My Music of the 00s - All That You Can't Leave Behind

Music

Music at the turn of the new century continued at trend, at least in pop music, to blend together. Blurring the lines of genres, or at least creating a few new ones. Pop artists using rappers, and vice versa. Many of my generation and older believe that “real” country and western music is long dead since it also blended with pop. It was probably inevitable and there’s not necessarily anything wrong with it.

For me it made pop music kind of muddy and indiscernible. More of the music seemed prefab and formulaic. It was increasingly different to tell one artists from another by their sound.

The first ten years of the 00s was mostly following artists from the past who have kept going or made comebacks. Still recording good stuff was Pat Metheny, Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Colin Hay, Diana Krall, Chris Isaak, Van Morrison, and Seal. Back were Steely Dan, U2, The Allman Brothers Band, and Steve Winwood.

Of the new artists I was attracted to were Jamie Cullum, Adele, Snow Patrol, Fleet Foxes, and Amy Winehouse. Some of the key albums were:

Riding with the King - B.B.King & Eric Clapton
All That You Can’t Leave Behind - U2
Going Somewhere - Colin Hay
The Look of Love - Diana Krall
Speaking of Now - Pat Metheny Group
Hittin’ the Note - the Allman Brothers Band
Twenty something - Jamie Cullum
Welcome Interstate Managers - Fountains of Wayne
Fingerprints - Peter Frampton
Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
19 - Adele

Just a few albums per year. Other than that, record companies were putting out their back catalogue with the material remastered or remixed or otherwise different. Most not worth dipping into again. Some were.

I can’t remember the last time I was in a record store. I still try to get my music on CD because I like to have hard copies. I immediately digitize them for my computer/iPhone, etc., so the CD is my back up. But I have bought some digital downloads. mostly because some music is only available in that format. I like what Amazon does often, the offer a free digital download when you buy its CD copy.

Albums don’t mean much anymore. The younger generations are most focused on individual songs and that’s how they download their music. I feel a little sorry for what I believe they’re missing. As I’ve mentions in previous posts, we had such a great time with our rituals and habits with vinyl (and to a lesser extent, CDs).

There is obviously a lot of music ‘out there’ that billions of people love that doesn’t interest me. That’s good. I have my collection so when I do find something new, it’s just a great surprise.

This is my last post of the decades. I thought about doing my top ten for the decades but that might be a little redundant. Instead, I’ll mix it up with movies and individual albums or artists. As well as maybe some rants or whatever is on my mind/heart.

Until next time, enjoy a little B.B.King & Eric Clapton:

My Music of the 90s - Novocaine for the Soul

Music
At the opening of 1990, we have, comfortably or not, moved from vinyl to compact disc. And hey, I admit I embraced it. The potential for “higher fidelity” and longer albums caught my attention. Part of the problem is, the record companies were so afraid of change that when they finally jumped into the water, they did it half-assed. They eventually realized the potential of making millions more dollars on properties they already owned and could repackage it so people would double and triple-dip. But that was later. For now it was only the records companies producing compact discs of classical music that were trying to take advantage of the technology. Not for for rock. I remember buying the first Elvis Costello album, My Aim is True, on CD expecting it to sound unbelievably clean and clear. Because my vinyl copy was pretty worn out. Holy crap was I disappointed. It sounded muddy and not nearly as good as my worn out vinyl. Another time early on I bought a CD where you could actually hear the needle drop onto the vinyl to record the CD. Wow!

Also, we lost many good traditions and rituals when we lost vinyl albums. Sure, we lost a lot of great large album art to reproductions less than 1/4 the size. But when I bought an album I would sit on the floor next to my bed listening to the album over and over. During which I was reading and analyzing every inch and letter of the album cover and liner notes. I learned song writers, musicians, record producers, recording studios and everything else that drew me in, creating a more complete experience of the music. It did make a difference. Also, let’s face it, there are few albums where we love EVERY song. Now we just hit the skip button or take those songs out of the playlist all together. But listing to the vinyl, we let it play through our less favorite songs. We didn’t break the spell. The only time we stopped was to turn the album over. At least during the onset of the CD, some record companies made an effort and provided booklets in the case with that information. It was very welcome, but it just wasn’t the same.

I got my first CD player as a graduation gift from my parents in the fall of 1986. They said I could have a class ring or the CD player. Well… My first CD was First Circle by the Pat Metheny Group. An undergrad had turned me onto Metheny in my junior year. From there I went in to a little jazz phase. And I needed it, it helped me see other venues in the absence of the rock music of my “youth”.

Musically the 90s started a little weak for me. In 1990, only 10 albums caught my attention throughout the year. That continued to be the average throughout the decade. But it was better than nothing. Even more, some of the music was truly fantastic. The 90s gave us The Sundays, Seal, Barenaked Ladies, The Cranberries, Diana Krall, Oasis, Ben Folds, Sarah McLachlan, Fountains of Wayne, and the beginning of solo careers by such as Neil Finn (Crowded House) and Colin Hay (Men at Work).

Also different this decade is that for some of the artists listed, many had only one or two good albums. For example, to me no matter how popular Barenaked Ladies got, their first album, Gordon, is the only really good one. It was downhill from there. For the most part, gone were the days of following an artist through their career. Sure there are a few exceptions (Fountains of Wayne, Diana Krull, Colin Hay).

The 90s were the eighth of the record producer being the real star of songs (no longer albums). With the magic of digital recording even the most average singer can sound like a dream. And the record producer would call all the shots, from picking out the songs, to making the instrumental arrangements. The singer just had to just stand there and sing. The singer had become a marketing tool. Because then would come the music video to hype the only average song. And since it played on the radio, the general public were fooled into believing “hey, this must be good because it’s on the radio”.

Here are some of my highlights of the 90s:

• Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic and Blind - The Sundays
• Seal and Seal II - Seal
• Woodface - Crowded House
• Fear - Toad the Wet Sprocket
• Gordon - Barenaked Ladies
• Harvest Moon - Neil Young
• Talk - Yes
• (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? - Oasis
• A Few Small Repairs - Shawn Colvin
• Breathe - Midge Ure
• With a Twist - Todd Rundgren
• Imaginary Day - Pat Metheny Group
• Try Whistling This - Neil Finn
• Painted From Memory - Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach
• Transcendental Highway - Colin Hay

And again, a lot more.

Just before the 90s I moved here to Lafayette. My record store of choice was Raccoon Records. My apartment was practically across the street from it. It was a great, privately owned record store that tried to carry what Lafayette wanted. From the symphony orchestra patrons to the cajun and zydeco listeners. They held on as long as they could. And that was longer than most. It was a true loss when they closed their doors.

I’m going to leave you with one of my favorite songs from Colin Hay. Hay was the guitarist and lead singer for the Australian band, Men at Work. His solo albums are phenomenal. His guitar playing is fantastic and his voice is a little haunting. If you decide to listen, I hope you enjoy.



What’s next: The “Oughts”, ordering over the internet, and digital downloads.