If the commercials I saw every 5 minutes for that show Low Winter Sun (that's your show title) are to be believed, I'm afraid we all might have to swallow the possibility that a GOOD COP and BAD COP could actually be... SAME COP.
"Folks talk about morality like it's black and white." --Low Winter Sun, 10/9c on AMC
Maybe some people were turned off by the glitzy production but from a compositional standpoint he was unstoppable on that record. I mean... "Everything Means Nothing To Me" ... "Pretty Mary K"... are you fucking kidding me? That's Abbey Road-level shit.
My avatar compels me to comment. Elliott was a true artist. There is a LOT of musical sophistication in his songs, but he was never trying to hit you over the head with it. He just loved writing songs and always put a huge level of care into his work. Not to mention dude fucking ripped at guitar. Check out the solo on this shitty-quality live take of one of my favorite unreleased tunes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ANo9Kf_lYE
And here's an alternate Top 10 in no particular order because come on:
Clementine (s/t)
Alameda (either/or)
Tomorrow Tomorrow (xo)
Independence Day (xo)
No Name #3 (roman candle)
Say Yes (xo)
Let's Get Lost (from a basement on the hill)
Somebody I That I Used to Know (figure 8)
The Biggest Lie (s/t)
Everything Means Nothing To Me (figure 8)
R.I.P. Dude </3
So stoked that "Thinking About You" made the record. It is gross how many times I listened to that early version, and it is even more gross that I am about to at least double my play count with the new version. Gross.
No way, JR White is a huge part of Girls' sound. He handles the production on their records, and I don't know about you, but the way that Album SOUNDS is what really makes it an incredible record to me instead of just a great record. Owens is definitely a great songwriter, but the acoustic version of a song like "Hellhole Ratrace" does not become such a powerhouse of a recording incidentally. Between that production and his pitch-perfect basslines I think White was the perfect compliment to Owens. Dude needs his props. An Owens solo record will be good, but it won't be Girls.
I really wanted to dislike her before I checked anything out, but there's something super engaging about "OK Cupid" that was clear from the first listen. It will be interesting to see if she can have any type of longevity as an artist, but the girl's got a pretty undeniable, Lily Allen-esque charisma.
Being broke means more hours you have to spend working at your 2 shitty restaurant jobs or whatever it is you have to do to make rent, and then you get home and have maybe a few hours to spend even thinking about your music, which of course means much more than writing music-- it means keeping up on scheduling practices with band members, constantly dealing with everyone's moods/lifestyles, maybe finding another band to split rent on your practice space if it's too expensive (which of course will mean even LESS time to play), booking shows (let alone a TOUR, which is a logistical nightmare of an undertaking) and a million other variables. It can begin to feel like even if you wrote the best song in the world it could very easily make no difference to your situation due to the sheer amount of non-music related obstacles you have to wade through to even get a band to give a halfway-decent sounding 20min set, and when you combine that with the fact that a lot of "fans" these days really just amount to nothing more than consumers with easy access to the music of a thousand people like you and who want the most entertainment for the least amount of effort, that shit can be fucking defeating.
Phew, sorry for this rant but I just had to get that off my chest! I just want to make sure we keep the human side of the music in perspective in this conversation.
I don't know, I think it's refreshing to have a musician with big ideas behind his music who isn't afraid to lay them out bare for us. I mean he's only exploring questions, which I don't think is that pretentious, but honestly, Dirty Projectors are on such another level compositionally that I think we can grant Dave some loftiness either way.
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