the Method

[awatt]

Have you heard about the Method? Not sure it will be a hit but it sounds intriguing...

 

 

MAR. 15 | 1:40 PM

Townshend's "Lifehouse" Lives Online

By JON PARELES

 

Pete Townshend was South by Southwest's keynote speaker in an articulate onstage interview. Among other things, he defined what makes a great song. "A great rock song," he said, "must speak for those who listen to it, not those that play it."

 

He also announced some internet activity. The Who's first new album in a generation, "Endless Wire," returns to ideas Mr. Townshend had in 1971 for a rock opera called "Lifehouse," which anticipated the internet as a way for people to share virtual lives. "Lifehouse" eventually yielded songs for "Who's Next," but Mr. Townshend didn't give it up.

 

Now he is about to unveil something he imagined for "Lifehouse": the Method, online software that creates a musical portrait from data supplied by the user, anything from the feelings of the moment to a photo to the size of a waistline. As I understand it, the Method--which is due for launch April 25--is something like what would happen if Myspace generated music instead of webpages. Copyright is shared by the user (1/3) and the website, in case someone's unique portrait turns out to be particulary catchy or commercial. There's more information on it at www.petetownshend.com.

 

Mr. Townshend wants to bring the music together and play it at a big celebration. "We gather, we share our music with each other actually in the flesh, and we see what it sounds like," he said. "It might sound like the sea, it might sound like a plane going by, it might sound like the gentle undulations of the ocean. It might sound terrible, it might sound beautiful. I don't know."

 

Mr. Townshend insisted that music is best heard live and in the moment, and a few hours later, he was as good as his word. Instead of waiting for the Who's next arena show, He picked up his guitar and played, unannounced, as a guest with the keyboardist Ian McLagan and his Bump Band. Mr. McLagan was a member of the Small Faces along with Mr. Townshend's friend and collaborator (on the album "Rough Mix") Ronnie Lane; Kenney Jones, from the Small Faces, became the Who's drummer after the death of Keith Moon. Mr. McLagan introduced the Small Faces' first single, "What'cha Gonna Do About It," from 1965; he said the group's leader, Steve Marriott, had blatantly copied the Who's style in his guitar solo and urged Mr. Townshend to reclaim it. Mr. Townshend did, pummeling his guitar string until they rang and then wrenching out blues licks. He sounded joyful and vicious, as if they were one and the same.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/arts/music/sxsw....html?ref=music

[Analogman]

This is Lifehouse - finally realized after all these years.

 

Lifehouse

 

 

Another one of those albums that should have been - in case you don't know the story.

 

1. Teenage Wasteland (

[awatt]

I have heard of Lifeboat but never knew list of songs, and what a list. Some of my favorite Who/PT songs (except for Sister Disco, which I remember as one of the weaker Who efforts).

 

But I'm more curious about "the method" something like a myspace for music? A "musical portrait"?

[Analogman]

Pete went wild, working out a complex scenario whereby a personal profile of each concert-goer would be worked out, from the individual

[mountain bed]

I remember reading about Pete's ideas regarding the "Universal Note" in a Who biography ( I think it was the Dave Marsh one). Of course the more pragmatic Daltrey & the Ox as well thought it was a daft idea, to say the least. But they also thought the idea of a Rock Opera about a deaf, dumb & blind kid was pretty ridiculous & that turned out pretty good for them!

 

At the time Pete was completely dedicated/ obsessed with the possibilty (having read Sufi texts, etc.) of feeding alot of his fans' personal information into a database that would assign a note for each person...sort of a 'musical mantra'. After compiling all of those the idea was to synchronize them to produce a sound that would literally cause a mass nirvana among all the participants.

 

Even the most open-minded person would agree that's a pretty far-out idea...perhaps the bi-product of alot of heavy acid tripping. BUT (and this is why Pete has to be regarded as one of the finest artists in all of RXR history imo) he actually had the balls to reach for the sky & TRY to do the damn thing. His unshakeable belief in the power of Rock was stronger than most devout Christians' belief in the teachings of Christ. The Lifehouse idea was/is truly visionary, if you ask me. Unfortunately, 37 years ago the technology necessary to fully realize it was unavailable. It eventually led to Pete's first real nervous breakdown. But his "failure" produced, for example, the synthesizer riffs on Baba O' Reilly & Won't Get Fooled Again (as well as alot of his solo LP Who Came First), some of the greatest, most intense music that Rock has ever heard.

 

How wonderful it is that now Pete is reaching his Golden years his original vision as a young man might possibly come to fruition.

[Derek Phillips]

It's always made perfect sesne to me: All matter is molecules vibrating at different speeds. Music, too, is simply a vibration of air (as is all sound) as it passes over and around your ear drums, causing them to vibrate. If you could manipulate all matter to vibrate at the same speed you would essentially remove friction and all the energy would be efficiently transferred--thus, nirvana.

 

Sign me up.