e2music

"Army of Silent Kids" is a song by Soda Fountain Rag, a band mostly composed of Ragnhild Hogstad Jordahl, and sometimes two other guys.

Ragnhild is one of them new-fangled musicians who records songs and posts them up for free on Myspace. She plays all of the instruments and sings and writes her own songs, but of course, live, it's rather a tall order to do everything by herself, so she gets Anders Kaasen to play guitar and Nickolai Nilsen to do bass.

Anders also produced the album It's Rag Time! for her, which this track is off of. You might be disappointed to hear that It's Rag Time! is not, in fact, a ragtime album. No, it's jangly indiepop twee something or other. You know...that insufferably cute stuff you put on to test the patience of your anarchohippiepeacepunkcore friends when you sneak control of the radio at their house.

"Yeah! 'Alternative Ulster!' That's a great Stiff Little Fingers track back from 1979! Alright, new Iggy Pop! Um...ok, Green Day. And now what the hell is this one? What do you mean, it's DIY? This isn't punk rock! What the fuck is K Records? Let's put on some Crass!"

Then they shut the speakers off and start drinking heavily.

Ok, even more heavily.

Ragnhild is from Bergen, Norway. I first heard her music when she popped up randomly on a Last.fm station. A few minutes later, I caught a video of a concert she did in Milan, Italy. Such are the wonders of the Internet. To top it off, the album was released on Yesboyicecream, an Irish label. It's really dizzying if you think about it. If you're, like a grandma: "What's this worldwidewebs thing on my computer, Milky?"

"Army" is a short (two and a half minutes long) song; just drums, vocals, and a sinister little organ. Ragnhild (can I call her Rags?) sings with a slight Norwegian accent, calling attention to the unusual meter of the lyrics. I believe these are dactyls? Correct me if I'm wrong. The meter and the subject matter both attracted me to the song.

Look, there just aren't many songs about silent kids. There's one about silence kits, and there are a couple about really really wanting to DO that one particular quiet girl or boy, but rare indeed is the rallying cry for the silent kids: RISE UP!

Your average silent kid is probably crying alone in their room while listening to music exactly like Soda Fountain Rag, except even sissier...stuff about girls dumping them...or maybe boys dumping them...just dumping things in general. That emo angsty stuff never gets them anywhere. I wholeheartedly agree with Rags that silent kids should join together in solidarity and fight their oppressors. Damn the Man!

Army of Silent Kids

She was a quiet kid
She was no trouble at all
So she wasn't noticed
She was never shouted at
And she should be hating you
For neglecting her
And all of the other quiet kids around

Let's build an army
An army of silent kids
If we all whisper a little bit louder
The noise will be heard
And, we'll be seen

She was the angel
So she was overlooked
Playing her violin
Secretly she wished she was
One of the spastic kids
One of the noisy kids
Who got all of the attention at school

Let's build an army
An army of silent kids
If we all whisper a little bit louder
The noise will be heard
And, we'll be seen

Let's build an army
An army of silent kids
We will destroy you
We will be the most powerful
Force the world has ever seen

The song sort of reminds me of "I'm nobody! Who are you?" by Emily Dickinson. However, whereas Emily commiserates with her fellow nobody, Rags urges revolución. Maybe if Emily Dickinson was into indiepop, and had access to music from Norway, and recorded music existed back then, and Soda Fountain Rag also existed back then, and, like, she heard this song, she wouldn't have been so lonely. And insane. But none of that stuff actually happened, so Emily Dickinson was screwed. It's pretty tragic.

Girl Talk is the stage name of Pittsburg-based mash-up artist Gregg Gillis. From my (limited) understanding of the genre, mash-ups (also referred to as “bastard pop”) have been around for a while now, and have recently become more accessible and popular thanks to positive reception to artists like Danger Mouse (see: Gnarls Barkley, The Grey Album). But while mash-ups tend to combine only two or three songs into a “new” track, Girl Talk kicks it “up to eleven”, literally and figuratively. A typical track by Girl Talk often takes samples from more than a dozen different pop songs, blended into a bitchin’ beat-based song that will endanger your personal property, since they have the tendency to set roofs on fire.

In his earlier years, Girl Talk maintained his music career alongside his day job as a biomedical engineer. Like a superhero with a dual identity, Gregg Gillis kept his music career as Girl Talk separate from his day life- in one instance, Girl Talk flew to Australia to do a show before promptly returning back to work on Monday morning, with his coworkers being none the wiser. He has since quit his day job and is now a full-time musician.

So what are his shows like? In a word, sweaty. No matter how much of a stick-in-the-mud you are, you will end up dancing, and you’ll be able to do so without the courage-inducing support of alcohol or other drug substances. White girls will throw their hands in the air while screaming “WOOOOO” at the top of their shrill voices. There will be vigorous crotch-on-crotch contact. Inhibitions will be discarded, as will articles of clothing. You’ll be able to smell the music, or at least the musky sweat of a couple hundred bodies packed into a single room as they rock out to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” mixed with Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy”. Girl Talk often invites the crowd to dance on stage while he mixes, exposing himself to the ass-grabbing antics of fangirls who are unable to resist his sweaty, shirtless, hairy body.

Girl Talk will inevitably appeal to your sense of nostalgia, often mixing contemporary hip hop with some classic pop song that you’ve likely heard a million times already. And his sense of humor is quite evident in his sample selections; there’s just something delightfully twisted about mashing-up Khia’s “My Neck, My Back” with the power ballad piano bit from Richard Marx’s “Right Here, Waiting”. Girl Talk is definitely a worthy artist to check out, especially if you want to see all those pop songs you’re familiar with being used in a new and inventive way.

Albums
Secret Diary (2002, Illegal Art)
Unstoppable (2004, Illegal Art)
Night Ripper (2006, Illegal Art)
Feed the Animals (2008, Illegal Art)*

*Feed the Animals is currently available for download on the Illegal Art website, by a “pay-what-you-think-it's-worth” pricing scheme. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re a cheapskate.

Following the hugely successful album Dark Side of the Moon, two years later, Pink Floyd released "Wish You Were Here". This is my favourite Floyd album, chiefly owing to the many happy times I have played it since receiving it as a birthday present from my elder brother.

Tracks

1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond
2. Welcome To The Machine


3. Have A Cigar
4. Wish You Were Here
5. Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Artists

• Roger Waters: Vocals and bass guitar
• David Gilmour: Lead guitar
• Nick Mason: Drums
• Richard Wright: Keyboards


• Dick Parry: Saxophone on Shine On You Crazy Diamond
• Roy Harper: Vocals on Have A Cigar
• Venetta Fields and Carlena Williams: backing vocals

1975, Harvest

Syd Barrett

This album was dedicated to Syd, the original founding member who created the band, but who was kicked out in 1967 because of extreme behavioural problems. Apparently he would appear on stage in a total trance, or be fixed strumming the same chord on his guitar. This was probably due to the amount and frequency of LSD he was taking. At the end of 1967, he suffered a nervous breakdown, and his career as a musician never recovered, though he did make two solo albums in the early 70s.

The tracks Shine On You Crazy Diamond are clearly and obviously about Syd, The original recounting the history of Syd's being with the band, and the reprise giving an update on the situation at the time this album was being made. Ironically, there is a story that Syd turned up in the studio while Wish You Were Here was being recorded, but he was unrecognisable, being bald, and having put on weight.

The tracks Welcome To The Machine and Have A Cigar are both about the record industry, and how easily a young star like Syd can be corrupted. It is thought that the pressures of recording The Piper At The Gates of Dawn brought on Syd's problems. Many punters wondered whether in releasing Wish You Were Here, Floyd were biting the hand that feeds them. The artwork also contains material that is related: the album cover is a picture of two business men, or possibly gangsters, shaking hands, one of whom is on fire. Is the man on fire meant to be Syd, or perhaps a stressed out producer? The reverse cover has a picture of faceless man in a suit, holding a record in one hand, and having a briefcase plastered with Pink Floyd's promotional stickers. Is this meant to be a record company executive?

The title track is actually expressing the sentiment of Roger Waters and David Gilmour missing Syd's presence in the band - they actually are wishing that he is there. In the early years, Syd was the band's lyricist and composer, and his influence strongly shaped the material that Floyd had been writing after he left the band. "We're like two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl" is a statement about missing Syd's creative input into the repertoire.

In many ways, this album was looking to get closure on the Syd Barrett story, so that the band could move on creatively and spiritually. Note that the following albums, Animals, The Wall and The Final Cut before the band split, were all Roger Waters' concepts and creations.

The Music

Shine On You Crazy Diamond stands out as a master piece. The formula here was adopted by other bands later, notably Dire Straits. The fairly simple guitar intro is developed, much along the lines of variations on a theme. This leads into a static pause, then broken by a sequence of four incongruent guitar notes, which don't seem to fit the key of the underlying background keyboard chord. This results in a key change that starts the tune moving again, more variations on a theme, and then queueing the first verse.

The reprise contains yet more variations, going in the direction of jazzy impromptu.

There is a criticism of both Welcome To The Machine and Have A Cigar, that they are boring to listen to and uninspiring musically. But, that is the point! This is irony adding to the lyrics, demonstrating how uninspiring the act of pleasing record companies can be for the musicians.

Wish You Were Here is a simple track with easy guitar chords to pick up, strum and sing along to (see erikbjo's writeup).

Source: Pink Floyd Interviews DVD on Wish You Were Here.

I hope somebody comes here and does a great biography of the king of country swing Henry William Thompson. He was a fine man, a great conversation, and a true friend. He played with all of the legends: Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams. He played his last show on Hank Thompson Day here in the state of Texas, and despite the cancer and the tiredness and the pain, his voice sounded as strong as it ever did. He was my grandfather's best friend and best man, and he died yesterday. But this is a story about a young boy from Waco, Texas.

When this boy was about 6 years old, he was handed a harmonica and quickly picked up the basics. The local movie marquee was not allowed to play movies on Sunday, and so instead in the summertime they held a talent contest. Hank, feeling that his newfound talent was sure to win the whole shebang, signed up and performed for the crowd. He played "Mary Had A Little Lamb", did not place, and went home to minor applause.

Most children, when subjected to indifference or criticism, will simply move on to their next hare-brained scheme, but Hank, through either stubbornness (a trait that propelled him throughout his career) or a deep desire to please, decided that he would add to his musical repertoire. By next week's contest, he had mastered four songs, including that old Baptist standby "How Great Thou Art" - complete with a sung verse - and he finished 4th, taking home fifty cents for his trouble.

All summer long, week after week, young Hank would bring his harmonica to that contest, and week after week, Hank would come in fourth place, take his fifty cents, and live like a king. As he recollected, "I was up to my ears in ice cream, until my mother noticed I wasn't finishing my dinner. Then I had to save it in a piggy bank." And was that a good thing? "Well, I learned real quick pretty girls weren't impressed by a piggy bank."

Then one Christmas, when Hank was 9, his parents surprised him with the greatest gift a young Texan could ask for: some boots. The only problem being that Hank didn't want boots. So he took the shoes back to the general store, complained they were a size too small (they weren't), and asked for his money back. He took the proceeds, walked down Franklin Street to the music store, and picked himself up a guitar.

As many of the parents reading this can no doubt guess, this bold move was quickly kiboshed, the guitar returned and the boots reacquired ("that was quite a whuppin'", Hank noted with an air of detachment.) But I guess Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were fans of their son after all - the guitar came on his 10th birthday. He spent all spring practicing, learning every country and gospel song he could, and then in the summer of '35, he headed to the talent show with a full arsenal of music. He promptly won first place, beating out a number of prominent local acts, and he held on to it all summer long. Tex Ritter, Bob Wills, and Floyd Tillman all came to see the show and hear the 10 year old boy who knew all their hits. For three summers after that, Hank became a Sunday institution in Waco, until he was 14, when he moved to the old WACO radio station ("and became a Tuesday institution instead.")

Later, after Hank came out of the Navy, and was attending Southern Methodist University (before "Whoa Sailor" gave him an excuse to quit), he ran into one of the old floor managers for that movie marquee. They reminisced about those early days of playing, all the heavyweights who had swung through, all the backstage antics, and so on, and finally Hank said to the floor manager, "You know, if I hadn't been good enough for fourth place back when I was a kid, I don't know if I ever would've stuck it out."

The floor manager scanned Hank up and down for a moment with incredulousness, then exclaimed: "Why, Hank Thomspon, you never knew? There never was a fourth place!"

This is the explanation given on the website for Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows with regards to payment information - the buyer chooses how much to pay for the album. The payment option ranges from 0-100£. Radiohead is not currently under a label and have not announced intentions of distributing the album through record shops.

Ian Brown completely supports the move by the band, and declares, "Anything that can break the music industry up, I'm supporting it."

Johnny Marr of the Stone Roses agrees, "It's not hiding behind any corporate nonsense, it's just saying 'this is the way it is, let's get on with it.'Everyone knows you can get your music for free, so let's see if you really want to show the band your appreciation."

But according to Johnny Greenwood, "People are making a big thing about it being against the industry or trying to change things for people but it’s really not what motivated us to do it. It’s more about feeling like it was right for us and feeling bored of what we were doing before ... It’s just interesting to make people pause for even a few seconds and think about what music is worth now. I thought it was an interesting thing to ask people to do and compare it to whatever else in their lives they value or don’t value."

Look, it's Radiohead, so you know, you FUCKING KNOW, that it's worth it.

Personally, I'm all about fuck the industry, but I also really, really like Radiohead. They are apparently not the first to get their music out this way, but I think it's pretty cool, it sounds like they're giving a little bit of the finger to commercialism, whether they intend to or not, this is how it is, let's get on with it, and I like the awareness of the current state of music with regards to distribution and file-sharing. This is an interesting response.

Is this the beginning of a new way of getting the music out? Will we see a future in which more good artists make it out into the open without getting fucked over by their producers?

I won't be cliche about this.

Sources:

http://www.greenplastic.com/ (i really like this website)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7034320.stm

http://inrainbows.com

shaogo re It's Up To You. No Really, It's Up To You.: As a member of the music business "establishment" I was very taken by this writeup, and by Radiohead's innovative concept. In theory, I believe it's an exquisite public relations move. In practice, I wonder what the financial results will be. I don't know the demographics of Radiohead's fan base; perhaps *they* will indeed come up with a fair payment, enabling the band to continue with this policy. However, (color me cynical) I don't have a great deal of faith in the inherent honesty of people. I meet too many people who want a "free lunch," and when I pose the question in the other direction (e.g., okay, you want a free drink? Work for *me* for free for 1/2 hour -- you think the price's too expensive? Go to McDonald's to sate your hunger, not to an expensive sushi restaurant)

shaogo says re It's Up To You. No Really, It's Up To You.: I know what you mean by "fuck the industry." It's the entertainment industry's equivalent of bureaucracy. If we do away with the middlemen, you leave their greedy asses without a job, the bands still work and everyone gets their music. Cool. Would it work? Yes. Would it be fair? Why certainly, to the buyers who paid little or nothing for albums; and patently unfair to those who placed a realistic value on a piece of art (ain't that what music is, whether live or recorded) that they can't create themselves and that they derive enjoyment from.