The Bellman.
sell-out zone
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Not much posting this week
Partly it's because I'm obsessed with the hurricane, but don't have anything at all to say about it. And partly it's because the semester just started and I'm busier than I had been. And partly it's because I've been working on some actual real philosoblogging and, darn it, that takes time.
Anyway, here are two questions for the music fans.
First, I've found myself listening to The Flaming Lips a whole bunch this week and am thinking of adding a new Flaming Lips record to my collection. Should I move forward in their ouvre, or backwards? I have all of the records from In a Priest Driven Ambulance thru Clouds Taste Metallic and probably couldn't pick a favorite[1]. Yoshimi and Gawd are the leaders in the clubhouse, but I'm open to suggestions.
Second, what's the aesthetic value (or value simpiciter) of innovation? A few days ago, I claimed that Gray Matter's cover of 'I am the Walrus' was more successful than the original. What I meant was that Gray Matter seemed to me to have done a better job of fulfilling the objectives of the song's project, objectives which I take to include being catchy, rocking, and instantiating psychedelic properties. The Beatles, on the other hand, were the folks who first envisioned the project. What's more, they pioneered methods for approximating that vision. Do those factors outweigh Gray Matter's superior execution?
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1 That was a bald faced lie. In a Priest Driven Ambulance is clearly the best of the lot.
Anyway, here are two questions for the music fans.
First, I've found myself listening to The Flaming Lips a whole bunch this week and am thinking of adding a new Flaming Lips record to my collection. Should I move forward in their ouvre, or backwards? I have all of the records from In a Priest Driven Ambulance thru Clouds Taste Metallic and probably couldn't pick a favorite[1]. Yoshimi and Gawd are the leaders in the clubhouse, but I'm open to suggestions.
Second, what's the aesthetic value (or value simpiciter) of innovation? A few days ago, I claimed that Gray Matter's cover of 'I am the Walrus' was more successful than the original. What I meant was that Gray Matter seemed to me to have done a better job of fulfilling the objectives of the song's project, objectives which I take to include being catchy, rocking, and instantiating psychedelic properties. The Beatles, on the other hand, were the folks who first envisioned the project. What's more, they pioneered methods for approximating that vision. Do those factors outweigh Gray Matter's superior execution?
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1 That was a bald faced lie. In a Priest Driven Ambulance is clearly the best of the lot.
