Music

[Oedipussy Rex]

Oedipussy,

Do you have any insight as to why she thought you'd love Chapin? Do you feel her build-up was more a symptom of her own enthusiasm for Chapin's music than it was an appeal to your tastes?

Only three years old so I'll actually answer the question, even Luna hasn't been around in five months.

It wasn't so much that she was trying to sell me on Chapin as she was trying to sell me on why she loved Chapin. Now that I think back on it, all her entertainment was about the characters and stories. She never played video games (this was back in the days of Pac Man and Asteroid), didn't like action movies, and thought Honey was a good song. *shudder*

[Oedipussy Rex]

Finally listening to the songs my "mp3" player wouldn't play. ("mp3" in quotes as I have few mp3 files, preferring ogg and flac.) I thought they wouldn't play because the files had album cover images embedded in the file. Turns out it was simply because the audio sampling rate of the files was greater than 44100 Hz.

[Kersus]

I listen to precious little music anymore. Mostly talk radio on the road. I still throw on Darlingside from time to time and I have some mixes I've built up in Amazon Music - relaxing music or something to get excited about (toe tapping). What I end up singing in my head lately are old hymns and themes from BBC shows.

[rredmond]

I listen to the free Spotify app on my phone, but there are so many commercials it's like old school radio! YouTube has less commercials and you can pick your music. I also visit the quieter parts of the web to get MP3s and such of bootlegged shows. I've got a ton of Jethro Tull I listen to all the time (shocker) as well as The Clash, Dropkick Murphys, Beastie Boys, some Jazz and a couple audiobooks. So it's all good.

[Oedipussy Rex]

I wish Tool hadn't formed when they did because I wasn't that big a fan of the music of the time: Pearl Jam, Korn, Metallica, .... Bleh. Primus? Oh yeah. I always liked Primus. Stone Temple Pilots? Subject for another post. As is the Korn concert I saw. So Tool just kinda blended in with all the mediocrity and garbage of the time for me. Wow, have I been missing out.

[Oedipussy Rex]

(Have I written about this here? Can't remember.)

So. Stone Temple Pilots. Core. 1992. Basically a Pearl Jam knock-off. A very well-done Pearl Jam knock-off, but still. "Plush" is about the only notable song on the album, as far as I can remember, having not listened to it for over two decades. Because even conceding that it was a very well-done knock-off, it's a knock-off of a band I don't find very compelling, so it's not really a compliment.

Then came Purple (1994). Holy crap. Most definitely no longer a Pearl Jam knock-off, Stone Temple Pilots came into their own. Fantastic album. I became a fan.

1996. Tiny Music ... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. Not as well-received as the previous two albums, by the fans and critics, though it has been certified triple-platinum. But that's because of all the poseurs finding out about them and latching on, like teenagers to Nevermind, not the real fans who had been listening to them since Bleach. Anyway, I like Tiny Music. I liked that the band was exploring new styles and was interested to hear what they came out with next.

Then Weiland got into legal trouble.

So I'm over at a friend's apartment in, I don't know, '99? 2000? Maybe '01, and I'm looking through the cd collection an lo, there's No. 4. "Stone Temple Pilots have put out a new album?" "Oh yeah! Put it on." So I do so. A few songs in I'm asked, "What do you think?" "I think it sounds like their first album." "Yeah, isn't it great?" "No, it's not great."

In hindsight, I should have known from the album title. "No. 4?" Just a title knock off of J. J. Cale's 5 (1979), #8 (1983), and Number 10 (1992), as well as Big Star's #1 Record (1972), so why wouldn't the music just be more Pearl Jam knock-off? But not as good. I couldn't listen to the whole album. Stopped after four or five songs. (Fun fact: Jody Stephens is the only member of Big Star still alive and my mom knows him. Not on a personal level, but they used to work together. (He's a little young for her.) (She's more December than a September Gurl.))

Anyway. Needless to say, or maybe it is needful, but I haven't bothered with any of STP's subsequent albums.

[Oedipussy Rex]

So. Apparently converting songs to the Mario 64 sound font is a thing. Currently twenty-five minutes into The Beatles. "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" is actually improved by the conversion. "Blackbird" not as much, but it's such a strong song that it's still enjoyable. Curious to find out how "Revolution 9" turned out.

edit: "Revolution 9" is amazing. Unlike Lucas' "vision" for Star Wars, I guess technology really did take decades to catch up to make the art great, instead of revealing the auteur as a hack.

[Oedipussy Rex]

https://youtu.be/fiH9edd25Bc?si=epfoaPhcCMW7JJyQ

Probably my favorite music video. It tells a different, although slightly related, story to the song, but I like them both.