i've been asked a lot recently whether i'm still doing my a - z. answer: yes i am. but i just got a little stuck on 'u'. why? well when i elected to listen to dolly parton on the first morning my new flatmate had moved in, his horror at my taste in music was more than evident. he scratched at the door, begging to be left out, and decrying how his life had possibly come to this.... this led me to a period of intense self-reflection: was my taste cheesey? was dolly really as good as i thought? is it possible that a love of country music is weird and socially-isolating?
answers, respectively: no way, yes way, and no way.
i refuse to believe that dolly parton is anything other than amazing. you gotta respect anyone who has released fifty-eight studio albums, twenty-four compilation albums, four live albums and one hundred and six singles. woah, mama. 'ultimate dolly parton' seems to be one (of the most recent) in a loooooong line of 'best ofs', and it's a pretty good track listing. it contains a number of quite discursive tracks: the opener "joshua", telling a story of a country girl falling in love with some kind of recluse (could this be autobiographical? i don't know), and after reaching #1 on the u.s. singles charts in 1970 is still a solid song. "coat of many colours" is a similarly rambling tale (no question there on whether it's autobiographical - the clear references to parton's mother and childhood are a good indication... that and the fact that said coat is apparently on display at her museum, "dollywood.") (as an aside, how awesome is the idea of "dollywood"?!) i am clearly biased towards two favourite tracks on this album: "9 - 5" (always good for a morning listen if motivation is in short order) and "jolene". jolene, jolene, i love everything about this jaunty country track.
my new flatmate's horror probably wasn't eased by my other flatmate's boyfriend (let's call him "the hunter") insisting that we play "i will always love you" twice over. personally, the song doesn't do it for me, possibly due to its ruinage by whitney / the bodyguard. but apparently it really did do it for the hunter. i'll give him one concession: dolly does it best.
in short: dolly parton is awesome. she's country-lite: accessible, easy listening, and jaunty good times. i can't listen to too much of her in one sitting (i'll admit i've never got from start to finish of this album) but a few tracks here and there can be a real day brightener. a strong female icon in a male-dominated world, i'm not at all ashamed to admit that dolly rules.
it seems i will just need to give my new flatmate a little more training.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
r&v 2010 according to ren
the first festival on ren's great big last nz summer of music* was rhythm and vines. i was a little concerned that it might be just a tiny bit young and glow-stickish for my tastes. despite an average middle day where i didn't find heaps that really excited me, i did discover some great new music and had an excellent time.
highlights:
mystery jets: a fresh new take on brit-pop. funky, synthy, and some good crowd banter. totally refreshing, will seek more of their stuff out.
miami horror: does 80s synth pop better than the 80s did. plus their keys player is a babe. was mildly disturbed to discover that one of my top moments of the festival was a cover of simon and garfunkel's "you can call me al." am i showing my age? probably. do i care? not remotely.
chromeo: intelligent, interesting, diverse sound, excellent crowd. made enjoyable partly by watching others love it so much. despite being plagued by atrocious sound to start with, consummate performers and quite a treat.
n*e*r*d: the two frontmen seemed to just be going through the motions (and pharell really overdid the cheesiness to the point that it really irritated me) but the backing band was genuinely excellent - much funkier, rockier than i expected. some superb musical moments. surprisingly good.
barb: it's so refreshing to just watch talented musicians experiment. bonus points for constant switcheroonies. liam finn is just so fantastic.
shihad: john toogood never gets old. by my calculations, this was the 12th time i've seen them. never owed a shihad album, nor paid for a shihad headline gig -- but have seen them at every orientation / big day out / r&v / classic kiwi festival. in my opinion they haven't written anything very memorable in the last few years, but that doesn't matter cos their back catalogue is fantastic and their live show is just always superb. 'home again' the standout.
the naked and famous: we all know i hate their first single. the more i hear them, the more convinced i am that i hate it because they can do so much better. these guys are superb and are creating such depth of sound at the moment.
lowlights:
justice, chase and status: booooooooring.
a great three days, full of party, sunshine, excellent company and exciting sounds. now i am really looking forward to part two of ren's great big last nz summer of music*- big day out.
(* may or may not be an actual thing)
highlights:
mystery jets: a fresh new take on brit-pop. funky, synthy, and some good crowd banter. totally refreshing, will seek more of their stuff out.
miami horror: does 80s synth pop better than the 80s did. plus their keys player is a babe. was mildly disturbed to discover that one of my top moments of the festival was a cover of simon and garfunkel's "you can call me al." am i showing my age? probably. do i care? not remotely.
chromeo: intelligent, interesting, diverse sound, excellent crowd. made enjoyable partly by watching others love it so much. despite being plagued by atrocious sound to start with, consummate performers and quite a treat.
n*e*r*d: the two frontmen seemed to just be going through the motions (and pharell really overdid the cheesiness to the point that it really irritated me) but the backing band was genuinely excellent - much funkier, rockier than i expected. some superb musical moments. surprisingly good.
barb: it's so refreshing to just watch talented musicians experiment. bonus points for constant switcheroonies. liam finn is just so fantastic.
shihad: john toogood never gets old. by my calculations, this was the 12th time i've seen them. never owed a shihad album, nor paid for a shihad headline gig -- but have seen them at every orientation / big day out / r&v / classic kiwi festival. in my opinion they haven't written anything very memorable in the last few years, but that doesn't matter cos their back catalogue is fantastic and their live show is just always superb. 'home again' the standout.
the naked and famous: we all know i hate their first single. the more i hear them, the more convinced i am that i hate it because they can do so much better. these guys are superb and are creating such depth of sound at the moment.
lowlights:
justice, chase and status: booooooooring.
a great three days, full of party, sunshine, excellent company and exciting sounds. now i am really looking forward to part two of ren's great big last nz summer of music*- big day out.
(* may or may not be an actual thing)
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