Sorry to burst your bubble, Tim, Trish and Nick.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Tim/Trish/Nick WRONG about Wave Theory!
I know the perpetual controversy about coffee wave theory is old news, but I had to mention that we've been mistaken about this. I just bought an excellent CD at Starbucks, where they obviously know what the Second Wave is all about.
Sorry to burst your bubble, Tim, Trish and Nick.
Sorry to burst your bubble, Tim, Trish and Nick.
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sweet. Today I'm going to get me a freshly pressed cup of something or another and also pick up this CD. The only thing that would keep me from buying it is if the selection from The Cure turned out to be the worst song ever written- "Fire in Cairo".
ReplyDeleteThe Cure- loved by many thousands, disliked by only me.
The Cure, "In Between Days"
ReplyDeleteFinally something I can buy at Starbucks.
ReplyDeleteI bought this CD thinking it would be a good introduction for my kids to a certain flavor of early 1980s pop music. But after listening to this I couldn't help thinking that I'd wasted my money, for the playlist is flawed on a couple of levels making the disc unlistenable.
ReplyDeleteFirst let me say that most of the bands on this disc were quite good. Some were absolutely great. But as a compilation there are several problems:
For example, following Roxy Music's brilliant "More Than This" with the Pretenders' "Brass in Pocket" is absolutely bizarre. The Pretenders were a really good band, but were never actually considered "New Wave" at the time. They sound fine next to Bryan Adams or John Mellencamp, but not here. They were a rock and roll band, pure and simple.
The next couple songs seem out of place, too, but for different reasons. "English Roundabout" is a pretty weak XTC tune when you compare it to "Statue of Liberty" or "Making Plans For Nigel". And Jesus and Mary Chain, who offer a vast catalog of psychedelia, belong to the founding movement of the next era we now call Alternative.
But do not worry, because next we have Tears for Fears to really throw a wrench into the mix. All I can say about "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is that everybody has heard this song before. This song has probably outlived all others on the entire disc, living out it's retirement with frequent rotations on easy listening stations. This song also brings up another issue with this disc, the notion that the so called Second Wave spanned 1978 to 1985. There's a fairly broad spectrum of sound during that timeframe, too broad for a single label. The center of gravity on this disc is 1981, so to jump ahead to 1985 to a consumer-oriented mega-hit is taking the listener out of the true new wave era. By 1985 the genre had been completely mainstreamed by the industry. The rough edges and raw energy you heard on, say, "Another Nail in My Heart" by Squeeze were completely removed, produced out of the music by the mid eighties.
Joy Division makes an appearance and, okay, here is a band that really serious wavers and brooding, sensitive punks were listening to at the time. But if Starbucks wants to put them on a compilation disc then they really don't belong here either, rather on some type of "Essential Roots of Gothic" disc.
The next Manchurian band on the list, The Smiths, is arguably the best band on the entire collection. It's hard to go wrong with "Hand in Glove"--or any other Smiths song--so we'll let that one alone. But again, it's very hard on the ears to have The Pretenders and The Smiths within the same listening.
Next up is Echo and the Bunnymen's "The Ghost in You". I'll say it: It's boring. If you haven't done so yet, go listen to their debut album "Crocodiles".
There's more, but jumping ahead to track 15 we have Tom Tom Club's only good song, "Genius of Love", a truly ingenius danceable tune brought to you by the better half of Talking Heads. This, I would argue, is the defining song of the New Wave movement and the best song of the collection. Yet, among all these other tunes it seems oddly out of place.
While this disc may introduce some "new" old music to a younger generation--and there are some good starting points--it's just not a well constructed collection. I know the folks at Starbucks didn't intend it, but the fundamental flaw here is a playlist that feels like someone's iPod was set to play random songs. It is a disc that doesn't know what it wants to be. New wave, punk, goth and rock were all a part of this era, but this compilation misses the target.
--Arlo Emerson
Thanks Arlo,
ReplyDeleteI agree with so much you've written there. Interesting take on The Pretenders.
I happen to be a Pretenders aficionado.
Yeah, they are not in the same New Wave category, but I wouldn't say they are "rock and roll pure and simple". They are one of the few bands - on the cusp of the tail-end of Glam (NY Dolls, Ramones, Blondie) beginning of New Wave- which was its own thing. Yeah, they played guitars instead of synthesizers, but it was not from the Bryan Adams camp by any stretch.
What were you doing at starbucks?!
ReplyDeleteHi Luca:
ReplyDeleteTasting the completely mediocre Pike's Place Blend for the first time....
Hi Arlo:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lengthly commentary; I never expected to see something like that on a coffee blog!
It strikes me that there's an undeniable parallel between your sophisticated critique of the CD and one of our in-depth critiques of a particular coffee. In both cases the critic goes into WAY more depth than 99% of consumers would normally go. This is interesting and very satisfying for the critic and a certain audience.
On the other hand, I USED to be able to enjoy Starbucks coffee. And maybe sometime, early on, you could have enjoyed a CD compilation like this. But my tastes have been refined, as have yours -- and now we can find no joy in them.
It is our loss, and our gain, simultaneously.
Coffeewise, I may have relatively refined tastes. But musically, I could listen to "More Than This," "Brass in Pocket," and "Rule the World" just about forever. :-)
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