[ePub] Dust Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting by Eilon Paz at Arts-Photography

Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. V-dubs and value-signalingBy John C."...[I] told my classmates Id see them later. I thought if I said; Goodbye; it meant everyone I knew was going to die."If youre wondering what that bit of introspection has to do with Pink Moon; youre in good company. I dont often take the time to write reviews; but I feel the need to warn folks; especially those whove enjoyed other books in the 33â…“ series; against this one.The entire first chapter (there are 6) is a contrived; semi-colonndash;laden essay about how the author happened to be listening to Pink Moon while she was commuting to NYC; tired from studying liberal arts; andmdash;wait for itmdash;breathing the 9/11 dust. Is there a Godwins Law for using 9/11 to lend weight to an essay?Indie stars like Lou Barlow and M. Ward pick up where she left off; talking about why they like the album; or where they first heard it. That seemed like it could be at least interesting; but mostly wasnt; even the musicians are too busy name-dropping to say anything real about the music itself.The next largest portion is devoted to You-Know-What; with half-page quotations from just about everyone who had anything to do with it; and some seriously extended speculation on whether TV commercials are art; and what it means to sell out. At one point I mouthed; "please dont mention Moby;" but my wish was not granted.To be fair; there are a few; (literally a few) pages discussing about the recording of the album; and another few devoted to the life of the man who made it. A couple pages attempt to analyze the music itself (which is what I thought most of the book would be about); but the author seemed to have picked up some facts about Drakes guitar playing; like the non-standard tunings; and then dumped them on the page and hustled back to the familiar waters of fetishizing Belle and Sebastian.In short; most of this book is scenester virtue signaling; and most of what isnt consists of musings on art by someone who has it confused with fashion.The *one* concrete claim that this book makes about the music is that perhaps its not as deep as we want it to be; that perhaps Drakes alleged suicide lent a later weight to the sessions that wasnt actually there. To Petrusichs credit; having slogged through page after page about kids in a Cabrio who were going to go to a party (but didnt! whoa!); I became increasingly convinced that she was rightmdash;if only because the best explanation for this book is that Nick Drakes music didnt warrant a better one.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Historical; brief; jumps aroundBy SurferofromanticaSomebody had to do it - write a book about Nick Drakes "Pink Moon." Of course; with Drake dead for 35 years and nearly no information about him - no film footage of him exists; no live performance material; and barely any interviews - this is a hard book to write; never mind; though; this is a book from the 33 1/3 series of music geek pamphlets published by Continuum. This book is 118 sparse pages long; and divided into six chapters - named; of course; for the six first lines of the songs lyrics - that are divided by one-page musings on Pink Moon by other musicians where they recount when they first heard Drake and what they thought about the music at the time; and how theyve felt about it since. Seems that even famous musicians like Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets first heard Drake after the VW ad that featured the title song (which; apparently; is called "Milky Way").The first chapter; "I saw it written" briefly recounts; over nine pages; the death of Nick Drake; before going into a bit about the recording; and then also into a bit about how author [...] Amanda Petrusich came to discover the music - and obsess over it; listening to it continuously on a Discman during her commute into New York City to attend classes at Columbia in 2001. "And I Saw It Say" is a short chapter of only four pages about Drakes drug use (both recreational and prescribed); and his depression. "A Pink Moon Is On Its Way" is 14 pages about Drakes childhood; tracing his birth in Rangoon to his countryside upbringing in Far Leys; and then his schooling; as he moved from being a lighthearted kid to a moody musician. There are descriptions of his recording of "Five Leaves Left" (which; apparently; comes from the message youd see in a deck of rolling papers when only five pieces remain; which the author likens to the equivalent of calling your first album "tastes great; less filling" today); which included a bit of session work by Richard Thompson; and "Bryter Layer"; which called in the talents of John Cale; then working with Drakes manager John Boyd on Nicos "Desertshore" (I wonder how Drake and Nico would have gotten along - no evidence that they ever met; though). Cale; it seems; also introduced Drake to heroin. "None of You Stand So Tall" talks; over 24 pages of text; all about the "Pink Moon" sessions; and Drakes low point in life when he wondered if anyone would ever listen to his songs; his management and his record company; at least; kept faith with him; and there was money to record this classic album (as well as four more songs after "Pink Moon" was done). Drakes life; however; was deteriorating; and he was constantly stoned and barely coherent. Petrusich has this to say early in the chapter:All over the song; Drakes pronunciation is distorted and imprecise; and if he was having trouble speaking during the sessions its cringingly obvious here: Drake tries his best to choke out the records opening couplet (ostensibly; the lyric is "I saw it written / And I saw it say;" although it ends up sounding an awful lot like "Zoy written on a zoysay"); but he cant seem to get his mouth to squeeze out the proper syllables in the proper order. The line is mumbled; incomplete; slurred.I always thought that he was saying "Zoy written on a zoysay".Petrusich goes through the songs one by one; marveling at their spareness and the guitar virtuosity. Apparently; musicians all over the world attempt to re-engineer his tunings and fingerpickings and cant quite do it. The songs are too hard to reconstruct. How this guy dreamed them out of the aether in the first place; while in the lowest of spirits and smoking crippling amounts of cannabis; is quite bewildering; if not miraculous. Theres a description of the photo shoot for the cover; which was never used - Drake; who is pictured on the cover of his first two albums; was practically comatose by that time; and didnt really cooperate with the photographer - and the record company goes with the weird piece of art that is finally used. There is also the interesting bit of zeitgeist; talking about the political mood (Bloody Sunday); and the state of rock at the time (Led Zeppelin refused entry to Singapore to play a concert for looking too scruffy). It also obsesses with the re-issue and the rediscovery of Drakes music a process that will not be complete until "Milky Way" comes out in November; 2000. " "Pink Moon Gonna Get You All"; the longest chapter in the book at 35 pages; is devoted entirely to that commercial; its creation; moral issues around using a Nick Drake song to sell lifestyle; and its impact.The "Milky Way" chapter is the best-researched of the chapters; and actually reads like it was written for another publication and popped in here for convenience; the other chapters written around this one as its core. It talks about the creative forces behind the VW ad; how Drakes estate approved it; and the reaction of fans to the use of the song in a TV commercial; it also talks about the trend of using songs in commercials; starting with the arrogant mis-use of the Beatles "Revolution" in a Nike ad; to the new realities that many musicians now have their make-or-break based on a successful TV commercial. Weird. The conclusion of the chapter; or the way that it is written; is that Drake himself may have been happy with the ad; since it has finally given him what he was so achingly denied during his short recording career - popular recognition. The final chapter; "Its a Pink; Pink; Pink; Pink; Pink Moon" is a three-page add-on that starts off ponderously quoting Sophocles; but doesnt say anything at all.But despite the success of the Nick Drake resurgence that came with the ad; its hardly deniable that no one will ever be able to say that theyve discovered Nick Drakes music entirely on their own - the way it used to be. Personally; I first heard about Drake from a fellow-guest at a wedding I went to in India in late 1999. She was not very musically knowledgeable; and when she mentioned Nick Drake I questioned whether she was talking about Nick Cave; ha ha; musically knowledgeable or not; she had one on me - Id never heard of Nick Cave up to that point. Later in the new year; a package arrived with a tape of Nick Drake songs; and Ive been hooked ever since. Every now and then Ill turn a seemingly musically-knowledgeable person on to Nick Drake. Amazingly; and despite "Milky Way"; there are still people out there who have never listened to him.Kirkwoods brief piece on Nick Drake; by the way; is garbage. Why bother to include a piece of peripheral writing just because the author is a recognizable name?0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Beautifully written; well researched look at Nick Drakes album ...By mad dogBeautifully written; well researched look at Nick Drakes album Pink Moon. Fans of the album; his music; or this series of books will love this. Amanda Petrusich writes from the heart on this one and was a perfect choice for this installment of the series. I could not put it down once I started reading it. The inclusion of other musicians/industry figures takes on the album is clever and insightful as well.