Posts Tagged ‘NPR’

NPR streams The Monsanto Years: “Taut” and “snarly”

NPR writer Tom Moon seems to like Neil Young’s latest release: “The Monsanto Years.” NPR is streaming the album on its website at:

http://www.npr.org/2015/06/21/415234582/first-listen-neil-young-promise-of-the-real-the-monsanto-years

We’ve heard enough about it for months now. The album will be officially released June 30.

Moon writes:

“Having written some of the rock era’s most tender odes to love and devotion, Young, now 69, might well be a little conflicted. He understands how love can be an escape; he appreciates the notion of the love song as a salve for the soul. But he’s a chronicler of his times, and there’s so much going on in the world, from the erosion of basic freedoms to the erosion of the soil, and he feels a responsibility to sound the alarm. The title line is repeated often, in unwaveringly consonant ’60s-Coke-commercial vocal harmonies — a contrast to the acidic voice Young uses to inventory the many unpleasant realities that have riled him up.”

He calls the song: “People Want To Hear About Love”  the most artful moment on The Monsanto Years, Young’s 36th studio album as a solo artist. “Taut” is his word for it, and Young is describes as “Snarly.”

“Here, we have a series of taut and stone-simple Neil Young songs that fit together under a catchall concept (about companies wielding extraordinary influence over many aspects of our quality of life), each powered by its own supply of righteous fury. Enjoyment of it probably depends less on whether you agree with Young’s positions than on how much tolerance you have for a mantra, repeated frequently, using the three syllables that make up the trade name Monsanto. It also helps to like your harangues set to three-chord rock and expressed through triadic melodies. This is not subtle, Harvest Moon Neil, brooding at the piano. This is ornery, snarly Neil. Give him a megaphone and a transcript of these lyrics, put him on a street corner and watch what happens.”

Decide for yourself.

Read more, and listen here:

http://www.npr.org/2015/06/21/415234582/first-listen-neil-young-promise-of-the-real-the-monsanto-years

Tags: NPR, The Monsanto Years
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Neil interview at SXSW

Hear Neil Young explains his Pono Music Player at SXSW on National Public Radio’s “All Songs Considered.”

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/03/12/289435279/hear-neil-young-explain-his-pono-music-player-at-sxsw

Neil Young wants to start a revolution against the MP3, against the CD, poorly made vinyl and poor audio quality in general. He wants people to hear the music the way it was made, writes NPR’s Bob Boilen.

“I’m a fan of listening loud. I love to listen loud. That’s what it’s all about, really, for me. I love to hear rock and roll really loud, and I love to hear even acoustic music really loud. Loud for whatever it is it’s being played on. I like to take whatever it is to the limit, and then listen to it right there.

“When I started doing that with these machines, it started to hurt, and I couldn’t do it for very long, so the part of the record-making experience that I used to enjoy became painful. That was a sign to me that something was wrong. I complained a little, and I might have bitched and moaned a little about that too. Then time went by, and I got some better machines, but they weren’t really that much better — it didn’t change it.

“But I noticed when I listened to CDs in my car, the same thing happened — it hurt my ears a little bit. And then the MP3 came along, and that’s when the recording industry really went into duress.”

Read more of Neil’s speech at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/03/12/289435279/hear-neil-young-explain-his-pono-music-player-at-sxsw

Tags: NPR, pono, Ponomusic, SXSW
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Do you have to love everything Neil?

National Public Radio has a great article on Beck but mentions Neil.

Titled; “The Good Listener: For Bands And Fans, The No-Fault Divorce,” the writer Stephan Thompson talks about how music fits into our lives — and thoughts on when superfans sever their allegiances.

It’s a fun read, but here is the Neil mention:

“Relationships between fans and artists, like relationships between lovers or friends, often come with expiration dates that aren’t printed clearly on the packaging. And, just as it’s okay to avoid contact with people who’ve come to make you miserable, it’s also okay to say, ‘Look, I love Neil Young, and I’ll always want to give his albums a try. But, no, I’m not buying the record he made about his electric car.’ It’s a rough business, you’re under no obligation to buy things you don’t want, and Neil Young himself won’t be emotionally wounded every time you sit one out.”

Food for thought for all the Rusties and Zumans out there.

Worship every Neil move? Pick and choose?

Discuss……

Read the entire article at:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/02/21/280715487/the-good-listener-for-bands-and-fans-the-no-fault-divorce

Tags: Beck, electric car, NPR, superfans
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