some people ask what the use is in having separate name for a single person band.
Bright Eyes, etc. i think it's an alter-ego sort of thing, the public vs. private self. they can be somebody else for a while.
it's long been said that music is an escape.
i watched The Flaming Lips performance on a dvd the other night, and Wayne Coyne said "it's more fun when you sing along. we're not going to change the world, but at least for a little bit we can be one big, happy, Coachella... thing." that's right before he rolled around inside of a big plastic ball, supported and passed around on the hands of the audience. he fished the song by singing with a nun puppet into the stadium camera. but their shows are awesome, and we're way off subject.
where were we?
oh yeah, cat power being God.
i've had this argument with michael several times:
"just because a crackhead screams her heart out over really discordant, picking guitars, doesn't make her incredible."
i don't honor his stupidity with a come-back. and he does admit that You Are Free is one of the best albums this side of 2000.
to some extent, he's right.
she cancelled some shows in early 2006 for "health reasons" that she later admitted was a stay in a psychiatric ward, for extreme alcohol abuse and contemplating suicide. she stayed for four days.
(on a side note, cool story: she temporarily retired from making music after "What Would the Community Think?". one night, she had a nightmare that kept her awake, and she wrote most of what would later be "Moon Pix". after hearing that, i decided to give it another chance--it hadn't been my favorite).
and she's not the best guitar or piano player or singer. why do people like her?
it's the passion, the absolute soul with which she delivers her intensely personal songs.
that's part of it--the songs.
more later.
3 comments:
Ordinarily I'd say something about the fact that you refer to Michael as if anybody who might stumble upon this would know who he is. My first instinct would be to say, "Stop that!"
But I don't know if I think that upon further consideration. I like the possibility of Michael popping up from time to time as an alter-ego/angel-on-shoulder sort of voice.
I like that you're writing about something that you're passionate about -- and your expertise, interest, and curiosity is really coming through.
yeah, sorry. michael's just the perfect example of a pretentious musically-obsessed art kid.
Good words.
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