A Reply

No lyrics for today. I started responding to a comment made by a friend of mine to the 1/23 post regarding Deathcab for Cutie, but realized I had more to say on the topic than a comment should contain. So, here is the comment, and my response below that.

Reader Comment (not sure if you'd want your names here James, doh, oh well, I guess its out there now):
If you enjoy Death Cab for Cutie, I'm curious what your thoughts are of The Postal Service? Do you lump them as the same or is there some distinction for you to highlight Death Cab and not mention the other.

Please elaborate!

Author (thats me) Response:
Haha, well, I know the motivation for James' comment, but the rest of the readers do not. James and I have had discussions about the distinctions between The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie and can't seem to come to a consensus. James likes both, perhaps equally, whereas I prefer Deathcab. For those who don't know, Deathcab and Postal Service share two band members, Ben Gibbard (the center motivator for this post) and Chris Walla. That similarity might be enough for some to equate the two bands, but I cannot explicitly agree with this. Yes, the vocals and much of the lyricism is similar between the two bands as both are guided by the talents of Gibbard, but the primary difference for me lies in the music itself. I think the fact that Gibbard sings in both the bands is the source of the "similarity" argument, but in my mind the music is entirely different. The Postal Service has a prevalent electronic influence stemming from the presence of band member Jimmy Tamborello. For me, electronic music just doesn't have the feel of....well...played music. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the music as an artform, but it really has to be exceptional for me to enjoy listening to it. In trying to come up with some examples of electronic music that I enjoy (other than hip-hop, as that is a genre in its own class that I'll leave for another post) I am having a difficult time. Hmm, there is a band that my friend Troy in Japan showed me some time ago called Quruli. These guys are not primarily an electronic band, but they do dabble in the realm, and I think what they do is a good example. Radiohead got into electronic music on their Kid-A album (and others) and I rather enjoyed their take on it. Take a look.


Oh, and of course Bjork. There are others, but they evade me at the moment. Even though I can appreciate and enjoy electronic music, I still prefer the more organic nature of played musical instruments. They breathe with the flow of the music and every note is different. With an instrument, the same note can have a completely different timbre the next time it is played depending on the way the note is struck or altered by vibrating, bending, muffling, or any other techniques. These little idiosyncrasies may not be something you notice out right, but I believe play a huge part in giving music that organic, home-made feel that I don't get with electronic music. Sure, it has a nice beat and you might be able to dance to it, but from my perspective, it can't touch the sound of a well played instrument.

Just my two cents. Oh, and here is an example of a well played instrument.