Shit

Maurizio Pollini, age 82.  Probably the most technically perfect of the major pianists who began their careers in the 60’s.  He studied under the obsessively perfect nutcase, Aurturo Benedetti Michelangeli.  Some considered him (and his teacher’s) playing too cerebral and cold, as if they were showing contempt for the music they were playing by playing it so perfectly.  I disagree.

CB Savage

This was my initial choice for today’s Music League topic, but I decided to poison this blog instead.  Sorry.

Cheers?

I don’t know if I’d like porter, but this video sure makes me want one.  In all likelihood, none of us has had the real thing.  I’m sure some of the jillions of craft breweries out there offer a porter, but is anyone drawing it from separate kegs like in this video? Apparently it became a lost art in the early 70’s.  Sad.

Get Happy

If you haven’t played through this whole album lately, do yourself a favor.  I have no foul moods that this album won’t dissipate before turning me into a grinning idiot.  I find “Dracula’s Daughter” (and many others) addictive,  but it’s a bit uncharacteristic; the rest of the album rocks like fuck.  When I finally got around to buying a copy a couple of years ago, it had a sticker that said “10 Brand-New Songs Scientifically Designed To Make Anybody Happy.”  Rare case of marketing matching the product.

Beatles’ Worst Moment?

Overall, I wouldn’t rate this as their worst track.  I don’t much like the song, but it goes well enough until that cheesy organ break comes along.  That break might be their worst moment.  I went back to All The Songs to refresh myself on just what they were thinking.  Turns out George played a fast-vibrato guitar part that John liked but George Martin rejected as too edgy.  So Paul recorded an organ solo worthy of a déclassé 60’s supper club.  Was he being funny on purpose?  Were they just ready to be done with it so thought, “fuck it, it’s filler anyway,  leave it there and let’s move on?”  

Of course everyone, no matter how great, steps in it every now and then.  Beethoven wrote Wellington’s Victory, an embarrassing piece of garbage celebrating, as the name suggests, Napoleon’s defeat. He’d once been a fan of Napoleon, dedicating his explosively innovative 3rd symphony to him.  He later removed the dedication in disgust after Napoleon crowned himself emperor, and subsequently wanted to rub Napoleon’s nose in it after Waterloo.  Defensive and touchy about the work, Beethoven probably knew it was trash. It seems to me that such music (i.e. written for overtly political or moralistic  purposes) is usually garbage.  John Lennon’s preachy songs  come to mind.  But I’d love to hear what pops into your bastardly heads in the Great Artist/Shitty Work category.

Sigh

The Beatles juggernaut rolls on with four biopics in the works, one for each Beatle.  What could possibly go wrong?