Henry was a good blogger, and a good man. He was one of us.
He was a man who loved music, and biking, and as a blogger he explored the streets of Pittsburgh from the New Hazlett Theatre to Thunderbird Cafe, and on up to Brillobox. But he quit--he quit, like so many of his generation, before his time. In your wisdom you took him, oh Internet, as you took so many bright, flowering young men. These young men gave their wireless hours. And Henry, too. Henry who loved blogging (for a little while anyway).
And so, Henry Kerabatsos Kleber, we now commit your archives to the bosom of the World Wide Web.
Others have done a much better job than SITKOT of covering the Pittsburgh scene of late, so, that thou canst never once reflect, let's turn it over to them for the day:
-YEP notes that a track from their best local release of 2009--MOIP's self-titled debut*--will be featured on the new Real World tonight. (Also, tune in Thursday at 10 a.m. for Cindy's Local Year in Review show.)
- And finally, Speed of the Pittsburgh Sound has promised (but not yet delivered) a Top 20 Steel City Tracks of 2009. Keep an eye out. Hopefully this will give him the kick in the pen he needs to get that one together.
See you next year.
* I'm way late to the party, but have been really digging this album this week. Also, you might note that they're performing with GNS tomorrow at First Night.
Not much is going on this week, and I’m still feeling fat and lazy with a happy holiday behind me and another on the horizon. So why not mine the sphere for some re-bloggable content?
Tomorrow I’ll go local on yo' ass. Today, I rake through the muck of Hipster Runoff.
If you can get past his obsession with tweeny textspeak and stomach his self-aware misogynist/ racist/ classist/ pseudosatirist tone, you will occasionally be offered a gem of modern music and/or indie culture criticism ‘via’ Carles (pictured above). His end-of-decade post, fittingly titled “The Most Authentic/ Relevant/ Successful Artists of the Decade (The Best Albums/ MP3s/ Songs/ Artists/ Bands/ Humans of the Decade)” is HRO’s opus of sorts, and is very likely to crash your browser in all its bloating glory. Dare risk that click, however, some stimulating statements on the decade in music are waiting to be found among the fluff. And at the end of it all: a surprisingly reasonable (if tongue-in-cheek) defense of John Mayer as artist of the decade.
Anyhow, from that post I've mined a few thoughts (or perhaps 'feelings'?) which seemed to resonate, or at least to provoke...
Re: Fleet Foxes: "I feel like ‘indie rock’ would have been totally different if these bros had released their hit album in 2k3.5ish. Instead of so many bands trying to sound like the Arcade Fire, more bros would have grown beards and written soothing forest tunes."
Re: Grizzly Bear: "I feel like Grizzly Bear is the Most Authentic Band of the second half of the decade. Somehow, their latest album ‘charted’ at #6 on the mainstream charts. That seems pretty successful. I feel like the thing most music critics hold against Grizzly Bear is ‘not being from the first half of the decade.’"
Re: Girl Talk: "Wonder how this bro built such a solid brand for doing what the majority of all DJs do. I guess it was because he talked about ‘digital rights’ and other ‘issues’ like that. Then he had an absurd live brand that invited alternative people who just started to illegally drink on stage, which was something the world probably needed."
Re: The Shins: "'New Slang' seems very earnest, like I might cry while listening to it if it didn’t directly remind me of Garden State."
Re: Dirty Projectors: "I think bands like DP are indicative of new markets of ‘people who have listened to way too much music’ in their lifetimes. They need something that sounds s0 different that it potentially blows, but it is also possibly ‘genius.’ I sort of wish I could Teach for America, and play this in a class full of inner city minority kids, and then experience them making fun of me for listening to it. I would have had the intention of ‘making them more cultured’, but then they would give me a swift reality check, letting me know that maybe I should assimilate to their culture, and stop living in my pseudo-relevant indie dream world."
Re: Nickelback: "Understanding the power of Nickelback means understanding the power of Wal Mart Rock. No matter how ‘authentic’ you think your taste in music is, you always need to remember that you are in the minority. There are tons of poor people in rural+middle America who still buy CDs."
Re: Deathcab for Cutie: "Deathcab seems to have followed a predictable career path. They were probably better in the middle of the decade, but as they ‘got more popular’ the appeal+quality of their music continued to go down the shitter. Really want to build a time machine and listen to meaningfulcore indie before the world got all jaded/snarky/meaningless."
Re: Rob Thomas: "Worried that this bro will be around for 30+ years, generating similar songs over and over again."
Re: The Killers and K.O.L.: "I feel like the Killers and the Kings of Leon are possibly the decade’s most ’successful bands.’ Somehow, they have both transitioned into festival headliner-status bands. This must mean that their music is ‘good’/they appeal to a lot of ppl. Both bands are not afraid to write ‘massive/epic ballads’ that are meant to fill arenas/festivals. Feel like I possibly respect this existence/career path as a band more than the ‘trying 2 stay authentic’ indie band."
Re: Justin Timberlake: "The World needed Justin Timberlake to be successful. We needed him to help us forget about the boy band era. He stands for something more than his own personal evolution."
Re: Radiohead: "I don’t really feel comfortable with letting them be considered the #1 band of the decade. It seems like they sorta lucked out because their major label contract dissolved/ended, and they were able to let people ‘pay what they want’ [via the internet]. I think most music critic bros are close to the age of 30, and probably have a warped perception of Radiohead, since it was probably their ‘experimenting with drugs’ music from 1995-2005."
I expected to have a lot of trouble ranking these, and in the end I did struggle to sort through the top half of this list. Once I picked a favorite, though, the rest fell into place surprisingly easily. What it came down to is that I regularly listen to music in a few different settings: through headphones on the bus and walking around town, through somewhat crummy speakers in the car, and through a solid system at home. I’ve started to realize recently that while some albums may really strike me as amazing at times, few hold up across all moods and scenes. And over the course of the year, there was one album that never seemed to miss the moment.
1. The xx - xx
Is this minimalistic self-titled debut defensible as my #1 album of the year? I think so. I’ve probably enjoyed it more than any other across the board. Driving on a rainy night; driving on a sunny day; strolling down Strawberry Way in the snow; laying in bed; even sitting on the floor playing Super Mario Bros. 3, this album always strikes me as perfect. I keep my player in random/shuffle mode much of the time, and xx is the one album on this list whose songs I can’t recall ever skipping when one pops up. And so, though I’ve probably listened more this year to Farm, Hold Time and MPP, xx stands out as my go-to favorite.
2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
It’s not groundbreaking exactly, but its one-of-a-kind in a familiar way. Updated Beach Boys nostalgia and refined electronic dronings work perfectly to keep this one on repeat in my head every time I turn it off.
3. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
Nothing new or surprising here, and that’s just fine. Mascis in particular is at his best in 15 years or more.
4. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Probably the most unexpected success of the year in my mind. The contrast between songs like “Stillness is the Move” and “Two Doves” is startlingly beautiful and, with only 9 tracks, the execution is superb all the way through.
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
I have to admit to disappointment when I first heard “Zero” and didn’t get the fill of Nick Zinner’s raw distortion I had hoped for, and when I heard the rest of the album it took me a few listens to get over that. Eventually, though, Karen O’s convincing melodies managed to slide this album into my top 5 for the year.
If you missed the Wiyos last month, do yourself a favor and make it out for the Hot Seats tomorrow at Calliope's new venue in the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (corner or Fifth and Shady).
The beers are cheap (relatively anyway - $3), and the Hot Seats are a ragtimey, bluegrassy good time (also rumored to be very funny).
Henry was a good blogger, and a good man. He was one of us.
