Say you’re a rock critic and the calendar has dwindled to a single page. You’re expected to write a year-in-review column, but your artistic heroes have disappointed you and none of the year’s new releases have galvanized you the way you’d hoped. What do you do? You reach into your back pages to look at some forgotten favorites and things that got away from you the first time around. In writing about these forgotten favorites, maybe you can introduce your readers to something new as well.
2012 was a better concept than an actual year. Perhaps that’s why the Mayans scheduled it to end early. It’s not the end of the world, but a sincere cry to get on with 2013. This year really was an “everything louder than everything else” year (Prometheus! Avengers! The Dark Knight Rises!) and that much noise makes me want to hide under my bed, which has no frame and sits squarely on the floor.
There were some things I really did enjoy, things that made sense and resonated, above all the yelling that permeated the year.
Another year, another apocalyptic prophecy. Unless 2012 ends with the biggest shock in human history, though—that conspiracy theorists are actually right about something—this year has been a pretty enjoyable one for creative media. The following list is simply a reflection of some of the good things that happened over the last twelve months.
In the last year, Concord Music Group re-released and compiled great jazz collections for those into mid-century modern jazz. The best offerings included Vince Guaraldi’s Peanuts-infused classics and Bill Evans’ elegiac piano stylings. Moon Beams may be one of the saddest jazz records of all time, but it has some of the most elegant, beautiful piano chord progressions recorded in music history.
My editor at this fine publication has informed me that I need not stick to 2012 releases for my “Best Of” list. With that in mind, I have made a list of new releases & “classics” that I have gone back to in the last year or so.
New this week on Popshifter: I provide a Krampus primer and talk about what works and what doesn’t in V/H/S; Paul puts together a playlist for “Music To Make You Human”; Chelsea recommends the reissued A Charlie Brown Christmas for listening and gift-giving; Danny is stoked for Dave Grohl’s upcoming documentary Sound City; and Lisa recommends 666 Park Avenue if you’re not already watching it.
On September 30 of this year, a new supernatural drama called 666 Park Avenue premiered on ABC. Produced by David Wilcox, a veteran of such shows as Law & Order and Fringe, 666 Park Avenue is loosely based on the Gabriella Pierce novel of the same name. I’ve been watching and enjoying it, and apparently I’m one of only a few, because the show—disadvantaged perhaps by its 10 p.m./9 p.m. eastern time slot—has failed to break more than 2.1 of the Nielsen ratings share in the 18-49 demographic (which translates to about 23,982 viewers). It deserves a closer look in my opinion—at least for people who are into network TV horror.
As a fan of rock ‘n roll and music in general, many recording studios are deserving of the documentary treatment: Electric Lady (NYC), The Quonset Hut (Nashville) Abbey Road (London), Sun Records (Memphis), Ardent Studios (Memphis), Electric Audio (Chicago), and Motown (Detroit). Now, for those of us that love history and happen to be music nuts, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana, a thousand other projects) has made his directorial debut with film on a studio that has a storied history of its own: Sound City.
The Los Angeles recording studio has borne witness to some of the greatest albums in the history of music. The roster of talent that has walked through its doors and blew up the soundboard is staggering: Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac, Rage Against The Machine, Bad Religion, Evel Kneivel, Nine Inch Nails, Neil Young, Cheap Trick, Carl Perkins, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, The Breeders, the list could go on for days.
Sound City is Grohl’s love letter to a place that means so much to him and to anyone that has ever dropped the needle in a vinyl groove or obsessed over a CD. Sound City is one film I cannot wait to experience.
Sound City will debut at Sundance 2013 in January, but you can pre-order a copy in advance of the film’s February 1 premiere on HD digital download and stream at the movie’s official website. Sound City will open theatrically via Variance Films on February 1. Like the film’s Facebook page and stay tuned for cities and dates to be posted in the near future.
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The tinkling piano lines, rolling brushed drums, and sprightly tempos of Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack to the classic TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas are a welcome sign of the holiday season. Guaraldi’s keyboard treatments of classic Christmas songs like “Greensleeves,” “O Tannenbaum,” and the classic children’s choral arrangement of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” give these classics a new sound. Some of his originals, such as “Christmas Time is Here,” portray the loneliness and melancholy of the holiday season though a few minor chords and a contemplative melody. Other new songs, like the bright, upbeat “Linus and Lucy,” sound like the rush of energy you sometimes felt as a kid around the holiday.
Michael Jackson was responsible for my first musical memory. Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous were the first albums which were as important as my miniature Batmobile, and that thing was pretty boss. Moonwalker, which was mostly quite bad, did have the great benefit of featuring an extended version of the “Smooth Criminal” video in between weird claymation sections and Joe Pesci as an evil Joe Pesci. This was directly responsible for fueling a life long, and probably ill advised, love for performance. Michael Jackson was a pure expression of not only a severe musical talent, but of the thought that it may be possible to dance so well that verbal communication would no longer be necessary.
For an introverted young sort, and later a socially anxious older sort, Michael Jackson’s music was a reminder that sometimes you just have to get out there and lay it down. Whether this is a groove, some excessive vamping, or a tricky foot shuffle, even the most egregious wallflower has to step up when “The Way You Make Me Feel” comes on. “I Can’t Let Her Get Away” insists that you get into a New Jack Swing, whether you are aware of Teddy Riley or not. “Human Nature” still brings on tears.
