SCOTTS HIDDEN TREASURES #44 - Songs for Tortured Intellectuals

Were back with a vengeance, albeit an Artsy one! Finally a playlist suitable for all Tortured Intellectuals...

Art Rock is the focus this week. Let’s be clear, this is not a "progressive" style of music, Art Rock has to be different than progressive though both could be considered Artsy. Art Rock is characterized by multi-instruments, and incorporates elements of art such as ... classical pieces, literature, or conceptual themes (eclectism). For the most part there is some complexity in the music but not always as we will see. Sometimes it’s a persona that gets satisfied.

Any way you look at it Art Rock can be pretty cool if not a little left of center. But isn’t that why most of us keep hanging around this site?

And away we go!

Playlist Vitals...

10 Songs
42 minutes 21 seconds
Link: http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/ac834c51a19184099a7600784a573793

TITLE: May Be A Price To Pay
BAND: The Alan Parsons Project
ALBUM: Turn of a Friendly Card
YEAR: 1980
LENGTH: 5:01
Parsons always seems to pick cool topics to base his work around. One of the best was a decision to produce Edgar Allan Poe's work to music. An awesome album! This one is just as cool to me, it’s themed around gambling and a man who walks into a Casino and loses it all. Parsons always weaves a very classical feel into his work. Often described as Progressive, that’s simply not the way I see and hear them anymore. I see them as very centered on classical influenced by progressive bands like Pink Floyd, but with dramatic themes. Because of the latter I think of Parsons work as more in the Art Rock category.

TITLE: Turn To Stone
BAND: Electric Light Orchestra
ALBUM: Out Of The Blue
YEAR: 1977
LENGTH: 3:47
ELO made no bones about what they tried to be. A Rock band with loads of classical elements. What’s kind of cool is that they took the old classical style and then went about creating a futuristic image for themselves. What other band comes to mind when you think of UFO's and cellos? I pick this track because this album sums up the way I think of them. Rock and Roll Overtures, Rock and Roll Concertos all performed on a futuristic UFO stage. Side 3 of the vinyl contains a four track musical suite based on the weather and how it affects mood change, ending gloriously with the eventual sunshine and happiness of "Mr. Blue Sky". Can’t get any more Artsy than that!

TITLE: Good Morning Judge
BAND: 10cc
ALBUM: Deceptive Bends
YEAR: 1977
LENGTH: 2:56
10cc is a personification of an "Art Rock Band". Half of the band was pop song writers and the other half wrote with art school sensibility. So what you get is a fusion of Experimental music sometimes with comedic flare but mostly cinematically inspired. So what happens when the cinematic pieces leave the band? You get Deceptive Bends one of the best albums of the 70's. A fun listen.

TITLE: When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around
BAND: The Police
ALBUM: Zenyatta Mondatta
YEAR: 1980
LENGTH: 3:36
I took the plunge and found something about this band that I really liked, and it’s this album (sans that Do Do Do Da Da Da song). I picked it up for 5 bucks remastered at a recent grocery shopping trip to Wal-Mart and found a winner! So what makes this band Artsy? Well, when you join New Wave, Jazz and Reggae you get a fusion of style that’s unique and that sets it apart from everything else, making it a form of musical art.

TITLE: Only The Young Die Good
BAND: Tony Carey
ALBUM: Anthology
YEAR: 2008
LENGTH: 4:45
Tony Carey has played in some cool bands, namely Rainbow, but also the progressive rock unit named Planet P. He often themes his releases around elaborate stories. (See Jon's fine LAOTW, Planet P's Pink World) A multi-instrumentalist who writes and performs most of his stuff, he also is a highly sought after producer and film and soundtrack composer. As of late, Tony Carey was diagnosed with a particularly virulent form of cancer in March 2009. He spent twelve weeks in the hospital underwent five surgeries, and although his odds of survival were only 10 percent, he beat the odds. A quote from Tony Carey: "I'm missing some of my organs; you'll be relieved to hear that the Hammond isn't one of them."

TITLE: Selling The Drama
BAND: Live
ALBUM: Throwing Copper
YEAR: 1994
LENGTH: 3:26
Produced by Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads, that’s a pretty artsy start. The band is heavily influenced by Middle Eastern religion and culture, or at the time they were. Some lyrics written by Kowalczyk were inspired by Indian philosopher and writer Jiddu Krishnamurti, whoever that is... They later used Hindu influences in their music as well.

TITLE: Elected
BAND: Alice Cooper
ALBUM: Billion Dollar Babies
YEAR: 1973
LENGTH: 3:42
Cooper says "The whole idea behind the Billion Dollar Babies album was exploiting the idea that people do have sick perversions." And so it’s heavily reflected in his stage show. The entire persona, music, and stage act is all tied up into one nice horror show. And isn’t that art too?

TITLE: The Interview
BAND: Saga
ALBUM: Worlds Apart
YEAR: 1981
LENGTH: 3:52
While mostly considered a progressive band, the album Worlds Apart was more radio friendly and finally completed an 8 part song. "No Regrets (Chapter 5)," and "No Stranger (Chapter 8)," were the last two parts of the series of eight (but later sixteen) that Saga included within their first four albums called "The Chapters," which told the story of a young Albert Einstein. The release of these two chapters completed the original set of eight. Their varying styles on album to album make the band unpredictable, but you always know you’re getting high quality music and storylines with them.

TITLE: You Don’t Fool Me
BAND: Queen
ALBUM: Made In Heaven
YEAR: 1995
LENGTH: 5:24
Queen's musical style became something of a trademark to incorporate more diverse and innovations into their music, exploring the likes of vaudeville, gospel music, electronic music and funk. In early 1991, months before his AIDS-related death, vocalist Freddie Mercury recorded as many vocals as he could, with the instruction to the rest of the band to complete the songs later. Put to tape during this time were primarily "A Winter's Tale", "Mother Love" and what would eventually become "You Don't Fool Me" (which is why it’s the choice here). This is the first encore of this week’s playlist...

TITLE: Love, Reign O'er Me
BAND: The Who
ALBUM: Quadrophenia
YEAR: 1973
LENGTH: 5:48
"The Rock/Love, Reign O'er Me" – Jimmy steals a boat and takes it to a rock in the middle of the sea. Here, when he comes down off his high, he finds the boat has drifted away and that he is now stranded, alone and forgotten. As a storm rages around him, Jimmy has an epiphany. After all the different people he has been, he finally knows for sure who he is: himself'.' WOW! The album/film/opera/soundtracks name is a variation on the medical diagnostic term schizophrenia as a dissociative identity disorder to reflect the four distinct personalities of Jimmy, the opera's protagonist - each said to represent the personality of one member of The Who. Clearly this one has art written all over it! I like it because it’s real good.

So there you have it, a little culture for us bottom feeders, and that never hurt anybody.

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Permalink Reply by Jon on May 10, 2011 at 5:26pm

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