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
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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:
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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”
