The Sound of a Generation

by Robin Hilton

Every generation has its own soundtrack. The Silent Generation (people born in the '20s and '30s) had big band and swing. Baby Boomers (born in the '40s and '50s) had rock and soul. Generation X (born in the '60s and '70s) had grunge and hip-hop. There's plenty of overlap, of course, and these are incredibly broad distinctions that don't take a lot of other genres into consideration. But it's probably fair to say that these were the most defining moments in music for each generation.

Big-band jazz and swing was the sound of a nation celebrating itself during and after the War. What's now called classic rock was the perfect soundtrack for a rebellion, while the mopey angst of grunge captured the, well, mopey angst of disillusioned teens and twentysomethings coming off the Reagan years.

Now it's the Millennials' turn. Also known as Generation Y, these are people born in the late '70s to early '90s.

I confess I don't listen to much Top 40 radio or watch much MTV. I do read a number of music magazines and music Web sites (Hype Machine, Stereogum, Pitchfork) and listen to the hundreds of CDs we get in the mail each week, so I'd like to think I have at least an inkling of what's going on. But I can't for the life of me figure out what the Millennial/Generation Y soundtrack is. Maybe it hasn't been defined yet. I've been talking with the other producers here -- several of them Millennials themselves -- and we're a little stumped.

What do you think it is? Or what will it be?

Early next month, we'll talk about this on All Songs Considered, with Monitor Mix blogger Carrie Brownstein and others. We'll play some music from different periods. Help us put the show together by letting us know what you think.

Tags: baby boomers | generation x | generation y | grunge | hip-hop | jazz | millennials | rock | soul | the lost generation | the silent generation

9:46 AM ET | 05- 8-2008 | permalink | comments (34) | e-mail post

 

Garage Rock and FM Radio

by Bob Boilen

The Electric Prunes were the first band I can remember hearing on the FM dial, WOR-FM at 98.7. It was late 1966, and my dad had bought a stereo with an FM tuner. No one else I knew had FM back then. It wasn't in cars or on your transistor dial.

The FCC ruled that any broadcaster with an AM license had to have separate original programming for the FM dial, so FM underground radio was born. DJs with eclectic tastes ruled the new airwaves, as did a wave of garage bands. Bands with names such as The Velvet Underground and The Electric Prunes began to overtake my habit for commercial AM pop radio in New York.

"I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night" was a fantastic song, and in stereo on the huge white Koss headphones, it was a sonic boom. I still remember the guitar panning around, my head reeling as the drums panned hard to one side.

This was truly a garage band, in that their practice space was in their home garage in the San Fernando Valley. That's where they were discovered.

Now, more than 40 years later, the band is touring. The Electric Prunes played the Black Cat in Washington, but I missed it. I'm curious what they sounded like. Has anyone gone to see them?
And do you remember the early days of FM radio?

4:03 PM ET | 05- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

You Can Tell a CD by Its Cover

by Bob Boilen

Today, I went through a few hundred CDs looking for a handful for next week's All Songs Considered. There simply isn't enough time to listen to every song on every CD, so I listen to the first cut on most every disc. If I don't like the aesthetic of the music, I go on to the next song. There is one exception: If I like the cover art, I'll randomly go to another cut and see what else the music has to say.

Here is one dirty little secret -- I don't like this, but it's true. I look at the cover art, and if it doesn't have a hint of originality, and I'm pressed for time,I don't listen to the CD.

Here are a few sure signs of artwork that foretells uninspired music:

1. Musicians with pets
2. Pyramids (except Dark Side of the Moon)
3. Women in gowns on couches
4. Men drinking alcohol
5. Skulls
6. Chandeliers
7. Bad Photoshop jobs (e.g., bands floating on clouds)
8. Multiple fonts (cursive is the curse)
9. Posed portraits
10. A guy holding a guitar and smiling

What else?
Can you tell a CD by its cover?
What are the telltale signs of a bad record?
Any exceptions to the above list?

5:18 PM ET | 05- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (29) | e-mail post

 

Neil Diamond vs. Neil Young

by Robin Hilton

I'm not a big fan of American Idol, but boredom drove me to turn it on last night, just in time to see contestant Brooke White slaughtering Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer."

Brooke White is marginally talented, and Diamond's music is innocent enough, but it was a painful marriage of the two. My thumb hit the "off" button before she could finish a verse.

This morning, NPR Music producer Stephen Thompson mentioned that he'd also caught some of American Idol last night, which in turn got us all talking about Neil Diamond. I admit to liking maybe a CD's worth of his songs, while the rest of the group finds his music mostly unbearable.

Neil Diamond has enjoyed what to some is a baffling resurgence in popularity in recent years, particularly among young people. I've got nothing to go on but a hunch, but it seems to have been sparked -- at least in part -- by comedian Will Ferrell's recurring imitation of Diamond on Saturday Night Live. Diamond himself appeared on the show, as well as in the teen comedy Saving Silverman. This was followed by an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! -- another program targeted at younger audiences.

In short, for people in their early to mid-20s, it's become cool to like Neil Diamond. I'm not sure if this is an ironic cool or a more genuine belief that his music is simply awesome, but either way, he's secured a place in their minds and MP3 collections.

This was all confirmed for me at a party I went to in Baltimore a while back. Everyone was a lot younger than I am. I was sitting with a group of early twentysomethings, sipping beers and pretending to relate to whatever the topic was. At some point, someone imitated Will Ferrell imitating Neil Diamond, which drew a laugh, followed by a discussion of just how totally cool Diamond is, you know? The most blissfully clueless person in the group asked for a clarification on who, exactly, Neil Diamond is, confusing his name with Neil Young... at which point I had to jump in, exclaiming that one should never confuse the two.

To make a long story short, I soon found myself in a shouting match over who was better: Neil Diamond or Neil Young. It became glaringly obvious to me that those in the Neil Diamond camp only knew him from his recent insertion into their pop-culture landscape. They knew none of his history and nothing of Neil Young at all -- which isn't surprising, given that Neil Diamond had his last Top 10 hit before they were even born.

No offense to Neil Diamond. But come on.

So which camp do you belong to?

2:45 PM ET | 04-30-2008 | permalink | comments (36) | e-mail post

 

Make It Stop!

by Bob Boilen

Does anyone know a good cure to get a stuck song unstuck from one's head?

The song, "Windmills of Your Mind" is currently causing the producers here no end of grief. It's going round and round, like... like a...

Never ending or beginning,
On an ever spinning wheel
Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnaval balloon
Like a carousell that's turning
Running rings around the moon

 

I chatted yesterday with Portishead and they planted this little ditty in my head us while playing DJ for us, and its driving us all crazy.
The show goes up May 1st.

In the meantime, how do you stop this??

4:32 PM ET | 04-24-2008 | permalink | comments (38) | e-mail post

 

Lou Reed Live

by Bob Boilen
REFRESH PAGE TO SEE THE BLOG LIVE FROM 9-11PM EASTERN TIME

11am
It's been a long day already.
we have been eager to record Lou Reed at the 9:30 club.
we had a 48 track truck ready, we were going to record it, give him the sound files ... he would mix it then approve it for us to webcast.
last night an email came and Lou had changed his mind. He just didn't feel up to it, cold coming on or just not feeling right.

Then today Lou suggested we do an "old school" style recording. Live to 2 track.
the list of gear was very specific. we came pretty close.

5:05pm
Neal Tevault (our engineer) and I walked into the 930 club, Lou is on stage laughing, in a good mood.
he talked about the mic he wanted us to use, (a Royer stereo mic) we and the 9:30 club called all around town for it with no luck.
He came off stage we shook hands and said he'd buy the mic if we could find it and he'd add it to his collection.
still no luck.
our mics seemed to make his engineer happy.
we are recording the soundcheck and hope for approval.
if all goes right at the end of the night Lou will approve our recording and we can make it available.
we shall see.

5:40pm
I am currently at the Lou Reed soundcheck. He's playing Ecstasy and it sounds real fine, and I'm in heaven.

6:00pm

We got approval to record the show. At the end of the night we will give the recordings to Lou and he will decide if we can put the show online for you.
We are taking pictures and will post them when teh show goes up.
I'll be here updating this blog all night.

8:50pm
The thousand people that have tickets are entering slowly.
Lou Reeds ambient cd Hudson River Meditations is playing in the background

9:05
Lou slowly takes the stage
How ya doing and the crowd went wild...
first song

1 MAD
from Ecstasy 2000
good guitar battle going on...lots of energy

2. SWEET JANE
VELVET UNDERGROUND "LOADED" LP 1970
oh my
he sounds so good
didn't play the Heavenly wine and roses verse...and he dropped some words, but it was good

3. I'M SET FREE
VELVET UNDERGROUND 1969
with accordion...
wow
Lou's guitar sounds great...also the acoustic guitar and tambourine are the right touch here.

4. ECSTASY
ECSTASY 2000
Great meandering guitar and bowed bass at the top of the song
what a great band...i'll get all the names and post it

5. I'M STICKING WITH YOU
from the Velvet Underground collection called VU 1985 (thanks for the correction GB)

you may know this from Juno

6. POWER OF THE HEART
I think this is a new tune...i don't know it.
moody, nice acoustic guitar and a quiet tune...at least right now.

7. I WANNA KNOW
from the Raven 2003
words adopted from Edgar Allen Poe
potent and done with so much conviction.

8. HALLOWEEN PARADE
from the New York album....nice rant at the top of the song about how in NYC there was a Halloween Parade and how so many friends disappeared from the parade from AIDS....Then went on to rant about how we spend money mowing down other people in other countries.....how did we get from this to that he said

9.VIDEO VIOLENCE
Mistrial 1986
not a fave of mine...but a chugga chugga rocker...

10. GUARDIAN ANGEL
The Raven 2003
sweet with lyrics by Poe

11 MAGIC AND LOSS
from Magic and Loss
one of my favorite Lou records from the past 15 years

"there's a bit of magic in everything and then some loss to even it out"
I feel the end of the set

ROB Wasserman, bass
Michael Rathke, guitar
Steve Hunter,guitar
Sarth Calhoun, electronics
Kevin Hearn, keyboards accordion, mandolin
Tony "Thunder" Smith, drums

ENCORE TIME!!
took a while for the band to retake the stage...could be that long walk to the mens room upstairs :)

12. PERFECT DAY
Transformer 1972
One of the best songs from his best known record.
You're gonna reap just what you sow...
I've played this chord progression hundreds of times...it is so good.

and what a great show
we hope to have this show on our site....
as the sound of the Hudson River Meditations plays in the background

we give the sound files to Lou for approval.
stay tuned...and good night.

Thursday April 24
still waiting for our man.
bb

Friday April 25
Lou doesn't care for the recording, as much as a recording done of Asbury Park show.
I told them we would listen and decide.

Stay tuned.

We are grateful for Lou Reed offering us the Asbury Park show.
We will post it online May 6th or 7th.

http://www.npr.org/liveconcerts

5:48 PM ET | 04-22-2008 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post

 

Concert at Bob's Desk: Laura Gibson

by Bob Boilen

I love the delicate voice and songs of Laura Gibson. We featured her music on All Songs Considered back in 2006. But when NPR Music producer Stephen Thompson and I went to see her perform at SXSW, we were bummed. We couldn't hear Laura sing -- her hushed voice was completely drowned out by the chatter of the crowd.

I had spent much of SXSW recording musicians in unconventional settings: Lightspeed Champion on a lawn, Jaymay on a porch, She and Him in a living room, and My Morning Jacket's Jim James at a church concert.

When Laura Gibson stepped off stage, Stephen told her the sad news that hardly anyone beyond about the third row could hear her. Given that I'd been recording all these artists, and given that he'd just heard yet another quiet artist drowned out by lousy sound and a noisy crowd, Stephen invited Laura to visit NPR and play a more personal concert, only half-jokingly suggesting that she play "at Bob's desk."

She said she would, and about a month later -- while in town to open for The Decemberists' Colin Meloy -- she showed up at NPR with her guitar, sat behind my desk, and played.

Could this be the start of a series? What do you think?

10:04 AM ET | 04-18-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post

 

Design the Next Music Format

by Bob Boilen

If CDs slowly disappear, and downloadable files or MP3s don't quite fill the void, what would?

I'm asking you to think of the perfect music format. What would it be? Use your imagination.

For me, it would offer higher sound quality than CDs, as well as electronic liner notes -- maybe artwork I could zoom around in. I'd want lyrics and chords for the songs and information for every song on who's playing what.

What would you want?

2:42 PM ET | 04-16-2008 | permalink | comments (29) | e-mail post

 

R.I.P. The Compact Disc, 1982-2008?

by Robin Hilton

I recently came to work with two large tote bags filled with compact discs and dumped them out on a table in the middle of the office. To me, they were garbage. But for the vultures that are my fellow NPR Music producers, it was like finding a mountain of free money. They shuffled through the pile, grabbing everything that caught their eye. At one point, Stephen Thompson held up my discarded copy of Radiohead's OK Computer and incredulously asked, "Why would you get rid of this?"

For about a year now, I've been slowly purging my once-proud CD collection. Twenty-five years' worth of music, from the first disc I ever bought (Pink Floyd's The Wall) in 1984, to more recent releases.

Of course, I'm not really getting rid of them. I'm ripping everything to a massive hard drive hooked up to what has become my stereo: my computer.

This is partly because I don't like having a house overrun with thousands of CDs. Invisible sound files on a hard drive are simply more convenient. You can also do a lot more with digital files and iTunes, like delivering an endless stream of music through the house in any conceivable configuration, by artist, genre, or favorite playlists. Changing out a CD in a player feels as clunky and outdated as flipping a record on a turntable.

But I'm also purging my CDs because I believe they're a dying format. There's never been a more obvious trend. CD sales continue to plummet at a breathless -- and, if you're one of the big labels, alarming -- rate. Meanwhile, digital download sales continue to climb.

None of this is as sexy as having a tangible package of music, with artwork and liner notes. And downloading files isn't nearly as cozy as flipping through the local bands section of a record store. But the truth is, I never listen to actual CDs more than once or twice. After that, they're ripped to my computer -- I put the discs away and never look at them again.

Lately, I've felt a sense of urgency to get rid of the rest of my old CDs before they become as obsolete as 8-track tapes and cassettes.

So, what does your CD collection look like? Is it getting smaller? Do you even buy actual CDs now, or do you just download everything?

Tags: cds | compact discs are dead | downloads

11:38 AM ET | 04-14-2008 | permalink | comments (53) | e-mail post

 

The Perfect Song

by Bob Boilen

Have you always wanted to know what goes into the process of writing the perfect song? Let Carrie Brownstein and her friend Fred Armisen show you how it's done.

12:32 PM ET | 04-11-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post