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Beahm Pyn Crash View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Captain Beefheart Theory
    Posted: August 14 2008 at 13:54
Captain Beefheart and That Magic...

I've just only begun to listen to and make sense of Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band... and I am stuck!

My old man, loves Beefheart, but I have trouble getting into it... I guess it arguably has a steep learning curve, as at first many of his(their) songs sound like garbled noise, and could be quickly written off as such. But upon closer listing, I found there to be hidden gems in the songs such as 'Ice Cream for Crow' which was banned from MTV for being too weird!? I guess the real question is, if you admire Capt. Beefheart - cause if not, you're in the wrong place - why do his songs interest you?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 14:07
I like his music because....I like his music?  I can't really break it down any further than that.  Trout Mask Replica is my favorite, I find that later albums like Ice Cream for Crow lack that "spark" that made the earlier albums so magical because he realized that Trout Mask Replica wasn't gonna sell enough copies to make him a decent living.  

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 14:16
I think you're right, I would bet that my affinity for Ice Cream is probably based on a more commercial sound, that perhaps is easier for me to digest... Which only speaks to my conditioning, but that's (Trout) also my Dad's favorite album... It's like a "just cause" reasoning, which is great and denotes Beefheart's specificity and originalism! I guess, I'm just trying to see if I can figure out beyond that why he's so appealing...!

Edited by Beahm Pyn Crash - August 14 2008 at 14:18
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 14:19
My experience was first encountering him on Zappa's Bongo Fury, which I found interesting.  My next one was Doc At The Radar Station, which I liked but didn't make me a big fan.  Trout Mask I tried a while after that one, despite it having a devoted following, I didn't care for it and still don't.  I picked up Safe As Milk a little while ago and it's got me interested in exploring more.

Considering all the weird music I like, you'd think Trout would have been a hit with me, but somethings just don't click sometimes.


Edited by Slartibartfast - August 14 2008 at 14:38
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 14:21
As someone who usually cares little for lyrics, his nonsense rhymes appeal to me. The way the band's music is often a hideous amalgam of blues elements pleases me since the standard twelve-bar mope is decidedly not my thing.

Less intellectually I find the Magic Band's music to mostly be bloody irritating, but at times that's exactly what I like. ;P Very smooth music leaves me nonplussed and jams leave me bored - I'm more likely to become hooked by someone playing music deliberately structured to be fun and perhaps a little disagreeable.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 14:26
I tend to think of Beefheart's music as being like the musical equivalent of one of those 3D pictures that you have to look at, look at again, look at a third time, keep looking at, and suddenly - all at once, when you've pretty much given up and relaxed your effort - it snaps into focus, and you can see what's really in there.  Glance at it quickly and all you see is random dots.  But get your eye in... and every time you look at it, you'll see something different.

With the more 'difficult' stuff like TMR, there are often several things going on at once, which can be difficult to make sense of!  I'd say the best way to 'get it' is to stop trying. Wink  Leave it on whilst doing other things.  Little by little, it may well steal up on you.  It's weird, but now when I listen to those songs - the ones that sounded like mad nonsense on a first listen - they seem rather tuneful and normal... but that's ten years later. Tongue  The great thing is, it never gets boring.  I still hear new things in it (I guess once it feels a bit less odd, you can distinguish what's going more easily...).

Also, don't forget Beefheart has a sense of humour...  Taking it seriously is not required. Big%20smile

You asked 'why do his songs interest you?' - mostly because for a start, getting into Beefheart at an impressionable age set me up for lifelong musical discovery, and the willingness to give pretty much anything a fair chance.  Also because there is always something new to discover in these songs.  Lastly, his lyrics are wonderful.  If he'd never perpetrated a single note of music, he'd still be a fantastic poet!

Happy listening! Smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 14:32
Originally posted by song_of_copper song_of_copper wrote:

I tend to think of Beefheart's music as being like the musical equivalent of one of those 3D pictures that you have to look at, look at again, look at a third time, keep looking at, and suddenly - all at once, when you've pretty much given up and relaxed your effort - it snaps into focus, and you can see what's really in there.  Glance at it quickly and all you see is random dots.  But get your eye in... and every time you look at it, you'll see something different.

My sister gave me one of those many years ago.  I still have it hung on a wall, but to this day I still can't see the bird. LOL


Edited by Slartibartfast - August 14 2008 at 14:51
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 14:39
Originally posted by Slartibartfast Slartibartfast wrote:

Originally posted by song_of_copper song_of_copper wrote:

I tend to think of Beefheart's music as being like the musical equivalent of one of those 3D pictures that you have to look at, look at again, look at a third time, keep looking at, and suddenly - all at once, when you've pretty much given up and relaxed your effort - it snaps into focus, and you can see what's really in there.  Glance at it quickly and all you see is random dots.  But get your eye in... and every time you look at it, you'll see something different.

My sister gave me one of those many years ago.  I still have it hung on a wall, but to this day I still can't see the bird. LOL

Try whistling.  Maybe the bird'll show himself then.  Or throw some crumbs.  Or... look past the bird, past the present, the present is pleasant but the past's a disaster.  The bird's a pheasant. LOL
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 14:45
The picture has a parrot on either side and in the middle is supposed be the universal middle digital finger type of bird if you catch my drift.Tongue
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 15:01
...and you want to see that in 3D??!! Confused LOL  (Your sister must really love you. Wink)

Anyway, to drag myself back on topic...  Beahm Pyn Crash: I'd recommend 'Shiny Beast' to you if you've not heard it.  It's more 'eccentric' than weird and has some really excellent songs on it. Thumbs%20Up
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 15:19
I think his music provides an interesting deconstruction of rock music.  I think it challenges barriers (shatters, more like) while still maintaining an intimate understanding of hooks.  These hooks may be garbled beyond belief, but they're there.  Ella Guru, Moonlight on Vermont, and the like are all catchy as hell once you make it past the initial difficulty of them.  Moreover, I think Beefheart's music is a prime example of complete creative freedom coupled with actually good ideas, and the result is a stunning style of music.  I don't listen to it often, but I love it every time I do listen.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 15:21
This music sounds very intriguing - I'll have to give it a go one of these days.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 16:01
Originally posted by NaturalScience NaturalScience wrote:

This music sounds very intriguing - I'll have to give it a go one of these days.


You will not regret getting Trout Mask Replica.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 16:06
Originally posted by Pnoom! Pnoom! wrote:

Originally posted by NaturalScience NaturalScience wrote:

This music sounds very intriguing - I'll have to give it a go one of these days.


You will not regret getting Trout Mask Replica.


I'll start there, thanks.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 16:07
At first his/their songs didn't really have an appeal to me.  Its something that I did not give any attention.  But its their song "Electricity" that got me interested with them.  They rock! :)
The Future is Sharing Music that's why I love..
http://www.creativecommons.org
http://www.TribeofNoise.com
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 16:12
Originally posted by Pnoom! Pnoom! wrote:

Originally posted by NaturalScience NaturalScience wrote:

This music sounds very intriguing - I'll have to give it a go one of these days.


You will not regret getting Trout Mask Replica.


I wouldn't make that guarantee to anyone. 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 16:28
Originally posted by rileydog22 rileydog22 wrote:

Originally posted by Pnoom! Pnoom! wrote:

Originally posted by NaturalScience NaturalScience wrote:

This music sounds very intriguing - I'll have to give it a go one of these days.


You will not regret getting Trout Mask Replica.


I wouldn't make that guarantee to anyone. 


I think NS is the type of person who will at the very least appreciate TMR and will not regret hearing it.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 16:33
Originally posted by Pnoom! Pnoom! wrote:

Originally posted by rileydog22 rileydog22 wrote:

Originally posted by Pnoom! Pnoom! wrote:

Originally posted by NaturalScience NaturalScience wrote:

This music sounds very intriguing - I'll have to give it a go one of these days.


You will not regret getting Trout Mask Replica.


I wouldn't make that guarantee to anyone. 


I think NS is the type of person who will at the very least appreciate TMR and will not regret hearing it.


At the least I need to try the album as it's apparently a RIO/Avant "classic".
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 16:41
Originally posted by NaturalScience NaturalScience wrote:

At the least I need to try the album as it's apparently a RIO/Avant "classic".

Forewarned is forearmed with TMR.  If you know in advance that it's likely to sound odd at first, that goes a long way to preventing a full-on-fear-and-loathing reaction! Big%20smile  Definitely one that repays repeated listening.  (And now I am repeating myself, no less!  Which has less to recommend it... Embarrassed)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2008 at 16:41
It's pretty much the best "avant" album of the 1960s.
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