Books!

[echoplex]

Been reading "how to change your mind" by Michael Pollan and it's been a nice read

[Plumerai]

Finished Bob Daisley's (Ozzy) & Mikki's (Lush) books.

BD - very informative, but the old man jokes got annoying. Is there anything nice to say about Sharon Osbourne? It's like she was constantly screwing someone over.

MB - I lived in North Carolina in the 90's. Lush shows I attended were always packed. People loved them or had no idea who they were. Seems like they didn't get much love at home. The book didn't say much about the reunion shows or the final ep.

[blacktiger]

The POV of the book is pretty fanboy to begin with, but his assertion that HD made the best hardcore ever, then moved on (because they were too good for the genre) is a complete load of bullshit.

Everyone is too good for hardcore. Hardcore was terrible, a cartoon of itself that wasn't in on the joke. Fuck hardcore. Fucking boring.

As long as we are talking about Minneapolis bands who weren't really hardcore, I'll leave us with a little bit about Paul Westerberg:

"The Replacements started their career as a punk rock band but had gradually grown beyond the straightforward hardcore of initial albums like Stink.Westerberg recalls that "playing that kind of noisy, fake hardcore rock was getting us nowhere, and it wasn't a lot of fun. This was the first time I had songs that we arranged, rather than just banging out riffs and giving them titles." By 1983, the band would sometimes perform a set of cover songs intended to antagonize whoever was in the audience. Westerberg explained that the punks who made up their audience "thought that's what they were supposed to be standing for, like 'Anybody does what they want' and 'There are no rules' [...] But there were rules and you couldn't do that, and you had to be fast, and you had to wear black, and you couldn't wear a plaid shirt with flares ... So we'd play the DeFranco Family, that kind of shit, just to piss 'em off."

Husker Dü weren't good at hardcore, but then again, there was nothing to be good at.

Thanks for reminding me that you are an asshole. I almost forgot that you are a dick just for the sake of being a dick.

[Larry Mal]

Thanks for reminding me that you are an asshole. I almost forgot that you are a dick just for the sake of being a dick.

Well, you are very welcome!

[sal paradise]

I don’t think Larry’s dislike of hardcore needed a reaction like that. Oh well. I thought a book thread might be a safe space.

Can’t remember if I said I’d got the new Abbey Road book. Only trouble is it’s by David Hepworth. Whilst I can’t fault his love of music, his writing style is a bit bland for me. And he’s a fan of prog rock. I even tried going through various albums to try and get it. I don’t get it. Anyway, it’s a cool book. Just a bit vanilla.

Got me a signed copy of Rick Rubin’s new book. Excited to read that. And finally picked out Sellout by Dan Ozzi. Saving that one for inspo when I next hit a book rut that stops me reading. Excited for it.

[Telliot]

Thanks for reminding me that you are an asshole. I almost forgot that you are a dick just for the sake of being a dick.

FFS

Nothing in Larry’s post warranted this response. He simply stated his opinion and you responded with personal insults.

Please be respectful of one another.

[Larry Mal]

Finished Bob Daisley's (Ozzy) & Mikki's (Lush) books.

BD - very informative, but the old man jokes got annoying. Is there anything nice to say about Sharon Osbourne? It's like she was constantly screwing someone over.

I've been watching some videos with Bob Daisley. I'm not a fan of Ozzy Osbourne really, but Bob Daisley has had a hell of a career, hasn't he?

[Jaguar018]

Internet forum discussion and etiquette has no hard and fast rules. My personal rule is to not go negative on 'positive' topics; when people are talking praise about a band, book, guitar, or whatever piece of gear I eventually learned that nobody really cares about some douche who hops in to shit all over the item in question. Think about it. If you are a fan of Jazzmasters how much do you like reading someone dismissing them for all the usual reasons for the five hundredth time? The whole excuse to crap over threads by saying "well it's a discussion forum right??!?" is tiresome.

In this case above Blacktiger opened himself up a little because he was complaining about a book author and what constitutes good or bad hardcore-- which is something that is extremely subjective. I grew up in DC, where Blacktiger is located I believe, and was always freaked out by all the hardcore fans. A lot of that was because I was a sheltered twit, but the gatekeeping and unwritten rules about dress codes and listening by the 'fans' was pretty ridiculous.

I think part of the fun of being a fan of things, at least way back when, was the gatekeeping. It's something that has unique appeal to a person, say a teenager, with their head up their ass. I certainly had a few things like that. If you were really into a vibrant scene at the right time it becomes a treasured part of your life. Maybe in hindsight one can see that the some types of music based on raw emotion and a few chords also nurture the seeds of their own destruction, but if you are on that wave none of that matters.

On Friday I was in a pizza place in the posh suburbs of DC (Potomac, Maryland) with my son's soccer team and their parents. I discovered that three or four of the other 40+ year old dads all played guitar and were big fans of Fugazi and Dinosaur Jr amongst others, and used to see and/or play those shows. I was never much of a fan of any hardcore, but I don't have a grudge against it. It got a lot of people through some tough times and I suspect it did more good than bad. It's not like the Replacements ever really suffered due to hardcore; it was mostly their own wretched self-sabotage and excess.

[DeathJag]

This is a book that all of us need to read, and I don't care how that sounds. This is a book by an award-winning music producer who became a neuroscientist, studying how the brain responds to music. There is also another neuroscientist author.

It breaks down and explains why we like what we like, and why there are so many variations in taste. For example, they have concluded that there are seven dimensions of musical appreciation: authenticity, realism, novelty, melody, lyrics, rhythm, and timber. (She starts with The Shaggs as an example of authenticity!)

I almost never attempt to read any non-fiction, but this one is just to striking to pass up. I'm having a hard time reading it because every paragraph is practically a bombshell revelation and I have no one to discuss it with.

So yeah everyone, go read this!

Dan

[cestlamort]

Looks great. Just ordered!
Should pair nicely with Oliver Sacks’ Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (currently on top of book pile)
Also Steve Turner’s Mud Ride could be fun, out in June (Mudhoney)

[Plumerai]

Finished Bob Daisley's (Ozzy) & Mikki's (Lush) books.

BD - very informative, but the old man jokes got annoying. Is there anything nice to say about Sharon Osbourne? It's like she was constantly screwing someone over.

I've been watching some videos with Bob Daisley. I'm not a fan of Ozzy Osbourne really, but Bob Daisley has had a hell of a career, hasn't he?

I only knew him from the first two Ozzy albums but yeah, that guy has been around for a while. The book gives a good look into the ups/downs of a working musician. Playing a packed concert hall one month then working a market stall the next.

Bought the John McGeoch book, but just started Moby Dick.

[Jaguar018]

but just started Moby Dick.

Ah yes. Not the Herman Melville novel, but the electrifying account about how John Bonham's epic drum part came together.

[cestlamort]

.

Bought the John McGeoch book, but just started Moby Dick.

The McGeoch book is pretty great (or at least some long overdue attention). (It made me try listening to the Armoury Show again, but didn’t stick)

Moby Dick is really weird and funny and way more modern than you’d expect. Sailing into Slapstick into natural science chapters all about whales into adventure stories. Weird and good but weird.

[Larry Mal]

but just started Moby Dick.

Ah yes. Not the Herman Melville novel, but the electrifying account about how John Bonham's epic drum part came together.

Speaking of Dicks, I'm actually a dick just for the sake of being a dick. Someone should write a book about that.

[panoramic]

but just started Moby Dick.

Ah yes. Not the Herman Melville novel, but the electrifying account about how John Bonham's epic drum part came together.

Speaking of Dicks, I'm actually a dick just for the sake of being a dick. Someone should write a book about that.

Maybe you should pen that for yourself. Title it the same as your signature.