What is avant-pop? (Tusk/LB mention)
 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main...tevienicks.xml

What is Avant-Pop?
by Paul Grimstad

Avant-pop does not shy away from the immediacy of the mainstream hit, and insists on hooks at their most puerile and perverse. AP does not feel the need to deform catchiness into a grimace (as an earlier twentieth-century avant-garde would have), but rather re-sequences the Legos of song structure, so that (a) none of the charm of the tune is lost, but (b) this very accessibility leads one to bump into weirder elements welded into the design. Accordingly, AP does not translate into mere complexity (though it can be complex), and its most memorable effects are often the results of blunt simplicity Also: AP need not be confined to music—Raymond Chandler, William S. Burroughs, and Philip K. Dick are totally AP, as are Jean-Pierre Melville, Star Wars, and David Lynch. The gastronomic equivalent of the AP is a whole pack of SweeTarts washed down with an ice-cold Canada Dry seltzer water.

A compressed genealogy: We might say that mid-sixties Dylan is AP, less for the Rimbaudisms and more for the asymmetrical approach to city blues and Memphis rockabilly, and for sticking such an odd voice so high up in the mix. This is also—despite the clichés about electric viola, tribal floor-toms, and the LES junk myth—what makes the Velvets AP: Lou and Nico’s alarming voices. (And so, accordingly, the Velvets are a post-Dylan phenomenon.) Sgt. Pepper is also, of course, full-blown AP, with its plasticine vaudeville big-top trip. Bowie is then, we could say, able to fuse these two strands of the sixties—the streety and the twee—and at the same time inaugurate their sleek, bankable professionalization.

Anyway, here are roughly fifty examples of AP, in alphabetical order by album title so as both to avoid a rating system, and to put the emphasis on the individual record, rather than on an artist’s entire catalogue. Also included in each entry is a representative track (RT), to locate the core of AP-density within each entry. The time-span covered here—1966 to 1994—might seem absurd, considering that Eric Satie, Maurice Ravel, Scott Joplin, George and Ira Gershwin, Woody Guthrie, Brecht/Weill, Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Strayhorn, Art Tatum, Carl Stalling, Thelonius Monk, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, and Conlon Nancarrow (not to mention recent mind-blowing interventions by, say, Deerhoof) each forged distinctly cool ways of submitting the popular song to innovative rewiring. This is then, let us say, a post–Summer of Love compendium. Enjoy!

• Absolutely Free, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention (Verve, 1967): Not too many other L.A. bands were quoting from Le Sacre du printemps. RT: “Brown Shoes Don’t Make It”

• At Yankee Stadium, NRBQ (Mercury, 1978): Bar-band with taste, especially when Terry Adams starts getting angular at the Wurlitzer. RT: “Green Lights”

• Bee Thousand, Guided By Voices (Matador, 1994): Homemade cut-up prog-pop from the Star-Spangled Elf himself. RT: “Her Psychology Today”

• The Big Heat, Stan Ridgeway (IRS, 1981): Fusing noir vibe with the carny persona he perfected in Wall of Voodoo. RT: “Drive, She Said”

• Born Again, Randy Newman (Warner Bros., 1977): His weirdest and coolest. RT: “Mr. Sheep”

• A Can of Bees, the Soft Boys (Ryko, 1979): Before Robyn Hitchcock became an Egyptian, he was making this swirling, spidery prog-wave. RT: “Leppo and the Jooves”

• The Cars, the Cars (Elektra, 1978): Now-classic sound was an experiment in putting early Roxy Music through Roy Thomas Baker’s stack-o-vocals. RT: “Bye Bye Love”

• Chairs Missing, Wire (Harvest, 1978): After the brutal Pink Flag came this dark, theatrical set. RT: “Outdoor Miner”

• Close to the Edge, Yes (Atlantic, 1972): The boys’ club of prog set loose upon a chromium dragonfly. RT: “Siberian Khatru”

• The Dreaming, Kate Bush (EMI, 1982): A total auteur and a new-wave prodigy. RT: “There Goes a Tenner”

• Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, Laura Nyro (Columbia, 1968): If most songs have an ABABCABC structure, hers go ABCDEFGHIJKLMN. Bold arrangements, dripping with soul. RT: “Timer”

• Fear, John Cale (Island, 1974): His post-Velvets stuff blows Lou’s away. Dignified and majestic. RT: “Fear Is a Man’s Best Friend”

• Frank Black, Frank Black (4AD, 1993): An early Mac record, treating rock band to gonzo editing. Features late Beefheart alumnus Eric Drew Feldman. RT: “Parry the Wind (High Low)”

• Ghost in the Machine, the Police (A&M, 1981): Tight concept-pop in killer tech-noir sleeve. RT: “Omegaman”

• The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Joni Mitchell (Asylum, 1975): After the transitional Court and Spark, she made this divine thing. Compressed vignettes set to dreamy, elliptical tunes. RT: “Edith and the Kingpin”

• I Against I, Bad Brains (SST, 1986): Art-core with strange tunes and wicked chops. RT: “I Against I”

• Imperial Bedroom, Elvis Costello and the Attractions (Columbia, 1982): Pretty ****ing precocious twenty-six-year old! RT: “Pidgin English”

• Jerky Versions of the Dream, Howard Devoto (Virgin, 1983): After co-founding the Buzzcocks and then bagging his amazing second project (Magazine), Devoto made this brittle, delicate record. RT: “Cold Imagination”

• John Wesley Harding, Bob Dylan (Columbia, 1968): While swinging London was wigging on LSD and baroque fractals, Bob was doing these sparse, biblical parables. RT: “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine”

• Lick My Decals Off, Baby, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band (Bizarre/Straight, 1970): Better than Trout Mask. Hear Zoot Horn Rollo’s guitar parts doubled in Art Tripp’s mallets. RT: “I Love You, You Big Dummy”

• Kimono My House, Sparks (Island, 1974): Glam camp cut to new-wave specs. But there was no new wave when this came out! RT: “Amateur Hour”

• Lodger, David Bowie (RCA, 1979): The wildest of the Eno trilogy, and maybe Bowie’s most fascinating record. RT: “African Night Flight”

• The Madcap Laughs, Syd Barrett (Capitol, 1970): Still (barely) holding it together on these floaty, quasi-vaudville tunes. RT: “Octopus”

• More Songs about Buildings and Food, Talking Heads (Sire, 1978): Another of Eno’s winning interventions and the Heads at their wiry peak. RT: “Warning Sign”

• A Night at the Opera, Queen (Elektra, 1975): The multiple stereophonic Freddies on “Bohemian Rhapsody” are alone worth it. RT: “Bohemian Rhapsody”

• The Nightfly, Donald Fagen (Warner Bros., 1982): Near-future cerebra-pop; production fastidious to the point of mania. RT: “New Frontier”

• Odessey and Oracle, the Zombies (Date, 1968): Colin Blunstone’s inimitable tenor floats through gardens of psych. RT: “Brief Candles”

• Out of the Blue, ELO (Jet, 1977): The Beatles on roller skates in a space ship. RT: “Mr. Blue Sky”

• Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys (Capitol, 1966): Brian orchestrates. RT: “Let’s Go Away for Awhile”

• Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon (Capitol, 1970): Sturdy roster set in Spector-in-reverse sound. RT: “I Found Out”

• Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, Devo (Warner Brothers, 1978): Came up with a whole new language. RT: “Uncontrollable Urge”

• Ram, Paul McCartney (Capitol, 1971): Flawless DIY pop experiment. RT: “Ram On”

• Saturday Night Fever, the Bee Gees (RSO, 1977): Came up with another whole new language. RT: “Night Fever”

• Sheet Music, 10cc (EMI, 1974): Gilbert and Sullivan on crack, and this one’s their most cracked. RT: “Somewhere in Hollywood”

• Sign ‘O’ the Times, Prince (Warner Brothers, 1987): To be included with other double sets that actually cohere (the White Album, The Basement Tapes, Something/Anything). Proves there is no limit to what he can do. RT: “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker”

• Song Cycle, Van Dyke Parks (Warner Brothers, 1968): An American treasure. Warner Brothers’ all-time lowest-selling record. RT: “The All Golden”

• Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder (Motown, 1976): Heavy moog jams plus transcendental Clavinet and heavenly feel. RT: “Sir Duke”

• Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), Brian Eno (EG, 1974): Loosely conceptualized song-cycle about the global opium trade. RT: “Third Uncle”

• There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Sly and the Family Stone (Epic, 1971): Frigid yet weirdly intimate. RT: “Runnin’ Away”

• These Foolish Things, Bryan Ferry (Virgin, 1973): Yeah, I know, they’re not his songs. But as exercises in rendition, they’re pure AP. RT: “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

• Tin Drum, Japan (Virgin, 1981): Mannered cubist pop which they were able flawlessly to reproduce live. RT: “The Art of Parties”

• Tusk, Fleetwood Mac (Reprise, 1979): Program the CD so that you get a thirty-minute Lindsey Buckingham solo album. RT: “Not That Funny”

• 25 O’Clock/Psonic Psunspot, the Dukes of Stratosphear (Virgin, 1987): Spot-on mock-ups of sixties-isms by XTC’s alter-ego, with John Leckie at the board. RT: “The Mole from the Ministry”

• A Wizard, a True Star, Todd Rundgren (Bearsville, 1973): The whole of side one was recorded in a single mescaline trip, and Todd played everything. RT: “Zen Archer”

It looks like Lindsey wrote this, had to read it three times and still not sure if I get it.:lol:

The only thing that bothers me is that they only put Lindsey's songs in this category, which is bull. The whole Tusk-album fits in this tag, whatever it's worth anyway.

But I agree on the keytrack, although they could have picked IKINW too. Well that is NTF's twinsistertrack, so I guess they can be seen as one.

Thanks Livia, nice snobby article!

I knew you would appreciate it. I thought, "this is SO Gerald" when I read it. :xoxo:

HMMM, am I happy with that? :shrug::lol:

Well I guess it pleases me to see Tusk in this impressive list of music I almost completely like. Even my fave Kate Bush record is mentioned, which is great, because The Dreaming is very underrated. And it is true that Tusk is a very challenging album that really deserve to be in this list. For YEARS I had the impression that I was the only one on earth who thought that Tusk was this artistic masterpiece ahead of it's time, but thank to the internet I found a few soulmates around here that share my view. Phew.

:thumbsup:

I didn't mean to imply that YOU were a snob. LOL Just that you'd love the article.

I know Livia, although I can be one at times when it comes to Lindsey....:D

• Boulders, Roy Wood (EMI, 1973): Slapping a fishbowl for percussion, speeding up the tape for high-pitched voices, playing every damn instrument on the album -> mad genius.
  
  
• Jordan: The Comeback, Prefab Sprout (CBS, 1990): A huge song cycle with everything from bolero to cheeky synthesisers thrown in the mix.
  
  
• Love You, the Beach Boys (Capitol, 1977): Fits this guy's description of avant-pop far better than Pet Sounds does.
  
  
• Paradise, Inner City (10 Records, 1989): Detroit techno goes commercial while retaining its trickiness, this is what most Euro techno acts missed.
  
  
• Power, Corruption & Lies, New Order (Factory, 1983): Summarises the confusion between the dark past and the uplifting future perfectly.
  
  
• Scott 4, Scott Walker (Philips, 1969): Not totally far-out yet, but getting there.
  
  
• The United States Of America, the United States Of America (Columbia, 1968): Hippie music made with ring oscillators instead of guitars.
  
  
• A Walk Across The Rooftops, the Blue Nile (Linn, 1983): The one Fairlight album that actually doesn't sound dated these days.
  
  
• Watertown, Frank Sinatra (Capitol, 1970): Sinatra does a complex POP song cycle with the Four Seasons songwriter and actually makes it work.
  
  
• Yip/Jump Music, Daniel Johnston (home-made tape, 1983): Self-explanatory.

Your turn, Gerald!

He seems to be making a formalist argument (ala David Bordwell's concept of "parametric" film narration), but it doesn't really make sense if you try to apply what he's writing. That said: I'm glad about some of the albums he mentioned, actually (I squeeled when I read "The Dreaming"). That said: I HATED what he wrote about Tusk. That album works as a coherent whole, and its wealth of artistic value is in every single track.:wavey:

Tusk does work as a whole, yes. And there is some form of magic in each track. But I do listen to it as if it was a LB solo album. I almost never listen to the Christine or Stevie tracks anymore... and if I do, it's really just Christine's Think About Me (which is Lindsey heavy) and Honey Hi. :shrug: :laugh:

Ha! my words a few posts back. I completely agree.:thumbsup:

Oh yes, I've had endless discussions with people who thought Rumours was the second coming and just didn't understand what Tusk was all about. If they even knew that album existed. The discussion usually started out with, oh, is that where that song Sara came from? :rolleyes: I made so many people copies of it I was determined to let people see this side of the band instead of having them only be familiar with the likes of the more commercially driven albums like Rumours and Tango. My dad, who is basically the one that taught me about music, for years was convinced that Fleetwood Mac was a band for women, with poppy tunes to dance and sing along to (blame it on the Christine hits, they were the biggest ones here). Imagine my surprise when I delved into it a little deeper and discovered a whole new side. And heh, did I show him. Tusk is his favorite now. ;)

i would agree that the whole album reflects an avante garde -
it is obviously liddy's influence on the ladies tunes that put it there.


i feel sara is a good example though right?

an incredibly simple song that becomes a layered ocean of sounds and textures in liddy's hands

It's certainly a great, great, great song, but it doesn't reflect what Tusk is at all. Sadly, that's the only song most people know here. Though two years ago I singlehandedly managed to get the song Tusk in the annual Top 2000, so now I have more people going 'oh hey, that marching band song, that's pretty neat!'.

:xoxo:

I don't have much time giving this real thought,

But for me some more recent work comes to mind

Elliott Brood - Ambassador, 2005 Open yet dark folky countrypop, so simple it blows your head off.

dEUS-Worst Case Scenario, 1994 shoves Beck under the carpet.

On edit: I guess Dinosaur Jr's Where you been, should be here too. Maybe something by Jon Spencer Bluesexplosion?

And Royal Trux selftitled album from 1992. Wikepedia: the band explored every inch of the rock-and-roll cliché from sub-underground nihilism to major-label biz for hire, without abandoning their unique romanticism and artistic integrity. Well, maybe they were just bad. :lol:

I have the two songs you posted off this a while ago (The Bridge and Only At Home) and I love them both so I'm going to have to get the album pretty soon. It's great stuff.

An attempt to see if I get this. Here are some albums which strike me as "avant-pop" (and they're all great):

Al Green, The Belle Album (1977)

Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Meets King Pennet (1978)

Chic, Risque (1979)

Elvis Costello, Get Happy!! (1980)

Au Pairs, Playing With a Different Sex (1981)

The Clash, Sandinista! (1981)

Associates, Sulk (1982)

Prince, 1999 (1982)

Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet (1990)

Son of Bazerk, Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk (1991)

De La Soul, De La Soul Is Dead (1991)

Scritti Politti, White Bread Black Beer (2006)



Do these count or are these experiments more 'avant':

David Byrne (and Brian Eno), The Catherine Wheel (1981)

Pet Shop Boys, Battleship Potemkin (2005)

Well, after a while of giving it multiple listens, I rank it as a masterpiece. Go get it peestie!

Njood spoons EUPHORIA!!

That's a great one, shouldn't have forgotten it.

But no New Order? Your faith certainly isn't true. http://www.neworderonline.com/Forums...es/nonono2.gif

PS to Gerald: The day you'll actually list something mainly machine-driven, that's the day I'll eat my shorts.

:( Well... which album would best represent this avant-pop cred of New Order? I suppose Substance with its extended mixes and disc-2 remixes/b-sides displays this, plus that's kind of an interesting way to collect an artist's work, so even it's format is "avant-pop." And, yes, it contains the greatest song of all time. But really all New Order albums are avant-pop, no? But what about the first Electronic album? That should be on there too (though I prefer the last two Electronic albums -- all three mighty -- but they strike me as less "avant-pop").

Oh and Face of Glass. . . I love Hats by Blue Nile. That's my favorite make-out album!

OK, I'm not touched by 99.9% of all electronic music.
But, I said kate bush's the dreaming was a fave of mine. Lindsey's Go insane could/should be on this list. (although Law and Order would be the first LB-album to match the criteria).

And the Model by Kraftwerk.


You're alowed to eat a clean pair.:D

Sounds great! I'm getting quite excited about hearing it now. I'll just have to wait a week or two until I get settled into my new place before I start filling it up with more CDs :D

Probably, although Johnny and Bernard first had a more experimental direction in mind (as evidenced by the b-side Lucky Bag). But yes, an oboe interlude in the midst of electronics can't certainly be forgotten. :thumbsup:

Ohhhh man, the last minute of "Some Distant Memory" is the best part of the song. That oboe/synth-string arrangement is gorgeous.

But I digress....

What about Eye in the Sky by the Alan Parsons Project?