BTS

this post is dedicated to two entities: Built to Spill, and Mr. Adam Graham-Silverman for introducing me to them. AGS, as he likes to call himself, is really up on his music shit, and pretty much all his shit for that matter. whereas i'm not, so i'm lucky to know him.

ESPECIALLY now that i have the wonderful, amazing, glorious Built to Spill to listen to. i've admitted that i'm not in the know, but, seriously, what the hell was i doing while Built to Spill were doing their early thing? oh yeah...listening to fiona apple and SoCal hip hop in the soulless abyss that was USC. maybe that's why i never found them; i was surrounded by drones.

but let's let bygones be bygones. the point is, having just scratched the surface of Built to Spill's oeuvre, it's clear that there is much wonderfulness ahead, and that is exciting. a lot of songs are medlies -- like my favorite Beatles song, Happiness is a Warm Gun. different sections that build upon each other in intensity and mood and then wind up forming this strange, perfect string of pearls. maybe they took some of that from Happiness and the other famous Beatles medley on Abbey Road, but...that can't have been such a big influence, because it wasn't even that big for The Beatles. it all sounds and feels very original -- obviously many sounds we've grown accustomed to were originated by Built to Spill and have since been mimicked by several other bands. sadly that's the one downside: Martsch's voice, to me at least, sounds a bit familiar and cliche. but i can certainly let that slide. the cohesiveness of the albums and songs, and their intensity and beauty more than make up for any flaws.

the weird thing is that i've noticed a lot of friends who i consider to be musically down also are not familiar with Built to Spill. well, get familiar, fools. you'll be glad you did.