/|\(;,;)/|\ There's an ocean of music, and I'm swimming as hard as I can. I use this blog to post music & commentary; I hope you find something here that does it for you. Peace!
“King of Kings” by The Evens
Ian MacKaye and Amy Farina finally dropped their third album. It was worth the wait.
The next time your friend says “They don’t make good music anymore”…
I still hear people say this now and then. And I always ask them: Do you know what was the top-selling single of 1969?
No, it wasn’t Zeppelin or the Stones or Black Sabbath or any of the other awesome music you’re thinking of. It sure as hell wasn’t “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by The Stooges. It was “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies.
That’s right. Fucking “Sugar Sugar.”
So far as I can tell, the best-selling music of any era is the music sold to teenage girls. Why not? They’ve got expendable income, and they tend to form a rabidly eager fanbase around their media idols. You can see why it makes business sense for the major labels to throw their promotional machine behind someone like Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber. And yes, this has grown more pronounced over the years: Back in the day, major labels used to hire “company freaks,” music-obsessed kids who would tell the old businessmen what’s hot right now. But styles come and go, revolutions fail, what’s hip today seems trite tomorrow, and genuinely brilliant artists like Lou Reed and Iggy Pop made amazing records that failed to find a wide audience. Artistic successes are often commercial failures, and the major labels—who were in the business of making money, mind you—fired all the “company freaks.” They decided it was a more reliable business model to spend more money on advertizing and simply tell the kids what to like. It’s not an evil plot, it’s just business, and if you feel disappointed with the CD selection at Target and the shit they play on Top 40 stations, it’s not because music is in decline, it’s just that you’re not part of the lucrative 14-year-old-girl market. Or maybe you’re a 14-year-old-girl with peculiar tastes. And there’s nothing wrong with having peculiar tastes—just look at my own record collection, for chrissakes—but it means you’re going to have to look a little harder for music that appeals to you. And fortunately for you, we’ve got this thing called The Internet.
We didn’t have the World Wide Webiwhatsit when I was a kid, but I’m insanely grateful for it now, and anytime someone younger than me complains that “they don’t make good music anymore,” I want to respond: “You know, your computer is for more than just porn.”
Here’s a few records I’ve been excited about in just the last few weeks. Don’t tell me they don’t make good music anymore, because I’ve never been more excited to have two functioning ears.
In case you didn’t catch my earlier post (right here), Ian MacKaye’s two-part band The Evens have a new 7” record out, and it’s goooood. I love this band, and I dearly hope Ian and Amy find time to make a third LP. For now, though, here’s “Cut From The Cloth,” one of my favorite songs from the Get Evens album.
Extra Credit for Dischord Records Fans: Yeah, it’s okay, I’m excited too. So here’s a video I posted months ago of The Evens performing “Cache Is Empty”
The new 7” from The Evens came out just the other day! If you don’t already know, The Evens are a two-part band consisting of Amy Farina (The Warmers) and her husband, some dude named Ian MacKaye (Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Embrace, Fugazi, c’mon, do you really need me to tell you about the man who built Dischord Records?). They’ve already put out two perfect albums (The Evens and Get Evens) and were threatening a third when they got sidetracked by—oh, they had a baby? Ian MacKaye is a dad? Damn. I suppose next you’re going to tell me he’s smoking weed and… Oh, really? Wow. Oddly enough, this makes me respect MacKaye even more.
This is the official website of Dischord Records, the indie (and I mean TRULY independent, not that “approved by Pitchfork Magazine” bullshit) record label run by Ian MacKaye and his friends. These guys know good music. Do yourself a favor: If you’ve got twenty-five bucks to spare, pick up a copy of the 20 Years Of Dischord box set. You get fifty GREAT songs by fifty dischord bands, plus a bonus disc of rarities from the likes of Minor Threat, Henry Rollins’ first band State Of Alert, Void, Government Issue, Fugazi, Dag Nasty, Teen Idles, and more. It’s one of the very few collections I’ve ever found where every single track is a killer.
This is Ian MacKaye and Amy Farina, and when their wondertwin powers combine they are… The Evens! This is “Cache Is Empty,” a great track from their second album, Get Evens. Ian and Amy are actually married now, and they’ve got a son. And as long as we’re talking about Ian MacKaye’s personal life, here’s another fun fact: You probably already know that Ian MacKaye basically started the whole “straight edge” movement back in his Minor Threat days, but did you know that he now smokes weed? Nice to know he’s finally joining the party, I say.
