood changer, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s redolent of certain sections of “Band on the Run”.
- “The Sickness Unto Death” and “CPR/Claws Pt. 2” - Typhoon: Marshall sent these guys my way this spring. I love how their lyrics immediately captured me as much as the music (unusual for me - usually music/aesthetic first and then lyrics). Compelling stuff and heartbreaking in an inspirational way.
- “Troubles Will Be Gone” - The Tallest Man on Earth: Dudes with acoustic guitars rock rulin’ this list!!!!!!! I had downloaded a few other songs from this album, but found this one when I finished downloading the rest of the album in January. Great for steering wheel hand percussion accompaniment. And beautiful.
- “2 All the Girls Who Have Trusted Me” - Wise Blood: After being obsessed with How to Dress Well at the end of last year, I went looking for similar artists and I found this song. It filled the R&B hole until Frank Ocean and The Weeknd came along a few months into the year. Apologetic braggadocio.
- “Vipasanna” - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Another Cy special. Seattle hip-hop on the rise! Pretend that this is from ‘10 and not ‘09, please.
- “Long Distance (feat. OliverDaySoul)” - Onra: The ghosts of Luther Vandross and Dilla hop in a DeLorean… (See also: The Samps - “Peppergood”)
- “Call Your Girlfriend” - Robyn: I loved Robyn’s big singles from her 2010 EPs, but somehow I slept on this until November, when she started making the late-night TV rounds. Check out the trail of video that she left behind her. Then check out Taran Killam’s loving impression on YouTube. She’s now officially one of my dance muses. Watch out, New Year’s Eve dancefloor!
- “Celebrate the Mundane” - Grass Widow: This band takes so many things that I love from certain brands of 80s college rock and 90s indie rock and combines them into a super-tuneful mix.
- “Midi Drift” - Games: Anthony Gonzalez owes this song a HUGE debt for Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’s tones. Or, maybe Ford and Lopatin owe Gonzalez a HUGE debt for That We Can Play’s tunes.
- “OMG” - Usher feat. will i. am: An amalgamation of so much that’s happening in non-radio UK bass music (compare the hyper-compressed percussion and claps to Rustie’s 2011 output, compare synth tones and the 1/2-time sections to Girl Unit’s “Wut”, etc.). Why would will i. am make a full-on solo post-dubstep album when he can make small concessions (The lyrics? Usher?) to mainstream radio and sell millions of records? Of course, I had heard this often in 2010, but I didn’t fully appreciate it until early this year. No shame!
2010 Albums
- Cosmogramma - Flying Lotus
- Epic - Sharon Van Etten
- Crooks & Lovers - Mount Kimbie
Tomorrow: “Late to the Party 2011” - A list of songs from the 00s that I’ve just come to love/own in 2011.
- Goethe in Conversations with Eckerman (1836)
