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Last week I made a short trip to the best fucking city in the world, New York. I went for two reasons: my friend / writing colleague Daphne Carr invited me to do a reading and participate in a panel at Housingworks Cafe in Soho/Chelsea, and to attend a one-day symposium on the writings of Ellen Willis, a noted feminist journalist / rock critic who passed away from cancer in 2006.
Both events went well, and sandwiched between the two events was a party for Anne Powers hosted by NPR, celebrating her new position as Pop Music Critic for the station. Overall, it seemed to be a weekend of music criticism and seeing music journo rockstars, like Robert Christagau, Powers, Daphne Brooks, Joe Levy, Donna Gaines, my homegirl, Decibel's Jeanne Fury, Kandia Crazy Horse.... so much that by the time Saturday afternoon came about, I thought my head was going to explode. One of the highlights was not only meeting new people / contacts, but also seeing the elusive Ian Christe, my soon-to-be publisher (Bazillion Points) and metal journalist extraordinare.
Hanging out with Daphne C. and attending the symposium made me think about "voice" in relation to how we write about music. The event seemed very academic, in ways, but one thing that was hammered home by the speakers was that Willis created a voice of her own. Her prose was blunt, in some ways as she got to 'the point', but on the other hand, was able to describe artists, sounds and themes in a way in which no one has been able to replicate. And they shouldn't....as everyone needs to find their own way of conveying what they think and how they feel about the art that they see and hear. Willis just had a way of doing it and apparently had a character in which she was greatly admired, to boot.
While I was at New York University to attend the Ellen Willis symposium, I had a chance to check out this nearby record store and got a copy of Neurosis's Through Silver and Blood and a 1986 live concert DVD of Slayer filmed in 1986. As soon as I got home, I popped the CD in my laptop and was blown away. I'm a fan, as I own three of their albums, but this album was incredible. I'd seen the above video for "Locust Star" a number of years ago, and I think it is one of my favourite music videos ever.
I'd also seen the band co-headline with Mastodon in 2008, and while I went to see Mastodon, Neurosis blew me away. Unlike the above video which was filmed in '96 I believe, seeing them in NYC a few years back was interesting. They, like all of us, have aged, and become early-middle-aged men with families, but their intensity has not changed. What I liked about this album was the youthful anger, which I'm sure has largely dissipated, especially on 2007's Given to the Rising, and the production of the album, produced by Billy Anderson, whom my friend, Dave hyped me onto a couple of months ago. In terms of the industrial segments of the band, the effects, the looping and experimentation with sounds, seemed to really stand out for me on this album - more than the other ones I own. When I saw the above video and saw Noah Landis pounding on his keyboards, it made no sense to me, but after listening to this album, it made sense.
Most importantly, the bass, courtesy of Dave Edwardson, is fucking sick....his tone is incredible and I liked the interplay between his vocals , Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till on "Locust Star." I cannot wait to see them again at Maryland Deathfest in a few weeks! Yipee! In addition, I was listening to this awesome podcast 2-hour retrospective on Isis, which broke up last year. I only recently got into the band, and via their music (which I love) and other bands, such as Baroness, you can really hear the influence that Neurosis has had in their music. It's not a diss - but really interesting.
UPCOMING: I participated in a radio segment for WNYC's Soundcheck program for their Smackdown segment, discussing Odd Future. I'll have the link when it is available......
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