4906 Comments

1. Spencer Rich
   Posted November 5, 2009 at 7:20 pm | Permalink

   The reason “Four Minutes” is named “Four Minutes” is because of its relation to “Beep,” in which Vanessa repeatedly sings/yowls “four minutes,” not “five minutes.”

2. Cornbone
   Posted November 5, 2009 at 10:39 pm | Permalink

   Virtually every significant rock and roll artist, regardless of their popularity or talent, has used humor in their music to some degree, many use it liberally. The Beatles, Elvis, Dylan, The Who, Frank Zappa and many more have been mentioned as examples. Frank Zappa is an especially interesting choice. He is a study in extremes to say the least. Have you ever heard the overt adolescent sexual content that dominates his Overnight Sensation record? A brilliant record nonetheless but exemplifying only one of the innumerable styles he mastered in is tragically abbreviated life. Frank was one of the first musicians to make extensive use of the early digital recorder The Synclavier. He made that computer play things no living musician could, like lightning fast 88 note tuplets that existed only in his mind until technology caught up with him. Zappa could get as “poopy” as they come, while simultaneously composing and performing profound, virtuosic music. He was a genius by many measures but he never took himself too seriously to act like a kid and have good, silly fun, just for the hell of it. Laughter is good for the soul, except perhaps for curmudgeons. If you take Bob Hill seriously, you would have to conclude that Frank is a glaring example of what is (or was) wrong with rock and roll. What a preposterous premise. He posits that rock and funny don’t mix as if it was a fact rather than the opinion of (in my view) one myopic, narcissistic critic. It may be true to him and he is entitled to his opinion but that he has the gall to express it so definitively without shame or embarrassment lead me to conclude that he has serious boundary issues.. This does not make him unique among his milieu, in fact it makes him quite average and artless as a critic or reviewer. As far as BNL is concerned, I couldn’t disagree more with his statements. I have worked in the music and broadcasting industries for about 40 years and had the great luck to work with them briefly several weeks after their debut album was released. I had never heard of them when I was called upon to mix and engineer a radio show where they were interviewed and played several of their songs acoustically. As I prepared for the session by setting up mics for all of their instruments and vocals they suggested I make it simple and just set up a pair of mics and they would distance themselves to make it work. I don’t say this to brag but in the past 4 decades I’ve worked with artists of all levels of talent and success from the biggest legends to the neighborhood newbies. As understandably picky as some artists can be, none had ever made that request of me. I considered it and suggested adding a third mic for the vocalist to keep them centered and well balanced in the stereo spectrum. We agreed, I set up the mics, retreated to my control room, hit record and sat at my mixer with my jaw on the floor when I heard the fantastic sounds they created. They were comfortable, confident, casual, tight, musically skilled, entertaining, moving and yes, they were funny. It was one of the most memorable sessions of my life. On my way home from work I bought the CD and as soon as I got home I put it on the stereo as quickly as I could for my wife and me. It has remained on both of our top 5 favorite album lists ever since. Yes much of their music is heavily humor driven but there is so much more to it than that. Much of their music has a jazzy feel and complexity light years ahead of the glut of derivative 3 chord rock that manages to seep through the researched, focus grouped, consultant approved filters that control which songs and artists make it to the airwaves. It may not be for everybody, but to say it’s the problem with rock and roll today shows that Bob Hill is about as deep as a puddle, in my opinion. Before I go, let me play Bob Hill for a moment. Here’s the topic of an article I could easily believe Bob would write. Angst, fury, rage, whining, complaining and acting depressed are what is wrong with rock today. Ever since that misanthrope Curt Kobain foisted grunge music on us, the smiles, the fun, the good times and the humor have been sucked from the music by the feigned somber affect of today’s bands like dust mites are sucked from our carpets by Eureka vacuum cleaners.

   O.K. discuss among yourselves and oh, by the way, it’s just called “rock” these days, not “rock and roll.” The consultants and marketing moguls decreed it thus about 15 years ago so you might want to update your buzz word file Bob. Only old people say rock and roll, you know, like the ones at the concerts by CSN, Who, Aeorsmith, Springsteen, Rolling Stones, Ray Davies, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett and the rest of the clowns who ruined rock with all their silliness. I have to imagine that the many teenagers, 20, 30 and 40 somethings that compromise a good 30-40% of the audience must have been dragged along because grandpa and grandma want to go laugh, have fun and rock out with their stupid old rock and roll music rather than sit home and babysit so mom and dag can rock with their peers at a Staind, Limp Bizkit or Seven Mary Three show. Nothing funny there, just lots of good old sturm and drang. It’s like Joseph Haydn, but with a whole lot fewer notes.

3. Max Zulu
   Posted November 6, 2009 at 7:06 am | Permalink

   The thing is, maybe Third Man Records isn’t just about bringing fans of White what they expect, but is an alternative way of considering the music business today, saving art and personnal vision and consciousness in it. Had Jack White mixed the a track in a rock ‘n’ roll fashion, that wouldn’t have respected Carl Sagan’s “creation” (alright, I agree to consider it so, stop throwing soja at me !), and it would have most likely alterned its meaning. Knowing how White consider the ins and outs in art, he must have wanted to save the original message rather than directing the piece towards fields we know he favours when playing in his own bands. That’s why I understand him for instauring a different policy in his label than in others, working on something he considers true and interesting rather than something considered commercially viable.
   But then, yeah, of course, if Third Man Records was to release Spiritualized music revisited Jack White-style on an unknown format only playable on an overpriced, rare, baroque device you would have to build yourself using nuclear waste and dead racoons, I would totally go for that.

4. mharkin
   Posted November 6, 2009 at 9:12 am | Permalink

   John – I contacted Vanessa about the vocals and they are, indeed, her vocals slowed down, so that’s been corrected in the article.

   Spencer – the quoted lyrics from “Beep” have been corrected.

5. EdArson
   Posted November 6, 2009 at 9:48 am | Permalink

   DANZIGSBIGGESTFAN:

   If you are NOT retarded, then prove it by not typing like a fucking 3rd grader. Those squiggly little red lines that appear under words from time to time (probably ALL the time for you), they mean that you spelled something wrong. So ya know, keep that little tid-bit of knowledge and use it.

   Cowboy Joe:

   You think Danzig’s music is “lousy”? Then you must have shitty taste in music. You think he “sounds less manly than Elvis”? At least Danzig writes his own songs, as opposed to Elvis, who ripped off a shit-load of African-American musicians, and barely wrote any of his own music. And I guarantee Danzig won’t die on the shitter.

   By the by, that Def Leppard incident was a rumor, it didn’t happen.

6. Mark Beihoffer
   Posted November 7, 2009 at 2:00 am | Permalink

   Sometimes, when I’m singing alone in the shower on Sunday mornings, I put on Lou’s “New York” instead, and although that album is *also* quite difficult on many levels, I for one am extremely gratified, nay, almost _blessed_ to know that he was able to take snapshots of the city that rival even the most riveting Ansel Adams groupings.

   “Now we’re playing solitaire, but aviation’s over…” – anon