So Beautiful or So What
I was surprised to find a musical post on the Publicola site I routinely visit to savor slightly-smarmy reporting on Seattle politics. While I don't always see eye-to-eye with their columnists (no news there), it is fun to have access to actual reportage that does not have a certain shall-we-say Chamber of Commerce stench about it.
In this case the topic was one Paul Simon, he who will be visiting the Emerald City next week, with shows at two different venues just a couple days after the release of his new album So Beautiful or So What. Tour kickoff, I imagine.
I have cherished a lot of Paul Simon over the years. He's been pretty prolific though, and there is some I would file under less-than-great. Like the columnist (J. Felt), I am an unapologetic fan of the early post-Everly's ear-candy S&G stuff (Sounds of Silence etc.) and through Bookends. Yes, a little saccharine at times, and a different listen now than at the time. But it was so remarkable then that I'd swear I have permanent traces.
The solo work, post-S&G is also pretty remarkable, as a whole. Some may be a bit formulaic or otherwise a tad disappointing, but all-in-all, wow. Kodachrome. American Tune. Still Crazy. 50 Ways. Just for a few examples.
And, in contrast to Mr. Felt, I was absolutely bowled over by Graceland on first listening, to the point of several embarrassing episodes of fan-dome, and it continues to so move me since.
But Felt's admission at having fallen off the wagon, or at least not initially being synched with that astounding album just heightened for me his enthusiasm for Simon's new album.
Okay, I also want to note here that I also differ with Felt from the standpoint of still doing a large portion of my listening in "proper" album-list order, even if the medium is a compact disc. Of course I do exploit the wonder of scrambled or random-order listening (though, frankly, and sadly, my listening time is circumscribed more than I like by way of ebooks that have recently occluded a big portion of my music nirvana). But start-to-finish album is still my major listening mode.
Amazingly, you can listen to the new Simon on-line in the here and now. The album is indeed pretty damn remarkable. Honestly, the brain-change induced by Graceland and the new world instrumentation and rhythms that album flung at me upped the bar so much that this exceptional music is at a bit of a disadvantage.
But you should indeed give this a listen if you enjoy the music of Simon of any era. On first listening, I especially noted Questions for the Angels and the title tune. Gumbo, okra, and cayenne early in the latter's lyrics, all plucked some very personal notes and hooked me, in addition to the catchy rhythm and lyrics limning undeniable choices life offers us. And MLK's assassination gets a note, uncannily timely. Rolling the dice indeed.
In a rare spontaneous moment today, based on above, I flirted with and explored the idea of plunking down big bucks for a concert at a venue here by the name of the WAMU Theater. The name eventually stirred up some internal vengeful demon, questioning the persistence of a local formerly-loved financial institution whose most prominent recent byline involved the possible indictments of senior managers with 6- or 7-digit annual compensation and big bonuses just before the whole manure-pile went down, enriching the greedy hyper-rich and punishing the rest of us.
In the end, family dynamics will sadly not permit that dream of first live Simon attendance. Getting to see Sean and Mara.is more than ample compensation.
In this case the topic was one Paul Simon, he who will be visiting the Emerald City next week, with shows at two different venues just a couple days after the release of his new album So Beautiful or So What. Tour kickoff, I imagine.
I have cherished a lot of Paul Simon over the years. He's been pretty prolific though, and there is some I would file under less-than-great. Like the columnist (J. Felt), I am an unapologetic fan of the early post-Everly's ear-candy S&G stuff (Sounds of Silence etc.) and through Bookends. Yes, a little saccharine at times, and a different listen now than at the time. But it was so remarkable then that I'd swear I have permanent traces.
The solo work, post-S&G is also pretty remarkable, as a whole. Some may be a bit formulaic or otherwise a tad disappointing, but all-in-all, wow. Kodachrome. American Tune. Still Crazy. 50 Ways. Just for a few examples.
And, in contrast to Mr. Felt, I was absolutely bowled over by Graceland on first listening, to the point of several embarrassing episodes of fan-dome, and it continues to so move me since.
But Felt's admission at having fallen off the wagon, or at least not initially being synched with that astounding album just heightened for me his enthusiasm for Simon's new album.
Okay, I also want to note here that I also differ with Felt from the standpoint of still doing a large portion of my listening in "proper" album-list order, even if the medium is a compact disc. Of course I do exploit the wonder of scrambled or random-order listening (though, frankly, and sadly, my listening time is circumscribed more than I like by way of ebooks that have recently occluded a big portion of my music nirvana). But start-to-finish album is still my major listening mode.
Amazingly, you can listen to the new Simon on-line in the here and now. The album is indeed pretty damn remarkable. Honestly, the brain-change induced by Graceland and the new world instrumentation and rhythms that album flung at me upped the bar so much that this exceptional music is at a bit of a disadvantage.
But you should indeed give this a listen if you enjoy the music of Simon of any era. On first listening, I especially noted Questions for the Angels and the title tune. Gumbo, okra, and cayenne early in the latter's lyrics, all plucked some very personal notes and hooked me, in addition to the catchy rhythm and lyrics limning undeniable choices life offers us. And MLK's assassination gets a note, uncannily timely. Rolling the dice indeed.
In a rare spontaneous moment today, based on above, I flirted with and explored the idea of plunking down big bucks for a concert at a venue here by the name of the WAMU Theater. The name eventually stirred up some internal vengeful demon, questioning the persistence of a local formerly-loved financial institution whose most prominent recent byline involved the possible indictments of senior managers with 6- or 7-digit annual compensation and big bonuses just before the whole manure-pile went down, enriching the greedy hyper-rich and punishing the rest of us.
In the end, family dynamics will sadly not permit that dream of first live Simon attendance. Getting to see Sean and Mara.is more than ample compensation.
posted by Sir Gumbo at 11:00 PM
0 comments
