Saturday, December 09, 2006
Comparisons
I've got it! When I first posted about The Killers, I mentioned that they reminded me of some other band. Well, it's not ONE other band they remind me of, more like a cross between a couple of bands - Echo & the Bunnymen and The Cure. Somewhere on Hot Fuss, during some little phrase, Brandon Flowers also sounds like Freddy Mercury. You probably don't think so, and that's okay. In fact, you'll probably think that The Killers sound like someone else altogether.
Why is comparison of the unknown to something known such a human trait? I'm sure a scientist or psychologist could give me a good answer to this. Like our fear of the unknown, like our desire to figure things out & we have to do the comparison in order to understand new things. Blah, blah, blah.
The one place where comparisons drive me batty is when they are used to critique a creative artist. "That painting of a nude by Gesso McPainterly has the verve of a VanGogh with a splash of Renoir and a twist of O'Keefe." This practice of comparison during critique has become so commonplace that it's starting to smack of lazy writing. Maybe that's because the comparisons are made within the same field, i.e. new musicians are compared to older musicians, new writers are compared to older writers, etc. What if critics started comparing musicians to writers or sculptors or movie directors? What if they started comparing songs to books or paintings? You might end up with something like this: "The new album of Band X has overtones of a Coen brothers' movie, with the raw quirkiness of Christopher Moore's book "Coyote Blue" and the scattered notes of an Alexander Calder mobile."
People would have to think about comparisons like these, but they'd sure make the critiques more interesting.
Why is comparison of the unknown to something known such a human trait? I'm sure a scientist or psychologist could give me a good answer to this. Like our fear of the unknown, like our desire to figure things out & we have to do the comparison in order to understand new things. Blah, blah, blah.
The one place where comparisons drive me batty is when they are used to critique a creative artist. "That painting of a nude by Gesso McPainterly has the verve of a VanGogh with a splash of Renoir and a twist of O'Keefe." This practice of comparison during critique has become so commonplace that it's starting to smack of lazy writing. Maybe that's because the comparisons are made within the same field, i.e. new musicians are compared to older musicians, new writers are compared to older writers, etc. What if critics started comparing musicians to writers or sculptors or movie directors? What if they started comparing songs to books or paintings? You might end up with something like this: "The new album of Band X has overtones of a Coen brothers' movie, with the raw quirkiness of Christopher Moore's book "Coyote Blue" and the scattered notes of an Alexander Calder mobile."
People would have to think about comparisons like these, but they'd sure make the critiques more interesting.
Labels: art, brandon flowers, christopher moore, coen brothers, comparison, creativity, killers, music, writing
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Totally Killer Post
Last night, I checked out The Killers' Hot Fuss CD from the library. I've heard a few Killers songs on the radio, seen the video for Mr. Brightside, saw the band on Saturday Night Live (SNL), but had not ever listened to the whole album until today. (Yes, that's me, a day late and a dollar short on popular music.) My favorite song thus far is "All These Things That I've Done." The Killers have a dark happiness to their music. It almost reminds me of some other band's music, but not quite, so the comparison dissolves like a sugar pill on my tongue. Hot Fuss is worth the fuss, along with being a great juxtaposition of words for a title.
When I caught The Killers on SNL, I didn't recognize Brandon Flowers, the lead singer, right away. He had a beard and moustache and casual outfit on, none of which matched the image he adopted for the Mr. Brightside video. His stiff carriage and voice gave him away, but I had to do a double-take to make sure.
That's the extent of my knowledge of The Killers. Not much, I know, but I don't need to know much to enjoy the music.
If you're looking for new music found with a sense of randomness, I'd suggest checking out the CD selection at your nearest library. You, too, might find something Totally Killer.
When I caught The Killers on SNL, I didn't recognize Brandon Flowers, the lead singer, right away. He had a beard and moustache and casual outfit on, none of which matched the image he adopted for the Mr. Brightside video. His stiff carriage and voice gave him away, but I had to do a double-take to make sure.
That's the extent of my knowledge of The Killers. Not much, I know, but I don't need to know much to enjoy the music.
If you're looking for new music found with a sense of randomness, I'd suggest checking out the CD selection at your nearest library. You, too, might find something Totally Killer.
Labels: brandon flowers, killers, library, music, saturday night live
