Hype Hype Hooray is a biweekly “critique” of the music scene and the blogosphere that feeds it, told through the lens of Jamie Hale, a journalist who likes music about as much as he likes scotch and a firm leather chair. Please enjoy with a grain of salt.
There’s been a lot of interesting buzz lately about our old friend Beck Hansen. Nearly two decades after making stoners swoon with genre-bender “Loser,” he’s releasing a new album that defies expectations once again. He’s not experimenting with genre or style, as the man is wont to do, but with the concept of the album. As you might well know, Beck isn’t releasing a recording, he’s releasing sheet music.
The idea is invoking a lot of praise from business-minded critics who argue the move will circumvent pirates, will generate more interest for his inevitable tour and will be a generally interesting experiment.
But the sheet-music album, appropriately called Beck Hansen’s Song Reader, goes much deeper than music revenues and crowd sourcing – it takes America, and the world, back to a long-forgotten era of music. It takes us to the era in which songs didn’t belong to the people who wrote them, but to the people who learned them, played them, and passed them along.
Continue reading [Hype Hype Hooray] Beck Hansen and the Reprise of True Folk Music →
Hype Hype Hooray is a biweekly “critique” of the music scene and the blogosphere that feeds it, told through the lens of Jamie Hale, a journalist who likes music about as much as he likes scotch and a firm leather chair. Please enjoy with a grain of salt.
Previously, on Hype Hype Hooray: “I have been penning this column as some sort of knowledge on the present music scene, but for the last year … I haven’t been following anything at all … I had lost everything … I wandered the streets of music like a bum.”
No, it wasn’t all just a dream. Last week I admitted to the treacherous act of ignoring the entire music scene for a solid year. (Look away from me! Look away from my shameful deeds!)
As much as it pains me to suddenly be what can best be described as a “hack,” I’ve come to terms with my reality. Now the question on my lips is: What is the current music scene like anyway?
To answer that question, allow me to welcome you to: A Snap Judgment of Modern Music. (Some of you might be comparing this to Laura Jane’s wonderful post, “The Ten Most Beloved Songs I Hate,” but the similarity is coincidental, I promise.)
The rules here are simple. I will listen to five songs on Pitchfork I’ve never heard before, then make snap judgments about them. It’s pretty self-explanatory, I guess. Ready? Let’s go.
Continue reading [Hype Hype Hooray] A Snap Judgment of Modern Music →
Every [two weeks?] Jamie Hale takes a long, hard look at the music industry and the blog scene that feeds it. Here, he releases those findings and makes snarky, sarcastic remarks. Admittedly, both Jamie and Knox Road are a part of this scene. So sue us.
Dearest reader, I have a confession to […]
Every [two weeks?] Jamie Hale takes a long, hard look at the music industry and the blog scene that feeds it. Here, he releases those findings and makes snarky, sarcastic remarks. Admittedly, both Jamie and Knox Road are a part of this scene. So sue us.
Here in Pocatello, an Idaho mountain town of 50,000, there is a blink-and-you’ll-still-see-it kind of music scene. That is to say, there aren’t many people who actually play music here. In that scene, it’s easy to notice guys like Shawn Barnby.
As I understand it, Shawn Barnby stared as a solo artist, playing open mic nights with his acoustic guitar and iconic rap-rock voice. With his talents he sings a sort of smooth blues pop (think a tougher Jason Mraz).
At some point, the solo artist decided to craft a band, called Shawn and the Marauders, with a drummer and bassist. The bass was later upgraded to Cello (how very classy!), which boosted their popularity, largely thanks to a handsomely-mustachioed cellist. After a few popular years they suddenly brought back the bass and added a female vocalist – a move that just might dub them: “The band that flew too close to the sun.”
They are Example #1 in The Strange Evolution of a Band.
Continue reading [Hype Hype Hooray] The Strange Evolution of a Band →
Every [two weeks?] Jamie Hale takes a long, hard look at the music industry and the blog scene that feeds it. Here, he releases those findings and makes snarky, sarcastic remarks. Admittedly, both Jamie and Knox Road are a part of this scene. So sue us.
On Tuesday, a jury found James Rosemond, […]
Every [two weeks?] Jamie Hale takes a long, hard look at the music industry and the blog scene that feeds it. Here, he releases those findings and makes snarky, sarcastic remarks. Admittedly, both Jamie and Knox Road are a part of this scene. So sue us.
I’ve never heard Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Sure, I’ve […]
Every [two weeks?] Jamie Hale takes a long, hard look at the music industry and the blog scene that feeds it. Here, he releases those findings and makes snarky, sarcastic remarks. Admittedly, both Jamie and Knox Road are a part of this scene. So sue us.
The other day I was listening to “Drugs,” by Black Lips when the message of the song really set in.
The track jump starts: “Rad attitude and my nose is a runny / I like you lots but you think that I’m a dummy / Can I pick you up with me and my buddies and chill.” We’re immediately introduced to some sort of juvenile delinquent, looking for nothing but a good time. But it goes so much deeper than that.
The song continues with the same delinquency: “We’ll hammer down in my Plymouth Barracuda / Huffin’ and a puffin’ on that BC Buddha / Don’t worry ’bout it sugar you’ve got nothing to lose.” But after “Drugs” winds down its chorus dedicated to all things fun and destructive, it crescendos with the real message of the song: “We’ll laugh about this tomorrow / It’s times like this I hope will follow.”
It’s that line that struck a chord inside me. While I’ve never been the skateboarding, get-drunk-and-smash-your-gear kind of guy, I’ve always had an appreciation for the passion and sheer audacity of the guys in that scene. The people in “Drugs” might be out to get high and drive fast, but in the end they’re just trying to make the best out of life, no matter what. But who are these people?
Last month, out of nowhere, I met them.
Continue reading [Hype Hype Hooray] “Drugs” and TEENS →
Every [two weeks?] Jamie Hale takes a long, hard look at the music industry and the blog scene that feeds it. Here, he releases those findings and makes snarky, sarcastic remarks. Admittedly, both Jamie and Knox Road are a part of this scene. So sue us.
This week I got my TIME magazine, […]
Every [two weeks?] Jamie Hale takes a long, hard look at the music industry and the blog scene that feeds it. Here, he releases those findings and makes snarky, sarcastic remarks. Admittedly, both Jamie and Knox Road are a part of this scene. So sue us.
It happens every year. As the Rock […]
Every [two weeks?] Jamie Hale takes a long, hard look at the music industry and the blog scene that feeds it. Here, he releases those findings and makes snarky, sarcastic remarks. Admittedly, both Jamie and Knox Road are a part of this scene. So sue us.
I just spent the last six weeks […]
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