All the best stores in Hamburg seem to be in or around the neighbourhood of Sternschanze, northwest of the city's downtown. This helps explain why I'd never been to any of them until now.
Slam Records has an impressive selection of rock and jazz vinyl, which is clearly the store's calling card. In the CD section there are plenty of second hand bargains to be found for surprisingly cheap. Google's description calls it "unassuming", which is accurate based on the graffiti that adorns its outside walls and the colourful yet scruffy display of records in the window. Zardoz Records is closer to a boutique shop, featuring more contemporary electronic music and a strong indie selection. It's easy to see why it's considered a "one stop" type of store according to its reviews online. But the best hidden gem in Hamburg may well be Rekord Musik. Ignore the blinding whiff of cigarette smoke by the entrance and the oddball, wizardly-looking staff/clientele. This store has one of the best selections of second hand electronic music I've ever seen. The quantity isn't huge, but almost everything in stock is a minor classic. In this genre, albums and compilations from the 90's and 00's are their specialty. The back room had an eye-opening rack of 90's dance records as well.
The musical epicentre of Hamburg these days has to be the Elbphilharmonie. It's exorbitant cost -- over 800 Million Euros -- is something of a running joke among Hamburg residents based on my last two visits to the city. Its unconventional look -- shimmering waves of glass plopped on top of a red brick warehouse -- also takes some getting used to. Entrance to the plaza level (~ 35 m) is free, and gives you a taste of what the building has to offer. Once I saw the building from close up, walked around inside, read more about the architectural concepts behind the building, it all seemed a lot more impressive then it did on my first glance two years ago from the port.
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Sunday, January 19, 2020
B-factor revisited
Eight years ago, I looked for a common thread that connected critically acclaimed albums. I felt there was were two "sweet spots" in an act's career, a window where they were most likely to hit their critical peak (unrelated, perhaps, to their creative peak). The result was the "b-factor" (admittedly a horrible name), equal to (# of years since the debut album + 1) x (# of albums).
The conclusion? Critical accolades are most likely for a debut album (b-factor=1, always) or for b-factors in the 15-35 range.
And now, eight years later? Let's extend the chart from the post eight years ago, using the #1 albums on Pitchfork's year-end critics polls as an example:
Four out of the eight albums fall squarely in the 15-35 range. Solange's situation is clearly unique, but this is the kind of scenario I was referring to when I wrote about the number of albums likely needing a higher weight that the number of years since a debut. Critical fatigue sets in after a certain number of albums, more so than the number of years that an artist has been around. The same would apply to "Black Messiah" by D'Angelo (and the Vanguard), with a (19+1) x 3 = 60 b-factor.
I wrote that megastars can skew the statistics. Take Kendrick Lamar, with three #1 albums. Which is most representative of the kind of critical peak we're trying to identify? The first one? Just the ones in the 15-35 range? All of them taken together? I'm still not sure.
So the original b-factor reasoning is holding up fairly well ... or is it? There are competing trends as well. Let's look at the Pazz and Jop #1 albums over the same twenty year period:
Dylan broke the scale with his late career resurgence, and David Bowie releasing "Blackstar" and dying in the same week is a confluence of events that might never be repeated. Megastar Kanye West had four #1 albums, thereby explaining the relatively high b-factor for "Yeezus".
I see two possible changing trends. First, between the two lists, there hasn't been a debut album at #1 since 2012. However, Pitchfork's list has three sophomore albums in the '10's, and one could argue for lumping together the debut and sophomore releases as the works of new, emerging artists. In that case, they are faring as well as ever, it seems, albeit less so over the past few years.
Second, between Mitski, Lana Del Rey, the critical acclaim for albums such as Low's "Double Negative" (b-factor=300) and Robyn's "Honey" (b-factor = 192), b-factors seem to be slowly rising because "established" artists seem to have a lengthier peak than in the past. A veteran act with more than ten years and several albums in their catalogue would become a "for fans only" enterprise, or at least that's what you'd be led to believe (as a non-fan) based on the perfunctory 6.5/10 or 7/10 reviews for their albums. Familiarity breeds contempt. But now, a true creative spike can generate more critical excitement than in the recent path, presumably because critics see more worth in reliable, consistent acts? On the other hand, more than half the #1 albums from the combined two lists were the third, fourth, or fifth albums from those artists. Right in the 15-35 wheelhouse for b-factor, in other words. It will be interesting to see if any of these are real trends in the coming years.
The conclusion? Critical accolades are most likely for a debut album (b-factor=1, always) or for b-factors in the 15-35 range.
And now, eight years later? Let's extend the chart from the post eight years ago, using the #1 albums on Pitchfork's year-end critics polls as an example:
| Year | Artist | Album | "Years" | "Albums" | b-factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Lana Del Rey | "Norman Fucking Rockwell" | 9 | 6 | 60 |
| 2018 | Mitski | "Be the Cowboy" | 6 | 5 | 35 |
| 2017 | Kendrick Lamar | "DAMN" | 6 | 4 | 28 |
| 2016 | Solange | "A Seat at the Table" | 14 | 3 | 45 |
| 2015 | Kendrick Lamar | "To Pimp a Butterfly" | 4 | 3 | 15 |
| 2014 | Run The Jewels | "Run the Jewels 2" | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2013 | Vampire Weekend | "Modern Vampires of the City" | 5 | 3 | 18 |
| 2012 | Kendrick Lamar | "Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City" | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2011 | Bon Iver | "Bon Iver" | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 2010 | Kanye West | "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" | 6 | 5 | 35 |
| 2009 | Animal Collective | "Merriweather Post Pavilion" | 9 | 9 | 90 |
| 2008 | Fleet Foxes | "Fleet Foxes" | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2007 | Panda Bear | "Person Pitch" | 8 | 3 | 27 |
| 2006 | The Knife | "Silent Shout" | 5 | 4 | 24 |
| 2005 | Sufjan Stevens | "Illinois" | 5 | 5 | 30 |
| 2004 | Arcade Fire | "Funeral" | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2003 | The Rapture | "Echoes" | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2002 | Interpol | Turn on the Bright Lights" | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2001 | Microphones | "The Glow Pt. 2" | 3 | 5 | 20 |
| 2000 | Radiohead | "Kid A" | 7 | 4 | 32 |
| 1999 | The Dismemberment Plan | "Emergency and I" | 4 | 3 | 15 |
Four out of the eight albums fall squarely in the 15-35 range. Solange's situation is clearly unique, but this is the kind of scenario I was referring to when I wrote about the number of albums likely needing a higher weight that the number of years since a debut. Critical fatigue sets in after a certain number of albums, more so than the number of years that an artist has been around. The same would apply to "Black Messiah" by D'Angelo (and the Vanguard), with a (19+1) x 3 = 60 b-factor.
I wrote that megastars can skew the statistics. Take Kendrick Lamar, with three #1 albums. Which is most representative of the kind of critical peak we're trying to identify? The first one? Just the ones in the 15-35 range? All of them taken together? I'm still not sure.
So the original b-factor reasoning is holding up fairly well ... or is it? There are competing trends as well. Let's look at the Pazz and Jop #1 albums over the same twenty year period:
| Year | Artist | Album | "Years" | "Albums" | b-factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Kacey Musgraves | "Golden Hour" | 5 | 4 | 24 |
| 2017 | Kendrick Lamar | "DAMN" | 6 | 4 | 28 |
| 2016 | David Bowie | "Blackstar" | 39 | 25 | 1000 |
| 2015 | Kendrick Lamar | "To Pimp a Butterfly" | 4 | 3 | 15 |
| 2014 | D'Angelo and the Vanguard | "Black Messiah" | 19 | 3 | 60 |
| 2013 | Kanye West | "Yeezus" | 8 | 6 | 54 |
| 2012 | Frank Ocean | "Channel Orange" | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2011 | Tune-Yards | "Whokill" | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 2010 | Kanye West | "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" | 6 | 5 | 35 |
| 2009 | Animal Collective | "Merriweather Post Pavilion" | 9 | 9 | 90 |
| 2008 | TV on the Radio | "Dear Science" | 4 | 3 | 15 |
| 2007 | LCD Soundsystem | "Sound of Silver" | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 2006 | Bob Dylan | "Modern Times" | 44 | 32 | 1440 |
| 2005 | Kanye West | "Late Registration" | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2004 | Kanye West | "The College Dropout" | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2003 | Outkast | "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" | 9 | 5 | 50 |
| 2002 | Wilco | "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" | 7 | 4 | 32 |
| 2001 | Bob Dylan | "Love and Theft" | 39 | 31 | 1240 |
| 2000 | Outkast | "Stankonia" | 6 | 4 | 28 |
| 1999 | Moby | "Play" | 7 | 5 | 40 |
Dylan broke the scale with his late career resurgence, and David Bowie releasing "Blackstar" and dying in the same week is a confluence of events that might never be repeated. Megastar Kanye West had four #1 albums, thereby explaining the relatively high b-factor for "Yeezus".
I see two possible changing trends. First, between the two lists, there hasn't been a debut album at #1 since 2012. However, Pitchfork's list has three sophomore albums in the '10's, and one could argue for lumping together the debut and sophomore releases as the works of new, emerging artists. In that case, they are faring as well as ever, it seems, albeit less so over the past few years.
Second, between Mitski, Lana Del Rey, the critical acclaim for albums such as Low's "Double Negative" (b-factor=300) and Robyn's "Honey" (b-factor = 192), b-factors seem to be slowly rising because "established" artists seem to have a lengthier peak than in the past. A veteran act with more than ten years and several albums in their catalogue would become a "for fans only" enterprise, or at least that's what you'd be led to believe (as a non-fan) based on the perfunctory 6.5/10 or 7/10 reviews for their albums. Familiarity breeds contempt. But now, a true creative spike can generate more critical excitement than in the recent path, presumably because critics see more worth in reliable, consistent acts? On the other hand, more than half the #1 albums from the combined two lists were the third, fourth, or fifth albums from those artists. Right in the 15-35 wheelhouse for b-factor, in other words. It will be interesting to see if any of these are real trends in the coming years.