How To Play: Print this out and take it to the next show you go to. When you get a bingo, scream “BINGO!” at the top of your lungs, then break a bunch of beer bottles on the floor and get thrown out. -CATBIRDSEAT

Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these bad boys, these Thinking Man’s Take On columns. But amidst rappers name dropping swine flu like it’s going out of style (which it is), I think it’s time to spread the word about a pandemic. Unless you can’t read titles, you know I’m talking about Hipsters.

A quick history lesson: The word hipster comes from the greek root “hipst-“ meaning “hip”, and the superior suffix “-er”, as in “hipper than you”. The term – which is generally bandied about in newspapers and snarky advice columns in reference to those damn hoodlums and kids these days – has gone through an evolution of its own in the past 40 years.

I recently was given an album called “Hipsters’ Holiday,” which I was expecting to contain Sufjan Stevens singing Christmas Carols and Peaches singing Hannukah Hymns. Alas, that’s not the case. Instead, it’s Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and a bunch of other cats that are far cooler than anyone who has been born since Jimi Hendrix. I mean, the compilation has song by people named Babs Gonzalez and Big John Greer, and groups like The Coolbreezers and Julia Lee and her Boyfriends. Does it get cooler than that? I posit that it does not. Continue reading →

A couple weeks ago I talked about the concept of the album in this space, and somebody by the handle of “Knatterjak” shared the tidbit that “The EP is the future”. That got me thinking – is the EP the new album? Is orange really the new pink?

EPs, loosely defined, are short albums. Strictly defined, Extended Play records are records made up of 4 songs (plus alternative versions) or 25 minutes of music. This strict definition, however, is often subverted – specifically through artists adding the letters “EP” to the end of longer releases. Autechre, for instance, released “EP7”, a collection of more than an hour of music divided into 11 tracks. They were permitted to get away with it because they are Autechre, and they are just weird like that.

EPs, like most good things, originated during the vinyl era, when singles reigned and people gathered around the phonograph to hear the latest tunes from bands that were “the bee’s knees” and “the cat’s pajamas”. They were developed in direct competition to the 45” single, with narrower grooves making it possible to fit more music onto the same size record. Since those golden olden days, however, the EP has taken on a life of its own, morphing into distinct forms that serve a variety of purposes. Just for funsies, I thought I’d outline the different types of EPs that I’ve seen, along with my favorite examples of each type. I’m almost undoubtedly leaving some types out, or ignoring some classic EPs, so please feel free to mock me ruthlessly. Continue reading →

I’ve talked to a lot of my music loving friends recently about transformations that are going on in music – a topic that I find completely fascinating. There are so many changes happening at such a rapid pace that it’s nearly impossible to keep up with where music is let alone where it’s going. But we know for sure it is going – CDs are nearly dead, digital formats are taking over, and vinyl is experiencing an oddly timed resurgence. Everything is all a-flutter.

But the shifts go beyond the physical media of music. They lie in the very essence of music – the way we experience it, interact with it, approach it and understand it. We no longer buy an album a month at the record store down the street. Our mindset and understanding of music has become warped, thrown in fast forward, and swirled around. But will it blend? Regardless, the eventual product is a radical shift in our perception and connection with the songs that soundtrack our lives – the permanence of music is irrevocably altered. Continue reading →

"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." - Andy Warhol

Did you see Amy Winehouse on YouTube? OMG, she was all, “warble warble gibberish” and then the crowd was all “AMY! AMY! AMY!” and then she was all staggering around stage and showing too much skin and bumping into the microphone. That girl has a problem, man, somebody should get her some help. But first you should watch the video.

SHE’S A HUMAN! (ah! ooh!) What you don’t realize is that [Amy] is making you all this money and all you do is write a bunch of crap about her.

LEAVE HER ALONE! You are lucky she even performed for you BASTARDS!
LEAVE [AMY] ALONE!…..Please. (credit due here)

Seriously, though, here’s my question: where’s the line between performer and spectacle? When do we stop watching someone while hoping for an amazing performance and instead start watching someone while hoping for some sort of breakdown?

In light of the most recent celebrity/internet fiascos, I believe the question is, Do we force celebrities to bare it all in the hopes of publicity, or do they do it on their own out of boredom and sheer because-I-can-ism? Continue reading →

This past week’s publishing of the Absolute Best Songs of 2009 (.25 of the way through) got me thinking about music releases today – particularly about the role of singles. Depending on who you talk to, singles are either dead, dying, or stronger than ever. So what’s the deal? Where do singles fit into this blogosphere?

This topic hints at about a thousand other topics – it’s like one of those Russian nesting dolls: Where do singles fit into albums? Where do albums fit into the blogosphere? Where does the blogosphere fit into modern pop music? Where does modern pop music fit into Music in general? But for today let’s just tackle singles. Next week I’ll take a look at the state of albums these days – for now, let’s spin the hits! Continue reading →

I feel like, with all the press that has been gathered, I would be remiss not to write about Twitter. Twitter, in case you have been living in a cave for the past month/year, is a way that you can tell your friends what type of sandwich you’re eating for lunch without addressing an e-mail to them. It allows you to follow the day to day actions of strangers. If you’re vigilant, it’ll tell you where to find Shaq at all hours of the day.

You’re probably thinking “I can find Shaq? What a magical tool!” but I assure you that not all is magical in Twitter land. In fact, the service has come under fire from a lot of different angles – it promotes overexposure, it doesn’t make any money, and it has limited policing making it difficult to distinguish between DarthVader and iamdarthvader. Jon Stewart called it a gimmick, Doonesbury author Gary Trudeau mocked the need to maintain constant Twitter relevance, and NPR lamented the loss of editing. For a service so tiny, it has certainly caused a big commotion.
Continue reading →