Imagination Monster

Another terrific post from Zane Ewton. I love the creativity I'm getting to share with these guest posts! Reading the music. Hearing the art.

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I did it all wrong. REM is the quintessential college band. You are supposed to discover "Document" in some dorm room during your sophomore year. Then you get to complain that no record that came after that was as good.

I did it wrong. I found "Monster" when I was in junior high school. The stamp is on my forehead. It reads: Not Cool.

"Monster" was my first REM record and it remains my favorite. There is someone in Georgia with long gray hair and an old copy of "Murmur" who wants to stab me right now.

Those classic REM records are timeless. Given their career, the quality control is exceptional in that band. It would be tough to put "Monster" in the list of top five REM albums.

It doesn’t matter to me. I love it when Peter Buck turns his jangly guitars all the way up for the riff on “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” I love the weird, murky, muddled mess of the whole record.

But that’s just me. I like it when emotional, articulate bands leave their subtlety at home. I like it when they sound like a rock band banging away in a basement. I am sure instead of KISS posters; REM has William S. Burroughs posters on their basement walls. Then Michael Stipe roller skates while Mike Mills plays “Let Me In” on the Farfisa organ and a lurking Peter Buck smokes a cigarette. Bill Berry grows beets.

It must have happened something like that. At least in my imagination.
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And "Monster" is my favorite too.

Peace.

In(significant)

Here's another beautiful post from Zane Ewton. Having just watched "I'm Not There", this captures Dylan perfectly. Better than the movie I think.

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In a famous 1965 press conference, a young man asked Bob Dylan about the significance of a t-shirt he wore on an album cover. The young man was visibly dismayed to learn the t-shirt was just a t-shirt.

This is the same press conference where Dylan joked about using a song to sell ladies undergarments – about 40 years before his starring role in a Victoria’s Secret commercial.

As remarkable as Bob Dylan’s music is, it has never been enough for his most ardent fans. Every inch of his being must be embroiled in some deeper significance – even his t-shirt.

The folkies described him as a prophet. At least until he went electric. His early monumental works gave him free rein to do whatever he wanted for the next 30 years – whether it was good or not.

Dylan lives outside the realm of popular music culture. Due in part to his musical output as well as his iconoclastic image. It would be unfair to lump him in with rock stars. He isn’t a rock star; he is an artist. More in tune with the creative impulses of Picasso than top 40 radio. Yet he is ingrained into music at a level few people can claim. It’s impossible to pin down Bob Dylan.

Everything about Bob Dylan means something. Nothing about Bob Dylan means anything. It’s all in how you, the listener, take it.

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Peace.

Starting With The Best

This is the first of what I hope to be many guest posts from my friend, Zane Ewton. You'll see why.

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by Zane Ewton

Deep into the swinging 1960s, an alien descended from some far off, R&B soul rock planet. He landed on London’s Carnaby Street and outfit himself in the latest fashions. He didn’t say, “Take me to your leader.” He assumed leadership.

Vinyl Art is an exceptional marriage of music and image. It is all about the music, of course. Why else are you here? But do not lie to yourself. These musicians, artists and performers that Daniel immortalizes within the grooves of their own creation are all iconic images in popular culture. Few are more iconic than Jimi Hendrix.

Jimi Hendrix is one of the elite rock and roll artists that everybody knows and loves. Children are born with an innate knowledge of Hendrix. Anyone more than 40 years old was in the field as he played “The Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock. The rest of us carry him around like the Abe Lincoln penny in our pocket. Hendrix exists outside of time and space.

A simple image of his face conjures the revolution of his musicianship and showmanship. Guitars and afros blazing; the Experience in full flight. The grooves in the record deepen his soulful songwriting. Hendrix was the sizzle and the steak. Soul and bombast. The electric church.
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See?

Peace.