the eleven

6. I’m not sure how this works exactly but 3/4 can sound dreamy when slow (it’s waltz time, so maybe it subconsciously evokes images of ballrooms), which probably explains why Bradford Cox is so fond of it for Atlas Sound ballads. But when it’s fast, 3/4 sounds jaunty and makes you want to drink beer and sway and slam into things (possibly because threes are also used for polka). So since this is three threes and a two, it feels like a song you might sing at Oktoberfest of something.
7. I can’t find this quote right now, but during the late 60s Rolling Stone interviewed Phil Spector and they asked him about Bob Dylan. And he said something to the effect that the song “Like a Rolling Stone” was genius because any time you can wring something new out of the chords to “La Bamba” you’ve got it made. And this song has the same I/IV/V progression as “La Bamba” and “Like a Rolling Stone”, so it sounds like a Mexican party song to me as well. (...)
10. When I was a boy at summer camp we used to sing songs before and after every meal in the dining hall. This was an ancient building that was made out of logs and was built in 1925 or so. The floors were wood, the benches and tables were wood, and we were packed in there tightly. So when we sang, it could get loud. One number we sang regularly was a counting song called “Green Grow the Rushes Ho” (here’s a modified version for a “Sesame Street” production of some kind). Kids, me included, got really into it. There was a part where the song goes “two, two” and it was a tradition to slam our fists on the table in sync with those words and everyone would be yelling and going crazy. I feel like I can trace my interest in music by bands like the Boredoms directly to this experience. The idea of music as something collective and tribal that involved chanting and noise and banging on things and being playful.

Mark Richardson (obecnie naczelny Pitchforka) plasuje się od dawna w czołówce rankingu "ludzi, których chciałbym poznać". W sumie nie wiem więc, dlaczego w "ulubionych" i dziale "linki" nie umieściłem aż do chwili obecnej jego imponującej oficjalnej strony. Niemal każdy artykuł czy nawet komponowana na kolanie blogonotka w jego wykonaniu wydają się być bliskie ideału krytyki muzycznej - pasja, wiedza, osobiste podejście do tematu, prosty i błyskawicznie przyswajalny styl, nie silenie się na kontrowersje i zarazem oryginalność wywodu, dystans do własnych werdyktów, traktowanie muzyki również jako fenomenu społecznego i komunikacyjnego (a nie jedynie "zbioru dźwięków"). Warto zaglądać też na jego pisarski side project, Invisible Music. No i przede wszystkim, co za fantastyczny track The Dead!