SW Knows A Thing Or Two About Music.

Interview With Steven Wilson by PopMatters

Just came across this interview with Steven Wilson on the web. This man seriously knows what he is talking about in all areas of music. Below is a small portion of the interview.
I had a hard time picking what I wanted to paste into this blog - but this particular response really resonated with me...


"You’ve declared your love for pop music such as Donna Summer or ABBA. What do you make of the contemporary pop music landscape dominated by Lady Gaga and Katy Perry?
Pretty depressing, because it’s all generic. You can buy boxes that can make you sound like you sing in tune, even if you can’t. You can buy boxes that, at the push of a button, can give you the drum sound from a record that you like or a particular keyboard. It’s too easy, now, to sound like other people.

The epitome of that is American Idol where everyone appears to want to sound like Mariah Carey or Kelly Clarkson. That kind of style of singing has become a blueprint and so many people try to emulate that. You ask yourself how well someone like Tom Waits or Neil Young or Nick Drake would do if they went on American Idol. They would be laughed out of the audition. So we have a generation of artists coming through now believing that they should aspire to being generic. What I loved about pop music of the past—particularly artists like ABBA or The Carpenters—was that they were so unbelievably distinctive. I’m thinking back to an era where Marvin Gaye sounded nothing like Stevie Wonder, nothing like Aretha Franklin, nothing like Otis Redding. Now, even the white singers want to sound like that generic black R&B Soul voice. It’s boring."

AMEN.

Fighting the Dreaded Airplane/Travel Cold

As my trip draws ever closer, I have begun to arm myself against an old foe - the airplane germ. It is almost a given that if I am going to be on a plane, I am going to catch a cold. Well, at least it used to be a given. The past few years have been cold-free...::knocks on wood:: However, the past few years have not included a plane trip that was longer than 3 or 4 hours. This trip, I am determined to kick both airplane and travel germs asses like a ninja with my super immune system tactics.

Getting sick while traveling has got to be the WORST. I have told my sad story before, with the world's tiniest violin player sitting on my shoulder, playing as I typed out my woes...the story of how sick I was on my last full day in Rome back in 2002. How I forced myself to tour most of Rome in the morning, but just could not continue any longer by mid day. How I spent the rest of the day miserable and uncomfortable under the covers in my hotel room. No relief. No medicine. No Tylenol. No Tussin'. Not even a cough drop to soothe my fiery, swollen, sore throat from hell. I was shit out of luck because it was Easter Monday, and apparently on Easter Monday there are approximately zero stores open in Rome and the surrounding areas. (My Dad says that there should have been at least one pharmacy open...but such was my luck that day...)

But the story gets even more upsetting- The next day, even more sick than the previous day, I had to get onto a plane back to America.
FML.
It was the worst experience I have ever endured. The pressure from my sinus combined with the pressure in the airplane all but convinced me that my eyeballs were going to explode out of my head. At some point I swallowed a sip of water or something to that effect and went deaf in one ear. (which, hours and hours later whatever fluid that clogged up my ear unclogged and BURST like a gun shot going off in my eardrum...no THAT wasn't painful AT ALL) I sat in silent torture for hours on that plane. I continued to be sick and miserable for the following week before I finally got better. So the moral of this sad story - don't get sick while traveling.

The funny thing is, I have an extremely good immune system. Under normal circumstances I pretty much never get sick. I have been at my current job for about 3 years- never called out. Same with the job before that. If I do feel a little under the weather, my body usually fights it off within hours. My Dad is the same way, just  Never. Gets Sick.
It's just that the thought of how ill and miserable I was on that last day in Rome, and my not so great track record of airplane colds has, I guess, traumatized me into taking extreme precautions before any trip - especially a trip to Europe that requires long hours on planes/trains/busses and what have you.

So, starting a few days ago I began loading up on as much vitamin C as humanly possible. I am trying to consume lots of any vitamins, really. The more the better, right? I want to make my body an extremely hostile environment for any potential virus. I have also been taking allergy medicine- just in case. Lastly, I purchased a personal air purifier that does not emit ozone. Unfortunately I can not use the air purifier on the plane - which would really come in handy. But I can use it on the bus rides from country to country, and I am CONVINCED that is what caused me to get so sick all those years ago in Italy.

I am determined to conquer the wily and formidable enemy that is the airplane/travel cold. You will not get the better of me this time! ::shakes fist at sky::

The Soundtrack to a Trip

It is said that of the five senses, smell is the sense that triggers a person's memory the most. I do not believe that is true for me. For me, it is sound - music. I can tell you what year and exactly what I was doing/feeling simply from hearing a song. I can get a mental image, a clear and concise flash of the moment I was in.  As far back as my memory takes me - there is music there to trigger it.

When I am in the car, pretty much anytime I turn Sirius to "90's on 9" I have a blast. Every song that comes on evokes a different memory for me - school dances, jr high, summertime, crushes, high school, friends...it's like hopping into a time machine, I love the nostalgia.

By far the most vivid music based  memories I have are related to major trips that I have taken. My first trip to Italy and Sicily when I was 12 was dominated by Guns n' Roses. "The Spaghetti Incident" had just come out and I remember going to a record store just outside of the Trevi Fountain to purchase it. There was also Nirvana, who was in Rome promoting their last studio album "In Utero."

My next trip to Italy and Sicily when I was 14 was mostly a soundtrack of The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's to be exact. With a little Sam Black Church and Tree mixed in here and there (random, I know). There was also an Italian club mix that reminds me of hanging out with my cousins down by the beach - "The Summer is Crazy"  and the hilarious Italian rap song "Tranqi Funky."

My last trip to Italy was mostly a Tori Amos soundtrack - " To Venus and Back". Listening to any song off  that album immediately reminds me of rolling Italian country side as seen from my window on the tour bus.

Las Vegas reminds me of TOOL. Mexico reminds me of a different Tori Amos album - "From the Choirgirl Hotel." And my very first trip to Key West reminds me of Pink Floyd, especially "Us and Them."

So, as you can see, the soundtrack to a trip is very important (for me, anyway). With that in mind, I have been planning what music I want to listen to on this upcoming voyage. I know there will be various Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree, since I have been infatuated with Steven Wilson and his music for a while now. I know there will be Pink Floyd, Beatles and TOOL.
I have been thinking of what other music will make the cut for this trip, but haven't completely decided on any other artists, yet.

I can't wait to add some musical memories on my fourth trip to Europe!