Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Random Music Observations

This is the first in what will be a periodic series of me offering simple opinions on music of all kinds. Doubtless, not everybody (or maybe even anybody) will agree with me, but that's alright - those who disagree can remain discontent in their erring ways. So here is the first batch of random musical thoughts.

-Daydream Nation is, in and of itself, a better album than Velvet Underground and Nico.

-For all the shit the 1980s get musically (and with bands like Thompson Twins, Flock of Seagulls, and New Kids on the Block, the 80s certainly make it easy), the underground scene in the 1980s (Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Replacements, Hüsker Dü, Violent Femmes, Minutemen, Dead Kennedys, the Dead Milkmen, the Pixies, and numerous others) is probably the greatest, most-forgotten scene in modern music.

-Chuck Berry is as underrated as Elvis is overrated.

-If somebody has to describe a 10-minute song as being great based simply on terms like “chord progressions”, "technique”, with nothing else to recommend it, then it is simply a bad song. (This is particularly germane to jam bands).

-If forced to choose between Yanni, John Tesh, or Kenny G, I’ll go with Tesh any day of the week. At least he has a sense of humor about himself.