Comments on The Odds Are One: "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" -- Daft Punk (D...

You know of course that our brothers in song did t...

2009-02-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

You know of course that our brothers in song did this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swFchivRxKY

1) Genius != Successful. That much I know for sure...

2009-01-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

1) Genius != Successful. That much I know for sure, but otherwise I don't have a definition, musically speaking. Like porn, I know it when I see it. Sometimes.

2) Confession time: I liked that song the first time I heard it. Probably the second and third time, too. By the 347th time I was a little sick of it. Love or hate, though, I think its influence on current popular music is undeniable.

I would like to respond to the discussion command....

2009-01-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

I would like to respond to the discussion command. 1. genius. because I am only going to know who you are if you have "made it" and if you've made it, then you've done the "right" thing. proof? you have a large house staff and a bentley and other people talk about you. yes, my perspective is bland americana.. but have you met me? and the rest of this country?
2. i love cher. and i love that song. i don't know why but see #1 for clues. also note that when it comes to music i have no idea what i am talking about..

i like the new spin on the blog!

Hey, can I nominate songs for analysis? Because I ...

2009-01-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

Hey, can I nominate songs for analysis? Because I would really like someone who knows 20x more than I do to give me the technical explanation for why Exit is such a great song. I easily place it in my u2 top 10, despite the fact that it was never released, isn't well-known, and was only played on the Joshua Tree tour. But there's this great story: last winter someone played it on Dutch radio after they released a single version of it there (for some reason associated with the 20th anniversary of the Joshua Tree) and over the next 2 weeks it made it into the Dutch top 10 - purchased by a bunch of non-u2 fans who'd never heard it.

I wouldn't say that I "like" the Daf...

2009-01-14T22:19:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't say that I "like" the Daft Punk song either per se--it's not something I listen to regularly, any way. I am, though, definitely less picky about needing some lyrical narrative. I'll definitely take the repetitive robotic chanting or what have you, if the rest of the song is worthwhile.

In general, I haven't really defined the criteria for the songs I'm choosing, but it's something along the lines of, "songs which are successful (for some definition of successful, yet to be determined)."

Supertramp <=> Fleet Foxes. Totally hadn't thought of that. Totally genius comparison.

Sorry, just now caught on to the fact that you are...

2009-01-14T21:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry, just now caught on to the fact that you are blogging again. Excellent. Maybe it will inspire me to start blogging again; I could do this exercise with, like, political theory or something - except no one would want to read that.

OK, so a few comments on your first 3 entries:

A. Fleet Foxes are not UTTERLY like nothing else. Indeed, they sound a lot like CSN and Simon and Garfunkel, as a lot of folks have already said. But I think they really sound like Supertramp. I mean, a lot. And this proves your point from today - late 70s early 80s is the place from which to steal.

B. Elliot Smith analysis is genius. My question: how would you apply this to Nick Drake, whose 'Five Leaves Left' I just bought today for $2 from Amazon?

C. I'm not challenging your analysis, but I don't like the song at all. See, I don't care how much genius there is, I NEED Lyrics. Sort of like MTG needs narrative and the love, I can't have a robot saying the same few words over and over and call it a song. It might be a nice technical exercise, but I'm not buying it - not even close.