What genre?

[Simon]

... none will hold him.

Funny, walking to work this morning I was poundering this question of genre. I agree that none will probably hold him. But this morning it struck me that he somehow, at least in an impressionistic way, feels acid-jazz / trip hop. Like kind of closer to Portished than to pop rock in which category you will most likely find him at record stores. But easy listening, no not at all.

Cohenesque also evoques Don Quichotte, which LC includes as one of his sources of influence.

[MonkOverBook]

I've always felt Leonard is unto himself in his songs and music. He does not fit in size or content into anyone else's drawer. I always cringe when I've played him for someone and I hear, "Oh... he sounds like . . . " ~ and I think, "No, he doesn't sound like anyone but him" [and inevitably feel that they're obviously not really listening, or they'd recognize that fact]. I'm not sure why people always feel compelled to immediately categorize someone, per a comparison to someone else. A way for them to somehow justify their listening to him [or not], a way of making up their mind without having to go through the process of real assessment; yet, in just their doing that, it seems so much of what they could be hearing is automatically eclipsed. Well, that's a whole, different arena. When someone wants me to hear something I've never heard, I want plenty of uninterrupted time to do that... not as a background to conversation, not when we need to get somewhere, not... just pure, uninterrupted time, so I don't need to draw fast and quick conclusions about what I'm hearing.

That's exactly what I feel about new pieces of music, Lizzy. I have to somewhat plunge into and nearly drown in them to really appreciate the work and the genius of the artist.

[lizzytysh]

That's very good to hear, MonkOverBook. Thanks for commenting as you have. I can tell by what you've said that we share the same space when it comes to this.


~ Lizzy

[johnny7moons]

what genre is leonard cohen? death reggae, of course. possibly hardbag.

genres are silly.

[Rob]

Most of us agree that Leonard doesn't fit into any ready made pigeon-hole.
Yesterday I looked at yahoo music search and on the Leonard Cohen section saw a button "similar artists". Who does the powers that be at yahoo consider "similar" to Leonard? A few surprises..............

http://music.yahoo.com/ar-303984-similar--Leonard-Cohen

Rob.

[tomsakic]

I wasn't surprised, my "similar artists" list for LC would be almost the same (I never listened to some of those).

Did you note the right links - "More obscure" and "More mainstream"? If you click More obscure, you will get the real Similar Artists list
http://music.yahoo.com/ar-303984-simila ... nard-Cohen

[Squidgy]

Didn't Leonard Himself write a song about not wanting his music to be categorized, just enjoyed? I believe it was called [/i]Jazz Police.

--Squidgy

[Tri-me]

A very nice person told me about a web site called
pandora.com last night. It is like having your own personal radio station, you can cancell a song if you do not like it. I started a Leonard Cohen station. It is amazing the music I had never heard before. Newest fav being Nick Cave.

Here is the info given via the site on Leonard

Rock
Singer/ Songwriter
Folk-Rock

Moods
Literate, Reflective, Sensual. Cerebral, Intimate, Poignant, Wistful, Sardonic,Bittersweet,Somber,Romantic, Wry, Austere, Melancholy, Gloomy, Weary., Complex, Autumnal, Sad

[cracker39]

I once saw a statement that LC's genre was "Rock". I have to disagree and agree with most of the opinions that his music cannot be put into nearly any "normal" genre category. I'd vote for "captivating".

Why captivating? Sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, I had never heard of Cohen. One evening I tuned into Austin City Limits on the TV and he was performing songs from "I'm Your Man". It only took a few seconds for me to realize that I was hearing some extraordinary...and I was immediately captivated by his music. The lyrics were unique, the arrangement with his background singers was so smooth and flawless, and his voice was absolutely mesmerizing.

I always had a stereo connected to the TV, so I popped in a cassette tape and recorded the remainder of the program. I later bought that tape in a music store, and finally lost my original recording, which is a shame because his recording of Take This Waltz from the TV program had a much better trumpet solo on it than on the album.

But, I ramble so...sorry. JMHO.