“Anyone Who’s Anyone” by Fleet Foxes, Friday, February 18, 2022
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Before they recorded their breakthrough EP, Sun Giantor their self-titled album that was so loved by Rolling Stonethat it was included in their book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, the folk-rock band Fleet Foxes released their debut eponymous EP in 2006. The Seattle-based band appeared on the music scene around the time when mellow music started flooding Alternative music, which had been dominated by hard rock-leaning acts since Nirvana crashed onto the scene. But along with British folk-rockers Mumford & Sons changing the focus from power chords on electric guitars to acoustic guitars and folk instruments, the template was set for a very different, post-rock scene.
Fleet Foxes used Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Netherlandish Proverbs for their self-titled album cover.
I’M JUST A LITTLE MIRAGE. The YouTube channel Polyphonic released a video in September 2021 called "A Love Letter to Pop Punk." The video reminded me of all of the colliding styles in the early '00s, especially the different flavors of rock. The argument of the video is that indie rock seems to be most remembered fondly by the critics, whereas the pop punk is often overlooked. Of course, most of my blog is about pop punk nostalgia, so today we're going to dive into the pretentious indie side. I certainly blasted my share of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army." I loved Franz Ferdinand's first album, and could tolerate Modest Mouse's lead singer for a couple of songs. I loved The Shins for a couple of albums. But then there was Fleet Foxes, a band that sounded unlike anything in the indie rock roster. First of all, their artwork of their first album, a painting by Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Netherlandish Proverbs, the scene depicting a medieval fiefdom occupied by the townspeople acting out proverbs. The sounds of the guitars and the harmonies of the Fleet Fox singers reminded me of Renaissance troubadours. The music is beautiful and complex, but much too mellow to listen to on the drive home from college.
IT’S SO MUCH BETTER IN THE SUNLIGHT. "Anyone Who's Anyone" sounds more like The Shins than Fleet Foxes, with the upbeat guitar and driving beat. It also reminds of Franz Ferdinand's "Jaqueline," the opening track on their debut album. It makes sense that the band was formed after frontman Robin Pecknold and guitarist/mandolinist Skyler Skjelset discovered their mutual love of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Although the direction the band took with tracks like "Mykonos," "White Winter Hymnal," and "Blue Ridge Mountains," sounds different from "Anyone Who's Anyone," though it does sound similar to "He Doesn't Know Why." Lyrically, too, "Anyone Who's Anyone" sounds like a hipster pop song, mentioning the names of several people, making Fleet Foxes sound oddly--dare I say refreshingly-- contemporary. In the middle of a hectic Friday, it was nice to be reminded of Fleet Foxes. While "Anyone Who's Anyone" wasn't one of the songs I listened to much back in college, revisiting the other songs in the band's box set of their first album, first two EPs, and rarities/b-sides was just the calming walk down memory lane I needed. And who knows, when I might also want to explore the 1000 other albums that I'm supposed to listen to before I die. Maybe I'll blog about it if I ever get a death wish.
On folklore , Taylor Swif t’s essential fall album, the singer delves into the craft of storytelling. While many of Swift’s songs tell stories, until her eighth studio album, most of those stories were about herself. Tales about “ betty ,” James, and Augustine could be a metaphor for the singer but it was quite refreshing to hear about other people in towns created by the singer. With Swift returning to making anthemic pop hits, the lowkey double album cycle has come and gone. “ The Last American Dynasty ” is a song on folklore in which Swift tells the story about the previous owner of her house. The song tells the story of the wealthy widow to the heir of the Standard Oil fortune, Rebecca “Betty” Harkness. It’s a kind of country song, romanticizing its subject and drawing parallels between Harkness and Swift, setting them up as outsiders unable to fit into the social classes they happened to belong to. THERE GOES THE MADDEST WOMAN THIS TOWN HAS EVER SEEN. Taylor Swift has b...
This July, as many American have celebrated Independence Day, I think it's important to look at different versions of the American Dream. Lana Del Rey 's 2012 record Born to Die examines " the dark side of the American dream " at times. While America is starting look more like it's Puritanical heritage with a little too much Flannery O'Connor and Homer Simpson pseudo-religiosity, the Northeastern secular world that Del Rey paints on her debut album seems like a world apart from a neo-conservatism. Del Rey's America is the America of Hollywood. It's New Yorkers who vacation Upstate in the summer and attend cocktail parties on the weekend. If they go to church, it's infrequent and not an evangelical version of Christianity. It's the America of the Jazz Age and the fifties. ALL MY FRIENDS TELL ME I SHOULD MOVE ON. But it's also the America of Mad Men. Del Rey has been criticized for sometime avowing an opposition to feminism. In 2014, the ...
Last year, I listened to a podcast introducing artists who sound similar to another artist to help lesser-known artists expand their fan bases just to hear some takes that the commentators had to say about another artist I was preparing to post about. I didn't actually end up writing about that artist, but I inadvertently discovered a few new artists to add to my AppleMusic library, one of which was Filipina-British singer-songwriter Beatrice Kristi Ilejay Laus , better known by her stage name beabadoobee . BUILDINGS AND RUST. With over 17 million monthly listeners on Spotify, bedroom pop singer beabadoobee opened for Taylor Swift last year on a leg of the Eras Tour. Laus is just one of many artists that Swift was probably introduced to through a rumored ex, The 1975 ’s Matty Healy . Born in Iloilo City in 2000 and relocating to London with her family at the age of three, Laus was influenced by indie rock from an early age. At the ag...
Comments
Post a Comment