The Wagnerian Experience Has Begun

Back in college when I first began becoming interested in opera, I listened exclusively to Italian opera, mostly Verdi and Puccini. Several roommates and friends I knew got into Wagner and were very excited to play selections from the Ring cycle, but I never understood Wagner's music, it just didn't make sense to me the way Verdi and Puccini did. My musical tastes have always run more to the simple, severe, and well-disciplined sounds, more Brahms and Sibelius than Bruckner or Mahler. But in the back of my mind I always knew there would come a time when I would grow to understand the appeal of Wagner. I even bought a CD of Tristan und Isolde (Suthaus/Flagstad/Furtwangler) and went to a San Francisco opera performance several years back, and while I enjoyed the experience, it didn't really grab a hold of me at all.

However, for a while now I've been looking for a new sound to get interested in. Despite not having heard probably half of the Italian repertoire operas (notably the operas by Bellini, and at least 2/3rds of Verdi's vast output), I have not been motivated to continue listening to any more of them. I've listened to practically every recording of Sibelius's symphonies that are out there, and despite trying to listen to Bruckner and Mahler and Shostakovich, I haven't really found anything that I can get really excited about. On the popular music side, I've been in the doldrums as well, with only a few interesting artists coming out per year since the early 2000's.

So last weekend I was doing errands at home and while ironing I flipped on the TV and saw that the Sci-Fi channel was running some mini-series called 'Dark Kingdom'. Since it was the middle of the day and there really was nothing on, I figured I'd watch it (OK, so it featured Kristanna Loken and Alicia Witt in it, so that made the decision easier!). Watching it I realized fairly quickly that it was basically the same story as Wagner's Ring cycle. For whatever reason, I thought the story was rather interesting (although I had never found the story interesting before), and decided to head to Amoeba to see if I could pick up a copy of the Ring for cheap.

Of course, there really is no such thing as a cheap copy of the Ring cycle. The cheapest is at least $80, with some sets going for close to $200. So, I decided to start out small and only get Das Rheingold. I found a copy of Solti's recording in very good condition for $15, and I remember that my college roommates raved about the recording, so I decided to purchase that one.

Quite surprisingly, I took to it from the very beginning. It may have been because the prelude was featured so prominently in the latest Terence Malick movie (the name slips my mind right now, but I didn't like the movie much, just the use of Wagner in the soundtrack). Or it may be that after listening to so much Bach recently that I've somehow matured enough to comprehend Wagner. But the end result is that I have basically been listening to it non-stop at work. I have the entire opera on repeat in my music player at work, and I find parts of it sticking in my mind when I am walking around or thinking random thoughts.

So, it's finally happened, I have progressed to a point where I can enjoy Wagner. We'll have to see if this continues through the other operas in the Ring cycle.

Springsteen Revival?

I just recently heard a new song by The Arcade Fire called 'Intervention'. I didn't think much of the first album by The Arcade Fire, but this song was an absolute relevation! I loved the bluesy, almost gospel aspects of it, the organ notes, it was such a wonderful sound. It sounded like it had a lot of Springsteen influences, which would make it the second alt band in a year to release music that had a bit of Springsteen in it (the first being The Killer's most recent album, 'Sam's Town'). Is there a Springsteen revival going on? He himself released and album this past year, so maybe more and more of the young hipsters are discovering him and starting to draw from his music. Not a band choice to draw inspiration from, in my opinion.

Setting the Record Straight on Coldplay

I would like to clarify the situation with regards to Coldplay. They are easily one of the worst bands that has gone platinum with a record, nevermind three. Chris Martin's falsetto howling is particularly painful to listen to. Hearing him squawk around on the song 'Fix You' is one of the most excruciating experiences of my life. If Coldplay got rid of Chris Martin, they might be a semi-decent band. As it is, they are one of the worst of the mainstream bands, and easily one of the top-three most overrated (competing heavily with Red Hot Chili Peppers and James Blunt for first place).

However, there are three songs Coldplay has that are actually good, one of which qualifies as great. In order, they are:

1. The Scientist - unbelievable song. Did they really write this, or is it a cover? Very simple rhythm and chorus, revolving around the tonic and dominant chords. The best songs are simple rhythms carefully put together to generate emotion and meaning.
2. Yellow - yes, their breakout hit. A good song, contemplative but with lots of drive and energy, especially when performed live.
3. Everything's Not Lost - decent song, good guitar riff in the rhythm.

Yes, this means that 'Clocks' is not a good song, 'Speed of Sound' is not a good song, 'Trouble' it not a good song, etc. etc. I didn't forget any of those songs, I remember them and don't think they are any good.