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"I don't think that understanding what our beliefs are is important. What is important is that we get our audiences thinking about things for themselves." -- Adam |
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"I don't think that understanding what our beliefs are is important. What is important is that we get our audiences thinking about things for themselves." -- Adam |
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Column: off the record..., vol. 10-397
@U2,
February 14, 2010
Ahh, relief comes in different forms. It's finally stopped snowing in these parts (for now), and for those of you still digging out, I found Achtung Baby to be especially helpful in getting my car out and moving again. Also, U2 news this week has been decidedly better than the last time I occupied this space. Dallas Schoo and Willie Williams picked up a couple of much-deserved awards and in news of the weird, the ever-elusive Larry Mullen Jr. will be appearing as the voice of several cartoon characters later this year. Larry's no stranger to comedy, and although he didn't speak, he was 'tooned along with the rest of the band when they appeared on The Simpsons. We don't often see Larry's funny side, so I'm looking forward to his 2D performances. I've been following the making of the movie Killing Bono, based on Neil McCormick's book of the same name (or, I Was Bono's Doppelganger, for readers outside the U.S.). For those of you who don't know the story, Neil went to Mount Temple High School with a certain group of kids who went on to become U2. Neil and his brother also tried to make it in the music world, but their story had a different ending. I'm fascinated by the whole endeavor because I really enjoyed the book, but also, the movie is set in the early '80s, when I was a teenager. The pictures of extras dressed in '80s garb are especially hilarious to me, even though I think they don't have it quite right. I'm sorry to say that I don't remember Neil's band, but not because it wasn't worth remembering. News from London came to us in magazines you could only find in record or comic book stores, so it was easy to miss a lot of what was going on, even for hard-core music fans. There were one or two college stations that played new music, but otherwise, we relied on MTV. At least they were still playing music back then. My high school offered its first computer class when I was a senior, and it consisted of learning how to write code to punch some holes into a card. Things have changed so drastically since then, even us old folks tend to forget that we didn't have Internet or mobile phones, or any hand-held devices other than one football game that had four buttons, and the "players" were represented by tiny dashes. Now of course, you can hear a snippet of a song in a coffee shop and find it immediately on the Internet just by holding your phone up to the source. If someone had told me when I was 17 that this would be possible in the future, I never would have believed it. Do I miss the old days? No way! In my last column, I talked about the future of the music business, and I've been keeping tabs on it via this blog. There's an interesting read on Warner Music that talks about pretty much every aspect of the industry (Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger, ISPs, 360 deals) and this column about rights and the future of music distribution. I don't always agree with the conclusions that are drawn, but I'm glad to have found a fairly knowledgeable source to get information. The 2010 Winter Olympics started this weekend with sad news of the passing of 21-year-old Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili. It broke my heart to see the long faces of his colleagues as they walked into the stadium during the Opening Ceremonies, which should have been a thrilling, joyful moment for them. Let's hope it's the last of the bad news for these games. My heart goes out to the grieving family and all the athletes of Georgia. The song "Breathe" from No Line on the Horizon has been my favorite from that album since it came out last year. I love the defiance and attitude it conveys, as well as the percussive quality of the verses. Coincidentally, Pearl Jam released a song called "Just Breathe" from their 2009 album Backspacer, which I also love. It's opposite in tone and pacing from U2's song, but it's just as affecting. This is a lovely rendition. And finally, for all you Valentines out there, my vote for most peculiar but strangely beautiful love song, done by some of my favorite artists and featuring the original guitarist. Until next time... (c) @U2/Maione, 2010.
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