Autumn Music

I knew it was officially fall this year when I changed out the group of CDs I bring to work with me for a new set. I usually do that when I reorganize my main CD collection (which is now numbering at around 360 official albums). Normally, though, I might leave a good portion of the previous set in my case, rather than swapping them all out. I guess it's just time for my leaves to change... or some other suitably purple phrase.

Not only did I simply change out my artists and albums, I switched genres completely. I went from the loud progressive rock music of late summer (like Rush, Frank Zappa, Dream Theater, and tool) to a more ethereal set of genres like post-rock, dreampop, shoegaze, and other things that make older people go "huh?"

The changing of the seasons has always influenced my choice of music. Or maybe the seasons influence my mood, which influence my music choices. I might feel a breeze and have a longing to hear a certain song, or I'll see the colour of a leaf, and think "the soundtrack to this leaf is this song."

So, here's a bit of an autumnal music swatch for you, as far as I see it - taken directly from my set of CDs that I brought to work with me today.

Radiohead - "In Rainbows"
This album is an autumnal album for me for a few reasons. It has a type of organic mesh between real instruments and electronics that is warm, but harsh. Many of the songs take a dreamy, ethereal tone which lends itself to the quality of light that one sees peeking through the branches of trees as the leaves change. Some songs might make you want to dance through piles of leaves while others are suited for walking in a stiff breeze, or sitting on a porch in the cooler air.

Here's a video for my favourite track from the album "House of Cards":



Air - "Talkie Walkie"
With a name like Air, you would naturally assume (and assume correctly) that the French duo produces music of a breezy, ephemeral, dreamlike quality. None of the tracks on the album are particularly uptempo, but many are certainly upbeat and lackadaisical. Likewise, many are melancholy. With more moving songs like 'Run' and whimsical tracks like 'Surfing on a Rocket' or the instrumental 'Alpha Beta Gaga" the group manages to capture the more enchanting qualities of autumn while underscoring its inherent link with death and loss in the end of summer and the coming of winter.

Here's one of my favourites from this album, "Cherry Blossom Girl":



M83 - "Saturdays = Youth"
Even the artwork on this album suggests autumn. The teens on the cover appear in a field sporting unusual attire like low-key halloween costumes, cast in tones of yellow, brown, green, and red. Likewise, many of the songs feature a halloween sort of theme without being overly campy. The album has a theme of youth and love, and the fascination with exploring death and its link with love - all of which are thematically linked with the season of autumn and halloween as well (and the equinox, I suppose). these themes pop up in songs like "Graveyard girl" and "Kim and Jessie".

Here's a video for "Kim and Jessie." It's not the official one, but it'll do:



Manitoba (Caribou) - "Up in Flames"
I forgot as I was typing out that bandname that the artist had to change it from Manitoba to Caribou a few years back due to some absolutely ridiculous litigation that I may discuss another time. Just like on the M83 album, the art on this album is full of fall colours. And similar to the Radiohead album, this album is a mess of organic sounds and electronic sounds fused together. The opening track "I've lived on  a dirt road all my life" conjures images of my own childhood living in a town full of dirt roads, bordered by trees of changing colours. I say a 'mess' of organic sounds, because, to many, that's what it would sound like. There's a base of simple melodies and layers of folky guitar, but suddenly, and without warning, comes a drum beat that just makes you want to move. For me, the whole album acts like a sort of dancing celebration of the end of summer and the beginning of fall, how summer's heat is up in flames leaving time for the evening to come, and with it the cool of fall in the morning.

Here's the track "Kid, you'll Move Mountains," for your listening pleasure:

The Rab Townsend Video Experience Part II: The Guitar/Pantymess Connection

It's the guitar/panty-mess connection!

The Rab Townsend Explodo-Pantsuit: Episode Two from Rab Townsend on Vimeo.

In which Rab fails to keep his show within an hour long format by twenty minutes because the guitar solos therein were too epic to condense.

Other topics of conversation include unemployment beards, DDR failure, and the last Canadian God of Rock.

Song List:

1.  Jakalope – Feel It (3:53)

2. Radiohead – Just (3:53)

3. Steve Vai – Answers (2:41)

4. Tool – Lateralus (9:24)

5. Frank Zappa – Drowning Witch (12:13)

6. Rush – Freewill (5:24)

7. Primus – Bob’s Party Time Lounge (4:44)

8. Nine Inch Nails – Deep (3:36)

9. Moby – Face It (10:01)

The Rab Townsend Explodo-Pantsuit Video Experience!

So, I was unemployed for three months*. 

I decided to make some magical videos of this blog, because I couldn’t be bothered to write anything, because I’m a tool. I promise to write something soon… but don’t hold me to it, because I’m a useless bitch.

Anywho, these videos are basically a radio show. I filmed myself talking about stupid things, and then I’d play a song, and then return to the stupid topics, and so forth.

That comes to nearly 3 hours of entertainment, all together.

If you’re as unemployed as I was, that should take a chunk out of the monotony.

In this and the next two posts I'll be posting those videos for your entertainment, with a song list for you to follow along with.

So… EMBEDTH!

The Rab Townsend Explodo-Pantsuit: Episode One from Rab Townsend on Vimeo.

In which Rab Townsend fails to be eloquent while discussing his stupid hair, Kanye West, Anarchy, the 90s, Cherry Pepsi and the follies of intarweb videomagic.

Song list:
1. Freezepop – Less Talk More Rokk (4:59)
2. ON – C’Mon Collapse (3:11)
3. One Ton – Supersexworld (4:04)
4. They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse In your Soul (3:19)
5. Chumbawamba – Amnesia (3:23)
6. Johnny Hollow – Superhero (3:11)
7. Her Space Holiday – My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend (4:31)
8. Republica – Drop Dead Gorgeous (4:31)
9. L7 – Pretend that We’re Dead (3:54)

*(Note that, historically, this was posted on June 1, 2009, but is now being reposted in three parts, retroactively dated with the original post-dates of the videos themselves).

Guitars make noises, and then ladies make panty-mess.

I’m a guitarist of sorts (as evidenced by the nifty video down at the bottom of this post). I’ve been playing since I was 16. I’m completely self-taught. In most circumstances, that would mean that I’m terrible at the guitar. If I may blow my own trumpet, however (pluck my own guitar?), I’m at least above average.

It interests me though, that now, after years of playing it by ear, I can pick out five of my main influences in guitar playing. Most people will cite Ywngie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, one of those insane people from Dragonforce, or Eddie Van Halen. I suppose that my apparent inability to ‘shred’ and my half-assed ‘tapping’ is probably what keeps those folks off of my list.

So, here’s my top five most influential guitarists, with respect to my own personal style.

1. Frank Zappa
This man’s guitar prowess was relatively overlooked by guitar fans. This is probably because of his tendency for the angular, polyrhythmic, dissonant, and unstructured. Having been influenced largely by both the blues guitar and german avant-garde classical music, the fusion of the two would no doubt be somewhat jarring for most listeners, particularly those who had grown used to Jimmy Page in the 70s.
Anyhoo, Zappa had this way of playing guitar that was described (by himself, I think) as building a sound-sculpture. He improvised a lot, and it wasn’t standard riffs he pulled off, it was oddly melodic and never repetitive. I take a large part of my influence from Frank Zappa. His solos were some of the first I heard, and his improvisation style is something I’ve been working on for quite some time. Also, his use of the whammy bar is pretty crazy. Check out: “drowning witch,” “watermelon in easter hay” and the solo in “Zomby Woof.”

2. Adam Jones
I like tool. I like tool a lot. Apart from the polyrhythms and non-standard time-signatures, one of the main intrigues for me is Adam Jones’ playing. The main thing about it is that, when I first started out on the electric guitar, I wanted to play along with tool. At some point (I wasn’t even playing tool at the time) I managed to learn how to make pinch-harmonics. Pinch harmonics are a somewhat complicated technique (particularly if you don’t play with a pick) which involves brushing the string with your thumb as its being plucked.
Jones uses pinch harmonics in some of his best solos. If you’re looking to hear some good examples, I would suggest either “Lateralus”, or “Parabola” from the album Lateralus. Both of those songs feature some pretty awesome pinch-harmonics, and I’ve been influenced strongly by their style.

3. Trent Reznor
Not many would consider Trent Reznor to be a great guitarist (least of all himself), but there’s a certain raw “all over the place” style that always blows my mind when I hear it. There are a great few Reznor guitar solos recorded, but my favourites appear in the following songs: Nine inch nails’ “Deep,” “We’re in this together now,” and Jakalope’s “Feel it” (Actually, I don’t know if that’s him playing that solo, but I like it anyway). For the most part, I find it hard to play along with Reznor solos (and often his standard rythm riffs) because they’re just so elsewhere.

4. Johnny Greenwood
Radiohead’s lead guitarist Johnny Greenwood is an interesting guitarist, to say the least. He’s a classical composer, and a spokesperson for the little-known electronic instrument the Ondes Martinot. His playing style is characterized by a sense of strain. Speaking of which, I hear he has this special wrist-support dealie that he wears in order to continue playing with such a strain. His guitar tends to come in a gentle flow, which is followed by bursts of intense energy. Some of his best solos are in the radiohead songs “Paranoid Android,” “Just,” and “there there.” I don’t sound much like him when I play, but in some of my more caffeinated moments, I’ve been known to get close.

5. Larry Lalonde
Ler’s a bit of an odd choice for me. I’ve always loved Les Claypool’s bass-playing, but over and under that was always Larry Lalonde’s dissonant, noisey whine. Since Zappa is one of Lalonde’s main influences as well, it’s no surprise that I would enjoy his work as well. As always, whammy bar, angularity, and lack of structure are a main influence of mine from this guy. Some of my favourite Larry tracks from Primus: “Profesor Nut Butter’s House of Treats,” “Bob’s Party Time (Live… from Rhinoplasty),” and “Tommy the Cat” (Those are all awesome claypool tracks too, by the way).

Anyway, those are my top five favourite and most influential guitarists, and a few standout tracks.
I encourage you to give them a listen…

And here's a video for you, so you can give me a listen (for comparative purposes... maybe).

Practising the Janey Solo from Rab Townsend on Vimeo.

And now, a message from the future: at some point, I made a videoblog regarding this subject with most of the bands here having audio examples. Post on that will come soon.