A Classic Mix

Living life well requires a delicate balance of reflecting on the past, enjoying the present and creating one's own vision and plan for the future.  The challenge in that statement is not it's validity but what percentages of our mind share should be allocated to each of those activities.  And, the big question, how the hell do you actually allocate mind share and achieve that balance?

Self-reflection is surely a fine personal quality but there is a line where that trait becomes nostalgic and stultifying.  And on the flip side, looking toward the future without a plan is tantalizingly simple, letting our imaginations shape our perfect vision of us in the future.  It's often told that envisioning good results often leads to the production of those same good results but where does that quality devolve into daydreaming?

Attempting to craft the future through action while living in the now seems like a delicate balance of imagination and action.  Perhaps it is achieved by striving to, "live in the moment," not worrying about what's next other than what you can control. As Transcendentalist leader Ralph Waldo Emerson once eloquently said, "Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall  explain and overlook the old."

Music is a gift that has the power to represent the past, dial in the present and provide a glimpse into the future.  During a reflection of his years as band and tour manager for critically acclaimed indie rock band Yo La Tango, Joe Puleo wrote, "Songs, like love, have an amazing power to heal and destroy.  That's because songs, like love, are loaded with time; time that moves along even though you are unaware of the movement.  But songs, unlike love...can be otherwise avoided."

Although a consumer and not a producer of music, I feel a strong connection to songs and their power.  One of my yearly reflections is a musical peek into the past with hints of the future.  The list is an orderly yet chaotic effort at organizing some artists' attempts at making the world a more interesting place with music.  It is seen through my lens with filters influenced by prior attempts at presenting my musical whims complete with biases and opinions formed over dozens of years of experimentation.  This one captures a spot on my continuum  of life with a marker that says 2014.

This year was classic in so many great ways.  Special people, places, events and accomplishment with plenty more to look forward to in 2015 and into a very bright future.  Celebrate with me with a look at the classics, both new and old and at vintage songs that never require an apology.

Patriots’ Day 2014 - Raise a glass to Sam Adams and 36k runners

About 10 months ago for a number of logical reasons, I noted that March was my favorite month.  However, upon reflection, April’s a whole lot better.  Baseball season kicks into gear, hockey playoffs start, spring officially hits in the south (we know it’s really not spring with temps in the low 40s and rain all the time in the north) and the triathlon season kicks off for me.  And yes, the third Monday of the month brings arguably the best day of the year in Boston, Patriots’ Day, aka Marathon Monday.

Let’s start with Marathon Monday which has gotten plenty of press and deservedly so in light of last year’s tragedy.  This one’s important and I’m excited for the 118^th running of the Boston Marathon. As I take in the Sox-Orioles on ESPN tonight at frigid Fenway, I’m hoping and praying for a race where we can talk about the performances of one or all of the emerging American elites such as Ryan Hall, Shalane Flanagan (born and raised in Marblehead, MA), Kara Goucher or Desiree (Davila) Linden.  I’ve enjoyed my share of marathons in person as a kid growing up in Boston, as an adult living and watching along on the course and luckily as a participant as an invitee of my neighbor Boston City Councilor Rob Consalvo.  As I near the high end of my age bracket, I’m going to target that hopefully attainable qualifying time and see if I can’t earn my way into a race entry.

To an epic finish punctuated with the joy and excitement of amazing athletic achievement.   Here's hoping this year's memories are like those created in 1982 with the duel in the sun rather than last year's devastation.   Enjoy the day Boston and raise a Samuel Adams lager to Sam Adams (a fellow Boston Latin School alum) and the 36k runners to celebrate Boston’s unique and most beloved day of the year.

"A" is for Anthem

What’s in a label?  There are lots of reasons to label things that might make the item more selectable or perhaps identifiable. Our consumer-centric society demands this and has created it for good or bad.   Music very definitely leads the way in classification (see John Hughes in High Fidelity) and is routinely labeled by music critics, radio stations, music labels, commercial outlets, consumers and fans alike. I’m ok with that.  I understand that.  Classic, independent, alternative, adult contemporary are all labels that strive to neaten up an inherently messy and diverse art form. 

Does the college radio mean anything now as it may have in its heyday in the 80s?  My new favorite music station on satellite radio is Classic College Radio and they have a promo that states, “Vintage, never having to say you’re sorry.” Pretty cool way of stating that there’s power to creating great art.  It lasts long, wears well and makes you damn proud to be part of it.

Songs on my new mix, “A is for Anthem” are classic in the sense that they will at some point be vintage and make the listener react when played.  They also lend themselves as anthems.  Anthems make me feel a certain way. 1) They make me want to sing along; 2) they build; 3) they remind me of a connection to a more important theme (e.g. destiny or love or desperation or boredom) and;  4) they physically excite me.

Today’s great songs become tomorrow’s anthems.  A buddy of mine once noted that Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive” was destined to be an identifiable classic song or anthem.  I think it’s a bit too clichéd to gain anthem status but I’ll give him that it meets about 75% of the criteria.  You probably recognize many of the anthems in my new mix and like all my recent mixes, it looks ahead and also back and strives to work long after the medium on which it was created becomes an anachronism. 

Anthem is one of the 4 mix set including Seminal, Classic and Vintage.  Reminds me a bit of my old school "Best of Best" mixes from college that are still in existence and sitting in low quality plastic TDK boxes at the bottom of an old foot locker in the garage covered by WFNX and WLIR stickers.  Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Anthem
Blood Bank - Bon Iver
Jesusland - Ben Folds
Say It Ain't So - Weezer
True North - Pinback
The Heinrich Maneuver - Interpol
Welcome to the Terrordome - Public Enemy
Freedom - Rage Against the Machine
Ruby Soho - Rancid
Kinder Words - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys
Alcoholics Unanimous - Art Brut
I'm the Man - Joe Jackson
Peace, Love, and Understanding - Elvis Costello
U-Mass - Pixies
Nearly Lost You - The Screaming Trees
Sorry Somehow - Husker Du
Drain You - Nirvana
Daughter - Pearl Jam
Waltz No 2 - Elliott Smith
See How We Are - X

Seminal
Fool's Gold - The Stone Roses
Fitzpleasure - Alt-J
Breakers - Local Natives
Next Girl - The Black Keys
Do I Wanna Know - Arctic Monkeys
We Used to Wait - Arcade Fire
Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National
Stay Useless - Cloud Nothings
Young Hearts Spark Fire - Japandroids
Teenage Lobotomy - The Ramones
Welcome To Paradise - Green Day
London Calling - The Clash
Holiday in the Sun - The Sex Pistols
That's When I Reached for My Revolver - Mission of Burma
The First Part - Superchunk
Your Love Is the Place Where I Come From - Teenage Fanclub
Unsatisfied - The Replacements
The Funeral  - Band of Horses

Boston Calling

Far after all the year end music "best of" lists are published, I finally get around to pushing out my thoughts and a few pics from the cool first year Boston Calling music festival from 2013.  And as 2014 chugs along, I'm in the market for a new music experience that meets my complex algorithm of availability, desire and budget .  Of course, calendars are tight, weekends are dearly guarded but it's mandatory to make it to one large, genre-busting, throw down festival in a cool spot.  Hmm, the New Orleans Jazz Fest, a two weekend extravaganza with headliners Eric Clapton, Public Enemy, Aaron Nevillie, Trombone Shorty, Santaana, Phish,  Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, Arcade Fire and loads of New Orleans jazz just might fit the bill.

The reference to the Clash’s seminal 1979 album automatically created high expectations for Boston’s first crack at a downtown music festival in…forever.  Although the Hatch Shell on the Charles River, a few blocks away from the city center hosted a number of rock n roll events in the past (I must tell the story of the Green Day show that turned ugly another time), this might be the first multi-stage rock ‘n roll event held in the city.  Check out a modern take on the Clash's classic by some of our best rockers of this era.

The chosen festival locale, Boston’s City Hall Plaza, best known for its famously ugly architecture and home to city politicians and pop-up pro sports championship celebrations, would have to do.  With its vast open space filled with cracking red brick and bleak structures formed from some warped architect’s vision of the future, City Hall Plaza would suit, primarily because of its direct access to local public transport and ability to coexist with nearby shopping, sporting and tourist attractions.  And you could put a rented fence around it and charge $100 per day.  Not exactly Central Park or the Embarcadero (or Indio, CA) but it was surely a better option to be here than relegated to the suburban hinterlands alongside an interstate at an industrial park or stadium.  Yes, being downtown among it all would definitely work.

Who did what to whom?

Caspian kicked it hard.  A really nice start to the festivities with a local band I had never heard of in a sub-genre of rock that I am relatively unfamiliar with; post-rock.  Probably more suited for a club atmosphere but a worthy early introduction to festival activities.

Walkmen were more polished than I expected. The lead singer belted out anthems with the best of them and generally sounded kick-ass good.  Their tunes were catchy and enjoyable and I especially liked the clear, powerful lyrics.  Here they are at London Calling not Boston Calling in 2012.

We could not catch Youth Lagoon as we were too busy being underwhelmed by the perks (?) of the VIP area and associated high cost.  Access to an area of City Hall Plaza that provided no view of the smaller stage and a distant view of the main stage, some seating, a few heaters and a modestly attended bar were not enough to justify the big ticket premium.  Just not everything I would have expected, however, when a reasonably priced VIP area becomes available for any show, I strongly consider.

Big surprise for me was Dirty Projectors.  I loved their edgy guitar sounds mixed in with the sweet vocal harmonies of their two beautiful vocalists. I had heard a few of their songs and liked them but just could not imagine how they’d perform.  Well, let’s just say it worked for me.  Here's a representative peek at them pulling it off at the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago in 2012.

We had to miss Ra Ra Riot. That’s just the way things go at these things.  I heard good things about them but I didn't actually hear anything.  Another time, perhaps.

Andrew Bird was very good. Not his mostly stunning self but damn good. I’ve seen him a few times in more intimate venues and have loved him.  The stage and the time slot could have been better and I believe he played at the Sasquatch Festival the evening prior in Portland, OR.  To see classic Bird, check out this live performance at KEXP.  Someone commented on the video clip aptly: "Eargasm"

Of Monsters and Men sounded good from afar but I think we made a brief exit and got geared up for the National.  Sorry, they sound pleasant and fun but maybe a bit too paint-by-the-numbers alternative for me.  Am I being close minded and judgmental here?

The National killed it. I love their stuff and after reading about how fired up Aaron Dessner and the rest of the band was for this show, I was hooked.  They sounded polished, they looked great, the crowd was into it and they definitely delivered.  With such a great catalogue of anthems, how could they miss?  This tiny desk performance is worth a peek.

The HuffingtonPost article describes some of the show’s background, challenges and ultimately its successes.  It’s also cool to note that the city seemed to move on along at its own pace without really caring, and I mean that in a good way, about what the college kids were doing on City Hall Plaza. And college kids they were.  Maybe 20,000 of them and all were pretty fired up to have a bunch of good bands playing in one flawed yet reasonable location.  Fired enough to get a fall version of the classic and hopefully warmer weather some of the small wrinkles smoother over.

Well, it worked so well that they decided to announce another one during the show for 3 months away and it looks to be a pretty good take.  Boston (or Cambridge's) own Passion Pit will headline and although not a great fan, they seem pretty worthy.  The other headliner, Vampire Weekend, indie rock darlings that I'm not on board with, at least promise that all of those college kids with bread to spare will make it out to the next festival installment on the bricks of City Hall Plaza.  Hopefully, the fall weather will accommodate and it will survive as an annual event.