When listening to most kinds of music, I'm tempted (maybe tempted isn't the right word, since this is more of a reflex) to bathe myself in not only the particulars of the music (and perhaps the lyrics) but also in the memories that have attached themselves to it.
What was I doing when I first heard this record? Who was I with? Was I happy?
Ah, but nostalgia takes many forms. I've been talking about musical nostalgia here, but there's also nostalgia of place. Everybody know s about that one. A room that reminds you of what your bedroom looked like when you were a little kid....the park where you played baseball after school...the college classroom where you met your future spouse.
Memory's a funny thing though, as all of these nostalgia fragments refuse to be pigeonholed. You listen to a piece of music and it reminds you of a place...which has its own set of remembrances. Drive by an old girlfriend's house and the melody of 'your' song will float back into your head.
Over the past month or so, I've been heavily involved in two things: 1) packing and moving my family to a new house and 2) listening to The Ditty Bops. Activity #1 is at least partially responsible for activity #2. See, all but a handful of my CD's have been tucked away in boxes, leaving me with about a dozen discs.
During all of this upheaval, a couple of unexpected things happened. The first was the unsettling emergence of all sorts of memories related to our 'old' house. As I walked around the mostly empty rooms, the mental postcards began to pile up: the wedding in the living room, news of a homeless relative, woodworking projects with my dad. On and on it went. The echoes bouncing off the walls were not just acoustic.
The second unexpected item? That I was able to use The Ditty Bops as an oasis and refuge. I mean, this almost never happens to me. When my brain is spouting off these kind of mental sparks, the 'remedy' is usually time. Instead, I was able to lose myself in the odd stories, sideways harmonies and creative instrumental structures.
Article comments
1 - Carlo Wolff
The Ditty Bops struck a chord with me, too. It's little wonder they haven't resonated commercially; too weird, too creepy (my girls, 9 and 12, like the album but are scared of it), too off.
That's why I like it; strangeness these days is oddly reassuring, particularly considering the groupthink that dominates the record industry. This is the kind of album Warner Bros. used to release routinely. It's heartening that it slipped through the cracks to stimulate and entertain us.
2 - Mark Saleski
yea, i dunno why it hasn't caught on. maybe it just doesn't fit into any of the current radio demographics.
too quirky maybe?
3 - Temple Stark
Mark,
Quirky girls are my aural thing.
This is up at Advance.net
Click here.
Let the artist / record company know, perhaps?
- Temple
4 - jmv
I just saw them at Largo in LA, and if you think their album is great, then the live performance will blow your mind.
They even had a puppeteer for a couple of songs!
Just amazing!
5 - Mark Saleski
good for you. i'm jealous.
now tell me you got to see Jon Brion at Largo and i'm gonna cry...
6 - Koganuts
FWIW, The Ditty Bops will be appearing on the New Year's Eve edition of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien." Hopefully with that appearance they'll finally start to get noticed!
7 - Anna
Quite honestly, I am glad that The Ditty Bops have not yet made it onto mainstream radio waves...I think part of the duo's charm is due to the fact that they are not mainstream...Many independent bands (yes I know The Ditty Bops are not necessarily what one would call "indie," but they're close) who have gotten "discovered" went on to have their musical edges filed down. Yep, these girls are much better off remaining slightly left of center. Great music.