I know nothing about the history of hip hop but I particularly know nothing about the early history of hip hop, from when it emerged (early 1970s???) to when it began to be a commercial force. But everything I read paints this as a seminal moment in hip hop, the beginning of the “new school” …
Category: 1984
The Splendour of Fear (1984) by Felt
The first track made me think I was listening to some kind of proto math rock thing, only coming at it from a different direction. That idea disappears pretty early into the second track, but the thought was interesting.
The Smiths (1984)
The British music critic establishment and whomever else greeted this band as saviours must have been so desperate for guitars to greet this band – this jangle pop music – as the thing to deliver them from synthesizers, instead of something louder or more interesting (or both). The Smiths are one of those mystifying bands …
Footloose Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1984)
I don’t review soundtracks normally for at least two reasons: normally they are not entirely composed of original music and they are not culturally significant enough – i.e. some kids probably bought it but the rest of us likely ignored it. But this one, well it is composed of original music, to the best of …
1984 by Van Halen
I know when I listened to Van Halen’s debut album – I think the only album of theirs I’ve actually listened to all the way through before this one – I was thinking it lacked one thing: synthesizers. The decision to add a cheesy ’80s synth to a sound that was already pretty fucking dumb …
Learning to Crawl (1984) by Pretenders
I never liked Chrissie Hynde. I don’t know why I didn’t like her when I was young – maybe I just didn’t have an opinion and don’t remember – but I know why I didn’t like her as an adult: I watched her and Morrissey shit on prog rock in New York Doll while I …
Defenders of the Faith (1984) by Judas Priest
I can’t say I loved Screaming for Vengeance. It felt pretty commercial to me – a little too concerned with selling records and not enough with Metal!!
Elgar: Violin Concerto; Introduction and Allegro (1984, 2006)
This disc is a reissue of a famous performance of the Elgar violin concerto with his Introduction and Allegro, presumably recorded at the same time. (I say presumably because it was not on the initial LP and I am listening to it from the library’s stream, and so I don’t have the liner notes to confirm …
Mauricio Kagel (2003) by Alexandre Tharaud
This collection is a little confusing in part because of the confusing nature of Rrrrrrr…, which can apparently be performed independently. The disc appears to be a compilation of his piano-based music. Calling “piano music” would be a misnomer, as there are lots of other instruments on a number of the pieces.
Solomon (1984, 2006) by Georg Friedrich Handel, performed by Watkinson, Argenta, Hendricks, Rolfe Johnson, Montverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
This is a pretty magnificent oratorio that might best be described by the word sumptuous. Though only a small part of it was semi-familiar to me before hearing it, I think this is probably the greatest thing of Handel’s I have encountered to date. It certainly feels much more musically complex than most of his …
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984 Rob Epstein)
So unfortunately the filmmakers made a strange – but perhaps understandable – decision when telling Milk’s story: they assumed they were speaking to a very particular audience. This assumption led to another: that therefore everybody knows everything they need to know about the backstory already.