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Author
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Topic: The Solo Musician's Guide
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Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 08-27-2001 11:52 PM
   
The July Music update, written by Earl Green, is now online. |
Pattie Gillett
True Believer
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posted 08-27-2001 11:57 PM
Every once and a while, someone reminds me of how little I really know about music. Thanks, Earl, my self-esteem was sufficiently trounced early in the second paragraph. I learned how to read music, (at some point, however, I believe that my brain surrendered that storage space to make room for the script to The Princess Bride) and you are clearly more versed in the intricacies of what it takes to make music than I can ever hope to be. (Insert your own, "Pattie, you spent years as a country fan" joke here.) The level of commitment you detail in these hermit crabs clearly shows a greater commitment to the act of making music rather than being in the music making business. Since the music industry is more impressed with how an artist looks in leather pants than with how many months and years they spent on a song, as an artist you must find your satisfaction where you can.
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Kevin Ott
True Believer
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posted 08-27-2001 11:57 PM
Maybe it's because I have a great appreciation for music that can be reproduced at a moment's notice. Maybe it's because I was really disappointed with that one Matthew Sweet show I saw in high school, the one after Girlfriend, an album that was really amazing but saw Sweet taking on a few too many responsibilities himself. Maybe it's because I have some inherent mistrust of music that relies heavily on high technology.But hell, it that were the case, I should throw out all my disco and trance CDs. I mean, really. I'm listening to the music Earl is talking about as I write this, and I'm enjoying it -- particularly the Jason Falkner stuff -- but I can't help the feeling that there's something missing. Maybe I'd like it better if I knew it didn't follow the format that Earl talks about, if I had no idea that it wasn't performed by a full band. I hope so, because that Jason Falkner is pretty damn cool. I liked Jellyfish a lot, too. There's something to be said for an artist realizing a piece of art by him or herself, and accomplishing an artistic goal with no help from the outside. But there's also something -- something stronger, I think -- to be said for many voices working together in a project where there are places for those voices. It's similar to the reason I've never been crazy about the concept of naming bands for one person (Ben Folds Five, the Dave Matthews Band and Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals are three that come to mind immediately). Even if that artist provides the bulk of the artistic leadership, there are still other voices that make up the whole, and those voices shouldn't be overwhelmed. Similarly, I can't get used to one person wearing all the hats in a musical endeavor when all those hats could be given to other artist who could bring creative diversity to the project. That Jason Falkner was pretty cool, though. There's no getting past that.
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Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 08-28-2001 12:04 AM
OK, couple of separate threads here.One, on the general idea of solo musicians. I always thought it was cool, not the least because I admired the versatility involved. When Dave Grohl put out the first Foo Fighters disc, I was amazed that the drummer from Nirvana could step out to the front and play everything, and play it darned well. And Earl's inclusion of ELO made me chuckle, because I've always been amused by acts like The Lightning Seeds that seem to go to great lengths to hide the fact that one guy is doing most, if not all, of the work. (In The Lightning Seeds' case, at least for the first three albums or so, Ian Broudie was pretty much a solo artist.) Come to think of it, Grohl did that too, but at least he put together a band pretty quickly. Two, as to the specific music Earl mentions. I gotta admit, Boulders probably wasn't my thing. But I'm definitely going to look into getting some more of Falkner's stuff, as "Don't Show Me Heaven" is a really great song. And I can't say enough about how impressive A Cappella is. Everyone who even remotely likes music should listen to "Blue Orpheus" at least once. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 08-28-2001 02:31 PM
Actually, the mentions of Ben Folds and Ian Broudie are a bit ironic. Folds' new solo album is due in just a few weeks, and if I read the advance interviews correctly, he too has taken the "I'm playing everything myself" approach. (By the way, if you haven't already, run, do not walk, to get your hands on the final and most obscure Ben Folds Five CD, "The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner," which sits right next to Falkner's "Can You Still Feel?" as my favorite musical entry of 1999.)I remember, around the same time the Lightning Seeds were planted, another solo-artist-masquerading-as-a-group, World Party (a.k.a. Kurt Wallinger). "World Party" is appearing on an upcoming ELO tribute album, as are Rundgren and Falkner, and I could be mistaken, but I think I may have seen the Lightning Seeds on there too. So everything's connected. I'll admit that - with the possible exception of Roy Wood's somewhat obscure stylings - most of the pieces covered in my article are linked somehow to the 70s power-pop sound, of which I am a confessed fan. Something that I occasionally wonder about is how film scores - which, since John Williams took center stage in the early 70s, have been the province of large orchestras - can acceptably be composed and performed by a single person without the audience having much of a problem with it (i.e. Evan Chen, Mark Ayres, Chris Franke), while some people have difficulties with rock musicians doing the same - and most of the time, they're only trying to emulate a small ensemble. I'm off to listen to Peter Gabriel's OVO now which, while not even remotely a solo work, not by a long shot, is itself a mind-altering musical experience all its own that everyone should hear at least certain bits of at least once. [This message has been edited by Earl Green (edited 08-28-2001).] |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 08-29-2001 02:02 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Kevin Ott:Similarly, I can't get used to one person wearing all the hats in a musical endeavor when all those hats could be given to other artist who could bring creative diversity to the project.
I tend to think that what's important is the work itself, and then from there we can go back and analyze why it worked and why it didn't. I don't think it's a good idea to make a value judgment against a work just because someone didn't want to work with collaborators. I mean, is "Half a World Away" less of an accomplishment because Mike Mills played the organ and the harpsichord, or "Radio Song" because he played bass and organ? Should he have stepped aside on one of those instruments and let another 'voice' contribute? What about the idea that he had things to contribute as an organist that he couldn't contribute as a bassist -- aren't you denying him the right to express himself? I mean, yeah, if collaborators work together and produce something that takes the best from all of them, that they all feel expresses themselves, then great, I'm all for it. And if other collaborators DO contribute to a work, I'd like to see them get credit, which is why I can certainly understand your feelings about the Ben Folds Five and similarly named bands -- Lord knows I've railed against the Cult of Stipe often enough. But I'd hate to see a collaboration result in the evening out of the individual voices to the point that the work says nothing, and I'd also hate to see an artist deprive himself or herself of the joy of expressing him or herself through as many instruments or avenues as possible. |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 09-29-2001 12:49 PM
By the way, gang, the latest from Ben Folds is out, and it's a winner. Easily one of my three favorite CDs of the year. He takes a bit of a Jeff Lynne approach - play and sing 90% of the stuff yourself and get friends and collaborators in to do things like strings and other instruments which you just don't know how to play. A lot of it, however, has a drum/bass/piano backbone, which tells me this could just as easily have been the next Ben Folds Five album, especially when the bass is fuzzed so much that it sounds like BFF. The songwriting picks up the ball from Reinhold Messner and runs with it at full speed, with some oustanding pop songs which are as far away from the signature grunge/geek-angst sound that got BFF noticed in the first place. Each song is a self-contained character sketch, and some of them - I'm thinking of "Carrying Cathy," "The Luckiest" and the oddly titled "Fred Jones, Part 2" here - are quite moving, while others ("The Ascent Of Stan," "Fired") have Folds' sense of humor all over them. I've a feeling this will be one of those albums that the critics and lyricists adore, but five years from now only I will have heard it, much less heard of it.Highly, highly recommended. Also, Tim Finn's latest is out. All I need now is for Alan Parsons and Peter Gabriel to get their next projects rolled out by year's end, and it'll be a Perfect Music Year for me. (Maybe we can get Tori Amos to roll out a BETTER album by then too, and the year will be even better! Y'think it'll happen?) |
Earl Green
True Believer
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posted 09-22-2003 07:59 PM
This just in, best news of the year:Jeff Lynne has ditched Sony and is starting his own label. He'll be re-releasing some vintage ELO and solo material, and turning out new ELO material as well. Smart money says that's where the long-awaited solo album he produced for Rosie Vela, his girlfriend and backup singer, will appear as well. I don't have much love (or patronage) for the big RIAA labels. But will I spend my money on Mr. Lynne's fine products? Yes. I'll send him buckets of the stuff. (When available.) | |
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