World History Project: The Notorious L.V.B. 1980 - 2020

Some Smartypants (Possibly Mrs. Jaybee): Uh, point of order!

Jaybee: What?

SS(PMJ): Look at your title. Some people are going to think you're saying that Beethoven was born in 1980 and died in 2020.

Jaybee: Oh, come on, nobody's that stupid.

SS(PMJ): Do you watch the news?

Jaybee: Okay, point taken. I guess I should clarify. No, Ludvig Van wasn't born in 1980.

(aside) Jesus fuck, do I really have to explain this?

SS(PMJ): Yes, you do. You barely typed the title and you FUBARed Music History, possibly forever. Don't you know Jay Leno used to do "idiot on the street" interviews with people who thought it was Fidel Castro on the penny and the Civil War was in the NINETEEN sixties? Let's not even speak of 2020.

Jaybee: All right, all right, all right! Next thing you know you'll be telling me I don't pick up after myself.

SS(PMJ): Uh...

Jaybee: ANYWAY. Ludvig van Beethoven didn't die in 2020 (great Caesar's ball sack!). That was John Prine. But you were close.

The years above and below merely indicate times when I, Jaybee, immersed myself in LVB's music, and unlike Billy Joel, came out of it still loving rock n' roll.

So, now that we've gotten THAT out of the way...

SS(PMJ): You dropped your napkin.

2020: Corona and BLM

I normally try to keep the "research" for the colder months but COVID-19 and the Minneapolis police fucked that up. In late spring and early summer, when I usually celebrate the warmer weather by listening to lighter, "fun" music, was now dedicated to blocking out things like pandemics and crazy presidents, so I listened to some of my old vinyl.

But even there I'd see dead people, either from the 'Rona, or not.

I had just about finished this when George Floyd was murdered and knew I'd need something stronger. Something from before my lifetime, when there was a good reason for people to be dead.

1980: My First Classical Record

When you move out on your own you have an opportunity to know or remake yourself.

After a few months in my first apartment, I noticed I was eating a lot less red meat than when I lived at home. And First Jaybee Roommate and Best Jaybee Friend Mike got me into reading the Sunday NY Times instead of the Daily News.

Music-wise, I took advantage of Mike's records where I found Errol Garner's Concert by the Sea. Then I started getting jazz albums on my own, like Kind of Blue.

On one particular Sunday, the Times had an ad for the Musical Heritage Society, which was essentially the Columbia Record Club for classical music. They were offering an eight-LP set of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies for only $15! (plus shipping and handling!!). So I said what the hell and - six to eight weeks later - that became my first-ever classical music album. 

 

And as with most of my multi-disc explorations, I tended to play disc-one side-one a lot. And only on rare occasions - like a major "recycling" - got all the way through to disc eight.

2000: Banished to the Dungeon

Another factor that made it literally harder to get to these records was moving all our vinyl to the then-dungeon, now more-or-less-basement of mine and Mrs. Jaybee's house. The CDs were beginning to pile up and our living room was looking too much like a used record store, so down they went.

From that point, I was listening almost exclusively to CDs. I didn't get down to the basement unless there was an unpleasant chore or a prisoner interrogation to do. So LVB - along with a ton of other vinyl - sat there unlistened to for years.

I eventually got CD versions of the symphonies and burned them onto my work PC, where I could listen throughout the workday. I figured I’d just play and play them until they sank in, but all this seemed to accomplish was to blend them all together so that when I hear them I recognize them but I'm not even sure they're Beethoven let alone which symphony. As usual, my best-laid plans were blowing up in my face.

And worst of all, the World History Project was stuck - from a musical standpoint - at around 1800 or so.

2020 Again:

But there's nothing like tragedy and mayhem to sharpen one's focus, and I spent the entire month of June 2020 in a Ludvig Van deep dive.

One side benefit of all this is now that I've got two different versions of the Nine Symphonies, I get to do a Charles Emerson Winchester and say things like version x is "tentative" and version y is "sublime" (which for the longest time I thought was a flavor).

I'm still having issues telling one piece apart from another, but I will cautiously conclude that the CD version (by the Revolutionary Orchestra) is faster. Like the conductor had a lot of coffee or didn’t book enough studio time. By the way, I recommend this approach to anyone who's planning to record anything.

So this is a heads up for/warning about the next few posts, where I'll be going over the LVB Symphonies, and throw in a few other works that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing. But I’m going to break it up into chunks. It would be nuts to do otherwise. Figure it'll take all of February, which is Black History Month (Mrs. Jaybee is suddenly eyeing me very closely.) which in this case is really neither here nor there (Okay Mrs. Jaybee? Maybe not BLM though).

So I’ll tackle it by year, covering 1800 to 1825, with no respect intended, or rather none offered blindly. And rather than bore you with technical terms neither you nor I understand, I will try to relate these symphonies to some of my favorite records and artists. 

I’m STILL trying to figure out who his rock and roll equivalent is. Maybe by the end of all this, I’ll know.

 

But I can only share the tiny slice of his vast output that I've heard. Hmm, perhaps his RNRE is fellow curmudgeon Frank Zappa...

So now that the Best of 2020 (and next best) is out of the way, we'll meet up in February 2021 to talk about 1800.  

What?

2020 Etceteras

Leftovers, effluvia, whatever you want to call them these are the records from my last musical year that never got mentioned.

New Order: Power, Corruption, and Lies (1983) 

My first New Order album (Substance) was also one of my first CDs ever and gave me my first taste of CD abundance. I was just then learning that the typical CD held almost twice as much music as a typical vinyl album, and Substance was a two-CD set! Each CD held twelve cuts, many of which were extended versions of songs. So here I was with 24 songs, each running an average of six minutes long.

And I haven't caught up since!

NO sprang out of the ruins of Joy Division, and sounded quite a bit like them (doomy, droney pop music) for a while, but then blended it with dance music, retaining the best of both worlds. 

This one came out while they were on the cusp of that change. They're not quite out of their Joy Division phase, and not yet the dance music monsters they would become.

And it's just what you'd expect from them. Nothing quite brilliant but nice nonetheless. They were miles ahead of the other synth-pop bands in terms of their singer who, while he couldn't actually sing, at least didn't whine. And a band that didn't try to attempt soul music.  The guitar is my favorite blend of density and lightness - it makes loud noises but doesn't overstay its welcome. The bass is Right. Out. Front. and could pass as a guitar (or drums for that matter.) And the keyboards never take on that tacky synth sound of the early eighties, and thus age well.

"The Village" is a masterpiece of rhythm. (They're white and British(!) so I'm marking on a curve.)

I wouldn't have a clue as to where this one stands in their catalog but it is a very solid album.

B+

"Your Silent Face"

of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, At You the Destroyer? (2007)  

Initially, this was way too preening - a weird combination of 10cc, ELO, and Phoenix, but it has since grown on me. Headphones helped. I could hear the oomph. 

There's a ton of detail here, and what keeps it from getting too fussy - at least for a while - is the commitment in the singing and playing. And it's there. It only gets to be too much (or not enough) about two-thirds of the way through. 

B+

"The Past Is A Grotesque Animal"

Bad Bunny: XPRE-1000 (2019)

Funny story. I thought I was buying Beach Bunny and got this by mistake.

There are subtle differences.

Here’s Beach Bunny.

And here’s Bad Bunny.

HAVING. SAID. THAT. This is not terrible. Good vocals - if autotune is being used, it's not overly obvious.

The beats vary somewhat. This is a very good thing for those of us who don't normally listen to this type of music. (Nice of him to consider the 60+ demographic.)

The melodies are not too intricate or complicated. Just enough to keep you listening. The accompanying instruments are well placed and not overbearing. I even heard the odd word or two in English.

I even heard something that could be construed as rock music if the guitars were slightly louder. Touche!

It flows. It’s not too harsh. What’s not to like? A bit one-note, though.

Jaybe Niece Sara - a Bad Bunny fan - finds the whole thing hilarious.

B+

"Ni Bien Ni Mal"

The Avalanches: Since I Left You (2006)

An amalgam of snippets of other records and sounds. In other words a kitchen sink record. 

Kind of fun, kind of a lark. Kind of the opposite of DJ Shadow. Nothing profound or dark here. Which is kind of the problem. These types of records have to have a few brilliant moments or it's hard to take seriously. This one flows by and you hum to it, but that's all. But there are worse ways to spend your time.

B+

"Since I Left You"

And there are the jazz records that got even shorter shrift: 

Bill Evans: 12 Classic Albums

John Coltrane: The Classic Collaborations 1957-1963

The Modern Jazz Quartet: The Final Concert

And the classical Schubert and Tchaikovsky/Mendelsson records that will come up in a later 

segment of the World History Project.

The front door of my brain is obviously too narrow so I'll just pile them into my work PC and let them play all day, and thus sneak in the back door. 

Which leaves....

2021 To-Dos:

• Attend the Inauguration.
• Catch up on all those records above.
• Beethoven 
• Catch up again on pop music.