Remember when everyone became weirdly possessive of the word "crooners" as though no one else had ever taken an era-specific noun and applied it to things from later on that reminded them of that original thing?
Beirut is forever associated in my mind, probably because of their first album, with A Hawk and a Hacksaw.
Weren't the crooners the first generation of microphone singers, and therefore the first to be able to sing softly? Not sure how that relates to Beirut. Whom I like fine.
Or does "remember when" refer to an actual thread in which that argument was proposed and debated at length?
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Weren't the crooners the first generation of microphone singers, and therefore the first to be able to sing softly?
Or does "remember when" refer to an actual thread in which that argument was proposed and debated at length?
Yes and yes.
Weren't the crooners the first generation of microphone singers, and therefore the first to be able to sing softly?
The first generation of microphone singers was that represented by Al Bowlly, no? (Who, wikipedia notes, "is invariably credited with inventing crooning".) But there were crooners after him too.
Al Bowlly, of course, is in heaven now.
So what is the quality that Heebie wants to call modern-day crooning? Some sort of intimate whininess?
Surprisingly, no one in the old thread came up with "h-crooning".
That was a fun thread. There should be more someheebie-is-wrong-on-the-internet threads.
3.1, precisely the point made in the old thread, was correct then and is of course correct now, and Heebie is still wrong. Awesome, but wrong. I do dig me some Beirut, though.
Why did I participate in an argument about crooning? I know less about that than I do about geology.
I do dig me some Beirut, though.
I find this surprising.
That modern day style isn't called crooning, that's crooncore.
I like the bit where the woman has five macaws perched on her arm (~0m50s in). Seems a bit out of place in a song titled "Postcards from Italy," though, what with their being New World parrots. Then again, I wasn't paying much attention to the rest of the video; I suppose the whole thing could be South/Central American-themed.
7. Fucking awesome version, fucking awesome band.
Nobody cares, but:
Following the link to H-G's previous wrongnesspost, I saw the thread about the use of up in black English, and was thinking that it reminded me of how Pittsburghers use down (or, phonetically, dahn). And up pop Alex and ttaM to explain that the Scotts use down (doon) the exact same way. And of course Pittsburghese is a direct descendent of Scots English (one that extends down the Appalachians, becoming more Southern as it goes).
Indie music is turning into white nostalgia.
re: 22
Well, it's been eating itself for decades. But is there something particular that's your comment?
Much of canonical 80s indie music basically, after all, just being a punk-tinged revival of the likes of the Byrds and Big Star.
Country music is pretty heavy into white nostalgia as well.
Gah at editing on 23. I meant to write:
'Is there something particular that's _sparked_ your comment'
with the word missing it sounds confrontational rather than curious.
White nostalgia has been a mainstay of popular music since the 1920s.
re: 27
Further back than that, I'd expect. There was probably some Jacobean critic complaining at all the hackneyed Dowland revivalists.
"More galliards? FFS, when will someone do something new?"
It wouldn't surprise if most genres or sub-genres of music have a certain window of innovation that eventually closes, though.
This Beirut video reminded me of a Tommy Hilfiger/Vampire Weekend ad. Or VW songs like "Diplomat's Son on R&R at Cape Cod back from Kwassa Kwassa" is the sort of vibe I get from this Beirut video too. Like how the name of the band is Beirut and the song is Postcards from Italy. Who are the kind of people who would live in Beirut and vacation in Italy? I realize this is taking things way too literally, but if you're that kind of person, this is the sort of music for you.
Well, I suppose Beirut are fairly gad-fly-y. Their first album was influenced by Balkan music, second by other stuff, and so on. They/he predate Vampire Weekend, though, fwiw.
The anal completist music nerd side of me now wants to link to 80s bands whose sound was heavily borrowed by Vampire Weekend.
What source material do you need besides Graceland and Rei Momo? Please indulge the a.c.m.n. side of you, I'm interested.
Shows you how much I know. Not sure I've ever heard Rei Momo. I was thinking of late period Orange Juice for bits of the sound, among others, and any number of people -- even Style Council era Weller, along with loads more -- for the loafers and white slacks sort of vibe. Writing this on my phone so can't link to youtube for Orange Juice and others but will later.
Housemartins?
"Rei Momo" was David Byrne's first full solo album, with multiple "world music" influences. Like K-sky, I can't think of any traditional rock artists welding third-world elements to their style in the 1980s besides that and "Graceland".
Orange Juice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxjEZm321kA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdp6iBgDUpM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwXGl3xDeU0
There's the same busy 'bubbly' bass, guitar playing triad arpeggios and little funky chops and so on that you get in African pop, but filtered through Chic and post-punk. Same chord progressions, too. It's less slavish, but there's clearly an influence there (among others). Maybe that's just me, but when I hear Vampire Weekend and the like, in my head, I clearly hear this.
And, totally unconnected to African music, but definitely connected to the first Beirut album, Boris Kovac:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g06BtjGvvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roIzBWbK2Hw
I'm not sure how explicit the influence ever was, and how much it was partly filtered through Byrne and the like, or how much was due to a shared influence from funk and disco. But certainly in the early to mid 80s the main UK pop/rock station was playing African music as John Peel and Andy Kershaw were playing it, Orange Juice had a Zimbabwean member, and the likes of the Bhundu Boys were touring and selling records.
Orange Juice links are blocked in the USA.
Boris Kovac/Beirut fans will enjoy the Petrojvic Blasting Company, who hang out at the Hollywood farmer's market sometimes.
After I ripped my CDs, I sold some of them to Amoeba across the street, and when they didn't want my James Brown Star Time box set, I traded it to them for one of their CDs.
but they're well represented on Spotify. "Rip It Up" sounds like Morrissey fronting a slowed-down Tom Tom Club.
I think it's a case of "they"/"them" confusion. I blame the English language.
I don't know Rei Momo either, but My Life in the Bush of Ghosts comes to mind when I think third-world influence in 80s music.
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
!!
I was trying to recall just that album recently, in connection with something or other. It is adored; I had a cassette tape of it which became chewed by the tape deck, and then I couldn't recall what the hell it was called. My friend and I wound up asking each other how we really felt about Music for Airports. It kind of went off-track.
So thanks. I should probably acquire a copy of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.