I will still defend that position, too, if I’m forced into a corner. I think that most of the synthy instrumental bands that shot up like weeds in the wake of Millions Now Living Will Never Die were instrumental bands mainly for one of two reasons: first, they saw that Tortoise was getting the full pedicure from the press and they wanted a piece of that action for themselves, and second, they were too cowardly to write lyrics. Writing lyrics takes balls not because of any of that hokum about people baring their souls or anything -- who could care? -- but because lame song lyrics announce themselves boldly to the world, gleaming like emeralds in a urinal, defeating the “but-that’s-just-your-opinion” subjectivists ten at a time with their plain, stinking badness. Take away the lyrics, and the that’s-just-your-opinion crowd come back in through the door single file, bestowing laurels on all kinds of yawn-producing navel-gazery because you can’t prove that it’s not actually brilliant. Responding directly to Millions Now Living, itself not a quarter as good as everybody seemed to think it was, hundreds of shmoes trucked on down to the pawn shop and bought up dozens of Rolands and Prophet Ones, questing annoyingly for that warm analog sound. Bah, humbug, said I, and I retreated into my cave.
1 2 3 4 5 6 [next]
     
             
             
             

-LPTJ-
home   archive   issues   music   contact   links