cherguevara

Sound Off!

Feb 202013

Every day I take a break and head off to the gym to blow off some steam. Unfortunately, they’ve installed new machines with big video screens that obstruct most of the view around the room. Preferring to listen to my own music, I don’t listen to the sound from the video selections offered. But I have been watching some things without the sound and this video came up. Although it’s not a performance-based video as we tend to use in “Sound Off!” I think it is certainly game for a little analysis. I can say that the song did not sound anything like I thought it would, and definitely made the video a little bit better. Nonetheless, without the sound, the video did spur a certain reaction from me and I wonder if it might be the same for you.

Sound Off!

Posted by cherguevara

Jul 112012

This one goes to zero!

Rock Town Hall has a long and honored tradition of rock video analysis, with Townspeople often incorporating the distinctive technique of commenting on videos with the sound off. In honor of alexmagic‘s legendary analysis of a video of Tom Jones performing with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, we are instituting a new feature, Sound Off!

The way a Sound Off! thread works is simple:

A video is posted for us to view with the sound off.
We comment on what we’re seeing with the sound off.
We most likely share in the sense of wonder that there’s much to learn about music with the sound off.

You will be entrusted to view the following video with the sound off. If we could disable the video’s sound we would, but something tells me the copyright holder of the video might object to that. Trust us, for the purposes of this thread the sound will get in the way. Beside, you may be viewing this at work, in which case coworkers will only be distbured by your giggles; you won’t have to worry about the artist’s music leaking into their cube.

After the jump, why don’t you turn the sound off and watch the following video!

Catfight With Morton’s Fork!

Posted by cherguevara

Jan 182012

Choose your fighter:

vs

Who still pays attention to Saturday Night Live? For me, the mainstream is largely off of my radar, so I’m not so sure how this Lana Del Ray thing came to my attention, or why I find it fascinating—but I do.

To summarize, Lana Del Ray co-wrote and sings this song called “Video Games.” She performed on SNL and suddenly the Internet was flaming about what a train-wreck it was. I’m not defending this performance—it’s not great and it’s not comfortable to watch, but it’s not the biggest mess I’ve ever seen on SNL or other TV shows.

But what sparked this uproar? One of the most notable sources was a tweet from actress/”musician” Juliette Lewis, who wrote, “Wow, watching this ‘singer’ on SNL is like watching a 12-year-old in their bedroom when they’re pretending to sing and perform #signofourtimes.” Lewis has since deleted her tweet and said some nicer things about Del Ray. Maybe she realized she was standing on shaky ground herself?

I dare you to watch both of these videos. Do you choose the pot or the kettle?

Cure for Controversy

Posted by cherguevara

Dec 162011

I’m not an ardent follower of The Cure, which accounts for the fact that I am years behind on learning of the alterations Robert Smith has been making to the band’s first single, “Killing An Arab,” since 2005. The song is now performed as, “Killing Another,” due to superficial interpretations of the song that overlook its basis on Camus’ novel, The Stranger, oversimplifying it as an anti-Arab message. Given the politics of the last decade or so, it is easy to see how Robert Smith took the stance of asking radio stations to not play the song and then choosing to alter the lyrics.

Before changing the lyric to “Killing Another,” apparently Smith went with “Kissing An Arab” in his attempts to continue playing the song while playing down these racist interpretations.

Being the band’s first single and one of their best-known songs, it seems that it might be difficult to set this song aside. On the other hand, it seems to me that they have many other well-known songs and need-not feel compelled to play the song anymore.

My questions to the Hall are these: What would you do if you were Robert Smith? Abandon the song? Play it as it is? Or change the lyrics as he has done?

Can you think of any other artists who have abandoned one of their big hit singles? Can you think of any other songs that have suffered from gross misinterpretation? As a fan, are you open to changing the lyrics to a song (or the title) after 30 years of hearing it as it was originally written?

What say ye, Townsfolk?

The Mt. Rushmore of Punk

Posted by cherguevara

Oct 032011

NPR’s All Songs Considered posted this image on FB, a mural in Asbury Park, going up near Asbury Lanes. They asked posters to identify the faces in the photo, a task which every Townsperson could probably tackle while threading a needle and riding a unicycle, blindfolded. But what I found interesting was one poster’s comment that it was the “Mt. Rushmore of Punk.” If that is to be true, the first thing to do is eliminate two faces.

To me, it seems like there are three people here who are givens and three whose presence is arguably dubious. Which four faces go up on your Mt. Rushmore of Punk?

Getting on The Nerves

Posted by cherguevara

Jun 262011

It started innocently enough: A friend was calling tech support and had been on hold for some time. He chronicled his wait on Facebook, I responded by posting a link to The Nerves’ “Hanging On The Telephone.” I know it’s a great song, but I had no idea there was such a vast array of cover versions of the song.

Here are the results of a little digging for covers of this song, and this is not including all of the videos of bands covering the tune in bars, parties and other gigs. This is studio versions only. Some stay close to the original (or to Blondie’s much more well-known version) and some stray away – often to their own peril.

So set aside some time and enjoy…