CORONA:
Damn it, Bryan. I already exhausted my diatribe on JT. I feel like JJ Redick coming out of the ACC Tourney: I've already shown my cards, my legs are heavy for playing 38 of 40 minutes the last three straight games. I don't know if I have another rebuttal in me ...
Wait a minute. What would Wojo do?
And we're back!
Agree with you that Timberlake is remarkably talented, successfully maneuvered the music industry (remarkably how stark the difference when compared to his former girlfriend, Britney). One could argue that he could be just as successful as a permanent cast member on SNL. Talented, accomplished, and decorated, he's a feel-good story, an example of what should be celebrated in the entertainment industry. But therein lies the rub: I would argue that Timberlake is more entertainer than artist.
What do I mean by this? Essentially, an artist reflects the imperfections of the world in his/her craft, whereas an entertainer dances around them. Further, I'd argue that audience expectations are notably different: we watch/listen to artists to be inspired; we watch/listen to entertainers when we want to forget the real world. Quite literally speaking, he is to Bob Hope as Ryan Seacrest is to Dick Clark. While Timberlake has demonstrated musical chops, I would wager that in ten year's time he will not be known for his music but instead for this ... or this ... or this. Entertaining? Absolutely? Will it influence musicians? Aside from crossover potential, I say no. And for that reason, I give you the Dikembe finger-wag for placing him in your starting five.
Besides, I am jealous that he is a six handicap.
My next pick is also for the Small Forward position. How important is this role? Consider the greats who have played this position: Dr. J, James Worthy, Scottie Pippen, Lebron and, of course, Basketball Jesus. Arguably the most versatile player on the court, the Small Forward views the game from a completely different angle than everyone else. As Bryan wrote, the position demands a player who can drive the lane, creating opportunities by use of their scoring potential as well as their ability to get to the line.
Many of the aforementioned players earned reputations as Point Forwards, essentially running the offense for their respective teams. Based on their unique position on court, the Small Forward often can see opportunities develop ahead of time. Further, the Small Forward is often a "tweener" player, viewed on paper as too small to play against Power Forwards and too slow to play against Guards. What makes a good number 3 a great number 3 is the ability to blend both agility and physicality to expose defenses weaknesses. The greats put both of these advantages to good use, creating spectacular plays which the rest of us don't see until it's relived in the land of replay. And it is the notion of seeing opportunity before everyone else ... on the court, on the benches, in the arena as a whole ... why the next musician is my pick for Small Forward.
I predict readers will respond to this pick in one of two ways: nodding heads or confused looks (note: I predict Mr. Rakowski will fall into the former). We'll get to the second reaction in a minute and dive right into the details.
As a Producer, Burton played a pivotal role in some of the decade's most popular and/or most critically acclaimed albums, including:
In terms of commercial success, checkmark. In addition, he has been hailed as a pioneer in the music industry:
In the case of the Gnarls Barkley collaboration, Burton was not only the producer, but was also the lead instrumentalist and co-writer of the Best Song of the Decade, according to Rolling Stone magazine. Thus far, a very compelling argument as a producer, musician, and song writer. But I'm just getting started. Let's go back to the two reactions I predicted from readers. If you're wondering why this man is not a household name ... well, he is. He just chooses to go by a pseudonym: Danger Mouse.
The Danger Mouse moniker should tip off most, but for good measure let's review the two other callouts from his resume. The most obvious place to begin is his 2004 album, The Grey Album, a mashup of Jay-Z's a cappella version of The Black Album remixed by sampling The Beatles "White Album". Let's take a minute to consider the implications of such an effort:
Initially intended by Burton as something cool to share with his friends, The Grey Album transcended the idea of sampling and represented a full deconstruction of both albums. He scoured The Beatles' two disc album to find the perfect drum beats, bass lines, guitar riffs, and accompanying vocals to create a masterpiece. For example, on "December 4th", Gloria Carter (Jay-Z's mother) is supported by samples of "Mother Nature's Son". The dramatic versus of "99 Problems" are fully supported (nearly upstaged) by the use of "Helter Skelter". On "Moment of Clarity", a song in which Jay-z openly reflects on his choice to peddle drugs, accepting the risk of early death or imprisonment, "Happiness Is a Warm Gun". And in my opinion, nothing tops "Encore", which when mashed with "Glass Onion" creates the once-in-a-lifetime sound of John Lennon accompanying Jay-Z ... as if they were in the studio intending to make the song together in the first place. What the listener hears isn't a remix, but an innovative artistic creation in and of itself. While The Black Album was critically regarded as some of Jay-Z's best work, once you hear The Grey Album it's hard to ever revert to the original. Burton's work inspired not only other mashups, from The Double Black Album (Metallica) to The Black and Blue Album (Weezer) to The Brown Album (Coltrane), but also other art forms like The Grey Video.
Now there is an argument to questioning the commercial success of this album. After all, EMI (The Beatles label) filed a cease and desist order as soon as they learned of Danger Mouse's plans. But therein lies an even stronger argument about what makes this arguably the most important album of the decade. As soon as audiophiles caught wind of the album, it quickly spread through cyberspace, catching the attention of EMI. Here's where the story gets interesting: in an era where the RIAA was suing individuals for sharing music files via Kazaa, one would have expected the album to die a quiet death. But the exact opposite happened: scores of Websites coordinated February 24, 2004 to mark "Grey Tuesday", a day of civil disobedience in which the album was made available for free download. One hundred thousand free copies later, EMI acquiesced and dropped its intentions to litigate.
Why do I spend so much time on an album that never generated a dollar's worth of revenue? When Bryan and I initially sought out to define "Important", Bryan suggested the following:
As soon as I read "society", this became an obvious pick for me. Consider this: what other musician(s) can you name which caused demonstrations and protests because of there music? Follow-up question: how many of those musicians caused protests as a sign of civil disobedience? (hint: you can exclude R. Kelly from your list now).
I liken The Grey Album to Indiana State's first basketball game in 1976. Were there Point Forwards before Larry Legend? Certainly. Were there any white basketball players who were good enough to no longer be categorized as good players despite being white? Of course. But could anyone have imagined a college dropout re-enrolling and returning to the basketball court two full years later; and beyond that, run the offense as a 6' 9" Forward? Absolutely not. In a sense, Burton pulled off the same trick against the RIAA: while Danger Mouse didn't invent the mashup, he created the gold standard from an artistic perspective, set the benchmark from an infamy perspective, and opened the eyes of the general public to music's newest form of art.
Fast forward to 2009: Danger Mouse is a household name (or at least his associated acts are) and Burton continues to push the envelope's edge in the form of new and ambitious collaborations. His most recent collaboration with Sparklehorse on Dark Night of the Soul is generating significant buzz by music critics. Like a broken record (no pun intended), EMI chose to display its idiocy by attempting to prohibit the album's release due to licensing rights. Again.
Burton's response? An album with full artwork was released as planned, with one exception: the disc contained the following caveat:
In other words, "Give me the damn ball. You know where I'm taking the rock - try and stop me". Burton's strategy to release a blank disc was predicated that the music would leak over the internet anyway. By doing so, he not only strong-armed EMI into releasing the album, but adjusted his own blueprint to releasing music. Within the span of five years, Burton had twice reinvented the distribution process. Interestingly enough, the album will finally be released this July. To me, this is either a sign that EMI accepts the fact Burton will score however and whenever he chooses, and that attempting to block such a release has (and will) only result in more YouTube clips of EMI being posterized.
RAKOWSKI:
Damn you, Mr. Corona. Damn you. Did I consider Gnarls Barkley for my Top 5 list? Of course I did. Did I consider Gorillaz for my Top 5 list? Absolutely. Did I even briefly, fleetingly, crazily consider The Black Keys for my Top 5 list despite the fact that they didn’t reach insane levels of stardom until late in the decade? Why, yes, yes I did. (We’ve already covered Beck and I really could care less about The Good, The Bad, and the Queen.) Each, taken independently as a band, had enough faults to fall outside of my Top 5 Most Important Artists of the Aughts. And rightfully so. However, what I did not do was take a step back and recall the common thread among all of these acts: Danger Mouse.
Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere got me through an entire summer living by myself in Moscow, Russia. I have extremely fond memories of walking home from the office to relax in my tiny studio apartment with BBC World News on in the background, Spider Solitaire on my laptop, and this album blaring over and over again on the tiny speakers I had (thankfully) decided to bring with me to Mother Russia.
Well played, Matthew. Well played.
If you can’t tell, I like this pick. In fact, I’m jealous of this pick and I am absolutely pissed I didn’t think of it first. Maybe if I had spent less time trying to be clever with Simon F***ing Fuller, maybe if I spent less time matching wits against a Sicilian (who clearly put the poison in the cup in front of me) and theorizing who he was going to pick instead of focusing on my own picks ... maybe, maybe, maybe. It’s almost like wondering if Len Bias hadn’t died of a cocaine overdose*, what would the landscape of professional basketball had looked like today? He ain’t coming back, so we’re never going to know.
Ok, before we get to my 5th, final, and most important starter, it’s worth mentioning who I’ve got on my bench to round out this All-Star squad. If one of my Top 5 were to flame out, get hurt (i.e., overdose), get old, or simply get bored dominating the competition, I’ve got to have a full roster of replacements. Think of this as when the All-Star coaches get to round out their roster with the guys they want and not the Starting 5 picked by the fans.
Also...let’s be clear on two things before we begin:
The bench, in bulleted format to preserve your eyes for the novella I plan to write for my #1 pick:
CORONA:
Wait ... did we just agree? Again?!?
Two in a row ... we can build on this! And furthermore, I like the idea of briefly addressing our benches. So let’s string this along like a never-ending reunion episode of The Bachelor (huh?).
Before I run down my bench roster, the obligatory response is due for some of Bryan’s picks:
6.
(at Shooting
Guard) EMINEM – see Part III.
7.
(at Center) BEYONCÉ
KNOWLES – I would consider it unforgivable to not include at least one female
in the list, but that shouldn’t suggest that Knowles is a token selection:
8.
(at Power
Forward) SEAN CARTER (aka JAY-Z) – if you don’t
believe that Eminem is the greatest rapper alive, then chances are you believe
it is Jay-Z. And if you don’t, then
there is plenty of facts to suggest you should reconsider:
9.
(at Point Guard) MADONNA
– Yes, you read that right. I’ll see
your Michael Jackson, Mr. Rakowski, and raise you the greatest female musician
of all time. Consider this:
10.
NIGEL GODRICH – I initially considered listing Godrich as my back-up Point Guard, but given depth at Point
Guard or Point Forward, I decided to take a different route. After all, out of all the names I’ve
mentioned thus far, Godrich’s is most certainly the
least recognizable. So, rather than
assign him a position on the court, I’ll opt to designate him as the Worldwide
Wes of Music.
Godrich is
fine with being the man behind the scenes.
After all, he doesn’t want the post-production circus of promoting,
touring, etc. He’s content with being
the band’s closest confidant, guiding them on a journey to producing some of
the decade’s best music. It’s no secret
that Travis’ The Man Who is one of my
favorite albums. Without Godrich, Travis could very well have fell by the wayside
like many Britpop bands of its era.
Instead, it became the 11.
(at Point Guard) Just
as Simon Fuller created a new medium by which to filter, develop, and launch
talent, YouTube provided direction one-to-one contact between musicians and
their fans. Further, YouTube breathed
new life into the concept of the music video as both a work of art and a marketing tool. Once the potential of YouTube was realized,
bands like Ok Go fought tooth and nail to use the website to reach new
audiences unfamiliar with their work. Yet
another sign that the recording industry didn’t understand disruptive
technology: the Record Execs finally gave-in to Ok Go’s
pleas to release their first video … by posting it on stupidvideos.com (I kid
you not). Want to take a guess who the label was?
That’s right … EMI. Can someone
please save this company from itself? With
MTV opting to essentially drop the “M” from their call letters, YouTube has
become the means by which bands become household names. The four following links are illustrations of
the fact that radio play alone arguably wouldn’t have made these bands
household names. I’m not saying anything
against these bands; instead, I’m saying that these bands were smart enough,
like their predecessors using MTV (e.g., Duran Duran,
Dire Straits, and Peter Gabriel), to use a medium (in this case, YouTube) to
finally breakthrough. Here are some
great examples: Don’t
get me wrong: it’s the bands that scored.
But they couldn’t have scored without the assist from YouTube. And sometimes an assist can be as impressive
as a score. 12.
(at Center) DR.
ANDY HILDEBRAND – While Dr. Hildebrand is a trained flutist (hence the
stretched qualification as musician), he is known more famously as the inventor
of the Auto Tune. You may wonder, after
all of my rants against Auto Tune, why would I list this person among my list
of most important musicians? Simple:
every team needs a hatchet man. And as
an opposite move from Mr. Rakowski, I’d rather be able to bench Hildebrand than
subject my Starting Five to his physical, goon-like play. Aside from
Stay tuned for the next installment of Starting Five debate, slated for the week of July 12.
Editor’s note: this post is the fourth in a series of posts covering the Most Important Musicians of the Aughts. Click here to view prior articles: Part I, Part II, Part III.
#2 (at Small Forward): BRIAN BURTON
"Influential = affects culture, society (maybe a little much), that genre, or music industry in general in a positive way."
"Danger Mouse is a brilliant, talented artist for whom we have enormous respect. We continue to make every effort to resolve this situation and we are talking to Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) directly. Meanwhile, we need to reserve our rights."
"For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.”
*Side note - maybe a better, less morbid comparison is to wonder “what if” the Trailblazers had selected Michael Jordan 2nd overall in 1984 instead of Sam Bowie.
That said, here is my bench roster for Most Important Musicians of the Aughts:. I limited my bench to seven, keeping in theme with a traditional basketball bench. We have many bench selections in common, so I’ll skip over instances where we’ve both already written ad nauseam about a musician:
William Wesley (aka Worldwide Wes), to be brief, is the
confidant of scores NBA and college basketball players. Picture a combination of Tom Hagen and The
Wolf, someone who is so well-connected that he describes himself as someone
with whom it makes “good business sense” to know. As Big Daddy Trent would
say, “Guy behind the guy.” Making
his bones initially fetching tea for production crews, over the last ten-plus
years he is known for many accomplishments, including:
Ladies and Gentlemen, there you have it: the musicians who we consider All-Stars, but would rather expect to have only a limited influence on the All-Star Game. BRak, I think we’ve been making the people wait long enough ... let’s see who you have for your number one pick.
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