Festwca

DeRank ™: 7,33

DeAge™ : 7424 days • Here since 11 february 2006

Bob Mould Workbook

14 jun 07

Voto:

Honestly, Bob Mould started boring me after Flip Your Wig. He may be a great songwriter, but the good old days of hardcore and the exciting, violent outburst of his voice and his guitar screaming at 1000 miles an hour were something else. In short: he’s grown up, he’s softened. Now, I don’t remember the title, but that other album (the one with the orange and black cover, I think) was way better. More rock, less whiny and sentimental. // The review is an exhausting track-by-track (I still have to figure out why it’s useful to describe every song like this: it’s not interesting, it doesn’t convey the idea of the album; and if we haven’t already listened to it, what’s the point?) and it’s also too long. Sorry, it’s been a rough day.

Melvins Stag

14 jun 07

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Stag is one of their most diverse and overflowing. Psychedelic, violent, melodic, and so on and so forth. The track-by-track "review" really diminishes the strangeness of an album like this. @AlessioIRIDE: yes, but Prick was on Amphetamine Reptile; they would never have allowed it at Atlantic (and indeed it is very different from Houdini, Stoner Witch, and Stag).

Bob Mould Workbook

13 jun 07

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I pop in quickly to vote for the record (which is so-so), then I’ll be back.

Melvins Stag

13 jun 07

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I quickly drop by to vote for the album (beautiful), then I'll get back to reading and commenting.

Blitzkrieg A Time Of Changes

12 jun 07

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I liked the 'tallica cover, which is also historic (1984: garage days revisited). Almost...

Battles Mirrored

11 jun 07

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OK yes, we just need to agree on the definitions. We're stuck in a damn limited language.

Battles Mirrored

11 jun 07

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I like that we respond to each other in turns :)

Battles Mirrored

11 jun 07

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mmm, this could also be due to the fact that now there are 100 times more bands around than back then. The Melvins more or less took Black Sabbath and married them to noise rock: they still reworked things that already existed. They were the only ones (or among the few) to do so because back then in Seattle, the existing bands could be counted on the fingers of two hands. Now reworkings are plentiful, it’s just that for every idea there are 20 different bands implementing it; which makes it seem less original. And if you call reworking a revival, then the Melvins were revivalists too.

Battles Mirrored

11 jun 07

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I say it: it is more challenging and requires more creativity, dedication, passion, attitude, etc., to be original and personal, to have one's own style NOW, navigating within a scene whose coordinates have already been set over 30 years of history, trying to wriggle within the dense network of "stylistic elements" that come from the past, rather than moving (as in the late '60s) in a new environment with limitless boundaries that invites you to invent, invent, invent. Intelligent revivalism is a choice that is much more than dignified.

Battles Mirrored

11 jun 07

Voto:

At the end of the day, I believe I’m with you, even though I wouldn’t reduce today’s scene to “mere formalism” or “vague hints of obliquity.” I think we all agree that nothing monumental was felt, but for me, the Battles’ album didn’t surprise me more than others. The avant-garde is out there somewhere; I’m not particularly interested in searching for it at all costs. Following alternative paths, as zorrykid suggests, seems like a good idea. Rock seems stagnant: fine, it’s not the only genre. Phrases like “revivalism in all its forms makes me a bit sad” leave me feeling a bit uneasy; in my opinion, it’s possible to say something personal, new, and have a unique style while still doing revival. One can be original without being innovative. Creative effort can also express itself by looking back. Et cetera, et cetera.