Latest Articles by Sarah Canice Funke
I have listened to the first half of the White Album countless times and yet hardly ever to the second half. I think this is a mistake. The problem is that by the time I finish the first half I am not really in the mood to continue on. But today I just skipped the first disc. I wanted to make an argument comparing the Beatles to the Velvet Underground* and needed a refresher listen to Lennon's collaboration with Yoko Ono, Revolution 9. And then I just kept going with the rest of the disc. I feel as if I just got myself a free bonus album.
After all, everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey...
*I am looking at the introduction of distortion within "art rock" and looking at its origins....could it be an infusion of avant-garde timbral experimentation? Or from the blues background (which values timbral complexity over "smoothness") of rock itself? Quite possibly a combination.
It is interesting to me to listen to Sgt. Pepper back-to-back with the second half of the White Album....one is so crisp and clean and "pretty" (even the psychedelia is "logical") and the other so disruptive and distorted (comparatively speaking).
Posted by funke at 9.01.07 13:46 | TrackBack | Posted to Bands | Music HistoryFunniest thing--Tim and I both got each other the White Album for Christmas. I had never listened to it (I'm a Beatles novice, but I'm learning!), and I've fallen in love with it.
I like the collage quality of the way the album is put together, the jarring dissonance in the way that the songs are set next to each other.
Posted by: Jo at 9.01.07 22:19Yeah, it's kind of cool to treat the White album like a music trivial pursuit game, because so many of the songs are parodies or references to other musicians or genres.
Posted by: funke at 9.01.07 22:36