The new @marc_schuster album is out today! I went down the rabbit hole listening to it drawing up my own conspiracy theories. How did they compare to the artist’s thinking? Check out this Q &A with the Tweetcore Radio hour host
There’s no need for formal introductions around here when it comes to Marc Schuster. He’s of an exclusive tier of independent artists I would consider from my purview as “iconic.” As the cutator, producer, and host of the Tweetcore Radio Hour he has spent the last year and a half (80 weeks and counting) cementing his place as a pillar in the independent music community. Turning the phrase “#tweetcore,” popularized on his “Abominations” blog, into a household name. I can just see a documentary in the making here, “Behind the Hashtag…”
Today’s post isn’t about how influential he is, how great of a writer he is, and how awesome of a supporter Marc is though. We all know that already. For the Tweetcore faithful, we also have familiarity with many of his musical endeavors, such as playing in the band Scoopski, his work with the duo Simmons and Schuster (“Another Fine Mess” being the theme song of the show for the first year), and co-heading The Star Crumbles with Brian Lambert. What Marc doesn’t highlight up-front nearly enough is his array of work as a solo artist. He may drop a tune into the podcast here and there, but those easter eggs he leaves behind are just a sample size of his remarkable and vast catalog. That, my dear friends, what this post is about today as Marc Schuster‘s new album “Arguably” officially hits streaming services as of May 1st. It’s been available and warmly received on Bandcamp since April 26th.
As I listen to this album, I can’t help but hearken back to a conversation I’ve had with Marc previously about “albums vs. singles,” and the various outlooks on why or when to put one or the other out. At some point in the conversation the topic of “concept albums” came up. We talked a bit about notable ones we remembered, enjoyed and what things really linked the works together as “conceptual.” I don’t recall who brought it up first, but at some point we came to somewhat of a conclusion that all albums are “conceptual” to some degree, if you think about it. For all intents and purposes, a collection of songs are a time capsule, a snapshot in time if you will, of a songwriter’s headspace. Sometimes that range from end-to-end can be somewhat varied in subject matter, but a lot of times there tends to be an underlying vibe through the entire album, regardless of whether an artist says it is, or isn’t, a “concept album.” It is this conversation that lingers in my mind, that perhaps skews my initial impressions of “Arguably.” For me, when listening to the album, I sort of take it as, “A day in the life of Marc Schuster,” at least figuratively, perhaps not literally Marc himself, but a projection of a protagonist throughout. There are emotional ups, emotional downs, and notable observations that I find very relatable. All amidst Marc’s unique, quirky sense of humor and candor. Before you think I’m too crazy, let’s take an audible “walk” through the album. I invite you to hit the play button and follow along with me in my ramblings.
The album opens up with “The Best Day.” This track comes off to me like a “Beatles-esque” song overall. In my imagination I see this as the mindset to have when starting the day. Albeit, I know that anyone who has had to actually deal with me in the mornings on a regular basis would point out my hypocrisy on the matter. That’s beside the point. The real point is that if you were the type to wake up every day, tell yourself things will be okay, and approach each day as if it is going to be the best day ever, I would venture to say that you are setup to acomplish great things. Great things like be a college professor (which he is) and drop great albums I suppose.
Track two on the album is “One Cup of Coffee” and I don’t think it’s too much of a hard sell to keep you on board with my “day in the life” concept theory at this point, right? This jazzy but ambient number evokes my imagination to ponder those surreal moments in the morning while I’m brewing that first cup of coffee for the day. It was also one of my first picks for the Bandcamping Podcast and Marc shared some insight and background a bit on that episode. “Rental Home” has a really funky and active rhythm section / groove throughout. The delay on the guitar reminds me of the effect used in the theme song of that old show “Knight Rider.” That is right folks, David Hasselhoff has somehow landed topically somewhere in my writing. I am unsure of how we got here, and question how enthusiastic I am about that as well, but we must move on. This track to me is a standout one, as well as a “shift” in my concept album conspiracy theory. The lyrics are interesting, and as laid out could be interpreted in a number of ways I think, in the most literal sense, “being” the rental home that knows all the deep dark secrets of tenant after tenant, certainly. In my concept theory, I imagine it as a shift from “self” as the day begins. The movement “zooms out” for lack of a better term, to the environment around the protagonist. “I’ll give you a place to hide, when you feel broke inside” is a lyric that stands out to me on that one.
“Sell me the Snake” is a coin-of-phrase that I wonder whether Marc developed himself, or I just never heard of it. Curious because I find it to be a clever line. The sentiment of the lyrics “Sell me the Snake Oil, Sell me the Snake,” and “I’ve held as much as I can take,” resonates with me as a sense of frustration. A “get it over with, already,” type of expression. Thus, for those of you doing the mental gymnastics with me about the concept, I am now imagining I’ve made it work work, haha. Must be mid-day.
“Paul Giamatti” is the song I’m most familiar with on the album, and the one I’d likely tag as the “hit.” Artistically I think it encompasses a lion share of Marc’s funky prowess, colorful syth/keys playing, and humorous wordplay. I have no other way to tie this to my concept, but to offer that in my imagination we’re sitting around the water cooler thinking, “dang, that guy is in a lot of movies, you remember this one, and this one? Or that one? He’s everywhere!” A pleasant coversational distraction to get you through the day.
“Hell in Hello” is the next track to follow, and in my opinion is a contender for the darkest or saddest song on the album. It’s self-reflective and introspective. I bet you’re thinking I’m off track with the concept now, don’t you? No! Consider the lyric “a bitter pill and a thorn in my side, the hell in hello and the good in goodbye,” and tell me that won’t be running through your mind when you clock out of work tomorrow. “May the Algorithm Smile Upon You” is the song I consider to be the ballad of the album, and one that I am in a great deal of admiration of Marc’s piano playing on. Overall, I find it very interesting in that the song itself is so contemporary, cinematic in it’s string arrangements, just beautifully composed, yet is so modern with lyrics as implied by the name itself. And there you have it, in terms of the concept, we’re at home for the day. Perhaps unwinding artistically, sharing music, engaging on social media with others about our musings and misadventures. Hoping for a little algorithimic kindness, albeit, that feels daunting at times and more so a happenstance of kindness than a sincere calculated gesture. Check out the lyrics, they’d totally support that I’d think.
Well, there you have it. Call it day! “Blue Light” closes the album out with a serene sound instrumentally. It’s a down tempo song with triumphant horn arrangements filling in the space between dreamy synth lines. I’m hearing this as Marc’s “farewell and goodnight” to the concept. Lyrically it reads to me like all the things that happened today and that we wish to acomplish tomorrow swirl around incessantly, even when tired and laying down for the day. However, as we know it, sleep is inevitable. And as the concept goes, tomorrow is to be the best day ever.
Thanks for entertaining my deep dive on this album. Obviously, I would hope that if you’ve read this far, it’s understood that my conceptual take on it is just my reaction to the music and what it means to me in my mind. I’d be fascinated to know what you think and what listening to the album brings up for you! And even more so, I’m intrigued to hear what Marc himself had to say as the composer. Here’s some questions I asked him about the new release:
Welcome Marc!! Thanks for telling the AMS blog a little bit about your new album.
Thanks for having me–and especially for the kind words above! I’m incredibly flattered!
We had a conversation a while back about “all albums are technically concept albums,” after you read my review, you’ll see that I went the distance and doubled down on that philosophy. Did you have any specific underlying concept in mind when writing “Arguably?”
The idea of “a day in the life” was definitely playing around in my head when I started the album. I also toyed with trying to do a whole album from the point of view of the rental home in “Rental Home,” but that concept was a little too specific. To an extent, I feel like the album is about trying to connect with other people or at least wanting to connect.
The first line of the album is “I’m calling…” Of course, it’s “I’m calling from a broken phone booth,” so the call might or might not go through. And then there’s the fact that “One Cup of Coffee” starts with getting the days mixed up. Again. Then in “Rental Home,” the house is watching out for the person renting it, more or less. So everyone is kind of confused and a little lonely, but hopeful.
Of course, technology is bound up in all of it, too. With “Sell Me the Snake,” I was thinking a lot about Q-Anon-type conspiracies and trying to find meaning in the white noise of our chaotic lives. And then there’s the almighty algorithm that’s come to dictate many parts of our lives–and the blue light that keeps us awake at night.
There’s also the possibility that it was all just a fever-dream in the wake of breaking my shoulder.
Right, how on earth did you manage to produce a full length album and recover from a broken shoulder at seemingly the same time?? That is some next level “I can do it with one hand tied behind my back stuff.” That’s like, Chuck Noris level tough.
I think I was getting a little stir-crazy. I’m a pretty itchy person, generally speaking. I really can’t sit still for more than a few minutes at a time, and with my shoulder in a sling, I was feeling like I just needed to do something, get something accomplished. The album was the only project at-hand. I was feeling a little blocked, lyric-wise. Everything that popped into my head was along the lines of, “Gee, my shoulder really hurts…” So I started slow by watching some YouTube videos on the topic of songwriting and tried a couple of exercises. Those led to actual songs, and once that happened, I had to start recording. Given my injury, a lot of it was MIDI–drawing notes on the piano roll or playing the keyboard with my left hand–but a decent amount relied on samples and tracks that I had previously recorded.
What’s next for you artist-wise? You always got a lot of stuff going on. It’s nice to see you back out playing live again with Scoopski and I thought at some point there was mention of a third Star Crumbles?
Marc playing bass with Scoopski at the 2300 Arena Bar, Philadelphia.
Yeah, I’m playing with Scoopski again, which is great. We did an “arena” show a little while back. At least that’s what we’re calling it. Technically, it was in a bar attached to an arena, but why split hairs? We’re also planning to record a few songs in June. Jim (Mr. Scoopski) is planning to gather all of the recent Scoopski singles together in an album and to include a few “live” studio recordings of some of the songs as bonus tracks.
And there’s always the possibility of another Star Crumbles album. Brian Lambert and I have both been busy with our respective projects, with Brian playing out a lot and releasing loads of great music, not to mention being hounded by an evil doppelganger on X. Meanwhile, I’ve been talking to Neither Could Dylan about working on a project together, and I was just chatting yesterday with an indie-film director about recording the soundtrack for a short film she’s working on.
You’re one of the few I can ask this as a follow up to that last one, what’s in store for you “all other” wise? Between radio, blogging, writing books, artwork (as in painting), and an assortment of videography, what are you most inspired about right now? Anything you’d want to call attention to at the moment?
Off and on, I’ve been translating Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance” into more contemporary idiomatic English. The problem is that I keep disagreeing with the guy on key points, so my “translation” tends to get a little sidetracked. But that’s more of a hobby than anything else. I don’t really plan on doing anything with it. I just want to figure out what he was saying and to contextualize some of the quotes that get attributed to him in memes these days.
I also painted a goat recently. That was on January 7, about two weeks before I broke my shoulder. I took apart an old Ikea bookshelf and figured it might be fun to paint on the pieces. The problem is that they have a kind of plastic veneer, so the paint chips off pretty easily. This time next year, the goat may be gone.
I know you’re a big fan of Elvis Costello, outside of Elvis what would you say are your Top 3 influences? Is it possible to do such a thing?
Aw, man. That’s a tough one, and it probably changes from day to day.
One thing I’ll say is that Jim Lorino (aka Mr. Scoopski) is an amazing songwriter, both in terms of structure and arrangements, not to mention his inventive lyrics. To some extent, I feel like his song, “Double” is the gold-standard I try to work toward in my songwriting. It’s poppy and accessible, but it also goes in a lot of interesting and unexpected directions.
A lot of the musicians whom I’d describe as influences are people who, like Elvis Costello, don’t get hemmed in by an idea of what they should do or who they should be. Brian Eno, for example, is probably best known for “inventing” ambient music, but he’s done so much more, both on his own and in collaborations with other musicians. To me, that’s what music is all about–pushing boundaries, experimenting, trying new ideas.
At the end of the day, though, I guess everything still goes back to the Beatles. They were the first band I was aware of as a band. We used to listen to the White Album on car rides all the time when I was a kid, and I knew all of those songs by heart. I still think of certain lines when I’m driving by a landmark where a song was playing when I was four years old. There’s one apartment building, in particular, where I remember looking up at a window during “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and imagining a lone guitar leaning in a corner of a dimly lit room in that apartment.
Fascinating stuff. Thank you so much Marc!!! It is always a pleasure hearing from you. Congrats on the new album.
Thanks so much Jeff! I didn’t initially intend to be so in-depth about it, it was set up as an interview, but I couldn’t help it! Sitting there listening I felt compelled and had something to say about every track it seemed like, came very naturally as I’m a big fan of Marc as an artist and as a person
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