Music Banter - View Single Post - Trout Mask Replica vs. The Velvet Underground & Nico
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Old 07-20-2012, 07:04 PM   #60 (permalink)
TockTockTock
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Originally Posted by Apostle View Post
When I listen to it I can't help but get the feeling that it is dissonance for dissonance's sake. Rather like a child showing off with what he can get away with.
Why exactly do you say that?

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From a total point of view I don't think there is any flow to the album, it is a series of ditties, like 1950s beatnik poetry. The music does not expand, it doesn't have a structure that allows the listener to be caught up in the journey (at least not this listener).
Actually, while the song structures do radically change in almost every track on the album, some of them continue a certain motif, such as with "Sweet Sweet Bulbs" and "When Big Joan Sets Up." However, lack of consistent or primary melodies and the fast song progressions isn't a set back for this album (in my opinion). It's one of the numerous characteristics of the music that gives Trout Mask Replica its reputation.

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It also lacks any essence of humour. If you take FZ's other projects at this time the one thing that links them is the 'joy' of the music. GTOs, Alice Cooper, and Wild Man make me smile. Normally, CB can have that effect, but not in this case. Interesting that it bombed in the US on release, but scored minor success in the UK - mainly on the back of John Peel's enthusiastic support. I often wondered how much JP was taking the piss with the records he supported. I mean, Tyrannosaurus Rex? I ask you.
I feel his weird, clever wordplay and the overall aesthetic of the music contradicts your comment about TMR's lack of humor. I mean... did you actually listen to the album?

On another note, I don't really understand how lack of humor is a negative quality... I wouldn't want albums like Son House's Father of Folk Blues, My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, or Keiji Haino's Watashi Dake to have elements of humor. It would just weaken the atmosphere that those albums try to cultivate.

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