Secret Cities' tour mix of terror
» The only thing worse than 800 miles in a van with your band mates is their musical taste.
Five songs each of us will subject the rest of the band to in the tour van over the next few weeks that they’ll probably kind of hate:
Michael:
King Crimson, “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Pt. I”
KC,
the two-percussionist-proto-postpunk-free-improv-skreedom variant,
engages on a terrifyingly deep level with different strands of African
music (Benzele drumming, Zimbabwean thumb-piano, curlicued North African
modality) 15 years before Paul Simon stole his best-selling record from
His Colonial Subjexxx and 35 before Vampire Weekend brought imperialism
back into the pop mainstream. Plus quasi-Bartók counterpoint, plus
Robert Fripp time-shifting little shrapnel bursts of guitar over Bill
Bruford and Jamie Muir kicking the living shit out of four-to-the-bar.
Rest of the band: silence (polite or resentful depending on
personality).
Trevor:
Guns N’ Roses, "November Rain"
I think the fact that this song has three guitar solos says enough.
With a band like Guns N’ Roses it's hard to not crack up while listening
to and we all know that a good laugh is not only needed but also the
best part of the classic road trip.
Marie:
Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues
I picked this because I myself almost stopped listening after hearing
the first two lines. Not a fan of the lyrics, to be honest. The reason I
like this song is hard to pinpoint, but it probably involves my love
for Simon and Garfunkel.
Alex:
Antelope: Wandering Ghost
Found out about these guys from living in D.C. This song isn’t even my
favorite song off the album that it’s on (Reflector), but it certainly
is among the most repetitive on it. Which is pretty impressive,
considering that whole album is built on repetition. I actually feel a
little guilty about liking this band/album as much as I do – it’s so
minimal that there’s almost nothing there to like about it in the first
place. That said, the primary way in which I understand music is
through patterns, and how they interact and bounce off each other.
Antelope pretty much has nothing else in their music other than
patterns, so it’s always a joy for me. Pretty sure everyone else would
find it annoying, though.
Charlie:
Radiorama: Chance to Desire
As far as I know, I’m the only person in the van who’s way into Italo
Disco. This song has been a favorite for years, but it’s also one of
the cheesiest, most absurd pieces of music I’ve ever heard. Somewhere
between the fake bell chimes and mangled English lies the reason this
song has such a special place in my heart, as well as the reason it
probably doesn’t appeal to non-Italo die hard fans.
Posted on March 29, 2011. More on: secret cities, fleet foxes, antelope, guns n roses, king crimson, vampire weekend
