Amoeblog

Classical schmassical.

Let's get our periods!
musician

Not all classical music is classical music. Classical music, in its true sense, conforms to a particular style and time period – not an exact time, but roughly from 1750 to 1825. Even so, much of what we casually call “classical music” was written before and after that chunk o’ time. So what gives?

Think of it this way: We call a lot of music “rock music” even when it doesn’t conform to the chord progressions and beats of rock & roll. There’s a huge difference between Ike Turner’s "Rocket 88" and The Cardigans’ "Lovefool," yet they both get played on so-called rock music stations.




So, classical music can either refer to the above mentioned period of Western music, or it can be a generic, blanket term for all that stuff you hear on the classical music station, or find when shopping the Classical Music Section at Amoeba Music.

The reason it’s good to know a little about the periods and sub-genres of classical music is it will help you find what you like. For instance, I’m a huge fan of what’s known as the Impressionist style of classical music, so if I find an album of some composer I’ve never heard of – like say, Sir Pooppants McNaughtybits – and he’s described as an Impressionist, there’s a very good chance that I will enjoy his music. In addition, if I see that the compositions on the album are concertos for clarinet (an instrument I love), I know it’s highly likely I’ll love it. (You know what a concerto is because you read my last blog entry.)

Posted by Job O Brother on November 16, 2009 at 04:38pm | Comments (1)

Classical Music Sale: I. Allegro non troppo

How to shop for classical music without feeling like a stupid poopy jerkface.
guitar
You... shook me aaaallll night long!

Far more people want to shop the Classical Music section than do. This is because many customers, while having heard classical music and enjoyed it, do not know how to differentiate one album from another. No one wants to look like an ignorant buffoon (except your best friend in 7th grade who you’ve long since lost contact with anyhow), so the idea of browsing aisles of classical music without knowing the difference between a chamber piece or a chamber pot (which is a good thing to know, FYI) is enough to send you scurrying back to the latest post-punk, freak-folk, R&B roots-influenced release from [insert hot young band here].

Well, my fragile little reader, relax. I am here to help. I’m going to teach you some basics – enough to allow you to shop without feeling like you’re Sissy Spacek in the opening shower scene of Carrie.

sissy spacek
"I don't know what counterpoint means!!!"

Incidentally, if you’re already educated in classical music, this blog entry isn’t for you. This is for the layman, the curious, the uninitiated. I’m going to be simplifying things and skipping stuff. My main goal is to get people started, and I don’t need you freaking them out with long-winded diatribes about how Stokowski’s transcriptions of Mussorgsky’s works are a bastardization that perverts their core, ethnic vitality in lieu of Westernized concepts of melodic accessibility. [And here’s where I snap my fingers and weave my head back ‘n’ forth like Jackée on 227.]

Posted by Job O Brother on November 8, 2009 at 03:12pm | Post a Comment

Classical Music Sale: Overture

clevage
It's the, uh, instrument they're focused on. Yeah.

New Amoeba Music customers sometimes ask if/when we have any sales. My patent answer is usually something along the lines of:

“Not officially, because we’re constantly lowering prices on our entire selection.”

…Unless, of course, the customer is holding a ferret and that ferret is looking like he might wanna sneak into my ear-hole and munch my juicy brains, in which case I will modify my answer to:

“Not officially, because we’re constantly calling the police to report illegal pets such as ferrets.”

This may seem like a very niche circumstance to you, dear reader. All I can say is that, until you work at a record store for over eight years like me, you shouldn’t assume the regularity of near-lethal ferret activity. Especially if you’re working the folk music section.
cute
They mostly eat the eyes of our innocent young.

The above being mostly factual, it is something of a special event that Amoeba Music Hollywood has announced an upcoming sale.

November 14 and 15 (or, if you’re British: 14 and 15 November) we will be hosting our first ever Classical Music Sale. All music (tapes, CD's, vinyl, 8-track, etc.) from our Classical Music section will be 20% off for these two days only. What is perhaps most exciting (or dangerous, depending on how much of your rent check you end up spending) is that this sale will include wall-items.

Posted by Job O Brother on November 2, 2009 at 08:28pm | Post a Comment

(In which Job interviews Neal Morgan...)

(...from the group Neal Morgan.)
Due to some unfortunate miscommunications between the staff here at the Amoeblog, two of us ended up interviewing the same musician, Neal Morgan, about his solo debut.

Fortunately, the interviews are vastly different, due to my professional and honed skill as a journalist devoted to hard-hitting storytelling and dedication to factual analysis, and the other interviewer, Miss Ess, who prefers a more “whimsical” and, shall we say, lying-er approach to writing.

You can read this other "interview" by clicking on this link right here.

Due to his tight schedule of touring and promoting the new album,
To The Breathing World, Neal was under the weather and frequently distracted during the following interview, which resulted in many of his answers being garbled and unintelligible. (Confidentially, I think alcohol may have been a contributing factor to this. That’ll teach me to get drunk before an interview!) I therefore had to rely on memory and occasional paraphrasing in transcribing the following Q & A. Even so, I was able to capture the spirit of our conversation, from Neal's obsession with "crushing" to the revelation of his suicidal fantasies. Read on…

neal morgan
Neal Morgan before the plastic surgery

How did you pick up playing the drums? What is it that drew you to them so strongly - so much so that any other attempts to follow other dreams were crushed?


Posted by Job O Brother on October 20, 2009 at 02:22pm | Post a Comment

WALRUS DAY 2009!

Hey, Earth!
HAPPY WALRUS DAY!!!


Posted by Job O Brother on October 8, 2009 at 09:06am | Post a Comment
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