Music Entry #1

A while back, in a previous BLOG, I started writing scattered entries on a particular song or theme revolving around my interest for popular music culture, which was a direct influence on author Nick Hornby's essays, "31 Songs." (Hornby has written famous books which later became screenplays - High Fidelity, About a Boy, How to be Good, Fever Pitch, etc.)

I think I want to re-look at a few shining moments in music past here tonight. Two things to be exact: 1. the amazing power of Portishead's music, in particular songs from their PNYC live show from 1998, and 2. the rise of Sub Pop records, who I believe is the forefront of good rock music for the past 20 years.


Portishead.



Shown above is a live video via YouTube of "Roads" from Portishead's live performance in the Roseland NYC, in 1998. With them is a backing orchestra which really delivers some sonic energy to the song, that is already backed with the impressive and beautifully shattered vocals of Beth Gibbons. One of the most impressive things I find about Portishead is that when you listen to them on a record, at first listen, or even many, you feel as if its just a bunch of well arranged samples and drum machines backed by vocodize vocals. Then you see them live and really gain a deep respect for the band, where you see that their entire score is organic, minus some samples here and there, which are top notch included with the scratch effects. There really aren't that many groups out there that have the uniqueness of Portishead, and while many have tried, they'll be difficult to surpass. This is because of their PERFECT blend of down tempo hip hop style beats, mixed with their hypnotic spy movie soundtrack and then the added eerie vocals of Gibbons - its a tough combination to beat. With Portishead, you are always in a new state of being, where the immensely depressing and sad overtures somehow give you hope. It's bizarre, but satisfying to its core.


Sub Pop Records



Sub Pop records has been at the music forefront of GOOD rock music for the past 20 or so years. Why do I say that? Because its obvious. Of course! What started out as a college project has now become the home to such current indie bands as The Shins, Postal Service, Iron & Wine, and others... It's pretty amazing that a local little record label could generate so much raw talent... Let's imagine three dudes who were childhood friends, two were musicians while the other just liked listening to music and making mix tapes. They move to Olympia for college, and all end up dropping out. The two musicians go on to form some band with a guy they met at school named Chris Cornell and make this band called SOUNDGARDEN. Their buddy, the mix tape dude, starts making "mix tapes" for a class project called "Subterranean Pop" and it becomes a quick success. While "Soundgarden" is gearing up with some original tunes, Sub Pop gets enough money to release some band called Green River their first EP.... Well that was the beginning of the Grunge era baby. Soundgarden soon followed up with a record of their own, and then shortly later, this Green River band breaks up, some of them join up with some former members of punk rockers Melvins, and form this band called Mudhoney and they sign on to Sub Pop. What happened to the other Green River members? Those guys were Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, other better known as the beginning of some band called Pearl Jam. Anyway, moving along, Sub Pop then finds their soul... a bunch of kids from Aberdeen, Washington named Nirvana. Well you know what happened next with these bands...

Sometime in the early 90s, when Grunge was hitting its high point, Sub Pop did not end there. They looked out and found another band to start a new rock trend. This band was Sunny Day Real Estate, and they were the perfect complement to the angry sounds of Nirvana and the other Seattle scene. SDRE filled in right as Nirvana went away with the passing of Kurt Cobain, merely weeks after his suicide was the release of "Diary," the beginning of the emo-core music scene. SDRE took the grunge sound, and combined it with vocals dearer to the heart and blew away an independent crowd with their debut.... I guess I should also throw in that when Nirvana broke up, their drummer (some guy named Dave Grohl) formed some no-name band called Foo Fighters with two of the guys from SDRE following their first implosion... After their second implosion, SDRE's guitarist worked some with dude named Chris Carraba in his solo project Dashboard Confessional... but no one's heard of these bands either.

All this time, Sub Pop kept signing great acts such as Afghan Whigs, Jesus and Mary Chain, etc. etc. And its funny because they also helped kick off the careers of Smashing Pumpkins amongst other bands...




Anyway, today Sub Pop is still a leader in the rock scene, as described above... Yay for independent local music!