GtrPlyr

You could drop some aliens into a room with some instruments and they'd be able to create music. The ability to create music has little to do with any prior knowledge of theory. After the art is produced you may be able to draw comparisons to various harmonic or rhythmic principles, but this doesn't mean those principles had anything to do with the initial creation of said piece.

One of my favorite Nilsson discs. I'd probably put it just behind Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson.

Like a few other's here, I have an ES-335. I'd always wanted one and finally broke down and picked one up a few years back. Since then it's become my main guitar. I love the rich full sound that is great for both rhythm or leads. Of course no guitar is the be all end all, so I still turn to my Strat on occasion when I need the treble-y bite that Fenders excel at (love the sound of the neck pick-up on them too.) I love using the Telecaster as well as it's a great sounding guitar that is quite versatile; my next guitar is probably going to be a Tele Thinline, I've always liked those.

I've played music for 22 years, started when I was 14. I began with my Dad's acoustic guitar and his Mel Bay guitar books. This gave me the skills to tune and play little single note melodies. After about 8 months of this I started begging for an electric guitar. I got one for Christmas on the condition I take lessons. So I went dutifully once a week and learned the modes, cycle of fifths--in-between learning the latest Rush or Iron Maiden song that is. Anyway, after awhile I found that the lessons weren't all that fun anymore and I stopped taking them. At this point I was reading magaz

I find the idea of following "rules" regarding artistic expression to be a possibly self-limiting endeavor. If your head is too filled with what "you're supposed to do" instead of what feels right you can end up with work that is uninspired and unoriginal. From personal experience I've found that many people schooled in music theory often make for technically great players, but often not great songwriters. A lot of good songwriters seem to work intuitively which gives them their unique forms of expression. There's nothing wrong with coming from a theory background--I'm sure there's many ex

I love Antonioni's films in general and this is definitely one of his best.

I read the Paste review and that comment really stuck out as being particularly asinine. Since when do lyrics have to be represented in a manner related to the way people talk. Music gives an artist the ability to be as poetic, abstract, or direct as they want to be, and say things in their own unique way. Using this critics assertion about lyric writing, I guess everyone from Dylan to Lennon also fail as lyricists. Oh well, good for that reader, I concur with their letter.

Not that this was directed at me but I thought I'd chime in with a few. I'm sure I'm forgetting a whole bunch but anyway... Fargo You Can Count On Me Requiem For a Dream Taste of Cherry All About My Mother American Beauty Run Lola Run Rushmore Cach

I don't think it's dead, though it is quite dismal at times. There's still good films coming out of Europe and Asia, and even a few North American ones on occasion. It's just harder to find the good films these days as a lot of them aren't well distributed, or they end up playing the festival circuit before disappearing prematurely. Thankfully the DVD boom has rescued many films from obscurity. I have it on DVD, I believe it was put out by Warner Bros.

Next up: (I'm really digging this new Rickie Lee Jones record. There's some really great songs on it.)

I'm quite taken with it too. The imagery, narrative and editing combine to make a beautifully poetic film; unlike any film before or after it. I would've loved to have seen it in a theater, that sounds like it was a great experience. As it is I have the next best thing, The Criterion DVD that also includes Marker's Sans Soleil (which is pretty great too.)

Last night I watched La Jet

Here are all the demos currently floating around: http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?showtopic=26738 Unfortunately there are no AGIB demos to be had.

The new Mavis is pretty great I must say.

I don't know if there's anything left to read about this band that will be new or revelatory, nevertheless I'm sure I'll be checking it out when it comes out.

You could go two ways here: One, you go for the records that mirror your internal malaise and give you comfort in their empathetic tones. Or, you go for the ones that are a bit more spiritually uplifting that try to shake you out of your depression. Of course there are ones that ride the fence too. For the first kind I turn to these ones: Nick Drake - Pink Moon (heck anything by Nick will do) Townes Van Zandt - Our Mother the Mountain; The Late Great Townes Van Zandt; Townes Van Zandt The Replacements - Tim; Let it Be Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Room; Songs of Leonard Cohen; Songs of Lo

Just watched this wonderful Lindsay Anderson film. This film mixes 60's "kitchen sink drama" with Bu

I've been on a Loudon kick myself lately. I've had 7 or 8 of his discs in rotation over the past few weeks, including the new one. Thanks for pointing out that YouTube doc, will definitely check it out. As an aside: the "undeclared" DVD has footage of Loudon performing 7 or 8 songs at some L.A. club as part of the 'extras.' Definitely a nice bonus. NP: Harry Nilsson - Pussy Cats

I stole from a Kmart during my brief flirtation with shoplifting in my early teens. Wait, maybe it was "Too Fast for Love" that I nicked. Either way, I blame metal music for my delinquency...

36... I think (For some reason I always have to think of the year I was born in before answering that one. I really should know this off the top of my head.)

... Chance the gardener made after walking on water.

I've always liked it too. What's not to like? Great melodic guitar parts (I especially love the 12-string guitar/bell part just before the chorus.) You also have some nice funky rhythm parts during the verses, and some nice lyrical lines: "No love's as random as God's love... speakers are speaking in code..." Of course, when viewed standing beside "She's a Jar' it may seem a bit underwhelming. Nevertheless, it's a good pop song that needs no apologies.

I'm not so sure that Jeff put a heck of a lot of thought between using "my" or "our." A lot of songwriting is intuitive and sometimes your first thought just feels right, regardless of narrative slant. I just don't get the impression that every single word is weighed and labored over by Jeff to the nth degree, at least not all the time. It's usually the critics and fans that overanalyze, and end up putting more meaning into songs than were there to begin with. I'm sure some people are still talking about the political meanings in the song "Tequila" somewhere.

I see Being There as the start of Jeff finding his own unique songwriting voice. Sure he wrote some great songs for the Uncle Tupelo records, and on AM, but it wasn't until Being There that he seemed to really rise from the shadows. This to me was the album where Jeff really started to delve into the more poetic and abstract in his lyrics. The lyrical imagery in a song like Sunken Treasure showed this new side of Jeff's songwriting (which he would expand over the next few albums with songs like She's a Jar, and the majority of the YHF songs.) Also, Being There was the record that showed th

...is deceptively intricate musically. ...proved that Nels Cline is one of the most versatile and tasteful guitar players on the planet. Everything he plays on is raised up a notch by his innate musicality. ...I still haven't tired of.