There are plenty of passionate folks on this board who love to discuss music. In fact, I came across this exchange on a more famous band's message board a few days ago:
Poster #1 - For those who follow DBT like Wilco, The Nine Bullets board is no more. Three Dimes Down is up and running. Check it out at the link below. http://www.threedimesdown.com
Poster #2 - It's a REALLY good board.
The inspiration:
dime in the gutter wrote:speaking of pedestals....get some of those up in this bitch.
The idea: Every Monday a different member of 3DD will post a thread on an "Artist of the Week." The artist can be new, old, famous, unknown - the choice is entirely yours. What you decide to say about that artist is also completely up to you. It can be a few sentences and some pictures. It can be paragraphs and paragraphs, complete with a Powerpoint presentation. You will be responsible to get your post submitted the Monday you are assigned (by me). From there, Tequila Cowboy will make your thread a sticky for the week. Once your week has passed, the thread will be unstuck, and a new "Artist of the Week" thread will be stickied. Over the course of the week, members can feel free to comment or add to the thread. Starting today, you can PM me your artist request. Assignments will be determined on a first come, first serve basis. Hopefully, we can get a good response and get this going for at least several months.
You are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
- DPM
At a time when their contemporaries tossed off short, sharp shocks in three chords or less, Television were known for spinning out long improvised jams, intricate guitar interplay, and lyrics that verged on the poetic. Their guitar work is tremendous and their first album is a cult-fave and critics-pick classic. And if you like Neil Young, you should like Television.
Bear with me.
Though they were originally dismissed as “the Grateful Dead of punk,” they actually come closer to Crazy Horse. In fact, Tom Verlaine was the first artist of his era to credit Neil as a major influence. Check out the title track from Marquee Moon. Now go listen to “Cowgirl in the Sand.” OK, they don’t sound exactly the same, and the obvious punk vibe of Television (not to mention the use of Fenders instead of Gibsons) is a glaring contrast. But the swirling guitars, the loping rhythms, the oblique, almost hypnotic lyrics--there’s a resemblance, no? Marquee Moon is the Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere of the late '70s.
Released in 1977 to very little notice (except in the UK, where it nearly cracked the top 20), Marquee Moon is now a regular on best-of lists. If you’ve never heard it--or didn’t hear it until well after “alternative” was mainstream, you may well wonder what all the fuss is about. But hearing it for the first time, back when Rod Stewart ruled the airwaves and punk songs were fast and angry, Marquee Moon was nothing short of revelatory.
The band’s second release, Adventure, came out a year later to even less fanfare, except in Britain (natch) where it hit No. 7. (The band regrouped in 1992 for a tour and new album, which provided a few good moments, but the magic was obviously gone.)
Compared to Marquee Moon, which featured spare production that gave the songs a brittle, tense feel, Adventure sounds almost lush, with overdubbed keyboards and vocals, and even more dreamy lyricism. Although Verlaine and Richard Lloyd still engage in dueling guitar lines, the album lacks some of the nervous tension of Marquee Moon; the overall feel is farther removed from the jittery punk sound that most underground music fans wanted circa 1978. (One exception, “Foxhole,” predates Marquee Moon.) Also, the band was splintering during the sessions for Adventure and disbanded soon after its release. Many consider the album a weak followup, which is unfortunate. And wrong.
The songs and performances on Adventure are stronger, the production and recording more fully realized. And the tunes--especially “Days” and “Carried Away”--have Verlaine channeling Shakey front and center. At least that’s how it sounds to me; but I could be full of beans.
