OVER 40? HERE ARE SOME HINTS TO UPDATE YOUR MUSICAL TASTES
IT'S WORTH A TRY: IF YOU LIKE SIMON AND GARFUNKEL, YOU MIGHT ALSO
LIKE ...
WILLIAM FRIAR * 02/07/99
Greensboro News & Record
(Copyright 1999)
OK, boomers, this is the year.
This is the year you're going to drag your musical tastes out of
the '60s and '70s.
You know you want to. Remember, you were the younger generation
noted for your, ah, experimental attitudes. Rock 'n' roll exploded
in all directions, thanks to you.
Then you grew up. You didn't have the time or energy to keep up
with music. So it became all too easy just to mellow out or rock on
with old favorites.
Which is why radio airwaves are now dominated by classic rock
stations, and by marginally "hipper" stations that are classic rock
in everything but name.
There's nothing wrong with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" or
"Black Magic Woman." But do we need to hear them every other day,
year after year, decade after decade?
It's tough to plunge in. Popular music is morphing at an ever-
accelerating rate. It's hard to keep up with the new subgenres of
pop music, let alone individual bands. I listen to music for a
living, and I always feel well behind the curve.
So the list below includes suggestions on ways to ease yourself
back into the flow, drawing parallels between classic rock and
contemporary music.
Note that these are not direct parallels: Classic rock fans have
already picked up on bands that are direct descendants of the groups
they loved. The younger musicians below share a melodic sensibility
with their forebears, but they take their own music in challenging
new directions.
Beyond that, if you want a detailed road map to recent rock, "The
Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock" (Simon & Schuster, $24.95) is
indispensable. Its insider style can be off-putting, but the
contributors mostly know what they're talking about.
Happy hunting. And remember: 1999 marks your last chance to enter
the '90s before we leave them.
If you like Donovan, you might like: Belle and Sebastian. This
publicity-shy Scottish group loves witty, majestic pop songs, and
singer Stuart Murdoch sings them with a twee delicacy that makes the
occasional symphonic swells startlingly effective. Try "If You're
Feeling Sinister" (the Enclave), which topped many "best of" lists in
1997.
If you like Simon and Garfunkel, you might like: Elliott Smith.
Smith's vision is grimmer and more profane than the pop-folk icons',
but you'll hear echoes of their fragile and bittersweet melodies in
his music. Try the spare "Either/Or" (Kill Rock Stars) or 1998's
more orchestrated "XO" (DreamWorks).
If you like Paul McCartney, you might like: Chris Von Sneidern.
If anything, Von Sneidern is the one slighted by this comparison. He
never lapses into the self-indulgent schmaltz of McCartney's worst
stuff, but he shares his love of well-crafted pop and sweet
harmonies. And the younger man's rock punch and searing lyrics pulls
his sound into the '90s. Try "Wood and Wire" (Mod Lang). Von
Sneidern is even better live.
If you like Pink Floyd, you might like: Spiritualized. That is,
if you admire early Floyd's sonic experiments but are repulsed by its
bloated pomposity. Spiritualized offers sprawling, ambitious
symphonic rock without an ounce of pretension, but with plenty of
narcotic lullabies, smoldering rockers and head-drilling walls of
noise. The subject matter is just as obsessive as Floyd's, but here
it's drug and love addiction rather than the death of Roger Waters'
dad or Syd Barrett's mental problems. Try "Ladies and gentlemen we
are floating in space" (Dedicated/Arista).
If you like the Byrds, you might like: Golden Smog. In fact, you
will definitely like Golden Smog's latest, "Weird Tales" (Rykodisc).
You'd swear some of these songs, stuffed with stacks of harmonies and
* jangly guitar, were Byrds' outtakes. But this alternative-country
supergroup has enough original ideas up its tattered sleeve to keep
it from coming across as a rip-off. The songs by Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)
sparkle.
If you like Burt Bacharach, you might like Elvis Costello with
Burt Bacharach. Their collaboration this year, "Painted From Memory"
(Mercury), is an interesting fusion, combining Bacharach's syrup with
Costello's gravel. If you like Neil Young, you might like: Mazzy
Star. This might seem like a stretch. What does ol' Uncle Neil,
with his helium voice and homespun sound, have in common with the
moody, droning sound of Mazzy Star and its sultry singer, Hope
Sandoval? Well, both love slow, spare ballads that seem to shimmer
in the darkness. And both know how to make achingly lonesome music
from little more than an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. Do you own
Young's "Harvest" or "Harvest Moon"? Then you should add "Among My
Swan" (Capitol) to your collection. If you like psychedelic-era
Rolling Stones, you will most probably like: the Brian Jonestown
Massacre. These former San Franciscans also toss in doses of Syd
Barrett and a '60s garage-band sound. As for the "Massacre" part,
well, you'd have to see one of their self-immolating shows. The band
keeps alive the muscular side of the era, but leaves the noodling
behind. Try 1998's "Strung Out in Heaven" (TVT).
If you like the ballad side of the Eagles, you might like: the
Pernice Brothers. And if you hate the Eagles, you still might like
the Pernice Brothers, especially if you have a fondness for Nick
Drake. You can't get more yin and yang than that, at least as far as
independent-rock types are concerned. How can this new band straddle
those worlds? You'll have to pick up "The Pernice Brothers" (Sub
Pop) to find out.
Finally, if you like the Velvet Underground, you might like
"Bettie Serveert plays 'Venus in Furs' and Other Velvet Underground
Songs" (Brinkman). Bettie Serveert is a Dutch group adored by the
college-rock set in this country, thanks to its combination of bouncy
pop and scorching noise rock. On this live album, recorded in late
'97 at an Amsterdam club, the band pays tribute to one of its heroes.
If this album gives you a buzz, try out the band's own sound with
"Dust Bunnies" (Matador/Capitol), one of my favorite albums of the
decade.
