prock

First Impressions: The Apples in Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder

Feb 122007

Riding the coattails of the work of Townswoman Citizen Mom, I’m about to write a real-time review of the new album by The Apples in Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder! After a brief backgrounder, I will advise you to strap in and prepare for what might be a bumpy ride.

I thought Apples in Stereo were cooked! After leader Robert Schneider’s breakup with wife/drummer Hilarie Sidney, I’d read he was deep in long-distance collaborations with the likes of Andy Partridge and Robert Pollard. I’d read he was making electro-mash-ups on his laptop.

Like so many of you, I fell in love with Tone Soul Evolution. Sure, I was behind the curve, but it led me down the path of catching up with the Elephant 6 collective. I especially liked The Minders, who sounded like all the rickety ’60s elements of Apples in Stereo without the dangerously overreaching ambitions. I lined up outside a local record store for the release of the Apples’ follow-up album, Discovery of a Moone Inside Your Ass (or something like that). Every little overdub was placed just so. Details, details. It was retro-indie-sunshine pop made by a copy editor, or a proctomusicologist. As someone says in Spinal Tap, “Too much fuckin’ reality.” This album would be traded in a mere week later.

I could no longer hang with Schneider. Our affair was a brief one, but I’m about to give him a try again. Right now! For a limited time, you too can listen to a streaming version of this album from our friends at Phawker. Are you ready? OK…strap in!
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Bridging the Great Divide: Prince, Steely Dan, Zappa, The Smiths, XTC, and Other Causes in Severe Need of Healing

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 062007

You may recall last week, when I brought the concepts of Proctomusicology and “Prock” music to the Hall for discussion and development among Townspeople. We made headway on defining the terms and their applications, and I am confident that we will revisit them until we’ve reached a satisfying conclusion.

The reason I bring these terms up today is to help answer a wish Townsman Mark expressed in the Comments section of a recent thread. He hoped we might compile a “list of bands over whom [Rock Town Hall] has the most severe disagreements.”
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Working Definition: Proctomusicology

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jan 312007

Before a term makes it to the Rock Town Hall Glossary, it must first be identified and understood. This morning, while driving into work, listening intently to the music of The Small Faces, the term Proctomusicology popped into my head. It seemed like it meant something. Did this word apply to activities that go on here at Rock Town Hall, around the turntables of our Townsmen and Townswomen, in the grooves of the records we spin?

A hard day’s night later and Proctomusicology is still knocking around my head. For the next 24 hours, I ask for your help in defining this term as well as the related Proctomusicologist and, possibly, a subgenre of rock ‘n roll that could be characterized as Prock.

What is this field of study? Who is conducting these studies? By what means is research conducted? What artists might be considered exemplars of Prock music?

I look forward to your help in constructing this working definition.

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