duga

Music has always been a part of my life to some extent. From the time I was born, whether it is from my parents or friends at school, I have been listening to music. It is no secret that once someone begins delving into music past what shows up on the radio, they are struck with a seemingly infinite number of genres and subgenres, music that can be louder than loud and softer than soft, music that creates atmospheres and sounds that that person probably didn’t even know could exist. It is these aspects of music that have inspired an obsession in me (while at the same time it is the reason many are overwhelmed and shy away from a deep musical exploration). However, just the fact that such variety and confusion can exist in music begs the question, “How does someone develop the taste in music that they have?” I have met many people with an obsession for music equal to (if not more) than my own, yet their preference in music could not be further from mine. I like to feel as if I have a very open mind to all forms of music, but at times even I find it difficult to completely relate to why someone likes something that they do. What led them to this music? What do they hear that I don’t? It is all of these questions that have led me to write about what led me to what I like. As chronologically as I can, I will trace the key albums and artists that have shaped me to like what I like today. Some of which, I am sorry to say, inspire embarrassment. Some people will laugh. Just remember that we all came from somewhere and none of us started as the well educated music elitists that we consider ourselves today. So if you are interested, read on. Who knows, maybe you will find a direction to take with music that you never thought of before.

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Confusion will be my epitaph...

duga

The first album I am going to write about, thankfully, is not one of those albums that will provoke laughs. Of course, this is not to my credit as I was very young and had no say as to what I was listening to at most times. Yes, this first entry goes to the credit of my parents. Age: my earliest childhood years. Band: Talking Heads. Album: Stop Making Sense.

For those who don’t know, the Talking Heads were a prominent band in the New York punk scene during the 70’s. I never really thought they fit in with the “punk” moniker, but I guess they were victims like so many bands before and since that get lumped in with a certain movement simply thru timing and circumstance. This happened to Talking Heads, I believe, for the simple fact that they started to make a name for themselves thru performing at CBGB’s. Talking Head’s music is quirky and whimsical while maintaining a subtle political edge. In their formative years, frontman David Byrne purposefully created music that was very trebly and light. At one point, he mentioned how everyone those days was trying to make their guitars as loud and beefy as possible so he tried to do the exact opposite by making his guitar sound light and wimpy. Soon after, the band cultivated a creative relationship with Brian Eno and produced some their best albums. The album I will be talking about, Stop Making Sense, is a concert movie released in 1983 shot over 3 nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater during their tour to promote Speaking in Tongues. The performance itself is truly amazing and a testament to the talent and influence that the Talking Heads have on music today. For anyone interested, the DVD is worth checking out. However, I will be talking strictly about the soundtrack to the film.

Just thinking about this album, I am taken back to my childhood home in Memphis, Tennessee. My mother would put this on in the record player and dance around with me as a small toddler. The song that always stood out – and the song that is always playing when I think on this memory – is Burning Down the House. It had that really simple line that even in my tiny state, I could sing with a certain amount of passion and conviction. “Burning down the house!” This is one of those memories that are so ingrained in my head that it is probably one of the first that occurs to me when someone asks, “So what is your earliest memory?” I loved it. One thing that always stuck with me was how David Byrne had such a great voice, but was still willing to use it in a very quirky and abstract way. In a sense, he was using his voice as an instrument and not just as something that is done while the instruments are playing. I remember loving Psycho Killer and Take Me to the River as well

So, how has this album shaped what I listen to now? For one, it inspired a kind of subconscious love for jangly clean guitars that a lot of indie bands use these days. The list of these is quite intense, but one that comes to mind from recent times is Girls. It also inspired a hunger for more Talking Heads. When I was a bit older, I hunted down all of their albums and they were one of the first bands I can safely say I was a diehard fan of. Considering how incredibly diverse the Talking Head’s music is, it is no surprise that I started to come at music with a very open mind beginning from my childhood. It also imprinted a high standard as far as live shows go. The production quality and work put into Stop Making Sense was apparent even when I was tiny, so from then on it always surprised me when a band did anything less than what they achieved. That also means that when I do find a band that puts on a show comparable to this, I will go straight out and buy their album. This has happened with a lot of jam bands like Phish or Umphrey’s McGee. The fact that these guys can improvise music of that quality and play for the lengths of time that they do impresses me to no end. I’m sure this album has done more than I can possibly put into words as far as my love of music goes, but those aspects will have to remain tucked away in my subconscious.

Since the point of these entries is to discuss how these albums influenced me at the age I first listened to them, I will refrain from reviewing the album from today’s perspective. Just know that this is an album that I definitely still listen to and I would recommend it to absolutely anyone. If you are already a Talking Heads fan and have never heard Stop Making Sense, what are you waiting for?! This is required listening. The version of Psycho Killer found on this is, in my opinion, even better than the version found on Talking Heads: 77. I hope you enjoyed my trip down Nostalgia Lane, listening to this album still takes me straight back to those formative years where all I had to worry about was if my little brother was messing with my toys. This album truly holds a special place in my heart. Till next time!

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Confusion will be my epitaph...

Arya Stark

You're a great writer, duga. :3
Well done.
I love that you're open to new music but openly admit that you've shyed away from it in the past.
The confusion is certainly something that will always be a wonder to me as well, and you worded it perfectly when you said "such variety and confusion" can exist.
Congratulations on your journal. I will most definitely be keeping up.

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MB Journal.
Azucar y Especia. My blog.

duga

thanks so much! i'm glad you enjoyed it. i hope to be getting a little deeper as i start to post albums that i listened to as a teenager. those were the years where music started to really matter to me...like, "what would i do without this music?" kind of thing.

i also hope people reading this wouldn't mind posting similar stories...i'm so fascinated about how people have the preference that they do. learning how someone can love something so deeply might get me to think about their music in that way and maybe appreciate it that much more.

another entry will be up in a couple days...depending on when the writing urge hits me.

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Confusion will be my epitaph...

NumberNineDream

I'm so glad you're tracing your whole taste's evolution in music. That is also something that have always fascinated me, and that myself am trying to figure out a year at a time. Though I guess, as you're older than me, you'll find it even harder to recall all the changes in your taste, I hope it won't be. Anyway, good start for your journal, and great start with Talking Heads in your journey through music.
I remember the first time I heard about the Talking Heads, it was in the summer of 2006, watching a talent show, when one of the contestants sings Psycho Killer. I was so thrilled hearing the amateurish cover, you can imagine how great it was hearing the original version. Talking Heads became one of my favourite bands ever since.

Looking forward for your next entry.
Cheers.

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duga

thanks so much!

luckily, i have a pretty good memory and appreciation for what has inspired me. it is also hard to not hear similarities in bands these days with new music i am hearing, so i try to trace it that way. i'm glad others like the talking heads, too!

next entry will be up in a few minutes!

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Confusion will be my epitaph...

duga

The Youngest Years 2 - Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene


The next album I am going to review is another that I still listen to even today. In fact, aside from the personal impact this album has had on me, the influence this album has had on the world of music can be heard in nearly any electronic song since. From the sweeping synth to almost sensual melodies played out in this ambient/electronic album, it is easy to forget this album was made in 1976. It is one of those rare occurrences where the music is truly ahead of its time. The artist is Jean Michel Jarre and the album is Oxygene.

First, a bit of background information. Jean Michel Jarre is a French composer who pioneered electronic and ambient music with this album. There were artists before him, but Oxygene was one of the key releases in the genre as it went on to sell more than twelve million copies. If that weren’t enough Jean Michel Jarre holds the record for the largest audience ever to attend an outdoor event (three and a half million people attended his show in 1997 for Moscow’s 850th anniversary – and this was after he broke his own record twice before). If that isn’t enough credibility to give the album a listen, I don’t know what is!

Another album to my parents’ credit, it is piece of music that I listened to in my youngest years. A contrast to the upbeat “get on your feet and move” feeling of the Talking Heads, Oxygene was the album my parents would stick on if they just wanted to chill out and read (or put me to sleep). Being such a small child and listening to an album with such alien sounds, I was truly in awe. The music of the Talking Heads had been so down to Earth and familiar. How is this music being made? This was the first music I had ever heard where listening to it had moved beyond a simple aural fix. I was feeling the music. Perhaps because I couldn’t place the sounds I was hearing to any one instrument, I was able to move beyond it and perceive the emotions this person was trying to convey through sound. Never before had music actually put me through feeling relief and paranoia or happiness and fear one right after the other. I was intrigued, and in hindsight I am actually uncertain why I never took up keyboards. Maybe to me the music was so complex sounding that I did not even want to attempt it.

As if the music was not enough, the album artwork for this album is haunting. Just look at it! Earth’s crust peeling away to reveal a human skull – I loved the artwork! Obviously being a tiny little kid, I couldn’t make many abstract interpretations of the artwork, but I sure thought it looked cool. Looking at it now, it holds such a deep meaning that it takes a place in my top five pieces of album artwork ever. I will hold back from how I feel about it now, as I am trying to relate the feelings I had when I was young. However, feel free to discuss it! I’m sure a good conversation could come out of the artwork alone.

I still use this album as my standard comparison when listening to any electronic music, despite its age. The influence this has had on me goes beyond description. It is this album that planted the roots of my love of music that combines melody and atmosphere to create a very emotional “world”. In fact, these are the first songs I ever heard where I felt as if I was entering another world and as a result, I have been on a constant hunt for music that makes me feel the same way. I would say ninety percent of all the music I listen to now reflects this. If I had to make one comparison, however, it is with Boards of Canada. The album Campfire Headphase is probably the only albums I have heard in recent years that can hold a candle to Oxygene. I do not think I would have been so readily accepting of Boards of Canada had it not been for Jean Michel Jarre.

So, another album another day. I hope this inspired some people to check the album out, it is worth it! There are a few more albums I am going to review before I hit my naïve preteen years, so thankfully I can stave off the embarrassment for a while longer. Until then, comments are welcome. What are some of the key albums of your life? Till next time!

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Confusion will be my epitaph...

jackhammer

^^^^

I was around 13 when I first heard this and was intrigued by it but I have since found much more conducive to my tastes. It's a good opener to Electronica though. Great post.

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Dieselboy

Never heard that before...that's such a cool sound.

This site really frustrates me sometimes, cause it's so easy to get incredibly backed up with albums that you haven't heard and want to check out. I've told myself that I'm gonna relax on the downloads, but I really do wanna check this out I think.

Good stuff.

almonds

I love your introduction and the fact that you used a band and an artist I never listened to before.

First off, I completely agree that it's interesting to learn why certain people like certain genres. I'm usually very open to music, but there are a couple I try to get into, but to no avail, I go nowhere. Most in particular is the, I'm guessing, sub-genre Screamo and the whole of Country. I've also learned that I'd actually prefer listening to instrumentals as opposed to music with singers, since I usually listened to "classical" music without singers as a child.

Also, being openminded makes you bored of pop radio. Yeah, the structure of the songs is always going to be the same, but the same songs are played. I remember listening to the radio and hearing Britney's "3" once an hour when all of the songs were played less frequency. But the constant playing of the same songs always made me wonder how the rest of an artist's album would sound like. This is when I started listening to the artist as a whole. It gave me the ability to compare other artists and see a sort of inspiration that came from listening to more famous artists such as Michael Jackson and the like.

Anyway, I'm going to try and be a regular reader of your journal I'm liking the two reviews you wrote