< Guest DJ Set 4/6/07 | Main | Surf's Up Sunday! >

a mental debacle

Posted at 4:12 AM on April 7, 2007 by Mac Wilson (9 Comments)

Ever have those revelatory moments when listening to particular pieces of music? Especially those instances when you realize that someone else's theory about something is true, and you've been wrong all these years? Here's what happened to me: I was listening to R.E.M.'s Murmur this afternoon. Maybe the fact that it was Good Friday had put me in the mood to listen to "Talk About the Passion," but there I was, crouched over with the headphones listening to the songs I knew so well. But something wasn't quite right; the verve and vigor I was used to from early R.E.M. was strangely absent. Then I realized where it was, and that's when I gasped and actually said aloud,

"Ohmigod, Reckoning really IS better than Murmur!"

What are your moments like this? Or would you rather just tell me why I had it right the first time? Come on, I know some of you are just itching to jump in on this one. Any takers?

Comments (9)

And Fables is better than Reckoning.

I think I had a relevatory breakthrough with Neil Young last night. I've always liked him--I never found him objectionable, I liked the Native American vibe, I always thought he was a great musician and songwriter. I agreed that Harvest was an awesome album, as much because I really believed it was awesome as I felt it acceptable to hold such a belief--that it gave me some sort of musichead cred. I couldn't, though, quite understand why so many bands credit him as an influence, what made the guy such a trailblazer, or why so many people were just ape**** over him. I wasn't an imposter--I'd just been listening without hearing.

Last night, the old man put on Broken Arrow, which is apparently a weird and clunky and very incohesive album. Even still--I heard it. I heard little bits and pieces of so many of my favorite bands. I guess you could say I finally got it. And "Music Arcade," was an arrow shot right through my middle. I saw the light, Mac, and have accepted Neil Young into my heart. I shall now commence roaming the valleys and singing his praises! (But first, another cup of coffee and some huevos rancheros.)

Posted by Jacquie Fuller | April 7, 2007 10:54 AM

Yo Mack...It's a toss-up to me...there are more good songs and more understandable lyrics on Reckoning. But Murmur still holds a special place in my heart as it was there 1st longplayer!

Posted by Bill DeVille | April 7, 2007 1:54 PM

I used to hang out at my local record store in Hopkins (Harpo's) every Friday night in High School rather than to to the football games, or basketbal games. I got to know the guy there really well and he used to play me all sorts of new stuff. I was still in my SynthPop phase, then he brought out "Chronic Town" and "Murmur" had just come out, and he played them for me. It blew me away. The jangly guitars, the harmonies, the sound was nothing like I'd heard before. I became a huge REM fan right then and there.

Murmur was a landmark album in pop history, I believe, but I only own Reckoning on CD, so I guess I like that one better. Although Fables is also incredible.

As for musical revelations, for me lately it was The Decemberists "The Crane Wife". I'd heard some of the songs on The Current ,but they kind of washed over me, I never really paid attention. I never really understood why everyone was gaga over them, or why TCW was picked as 89.3's album of the year. Finally, I got a hold of a copy of TCW, and when I sat down and listened to it all the way through, and it finally dawned on me why everyone thought it was so great. The songwriting, the imagery, the instrumentation,and Colin Meloy's voice all worked so well together. I remember saying out loud, "Ohhh.. This is why everyone thinks they're so good. They really are!"

Posted by Frick | April 7, 2007 6:18 PM

Frick, I totally agree on The Crane Wife. I was not planning to buy the album because I do not like "Picaresque". Then I heard "The Crane Wife 3" and saw it picked as #1 for 2006, and I am so glad it pushed me to buy the album. It's a work of astonishing beauty.

Posted by Auntie | April 7, 2007 7:42 PM

I should also note that perhaps I was compelled to listen to Murmur because of the upcoming Radio Free Current...

Posted by Mac Wilson | April 8, 2007 12:54 AM

Mac: Perhaps you and the other Current Dj's and staffers should get together and re-record "Radio Free Europe" with some new Lyrics to kick off the programming for that day.

You already have a built-in band:

Danny S.(or Seel) on Drums
Christina, Jill (or Seel) on Guitars
Someone here has gotta be able to play bass. (maybe Seel?)
And you all can take turns with a line or two on the vocals. I'd love to hear DeVille, Tony, Brandt, and the rest of you all rock the mic!

Here's a place to start:

Decide yourself what your radio's gonna play
You pick the tunes to hear for just one day
something something something or the Fall
something something... blah blah blah

Starting now, we're ready to transmit
Starting now, we're ready to transmit
Radio Free Current
Radio Free Current

Have fun!

Posted by Frick | April 8, 2007 2:21 PM

This is the greatest idea ever, and I hope the right people read this. Even better, we could have listeners sing different lines. Non-singers would be welcome: when you sing along with early R.E.M., you don't actually sing any words per se, you just phonetically replicate whatever combination of syllables you happen to hear, like a karaoke version of the children's game Telephone. This isn't like you'd be singing Jeff Buckley; just start mumbling and you're set!

Posted by Mac Wilson | April 9, 2007 5:20 AM

That would be funny, Mac. That's what most people do when they sing along with REM anyway.

I remember hearing that Bill Berry used to require a special monitor so he could hear Michael Stipe singing as MS would get all these letters about the lyrics and offer up their versions of what they thought they heard. MS would sometimes sing the new lyrics instead because they thought they were better than the originals.

Posted by Frick | April 9, 2007 9:45 AM

Ack. Can we talk about what happened to R.E.M., or is that a whole other post? I think it might be.

Posted by Jacquie Fuller | April 11, 2007 8:45 PM

April 2007
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

Master Archive