Musical tics

I have a similar thing for unusual experiments (especially off-time stuff, unexpected chord changes) in a pop context. When the experimentation gets the better of the hooks, I'm usually out. Basically, I love stuff that's unusual from a musician's standpoint, but the layperson might not even notice it. The New Pornographers, Elvis Costello, the Dismemberment Plan - all of these artists have made some entirely accessible songs with very tricky changes. As a case study, give "The Other Side of Summer" by EC a listen. It's one of his most radio-friendly songs, but there are all of these weird changes from major to minor and back, measures that get cut in half for the sake of getting to the next section, etc.

I also tend to consider it cheating when a song is made "experimental" via the addition of extraneous bullshit over the top rather than it coming organically. You can generally tell when bands record songs, decide that they're not weird enough, and start layering guitar feedback or cute synth sounds over the top without any thought for the overall composition.

On the other hand, I don't have a problem with the reverse. I like good, straightforward pop songs, too. I just have a special place in my heart for the less predictable.

In general, Metal + Orchestra/Choir - Dungeons and Dragons bullshit= Joygasm.

I don't like what tends to pass for country nowadays but I love it when it's blended with other styles. Lyle Lovett mixes jazz, blues and gospel into country and it works beautifully. Robert Earl Keen and Steve Earle (add some punk if we're talking Earle) do the same. Canadians Blue Rodeo bring a real sixties pop sensibility to country. I love the work that Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans do blending roots music with country.

There's also certain voices that make me incapable of judging the worth of the music because I'm so in love with the vocals. The aforementioned Lyle Lovett, Ruthie Foster, David Byrne, Koko Taylor, Tom Petty, Craig Finn, The Waifs, Tom Waits, Robbie Robertson etc. Some of them wouldn't even be considered good singers but from a performance standpoint or through their phrasing I think they're brilliant.

I also can't resist a Strat being played clean through a Marshall amp. One of the most pure sounds I can think of. The beginning to B Movie Box Car Blues with Matt Murphy gets me excited every time. I also love the Hammond B series of keyboards but I think that's pretty neccessary to being a blues fan.

I also like it when a metal band brings in orchestra's. I'm not really a big fan of Dimmu Borgir, but I have some songs on my computer, because I like the orchestral sound they use.

I also, like a lot of the darker gothic/doom country music, like Those Poor Bastards, The Unholy 3, Lonsome Wyatt, O'Death, Sons of Perdition, etc....

I'm drawn in pretty easily by new artists with a classic soul/R&B sound. I love the old stuff (from the '60s and '70s, generally), so part of it is false hope that there will be a trend of new Arethas, Billies, Stevies and Marvins. In the past, I've fallen under the spell of Erykah Badu, N'Dea Davenport, Macy Gray, and Jill Scott. Now that they've watered their sounds down with modern R&B flavors, I've kind of lost interest in Gray and Scott. But I'm back doing the same thing again lately becoming a fool for Amy Winehouse and Corinne Bailey Rae. The upside is that these women have genuine talent. But I'm still kind of a sucker for old-school vibes. And by the way, why don't we ever see engaging new male talent in this genre anymore?

Good lyrics can dig their hooks into me hard. I wasn't completely into The Mountain Goats' "Get Lonely" at first, but his lyrics kept me listening until it grew on me.

Also:
- Singers who aren't great singers, but passionate ones. Jeff Mangum may not have the greatest range, but he stretches himself out there.
- Noise in a pop structure. Dinosaur Jr.'s "Freak Scene" and Animal Collective's "Peacebone" would be two big examples.
- Chicks who kick ass. Sleater-Kinney, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Distillers, I all enjoy more than many of their similar sounding male counterparts.

My biggest one would have to be the sound of lo-fi recording techniques. I really really adore it, and I listen to stuff like The Moldy Peaches, The Mountain Goats' All Hail West Texas, Guided by Voices' Bee Thousand, and Neutral Milk Hotel much much more than anything else. There's a lot of lo-fi folk out there that is pretty middling that I can give a free pass to because of the lo-fi sound.

Ha! I led off one of the mix discs I sent you with a song from that album.

I take the lo-fi thing on a case-by-case basis. Aside from the recording quality and the ability to be extremely prolific due to lack of budgetary concern, Guided by Voices, the Mountain Goats, and the Moldy Peaches have virtually nothing in common.

You can hear the early Who all over Pollard's best stuff, Darnielle comes from a sort of classic folk storytelling mode, and the Moldy Peaches have a childlike quality that seems to willfully ignore musical precedents (lots of repetition, disregard for classic structures like choruses and verses, a lot of non-rhyming). I'm about half and half with GbV, I like most of what I've heard of the Mountain Goats (but am thoroughly overwhelmed by the mountain of material to be heard), and kind of dislike most of what I've heard of the Moldy Peaches (and got an earful of their stufff at Juno last night).

I never really thought of Neutral Milk Hotel (In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, at least) as all that lo-fi. It almost seems too elaborate for that label.

You should give Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings' 100 Days, 100 Nights a shot, if you haven't yet. There's not even a touch of modern R&B on it - it sounds like it was recorded in the late 60s.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've listened to samples and it sounded really good from what I remember. Anyway, a friend of mine has offered to lend me his copy, so I'll take him up on it soon.

Also, FYI that I too have been reading and loving your blog since you started it. I haven't had a lot of time to leave feedback there yet, but little to my surprise, it's been a great read.

I'm curious to know who you think violates this "cheating" experimentation. I think it would make for a funny thread or topic. In reading your posts over the years, my musical knowledge is minuscule but I will say that I think Muse violates this rather blatantly. I loved the poppy weirdness of "Starlight" but the rest of their album reeks. It's like they kept adding to "Knights of Cydonia" to seem weird.

This isn't really a tic, but more of a secret shame, and that is the celebrity rock album. I can usually find them for a buck, and whenever I do, I have to buy them. Which is why I own a 30 Odd Foot of Grunts album, and Peter Gallagher's soul album.

When writers hit the thesaurus and use arcane words in their lyrics. I don't think it makes a song good, but it makes me love it. Colin Meloy and Fiona Apple are probably the most well-known examples who do this. I've learned words from both of them.

No matter how bad a modern punk band is, if they cover some obscure 80s song, I'll listen to it.

I wouldn't say I learned the words from her, but hearing Fiona rhyme "derring-do" with "rigadoon" and "desideratum" made me want to marry her on the spot.

Indeed. Also, the appearance of "stentorian" in one of the songs on her new album? That warms my cockles.

Do you own Robert Downey Jr.'s "The Futurist"? More singer/songwriter, but still...well, not good. Strange.

I do - it's alright. Point of interest: it has his song from the end of Kiss Kiss.

My weakness: the quiet acoustic tune that builds to a massive, usually string-laden crescendo.

So, basically, The Frames.

I like bands where the bass guitar is a really big part of the bands sound.

Rush, Primus, TOOL, early Korn.

I don't have the Downey album. My appreciation for the celebrity rock album only extends to the price which I'm willing to pay for it (2.50 and below). I haven't seen "The Futurist" in a bargain bin yet.