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10 lbs. of Shit in an 8 lbs. Bag: A request for keeping music simple in 2010
"Too much of anything is too much for me. Too much and everything gets too much for me". - The Who
That is a line from the chorus of the song of the same name, "Too Much of Anything". Strangely enough, this was a bonus track off the 1995 reissue of the always-delivers Who album, "Who's Next". I say "strangely" for two reasons: one, the original version of this album was nine songs of bow-down material and two, the fact that this song was a bonus track is fucking ironic.
Too much of anything, indeed.
Why the hell did we need bonus tracks for this masterstroke? We didn't. Pete & The Who made a brilliant, time-tested album that consisted of nine crowd pleasing, beer hoisting tunes. Nine. Here we go again...gorging ourselves on a great meal; bloated and reaching for the bicarbonates. Too much.
I am fed up with "too much". This year I am bringing it all back home: keeping everything as clean and simple as I need it to be. Near the end of 2009 I started to think about clarity: eliminating variables; reducing clutter; focusing on less to enjoy more.
I am not preaching purely simplicity for simple's sake. I am talking about clarity. Clarity doesn't sacrifice depth at simple's alter. "Focusing on less to enjoy more" is about clarity; lucidity. It is a concept that I am (forever forward) latching on to and enveloping myself in...including my music listening habits.
I find myself gravitating to music that is much more lucid and clean of complexities...but, not lacking depth. Case in point: the Black Keys' "Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough".
I am a Black Keys fan. They aren't always on my playlist, but I enjoy them from time to time. I did not own this album prior to my hearing it. Recently I was in a crowed and very loud bar. Nothing on the juke box was cutting through the din until I heard this album being played. Whoever was at the controls, decided that they need to play this album in its entirety. The groove was so pronounced and clear, it drowned out the noise in the room and filled all the spaces like a welcome mist. It felt calming and clean to me (even amongst all the clutter in the bar). I went out and bought it the next day.
Lucidity, clarity and depth are full frontal on this set of six songs. The straightforward, two-fisted, Corsican Brother drum and guitar approach of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney lends itself to the clarity/simplicity + depth credo. There is no gratuitous flutes or overdubs or 16 track recordings...just two dudes, two instruments and a half a dozen of a simple bluesman's simple blues songs. By simple I mean uncomplicated, not simpleton or unsophisticated or naive. No, these songs have depth and sagacity.
Junior Kimbrough didn't make it on the blues scene until the 1990's, but he'd been cutting tracks as early as 1968. Junior was a Mississippi Hill Country native and legend. His blues is a hypnotic, sauntering groove that preaches a knowing simplicity and bares warts, proudly. This blues holds you in it's vibe and makes it hard to pull away. Every time I put it on, I know it is going to be a happening. I know I need to dedicate at least 20-30 minutes to it's gravity.
Here is a clip from Robert Palmer's brilliant expose on the raw, country blues: "Deep Blues". If you have not seen this, you MUST do so soon. More-so, read the book that preceded the movie. It is widely thought of as a classic in the genre; a career high for Robert Palmer in career filled with tall peaks.
(Junior also had the coolest album titles: "God Knows I Tried" & "Most Things Haven't Worked Out")
The Black Keys decided they needed to have a go at Junior's music. They gave it a richer, thicker sound...while keeping the ethos of it intact. They added to it without complicating it: less is more. This is my fave track of the set:
What do you think? Does that feel like less is more to you?
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Nine songs. I like that. "Who's Next" wasn't the only great album with nine songs: "Let It Bleed" had nine songs, too. That is my favorite album of all-time (a post for another day). Conversely, the Stone's 2005 Masterplunk, "A Bigger Bang", had 16(!) songs. Too much.
I'd like to make a request of all music makers in 2010: please, don't try to cram ten pounds of shit in an eight pound bag. Focus on reducing the clutter on your albums. Just because you can crowd16 songs on a CD doesn't mean you have to. I don't want more from you, I want less...and I want depth.
Excuse me while I go off to listen to some Charlie Patton...
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Regarding my personal thoughts on "too much":
Too much of my time was being wasted worrying about things I manufactured or labeled as important. Whether they were tasks or audacious (unattainable) goals or simply over thinking decisions or situations, the importance that I gave these things, put undue emphasis on them; one more thing I had to worry about.
Here is a bit, from a larger mindmap (on my 2010 thoughts), on "reducing the clutter"
Vinyl Vagabond: Something Old, Something New, Something Southern, Something Blues
Yesterday I was enjoying walking aimlessly through the streets of London. I hopped trains and hoofed sidewalk ("footpaths" if you are in London) for the entire morning and most of the afternoon. My vagabond-like wandering ways led me to East London's, Brick Lane. Brick Lane? That sounded familiar. Why? That is where Rough Trade Records (East) is. Perfect.
This was one of prime stops on my London record shop search. I had already been to the Notting Hill Rough Trade shop and liked what I bought: a classic, out of print (vinyl), Neil Young album. My music-mate, Kip, gifted me 50 quid worth of Rough Trade vouchers and I used some of them to get the Neil vinyl. I used up the rest of the credit yesterday in glorious fashion.
This was my first trip to this particular Rough Trade location. I needed to survey the scene before I started flipping through the vinyl for buried treasure. Right when you walk in there is an espresso cafe on the left. To the right is a lazy lounge setting where you can caffeinate, chat or check out your recent booty. The walls are littered with playbills, "drummer wanted" notices and other images and adverts. It is a hodge-podge of knick-knacks and paper scraps that I find entertaining if not curious.
They have a lot of stuff there. Books, CDs, T-shirts, Logo'ed bags, pins, posters and, ah, oh yeah...music. There are vinyl bins, CD racks and DVD shelves. In my opinion, there was too much stuff. The store is a big space and they may be trying to fill it. I think it could have had more of a music focus in its layout. If you have ever visited Newburry Comics located in greater Boston (USA)...that is what this Rough Trade shop felt like to me. A bit (too much) of everything, with the music standing the shadows. That being said...I loved the place.
They did have a great listening station up at the counter. You can sample anything you want and take all the time needed to do so.
The vinyl section was decent; to be honest I expected more. The shop in Notting Hill had more vintage vinyl, which is what I am after mostly. Fine. that may the way they have the shops differentiated. Nonetheless, I was here for vinyl and vinyl I would get.
I went straight for the blues section. There were twenty or so records there to flip through. I found a few I really liked by Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Charley Patton (my fave prewar Delta Blues man). These are not original pressings, mind you, but they are well crafted vinyl reproductions. The Blind Lemon album was a collection of songs called, "I want to be like Jesus in My Heart", released in 2009 on the Monk label. The Patton album was also from Monk; for my taste it packed much more of a wallop than the Blind Lemon set.
Something Old, Something Blues
The Patton album I ended up buying is called, "Electrically Recorded: Prayer of Death". Actually, this is one album in a four album set that Monk has put together called, "Charley Patton: You're Gonna Need Somebody When you Die - The recorded works of Charley Patton". It covers Patton's work from 1929 - 1934 and is presented in simple and straight forward packaging. I already own all Patton's recordings...and then some. I own the extremely well done and unabashedly over-the-top box set called, "Screamin' and Hollerin' The Blues". Allmusic calls it, "perhaps the most lavish, nay incredible, box set ever devised for a blues artist...". Click the link below to check this out. It is one my cherished possessions (a gift from my wife last xmas along with my turntable...she's so cool).
p.s "I'm Going Home" was just covered by the Derek Trucks band on their recent album, Already Free.
Something Southern, Something New
The other two pieces of vinyl I bought are by the Drive-By Truckers. This is one of the new bands I like. I say new only because so much of what I listen to on a daily basis is considered old (I prefer lasting). These guys flat out rock. They are born of a southern tradition that draws on memphis routes and southern rock stalwarts like Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The Truckers tell dark stories with vibrant imagery. They can rev up rockers and lay down ragged and southern-soulful ballads. I love their albums, especially the two I found on vinly: "Decoration Day" and "The Dirty South". If you aren't familiar with them, please go and find them out. They put on one hell of a live show, too. You leave feeling exhausted and exhilarated.
The Goods
- East London's "Brick Lane"
- Rough Trade East (check out Google's new "Place Pages" feature on Rough Trade for more detailed info on it)
- Previous Post on Neil Young Vinyl - Rough Trade
- Previous Post on the "most shit-hot gift" from my friend, Kip
- Monk Records
- Charley Patton: "Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues"
- Drive-By Truckers website
- Updated: Judd's Juke Joint
The music you hear in this clip is definitely not Charley Patton...it was what was playing in the store (I was wearing headphones). But, it is Ol'd Charley spinning round and round.
- Posted from Poplar, United Kingdom
Sittin' in a bar, drinkin' a jar in London (with Charley Patton, no less)...
- Beer: Abott Ale
- Bar: The Zetland Arms, South Kensington
- Book: "Delta Blues" by Ted Gioia
This is an EXCELLENT book if you are a fan of prewar blues. I am learning so much. Ted's writing is a rhythmic and knowing prose. I feel like there is dirt under my feet and train whistles are blowing in the distance when I am reading this. I just bought this Charley Patton record (seen in the photo). It is my beer, bar, book talisman for this session.
(As I write this "Green Onions" by Booker T. & The Memphis Group just came on the radio. Great music knows no geographical boundaries. Shit, I love those guys. I saw Booker T, Steve "Never Played a Bum Note In His LIfe" Cropper and Duck Dunn in Sydney last year. Al Jackson RIP).
