David Hearts Rock

Rollin' down the roads

2012-01-26T20:48:00.000-08:00

In the beginning, there was Robert Johnson:

Three decades later, there was Cream:

Another three decades plus, and we arrived at Rush:

Not really an evolution here, but how often do you hear a good cover of a cover? It sounds like Alex played the guitar solos in one take, and had a lot of fun in the process.

Which version is your favorite?

How do you think it be played in the 2030's? Will there still be electric guitars? I think yes.

Notable Singles of 2011

2012-01-01T03:00:00.001-08:00

Some bands couldn't put out a whole killer album that knocked my socks off. But for whatever reason, they came up with one track that nailed it. Or it was a band that peaked a looong time ago but decided "screw it, what else are we gonna do with our free time?" so they kept recording. Or it was a new band that's figuring out what they're all about, what their sound is, etc, and that first album just managed that one thing that clicked...stay tuned for further developments. And then there were the solo artists or bands who may not have that natural ability to crank out a substantial catalog but whether it was full moon, or there was something in the water that night, or whatever...they got one great song made in 2011. Here's my list of those that got it done.

Nazareth: "Big Dog's Gonna Howl"
Okay, so it ain't "Love Hurts" but it's pretty damn good.

Washed Out: "Eyes Be Closed"
Hooray for shoegaze! This is a big warm blanket tossed over my ears on a rainy, windy night. Ahhh....

Kasabian: "Days Are Forgotten"
Remember Britpop? Me too, and I'm still waiting for the resurgence. In the meantime, here's some snotty Brits laying down a groove that we can shake it to without feeling too foolish.

Patrick Stump: "This City"
Way more 'mainstream' than I usually allow into my headphone space. I guess it was an Allmusic.com review that convinced me to put this on hold at the library. What can I say? It's just very good. (Better than Starships "We Built This City, at least!) It made me think of my hometown (Portland) with some pride, in spite of complaints that it's too small, too dark, too wet. Nice anthem for anyone who likes to stroll their city's streets and soak in the vibe.

Ivan Julian: "Hardwired"
One of the last honest rockers. No overdubs, lyrics that get right to the point. I miss this kind of music.

Amy Lee: "Halfway Down The Stairs"
A cover song recorded for the Muppets Revisited soundtrack, this song was personally relevant with lyrics based upon an A.A Milne poem, understatedly (and seductively) sung by Ms. Lee.

The Men: "Who Am I To Feel So Free"
Oooh, Gang of Four style beat through a Bikini Kill filter. Love it! Keep it going, please! I miss this style as well. (One YouTube post described them as "the spiritual successor of Le Tigre." Yeah that's pretty close.) p.s. Not to be confused with The Men of 1992 who released one great album featuring a killer single "The Church of Logic, Sin and Love."

Primus: "Lee Van Cleef"
Musical tribute to actor Lee Van Cleef. That guy was kicked ass, and so did this song.

The Sounds: "Best Of Me"
Swede-pop with a bit of Muse-lite. Keep it coming!

Meat Puppets: "The Spider or the Spaceship"
Classic MP lyrics, simultaneously non sequiter and making perfect sense. They're back, and we need them now more than ever.

My Favorite Albums of 2011

2011-12-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

Not a bad year at all for rock music. Thanks to my friends at Big Takeover magazine (hundreds of reviews via two issues a year) and Allmusic.com's weekly releases emails, I discovered PLENTY to enjoy. Few of these were major commercial hits (The Cars on sale at Starbucks being the biggest exception) but are the albums that made it onto my iPod's "repeat playlist" most often.

Florence + The Machine: Ceremonials

This one blew me away. London-based singer Florence Welch has a voice that shines like a fog beam to lead us out of the darkness. She’s where Kate Bush could have gone after Wuthering Heights, or Annie Lennox if she really pulled out all the stops. Multi-tracked and grandiose, her UK gospel is made to lift the spirits. A song like "Shake It Out" is there to cheer you when you're down. What pushed this album toward the top was that I couldn’t stop from singing along, adding my own voice to the harmonies. She made me want to participate and create, not just listen. It’s a rare piece of art that does that nowadays. The only downside is that all 12 tracks are so huge, it’s hard to take them all in at once. A couple of quieter songs would give the ears and heart a chance to rest, for the ecstasy to follow.

White Denim: D

Austin trio White Denim has only been around a few years but they’re already near the top of my “must listen” list when they release something new. Creative, talented, multi-genre capable, they surprise my ears with every release. This latest effort, simply titled “D” is my favorite so far: The songs are melodic but with surprising twists to keep it interesting, the dynamic range is big, tempos change constantly, and yet it all holds together. Something so eclectic should lack cohesiveness, but these guys pull it off magnificently here. The closest I can compare to is Ween, but without their level of jokiness. Where do they go from here? I can’t wait to find out.

Gruff Rhys: Hotel Shampoo

Another solo album from the Super Furry Animals singer and front man. This Welshman has a voice like maple syrup (sweet and smooth) that perfectly matches the slightly melancholic but highly tuneful tracks. In many cases, solo albums never quite live up to their full band’s efforts, but in the case of Gruff vs. SFAs, I’ve been finding myself listening to his albums at a ratio of about 2 to 1. My favorite so far.

The Cars: Move Like This

Waaay better than I could have hoped. Okay, so they don’t really rock out like they did back in 1978-79 on their first two albums, but would that have sounded credible 32 years later? This feels like an honest, tuneful effort by the remaining original members (gathering together at last after Ben Orr’s sad death in 2000). Nothing earth shattering, but I was really happy to hear an old favorite making good music again. It’s a pretty rare thing for bands that have been away so long to come back with anything near up to par with their past catalog. I don’t know whether I’m hoping for more or that they just say “well done; we proved we could do it” and call it a day.

The Joy Formidable: The Big Roar

At last, another Welsh band I can get excited about! Big and noisy with huge washes of guitars, this band is fronted by a pixie-sized female singer with a voice that can cut through the din. This amazing three person band has a huge sound that is “darkly joyous” (coined in The Guardian magazine) which energizes instead of enervates. Check out this live version of "Whirring" where they show how well they rock out live. A wonderful first album! I hope they can keep this going for a long time.

Peter Murphy: Ninth

I was late to the Bauhaus party. Goth never appealed to me much (my disposition is a little too sunny to dwell on such darkness for long), but when I did discover this early 80’s band, I was immediately taken by Peter Murphy’s clear, dark, yet oddly comforting voice. He has put out quite a list of solo albums, many of which I have yet to hear, but this year’s “Ninth” is a winner. Strong songs, no weak tracks, and the real triumph for any artist at this stage: He leaves me wanting to explore his back catalog.

The Smithereens: 2011

Best album of original songs by The Smithereens since 1988’s “Green Thoughts,” though without any standouts that say “this could be a hit.” Still, this is muscular pop/rock with good melodies. I’ve missed Jim Babjack’s great guitar sound and unique high baritone voice of Pat DiNizio doing their thing. It’s nice to hear them writing originals again, but I have to make special note of 2009’s cover album of (selected songs of) The Who’s “Tommy.” Their version of “Sparks” was 3:31 of pure stadium-rock bliss, the most stereo-crankable moment in my house in several years! (Here's a live version that ain't bad.)

The Black Watch: Led Zeppelin Five

These Californians have nothing to do with the legendary Scottish Black Watch Guard (who have contributed to some compilations of wonderful bagpipe & drums over the years). This persistent group has been releasing indie albums fairly consistently since 1991, but I'm just discovering them now, and their latest cheekily titled release. I say “cheekily” because this doesn’t sound anything like a theoretical follow-up to Led Zeppelin’s classic 1971 “ZoSo” album. It’s smooth, atmospheric, slow building indie rock, but well-produced and easy on the ears. As I listened I was wishing for a few more up-tempo songs to balance things a bit, but there was an emotional depth that made up for that in intensity of feeling. Like Peter Murphy’s latest, this album has gotten me digging into their back catalog to see where they’ve been and how they got to this point musically.

Battles: Gloss Drop

After a four-year wait since their first album, refreshingly creative, primarily instrumental Battles returned with a full set of fun and challenging rock to give my ears an amusement park fun-ride. Several tracks feature collaborations with other artists, including vocalist Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead, but my favorite is new wave fave Gary Numan featured on “My Machines,” which had a very good funny/disturbing video to go with it, too. (Best thing he’s done in years!) Another band to watch (that is, listen for) and hope that they keep growing in musically surprising ways.

Are we not vinyl? We are Devo!

2010-08-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

On a whim, under the influence of no psychoactive drugs whatsoever, I decided to order a 2009 reissue of Devo's "synth pop classic" Freedom Of Choice on red vinyl. Why? For no other reason than Devo and their marketing strategy makes me smile. Plus, it's another excuse to remind my kids of the existence and cool-factor of LPs.

I ordered it on Amazon, from a seller who offered it in new shrinkwrapped condition at a slightly lower price than retail. But this seller was special, as he used some interesting LP covers to protect the Devo album: Barbra Streisand's Superman, George Chakiris' Memories Are Made of These, and the original soundtrack to You Light Up My Life.

This seller gets Devo, and he gets me.

Oh yes he is

2010-08-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

I've been a big Iggy fan since 1979. I've been a Teddybears fan since 2006. Mix some Swedes with an aging punk from Detroit, and voila, a song I haven't nearly gotten tired of yet.
(Tip: At 'embedding disabled' message, click Watch on YouTube. Press F5 to skip any advertising that might pop up.)

Could this be the defining song of Iggy's long and storied career? I lean toward "yes."

Marathon!

2010-06-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking - and talking - about this for a while now, and today I did it: Registered to walk the Portland Marathon, taking place in October. I did a couple of 20+ mile walk-a-thons (remember the Nerf football Ed?) and a few long distance bike rides in my teens, but let's just say it's been a while since I did any endurance events.

Emotionally it feels a bit like this.

I was taking a long walk several weeks ago and the Rush song "Marathon" came on the iPod; the perfect song for that moment. It wasn't the direct reason I signed up today, but it did start me thinking. The lyrics do inspire me:

You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don't burn out too fast

Lyricist Neil Peart, in an interview with Canadian Composer magazine, said the song "is about the triumph of time and a kind of message to myself (because I think life is too short for all the things that I want to do), there's a self-admonition saying that life is long enough. You can do a lot -- just don't burn yourself out too fast trying to do everything at once. Marathon is a song about individual goals and trying to achieve them." Couldn't agree more, Neil!

Musically, the song starts grandly with some big chords, then kicks into a nice loping beat with a killer bass riff. Great walking pace!

See you down the road!

Two things about David Bowie...

2010-05-27T10:25:00.001-07:00

...that I didn't know until this week:

One

He sang an Italian version of Space Oddity, titled "Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola," which literally translates as "Lonely Girl, Lonely Boy."

The original "Space Oddity" was Bowie's first hit song, and blew me away when it came out in 1969. The title was a play on the great Kubrick movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and also tapped into the zeitgeist surrounding the US/Russia race to the moon. The lyrics, however, are not so much about space travel, but of isolation and hopelessness.

He became famous and I became an instant fan.

Getting back to the Italian version: According to the liner notes of the recent reissue of the album Space Oddity, Ivan Mogul had written the lyrics for a cover by the Italian group, Computers, and Bowie used those lyrics as well. But here's the funny part: The lyrics had nothing at all to do with the original song!

Tell me lonely boy where are you going,
Why so much pain?

(See Italian and translated English lyrics here.)

Bowie, not knowing the difference in the lyrics, learned them all phonetically and sang this version, not knowing the words portrayed a much more conventional story of love. (The liner notes conclude, though, that he "took it well.")

Mogul went on to write another Italian translation, recorded by I Giganti (The Giants) in 1970, which, after a truly spacey opening, breaks into beautiful multi-part harmony. I Giganti sings "Corri Uomo Corri" (Run Man Run).

To round out the European covers, a French version was recorded in 1971 by Gerard Palaprat, titled "Un Homme a Disparu Dans le Ciel" (A Man Who Fell From The Sky). That alternate title is interesting, as Bowie would star in a movie 5 years later titled "The Man Who Fell To Earth."

Two

The song "Fill Your Heart" from Hunky Dory (1971) was written by Biff Rose and Paul Williams, and was originally recorded by Tiny Tim as the B-side to his hit "Tiptoe Through The Tulips." (And what a grand version that was! No irony intended.)

Over the 40-plus years of Bowie's career, very few of his songs have been what you would call "optimistic," as he tends to focus on existential themes of the human condition such as loneliness, mortality and angst. But the lyrics are fearlessly positive, which should've tipped me off. They begin:

Fill your heart with love today
Don't play the game of time

A real change of pace for a guy known for song titles like "The Man Who Sold The World," and "I'm Afraid of Americans" (me too, Dave!).

Well, here's the original in all it's glory. I love it:

The album it appeared on, The Thorn In Mrs. Rose's Side, is wonderful from first track to last, and if this song appeals to you, is worth checking out. It provides a nice little mood lift in between Bowie discs.

Oh, Hush!

2010-05-06T06:21:00.000-07:00

Way back when I was in junior high school (known as "middle school" these days), I came across a Deep Purple hits compilation called Purple Passages in the school library's listening room.

The album artwork (strangely, a deep blue) entranced me but the song "Hush" really blew my mind (man) and I became an instant fan. Up until then, I had enjoyed the occasional AM radio hit: The Beatles, The Monkees (on the same level as far as I knew then - hah!), The Turtles, etc. But this was hard rock - a doorway to a new, more powerful, more exciting world of music.

I recently came across this "live in the mansion" version. Clearly the stars of the show were Ritchie Blackmore on guitar and Jon Lord on keyboards. (I also couldn't help noticing that none of the ladies had breast implants in those days - nice.)

Up until now, I hadn't thought much about whether Deep Purple wrote the song or not. Turns out, they didn't, Joe South did. However, he wrote it for a fellow Alabaman, Billy Joe Royal, which peaked at number 52 on the US charts in 1967:

Then, I found out that Australian Russell Morris had covered the song in 1968, several months before Deep Purple released theirs. It reached #15 on the Australian charts (though I doubt very many Americans heard it at the time). There's an innocent charm not found in other versions:

Russell is still performing it in 2010 , a little slower but with more soul.

There have been a handful of other interesting covers, including an over-the-top French performance by Johnny Hallyday (a comination of Rod Stewart, Roger Daltrey and Tom Jones) from 1969; a 1992 metal version by Gotthard, most notable for the sexy pics accompanying the video, and a spirited version by the UK's Kula Shaker from 1996.

But at the top of Hush mountain, Joe South stands tall as the originator of the song, and to my ears the most soulful. This performance, recorded in 1969, is "more than brilliant, it is electric, innovative" as Joe Viglione writes on Allmusic.com. Backing vocals, impassioned lead vocal, thumping bass, swing, this song just kicks it on all levels. Turn it up!

Sadly, Joe South will never be as well known as some other names associated with this song, but he deserves to be. At least we know...

Can't wait to get Together

2010-05-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

I love this band: Easily one of my favorites of the last decade, Canada's New Pornographers features some major musical talent. Among them: Carl Newman (formerly of Zumpano and creator of several very good solo albums), vocalist extraordinaire Neko Case, and Destroyer's Dan Bejar (rhymes with 'ledger' as they explained in a concert I attended a while back). But more importantly, they write great, beautiful, catchy tunes. Here's a sample of their work, from the debut album Mass Romantic. I like the way they combine such a serious topic with such light, bouncy melody/harmonies.

I sometimes lose faith that modern rock bands can actually write hooks and complete songs like they used to (read pre-2000's). Take for example Caribou's latest, Swim, which just bleeps along amiably but doesn't really amount to anything, song-wise (despite the warm AMG review).

But the New Pornographers (unfortunate name, that - still awkward to tell friends about them) just keep cranking out one memorable song after another. And it's not just great "power pop," either, as there's real emotional weight to a lot of their songs. For example, check out "Challengers," from the album of the same title.

The NP's are one of the few bands that when I hear they have a new release out, I just order it retail, no questions asked - my way of saying, "I really respect this band and want to support them."

Here's one of Bejar's songs with a trippy video, to give you a sample of what he adds to the band:

And so, just out today, the new album: Together. (Allmusic review.) Here's the Amazon listing, only $7.99 plus shipping! Judging by the song samples, I'm not going to be disappointed.

Love that album art, too...it's got a magical, hard-to-define quality about it. Click image to enlarge:

Can't wait for it to arrive and play it in the Corolla for full Car-Surround Sound!

Shoulda Been A Hit: 1967

2010-04-17T14:24:00.001-07:00

I've collected a lot of songs over the years, and created "Best Of" compilations for every year from 1967 to the present. Fills up my 8G iPod quite nicely for some interesting random play! Quite often, a song comes up that's got a great hook and is so catchy I think, "This must've been a big hit for them." But I look up the song and find out it never made the charts. Well, I thought I'd do my part and put some of those songs out there, and see if you agree that they Shoulda Been A Hit.

The Creation, "How Does It Feel To Feel"

1967 was a time a great social contrast: Peace movements, hippies, mind expanding drugs and free love, as well as violence, race riots and escalation in Vietnam. The Creation, a mod band from England, seemed to straddle both sides of the times with this song:

The lyrics start out darkly and would make Edgar Allen Poe proud:

How does it feel when a shadow moves you
How does it feel rustles by your bed
How does it feel when it finally holds you
How does it feel when you're thinking your dead

but then the mood lifts:

How does it feel when you wake in the morning
How does it feel feeling sun in the shade
How does it feel when you slide down a sunbeam
How does it feel bursting clouds on your way
How does it feel now that the night is over

Maybe it was the harshness and feedback of the guitars that turned listeners off, who weren't quite ready for the sound that would make groups like Led Zeppelin huge in a couple of years. So maybe it was a case of "ahead of their time?"

In 1994, the Oxfordshire, England group Ride did a nice cover of it. Critics have called Ride a "neo-psychedelic" band, and this really cemented their reputation.

I liked their original songs the best, though, especially 1992's Going Blank Again.

Supergrass, up in smoke

2010-04-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

I was very disappointed to read this today:

After releasing a collection of classic singles and six great studio albums, [Supergrass] announce that we've split due to the 17 year itch. We are playing 4 farewell shows in June, details to follow. “Thanks to everyone who has supported us over the years. We still love each other but, cliché notwithstanding, musical differences have led to us moving on and of course we all wish each other well in the future”

The Oxford-based band has been my other favorite "Super" band for the past 15 years. (I wrote about Super Furry Animals in a previous post.) I'm sad because I know that many people haven't even discovered them yet! Now it'll have to be posthumously. I've been planning to write one of those "Why I love Supergrass" posts for some time now. So, I guess now is the time.

A few reasons why I love(d) this band:
- Good singing. Lead singer Gaz Coombes has a distinctive voice with great range. Plus they do multi-part harmonies frequently, which makes the music more multidimensional.
- Song topics that go beyond "power pop." Here's a sample lyric, from "Mama & Papa:"

Walk in the park, and it's getting dark, and I don't wanna be alone,
Miss my Mummy and I miss my Daddy won't you please bring them back home,
Tire of the trail as the daylight fails and the shadows of the east do grow,
Miss my Mummy and I miss my Daddy won't you please bring them back home

- An ever-present sense of silliness lurking in the depths. Well, they were silly quite often on their first album, with songs like "Mansize Rooster" and "Caught By The Fuzz." They got more serious as time went on, yet never lost that ability to have a laugh, musically, like on "Coffee In The Pot" from 2005's Road To Rouen (love that album title!).

- And most importantly, of course, they never lost the ability to create memorable songs & hooks, sometimes beautiful, sometimes rocking. When I need some grounding, something new yet familiar, to take a break from my daily listens to newest releases, I often put on a Supergrass album.

One of their strong suits has always been their videos, and if you like the music, I highly recommend you pick up their DVD "Supergrass Is 10: The Best of 1994-2004." Beware though, it's been "discontinued by manufacturer" and will probably become a hard-to-find collector's item soon.

My favorite Supergrass video,
“Pumping On Your Stereo”

Here's one of their harder rocking songs. From their second album winkingly (and ironically) titled In It For The Money, with a noir-ish video:
“Richard III." Bonus points for using a Theremin!

And from one of their more commercially successful albums, Life On Other Planets:

My second favorite video, and a great song to boot, is "We Still Need More" which features the boys driving a car off a ramp through a pyramid of TV's. How cool is that?

They're playing 4 final shows early this summer, and damn, they're playing London and Paris just days before I go there on vacation! :-(

It's been a good run boys; over twice as long as the Beatles made it, so well done, and best of luck in your future endeavors!

Thom Yorke having fun?

2010-04-11T21:37:00.000-07:00

Not sure where he's planning to go with this band, but it's nice to see Radiohead's Thom Yorke getting loose with his "supergroup" band, Atoms For Peace, which also features Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist Flea, longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich on guitar, and Joey Waronker on drums. Radiohead just gets sooo serious, y'know?

"Is there anyone out there with a little Irish in them?"

2010-03-17T08:10:00.001-07:00

Singer, bassist and chief songwriter Phil Lynott posed this question on Thin Lizzy's classic 1976 album Live And Dangerous. After a cheer from the audience, he followed up with, "Are there any ladies who'd like a little more Irish in them?" Politically correct it wasn't, but charming it was, and Phil could pull it off and make the women (and the men) smile.

In honor of St. Patrick's day, I've put together a few peak moments of my favorite Irish band (sorry, U2).

Most fans of 70's rock are quite familiar with Lizzy's breakthrough (so to speak) release from 1976, Jailbreak, featuring one of the all-time radio classics "The Boys Are Back In Town," as well as highlights "Cowboy Song" and "Jailbreak."

But I also love their earlier stuff, when they were a funkier three piece, with Eric Bell on guitar. This track is from 1971...you can certainly hear the Hendrix influence but (forgive my sacrilege) I actually prefer Lynott's voice.

Another early highlight was a traditional folk song cover, which in turn was nicely covered later by Metallica. (See that video here. It scares me how much this reminds me of my college days!)

In 1973, Thin Lizzy let rip with one of the greatest songs ever about rocking out (you gotta love the 70's when it was cool to do that), called, obviously enough,
"The Rocker." This is an abbreviated version. Check out the full studio version, where they really, er, rock out.

But they could do ballads, too. This really set them apart from a lot of the hard rocking bands of their time.

They lost their classic "twin guitar" lineup of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson in the late 70's but issued one last great album in 1979, Black Rose: A Rock Legend, featuring a pyrotechnical Gary Moore just before he hung up the black leather pants and went all blues. Here's the lead track from that album. I love the lyrics:

Sadly, it was not to last. After a few more albums with diminishing results, Phil passed away from heart failure (he played hard in more ways than one) in 1986 at the ridiculously young age of 35.

Happy St. Paddy's Day, Phil and the rest. All you surviving members: Keep rockin!

My first two “Best Songs of 2010”

2010-03-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

It’s been kind of a slow year for great singles so far. Spoon’s new album, Transference, is terrific but no one song stands out for me. Ok Go has the viral hit of the year with the song “This Too Shall Pass” (the second song to enter my comp list for this year), but it’s more notable for the (not one, but two!) cool videos that go with it (see below). Sorry to report that the rest of the album, while boasting a big sound and funky vibe, is quite short on hooks and melodies, and passes by without making much of an impression.

So, my first official “best of” for 2010: Yeasayer’s “Madder Red” from their second album Odd Blood. It doesn’t rock out, it doesn’t have an “oh wow” hook, but it gets by on cool charm and a slightly retro vibe:

Nice tune, with vocals that remind me of mid-70’s Moody Blues. The whole album is quite an aural extravaganza, with enough musical weirdness to keep it interesting, but not so much as to completely disorient the senses (see Animal Collective).

Allmusic.com review of Odd Blood.

As for OK Go, you’ve probably already see them, but just in case, here are the two videos of “This Too Shall Pass,” both worth checking out:

Marching Band version

Rube Goldberg Machine version

I actually like the lyrics as well (usually an important consideration for a Best Of compilation), but I had to listen without video before I could really focus on them. Mysterious yet hopeful:

You can't stop these kids from dancin'.
Why would you want to?
Especially when you're already gettin' yours.
'Cause if your mind don't move and your knees don't bend,
well don't go blamin' the kids again.
Let it go
This too shall pass

A Rooster, the 'P' and now head of the CPB

2010-02-21T20:11:00.000-08:00

I was shopping at Everyday Music last week when I came across an “expanded deluxe edition” of Atomic Rooster’s album, In Hearing Of Atomic Rooster. I had heard that Carl Palmer (the drummer who went on to massive fame with Emerson, Lake & Palmer) had played with that band but I couldn’t tell from the cover art whether he had played on this album or not. Strange that I hadn’t investigated their history a little more, as I had with E,L&P’s other members: Keith Emerson had already achieved semi-fame and notoriety as keyboardist with The Nice, and a young Greg Lake sang lead vocals on the legendary first King Crimson album, In The Court Of The Crimson King.

So I risked the eight bucks and bought it. Turns out Palmer had already moved on by the recording of this, their third album, but it was a satisfying purchase anyway: A good mesh of heavy rock and funky jams, with strong singing by one-and-done member Pete French. The remastering sounds great, too.

So, I did a little reading to find out what album Carl Palmer did play on, and it turns out only the first, self-titled Atomic Rooster from 1969. Check out the sample below, especially starting at the 1:39 mark: An early sign of drumming greatness to come in the 70’s! (It's also interesting to hear how much keyboard whiz Vincent Crane sounded like Keith Emerson – or was it the other way around?)

I’ll be checking out the other Rooster remaster, Death Walks Behind You, very soon.

As for what happened to Palmer after he left the Rooster? If you’re a fan of "sabre rattling" (Palmer's phrase) prog rock, you are already well familiar with Palmer’s work with E,L&P in 70’s. I’ve never quite decided who I liked more, Palmer or Rush’s Neil Peart – but hey, why not a tie?

Flashing forward a bit, I saw the Carl Palmer Band in Portland a couple of years ago and was amazed at how great he plays still. They played a bunch of classic ELP songs, taking a break in between each so Palmer could tell some stories and tall tales of the 70’s (which the audience loved), as well as catch his breath for the next song, which was quite understandable, as these songs require incredible power and speed. He also revealed a great sense of humor, which was a nice surprise.

It was fascinating to see how they transposed the very difficult keyboard parts to guitar!

As an added bonus for the night, he appeared after the concert to sign (purchased) items – hey, a guy’s gotta make a living now that record sales don’t do it! – and I was thrilled to obtain a set of drumsticks. I also got the bass and guitar players to sign them and had a little conversation – very nice folks, all.

There are two CDs available that capture this latest incarnation of the CPB experience, and they’re both quite good (and apparently a 3rd volume is set to be released very soon).

Working Live, Vol. 1
Working Live, Vol. 2

I’ll leave you with a story from my college days. I was living in a dorm with my best friend from high school, but our relationship was becoming strained due to his interest in funk and disco, and my persistent passion for heavy rock. "Stereo wars" ensued with the main loser being our ability to concentrate on homework. He had posters of bands like Earth, Wind & Fire and Parliament Funkadelic, and I had a poster of Carl Palmer circa the Works, Vol. 1 album. One morning, I saw my poster lying at the foot of his bed. I said,

“Ed, why is my Carl Palmer poster lying at the foot of your bed?”

He replied, “You won’t believe me if I tell you.”

“Give it a try.”

“Okay… In the middle of the night, you stood up in your bed, carefully pulled the poster off your wall, laid it on the floor in front of me, and got back in bed. I tried to ask you what you were doing, but you wouldn’t answer and went right back to sleep. I’m pretty sure you were sleepwalking.”

“I guess my subconscious was trying to tell you something, that rock really is better.”

“I guess so, but I still love my funk.”

I’ll never know for sure if he was telling the truth about the sleepwalking, but why would he lie? I had done it before (and after) so it’s not too hard to believe. It would have been nice to be able to tell Mr. Palmer that story when he was signing my drumsticks but all I could manage was “Your playing has meant so much to me; thank you.”

Oh, the thousands of stories he could hear if fans all had their chance to tell him…

Official Carl Palmer Website

p.s. I know he got his start touring with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (but didn't appear on the album), and sold about a gazillion records with Asia in the 80's, as well as experience with lesser-known groups P.M. and 3, but those bands didn't really showcase his special talent at the drums, so I will leave those phases for another time and/or place.

Byrne, Baby, Byrne!

2010-01-31T21:42:00.000-08:00

The first time I came across David Byrne’s music was with the Talking Heads and their 1977 song “Psycho Killer.”

At the time, I cited the simplistic song structure, considered them just another offshoot of the new punk movement, dismissively predicted they wouldn’t go very far. (My favorite bands at the time were prog rockers like Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.) Wow, was I off on that one! They not only became hugely popular through the 80s, but became one of my favorite bands (as well as turning out one of my Top 10 songs of all-time, "Once In A Lifetime").

Click here for Kermit the Frog's interpretation of this classic.

They hit a creative peak in 1984. I saw this concert when it came through Portland, and was quite unprepared for just how great it would be. It's somewhere at the top of my list of Best Concerts Ever.

There wasn't much room to grow from there however, and they released their last album in 1988. Although many people still bemoan the end of the band, I can certainly see why Byrne felt it was time to move on.

He hardly missed a beat though: While with the Heads, he had released three side projects: In 1981, the futuristic (and sampleriffic) My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts with Brian Eno; also in 1981, the soundtrack to The Catherine Wheel with choreographer extraordinaire Twyla Tharp; and in 1985, a set of musical interludes for a Robert Wilson opera, The Knee Plays.

Then one year after the last Talking Heads album, Byrne released his first solo album proper in 1989, Rei Momo, which expanded on his interest in Latin music. My favorite of his Latin-themed albums was his next, 1992's Uh Oh.

He returned the debt to his Latin influences by forming the label Luaka Bop and releasing music by (and exposing me to) his favorite South American artists, including Tom Ze, Caetano Veloso, and Jorge Ben.

In addition, Byrne wrote orchestral scores, for Robert Wilson's play The Forest and most notably for the film (and Oscar Winner) The Last Emperor.

In 2008, Byrne released a second project with Brian Eno, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, which is beautiful, almost spiritual music, while still catchy and warm. Well worth checking out.

Now he can add “author” and “bicycle rack designer” to his resume: The Bicycle Diaries, published in 2009, is a collection of observations from his bike travels around the world, as well as musings on the human condition. I wouldn't call it scholarly, in spite of the inside picture:

I recommend it; consider it some time spent with an interesting and informative friend.

This year’s (2010) project looks intriguing: A collaboration with “Brit-hop” producer Fatboy Slim (aka Norman Cook) – a logical matchup if ever there was one – a funky musical journey exploring the life and times of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Here Lies Love, coming out in February. I’m really looking forward to it! Here’s a sampler:

And all the while, he continues to play concerts with inventive touches like interpretive dancers and (now expected) additional musicians to add new life to the old hits, as well as the solo numbers. I caught his show in Portland last fall, and the surprise appearance of San Francisco’s Extra Action Marching Band for the encore was a special treat.

Great stuff, all of it. You're on a roll, Mr. Byrne!

All You Need Is ...

2010-01-25T06:34:00.000-08:00

I was listening to the new Weezer album, Raditude, last night, and thinking that they are really starting to repeat themselves, that Rivers Cuomo has found this faux party anthem style of songwriting that sells lots of CDs, or downloads or whatever, but isn't really authentic from-the-heart stuff that will last over time (like 1996's Pinkerton). This morning, however, just to compare notes and see if I'd missed something, I read the Allmusic review which pointed out that this was Cuomo's look back at his Gen-Y days and a "passionate surrender to growing up." Okay, fair enough, but while skillfully put together, I still probably won't be giving it too many listens. (Maybe because it doesn't "speak" to me, as I'm somewhere in the alphabet before Gen-Y, or Gen-X...more like Gen-M (for Middle age).

I will add one track to my playlist, however: "Love Is The Answer," with Nishat Khan on sitar and vocals which add a nice eastern touch. I'm a sucker for songs on this theme, with lyrics that include lines like "You have got to trust in yourself," and "Take it easy on yourself." This kind of message never gets old.

Then, in keeping with the principle of synchronicity, the next album I put on was "Dimensions" (also from 2009) by Australia's psych/pop band The Lovetones, which featured the track "Love & Redemption." Just lovely. Notice a common theme?

These guys probably won't sell 1/10th - or more likely 1/100th - of the albums as Weezer, but this music deserves to be heard by a wider audience.

Note: Weezer's tune is not the same as the Stylistics' 1974 pre-disco song by the same name:

Nor the really wonderful one by (Todd Rundgren's) Utopia:

But I love 'em all.

Rocking the Kayak

2010-01-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

According to my 11-year-old son Ian, "There's rock music, there's metal, there's classical, and then there's Kayak."

Quite.

(I couldn't find any samples of this song on the internet, so I made one myself.)

One article I read called this "crossover-prog," which is as close as one could get to categorizing this wonderful, slightly wacky music. If you haven't heard Kayak's 1975 album Royal Bed Bouncer, track it down. Tuneful and joyful; it never gets old. If this appeals to you, check out their other three early albums (Kayak, See See The Sun, The Last Encore). It's timeless music that fits any mood.

I'm also happy to say that after breaking up in the 80's, they reformed in the 2000's and are still recording and performing. Check them out: Kayak homepage

(Thanks again Steve, for giving me this album out of the blue, back when we were teens. I've still got it!)

2010 and (way) beyond

2010-01-03T23:09:00.000-08:00

As we kicked off the new century, even if we were worried about the end of the world as we knew it, we partied like it was 1999. (Everybody sing along!)

Then, there was a dire prediction for 2010, of overpopulation and competition for scarce resources:

Fortunately, we haven’t quite gotten there according to the Census, which informs that we’re at about 6.8 billion people on the earth as of December 2009. (Still too many, but not too late to do something.)

But further dystopia is on the horizon for 2019, according to Ridley Scott (soundtrack by Vangelis)

And things will get pretty restrictive around 2112:

Beyond that, from 2525 on, things just get worse:

Well, with all these dire prognostications, is it any wonder I like the music of bands like Yes and Nektar, whose spacey/futuristic lyrics and album-long works of music reveal a powerful tendency toward radical positivism*. These guys were “green” way before it was fashionable:

Let it grow, you know you need no sympathy
You don’t realize how much you needed me
you will never realize it’s better when you give
'Cos your life is longer than you live
The laws of nature are to heal the wounds of man
Use them right and they will help you if they can
Wrongly used and you’ll only harm yourself
Then it’s too late to come to me for help

Don’t walk away give it a chance
Let it grow!

(From Remember The Future, 1975)

Nektar (pre-MTV) video of “Let It Grow” in 1974

Without music like this (and Yes), I don’t think I could bear to think about our future.

* A term introduced to me by Bill Martin in his book Music of Yes: Structure and Vision in Progressive Rock

Let's leave 2009 on a positive note

2009-12-31T18:02:00.000-08:00

Well, 2009 probably won't go down as one of the best years in recent memory - lots of pain and angst in the world these days. But I came across this video from Take That and it brightened my day. I'm not exactly into "boy bands" (like, not at all) but this is the best Queen-like song I've heard since Mika's "Grace Kelly" (which actually came out a year later, in 2007).

It won't save the world, and isn't likely to change your life, but it makes me smile.

Happy New Year, see you in twenty-ten!

Sloan to the rescue!

2009-12-29T19:50:00.000-08:00

I was stuck in nasty traffic tonight due to a surprise snowstorm in Portland, and so took the opportunity to listen to a couple of new albums I hadn't heard yet.

First up was the Twilight Sad, Forget the Night Ahead. Droning and depressing, perfect for a cold and snowy night, but hard to take.

Then, I thought I'd try Fast 'n' Bulbous: The Captain Beefheart Project's Waxed Oop, a collection of instrumental versions of Captain Beefheart tracks across the years. Led by guitar player extraordinaire Gary Lucas, I was excited to hear this, but on playing, found it a bit uninspired. The highlight was a guest vocal appearance by Robyn Hitchcock on one track.

Lastly, I put on a five-track EP by Canadian band Sloan (no relation), Hit & Run, and suddenly everything was going to be alright.

I've been following Sloan since 1992, when their charming major label single "Underwhelmed" caught my attention during the height of the grunge movement. They've been turning out one fantastic album after another ever since, and while most bands start to run into creative lulls after 17 years, these guys just get better and better.

This EP is fantastic and is as good a place to start exploring their catalog as any. Super catchy melodies, wonderful vocal harmonies. Currently only available on their website as a download, but you can stream the whole thing and listen to it on your computer without purchase, as a "try before you buy" deal.

Looking forward to the next full length! (And hoping for an early thaw tomorrow.)

Favorite Albums of 2009

2009-12-23T23:37:00.000-08:00

Here are my Top 10 albums for 2009. There are certainly some "non-rock" albums in here, but so be it. These are the ones I've felt compelled to play repeatedly over the last year, so it's a personal choice, not (necessarily) a list of popular or critical favorites, although many of these received good reviews.

#10
Os Mutantes
Haih Or Amortecedor

This wonderful and wacky Brazilian band made a splash in the psychedelic 60’s, with fun tracks like “Bat Macumba” and “Rita Lee,” but petered out in the 70’s and didn’t release another studio album until this one. The title, by the way, is not literally translatable: Original member Sergio Dias says “’Haih’ is Shoshone for ‘raven’ [which explains the album cover] and ‘Amortecedor’ means ‘shock absorber.’ If you break down the word ‘amortecedor,’ you have like a hundred different words. Like an interjection, amo, which is I love, amore, which is love, amortece, love weaves, amortecedor, love weaves pain, tecedor, the weaver, and so it goes on, you know, like forever.” So there you go.

The language barrier is no problem, since the liner notes come with English translations, and the humor comes across musically regardless.

#9
They Might Be Giants
Here Comes Science

This one’s for the kids, but great for parents too: Songs about science, meticulously researched, but catchy as all get-out, with TMBG’s typical humor intact. Aside from their 1990 classic, Flood, I actually prefer their kids albums (Here Come the ABCs, Here Come the 123s, etc).

#8
Steve Martin
The Crow: New Songs for Five String Banjo

Yes, this is banjo music from that Steve Martin, the wild and crazy actor/author. I really shouldn’t have been surprised by the high quality of this disc, but I really was impressed. Nearly all original compositions, written over a 40-year span, this is proof that, as Martin once said, you “can’t play a sad song on the banjo.” With guest players like Vince Gill and Earl Scruggs – who don’t overwhelm the great playing of Martin himself – this is top-notch stuff.

I liked it so much I bought the pop-up version of the CD (pictured above in my home office).

#7
The Decemberists
The Hazards of Love

Colin Meloy’s visions just get grander and grander, with this 17-song prog-folk-rock-opera masterpiece. I can’t really follow the storyline without a few more senior year college credits under my belt, but no matter: On a purely musical scale, with its repeating themes and powerful melodies, this is a grabber that demands a full listen each time through.

#6
Muse
The Resistance

Muse continues their quest for worldwide dominance. “Resistance” is futile. As a friend of mine put it, we all “like a bit of Sturm und Drang from time to time.” Combine the bombast of late 70’s Queen with a Thom Yorke that didn’t freak out about stardom after OK Computer, and you’ve got a potent combination. I like them even better now that singer Matt Bellamy doesn’t take a huge gulp of air into the mic every time he’s about to sing.

Looking forward to seeing them in concert soon. Check out this performance at Wembley Stadium in 2007. Woohoo!
”Knights of Cydonia”live at Wembley

#5
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
11:11

Instrumental virtuosity from acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, originally from Mexico but now apparently citizens of the world, as they tour incessantly. (They put on a great show in Portland late this year.) The hooks are indelible, the rhythms insistent and ever-changing, and they push me to redefine rock music as something requiring electric guitars.

#4
The Soundtrack of our Lives
Communion

Though I'm afraid TSOOL will never hit the psychedelic heights of their 2001 breakthrough album Behind The Music, this year's double album Communion was a very strong effort, including quite a few anthemic and powerful tracks, such “Second Life Replay,” which builds to an oh-so-satisfying conclusion:

#3
Franz Ferdinand
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

An album-long song cycle about a debauched night out and its consequences, this didn’t grab me at first, but has gradually pulled me in and has spent as much time on my player(s) as any album of the past year. The lead track is a real grabber:

#2
Robyn Hitchcock
Goodnight Oslo

Hitchcock's compassionate weirdness continues unabated, and thank goodness. I've found his work in the 00’s the most accessible, with this and 2006's fabulous Ole Tarantula espeically enjoyable. He's embracing “music as vehicle for joy” more and more. Check out the great lyrics and beautiful harmonies on this track:

#1
Morton Valence
Bob and Veronica Ride Again

The debut album from this London, UK band is a gorgeous stunner. Bits of dreampop fuzz, French café strummings, lush male/female harmonizing make this a relaxing listen that goes well with early mornings or late nights in equal measure. I’ve played this many times and it continues to grow in stature. Initial pressings also come with a 100-page novella, a love story of sorts, with a lovely twist at the end.

(Full disclosure: The album is financed by individual investors, of which I am one. One listen to their first single “Chandelier” and I was hooked.) Here they perform an acoustic version on Radio Eins in Berlin:

There are, of course, hundreds of other great, deserving albums. No slight intended if I left your favorites off. But it's my blog eh, so there you go!

If you like any these already, or give some a try, let me know what you think. I'll be curious to hear if this music is as contagious and fun as I think it is.

Enjoy!

A little bit of soul

2009-12-23T11:07:00.000-08:00

I've never really gotten into the blues (too much focus on grief), but soul music is just what my spirit needs from time to time.

I love the "Philly sound" that peaked in the early 70's. When songs like The O'Jays "Back Stabbers" or The Spinners "I’ll Be Around" came on the radio, I enjoyed them just as much as the rock songs like "Ballroom Blitz" or “Suffragette City”(back when they were fresh). Matter of fact, the juxtaposition of soul and rock complemented each other quite nicely.

While rock music has continued in one form or another ever since, radio kind of "lost its soul," replaced along the way by disco, rap and hip hop, and soul went underground (i.e. out of the mainstream) for several decades. I got used to missing the comforting grooves of the Sound of Philadelphia, and really thought that golden era had come to a close.

So, when I got a "Pick of the Week" sampler from iTunes recently, I was surprised to hear a great soul track from Lee Fields' new album, My World, "Love Comes And Goes." It sounded like it was cut in 1971! Here's a live version of that track. Fantastic!

I've now listened to the whole album and every track is a winner.

Fields has been on the scene since the 70's but has never achieved mass recognition. I'm glad to see he's keeping the soul torch lit, and I think that his status might rise a bit with the release of this new album and a little push from iTunes. Hopefully it'll also bring exposure to more soul acts I might have missed in the last decade.

---

If you're looking for a good one-package roundup of great late 60's and early 70's soul, with classic tracks from The O'Jays, Spinners, Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes, Billy Paul, etc., check out the four-disc compilation issued in 2008 called Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia. (Of course, if you're looking for Motown - Temptations, Supremes, Marvin Gaye - head west and north a bit...)

The Cannon Song!!

2009-12-15T22:33:00.001-08:00

As I was driving home tonight, caught up in pouring rain and congested holiday commuter traffic, I played some of AC/DC's new archival release Backtracks, consisting of previously unreleased live performances from both the "Bon Scott years" (1974-1979; preferred) and the "Brian Johnson era" (1980-present). The final track on the CD was "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)," which took me back to 1981 when they played Portland's Memorial Coliseum (when it was a grand venue). They were at the height of their popularity and used some of their profits to bring along two large cannons. (The fun starts about 3:50)

As the song played in my car (not turned up to 11, mind you, just a respectable 9 or so), as the cannons kicked in, my mind suddenly flashed back much farther, to when I was a little kid.

I would pull out my favorite album, the 1812 Overture (or, according to the cover, the "Stereo Spectacular") by Tchaikovsky, played by the Morton Gould Orchestra and Band, put it on my parents' living room record player, and stare intently at the bold, vibrant colors of the cover painting while I waited for the cannons to come.

As I prepared for the finale, I would step up on the coffee table, and when the cannons started to go off, I would leap into the air, waving my arms like a madman conductor possessed. Now that was rock 'n' roll!

If you haven't heard this in a while, give this finale a listen (cannons start around 3:15). It's an incredible work.

While a classical music aficionado might turn his or her nose up at such lowbrow rock music, or an AC/DC fan might say that classical is "highfalutin," there is a common word that connects these two works: "Celebratory."

BOOM!

Hope this sparks your interest...

2009-12-10T23:03:00.000-08:00

I was wondering idly recently, "Who holds the title for most studio albums in my music collection?" The Beatles(11)? Rush(19)? Yes(10)? Queen(12)?.

The surprising answer, when I counted them all up, was Sparks, with 21, and a new one's just been released! (More on that in a bit.)

Sparks is essentially two brothers: Ron (keyboards) and Russell (vocals) Mael, originally from Los Angeles, who have added musicians as needed to create an album at an average rate of one every other year, for almost forty years!

What's really interesting is how these guys never quite sound the same from album to album, and somehow find a way to make each new style their own, and keep it interesting. The common thread among all their albums, though, is their Bob & Ray-style subtle sense of humor. And what's even cooler (and encouraging to me as the years roll by), is that they seem to be reaching ever higher creative peaks as they go.

Their first few albums in the early 70's were quirky but tuneful and catchy, always featuring Russell's soaring falsetto. Here's an example from 1974 (and proof that they could 'bring it' live)...

One could already see that though they sounded a bit glam, they never really took it very seriously, so when that movement died out suddenly in the mid-70's, Sparks were ready to move on. They touched on disco...

...and were ready for the MTV generation in the early 80's. They reached a peak of popular success when they teamed with The Go-Go's Jane Wiedlin for this song/video:

Sparks went through the inevitable musical doldrums in the late 80's and were largely forgotten by the mainstream pop buying public, including me. However, in 2000 I came across an Australian import release of Balls and after hearing the title track's lyrics...

You can wait for saviors
Meting out their favors
You can wait and wait
Hope may spring eternal
Sounds a bit maternal
Do you want to wait, or crash the gate

Balls. All you need are,
Balls. To succeed are
Balls. All you need are

...I was back on board the Sparks express.

Since then, quite gleefully contrary to advancing years and the law of entropy, they have continued to develop their sound, surprising my ears by integrating orchestra and choral embellishments, and adding performance-art videos to their live act, all the while deepening their weird and dry humor, which remains mysterious and at times just out of reach. Nice balancing act, that! They seem to know that when humor is too obvious, too easy to get, it loses its power.

A good example from recent years is "Dick Around," (2006), which plays on all their strengths: Striking musical shifts, lyrics that start out simple and silly and grow in complexity and emotion, and interesting visual imagery. And it really rocks out just past the one minute mark:

(Love those cats!)

I'm looking forward to the new album, The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, their 22nd studio effort, an English/Swedish radio play, no less! (One blogger's review here.). I'm planning to order the double vinyl off their website. Paying top dollar from a band directly; that's the highest compliment I can give to their enduring art.

Sparks discography

Smithereens Who?

2009-12-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

I first came across the "rock opera" Tommy in 1975 when my friend Ed called me up and said (conversation approximated due to slow memory fade),

"Dave, we have to go see the coolest movie ever!"

"What's it about?"

"It's about this guy who goes through all kinds of abuse and witnesses his father being murdered, and he gets traumatized so he can't hear, see or speak. Then he discovers pinball and becomes a spiritual guru. And the music really rocks."

"Sounds pretty weird. I'm not so sure..."

"Dave! Trust me on this! It's awesome. You're gonna love it."

"Okay, when's the next showing?"

Well, I saw the movie, starring Roger Daltrey as Tommy, Ann Margret as his mother, Oliver Reed as the evil stepfather, and a large cast of stars in musical cameos including Jack Nicholson, Tina Turner, Elton John and a disturbing appearance by Keith Moon as the quite perverted Uncle Ernie. It was a memorable experience, so I bought the soundtrack double album and played it many times over.

In my youthful ignorance I thought it was an original composition just for the movie. Little did I know that The Who had released the classic studio album six years previously! Guess I was just a little too young for such grand rock statements in 1969, where instead I was happy with the Beatles "Yellow Submarine" and The Monkees "Daydream Believer," thank you very much.

I caught up with the original several years later in a record shop and thinking: "What's this? Another version of Tommy? I should check this out!"

I still remember being struck with how quiet it sounded, as it was played mostly on acoustic guitars. Everything was muted but played with real intensity. For several years, I actually preferred the movie soundtrack because it rocked so much harder. (Especially the Elton John track "Pinball Wizard" which was a huge radio hit at the time.) It grew on me over time, however, so that by the 80s I was able finally to
appreciate it for the landmark rock masterpiece that it was. And so it
went, with occasional playings of remastered versions (never sounding
quite as majestic as I thought they could in my head) until I stumbled
across this, just released in 2009:

"Why this?" I wondered. I was especially dubious since the Smithereens' last project was a Beatles covers album, which frankly wasn't all that inspiring. I mean, how many bands have covered the Beatles? Well, Bill Crowley, in the liner notes, explains it best:

"What if the Live at Leeds or Who's Next Who had recorded a proper,
all-out rock studio version of Tommy's best songs, of which there are over a dozen? That's the musical dream that inspired The Smithereens to make this 40th anniversary tribute to one of the bands and albums that inspired their rock dreams of becoming a band in the first place."

Valid enough, and the proof is in the recording. By track 4, "Sparks,"
I was literally shouting "Woohoo!" out loud and grinning while flying
down Highway 26. It, quite simply, kicks ass. Purism aside (they only
recorded 13 of the "best" tracks from Tommy, not the entire double
album), this recording truly accomplishes its goal, a studio rendition
of Tommy with full-on electric bass and guitar and all the mastering
power 2009 recording technology can offer.

Check out the Customer Reviews: The Smithereens play Tommy on Amazon. Not very often you see this kind of enthusiasm for a covers project! Toss in a little of my beloved mellotron on the final track, and I'm in classic rock heaven.

As Roger Daltrey might say:

"YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Brunettes, Blondes and Redheads

2009-11-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

There’s a new generation of “hair bands” that I really like, but they’re not the kind your aunt rocked out to in the late 80’s. These come in a variety of colors for your listening pleasure:

The Brunettes, consisting Heather Mansfield and Jonathan Bree from New Zealand, play a lovely low-key but full-sounding and intelligent indie pop. Think Belle & Sebastian but fewer literary references, and slightly less twee (not that there’s anything wrong with twee, if done right). At times, they have a real Imperial Teen vibe, which is great.

Their latest album, 2007’s Structure And Cosmetics, has all kinds of orchestral accents: trumpet, melodica, etc, including my favorite non-standard-rock instrument, the mellotron. It all slipped by my ears the first time, but on second listen with lyric sheet in hand, I caught on to quite a bit of cleverness in the music and wordplay. Looking forward to their new album, Paper Dolls, due out February 2nd of next year.

In the meantime, check out the cute video they’ve released ahead of it:

~~~

Sheffield, England’s Long Blondes played a more aggressive indie pop/rock, somewhat in the style of Elastica but to my ears less derivative and just as much fun. There's a catchiness akin to Tragic Kingdom era No Doubt but with an English flair. Their 2007 album, Someone To Drive You Home was pure pop brilliance. They had a bit of a sophomore slump in 2008 with Couples, where they went for emotional and musical “growth” but just ended up sounding tired. The Long Blondes announced they were disbanding after guitarist Dorian Cox suffered a stroke, but hopefully they will stage a comeback at some point, or at least we'll hear more from Kate Jackson (the singer, not the Angel), who has a great voice for this kind of music.

~~~

Then there's Blonde Redhead, who's most recent album, 2007's 23 is pure captivating shoegaze with real power and mystery to it. Great for late night driving. This is the closest thing to Lush I've heard in a long time. Especially notable is Simone Pace's percussion on "Dr. Strangeluv." Listen for the cowbell starting at 1:38. Pure magic!

Here's a video from the album's title track. Crank it up and be carried away. Looking forward to hearing what they do next.

~~~

The Brunettes’ MySpace page
Long Blondes website
Blonde Redhead website

By the way, speaking of brunette singers, has anybody seen Justine Frischmann lately? Apparently she’s moved from the UK after her split with Blur’s Damon Albarn and is living in the Bay Area now.

Songs of Thanks

2009-11-26T12:16:00.000-08:00

In honor of Thanksgiving, here are a couple of my favorite "gratitude" songs...

ABBA "Thank You For Music"

Flaming Lips "Thank You Jack White for the Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me"

How do I love thee, Super Furry Animals?

2009-11-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

Let me count the ways:

1. They're Welsh!

2. Stylistic variation between songs! Examples:

3. Artistic growth over many albums!
allmusic overview

4. Obscure origins!
Early years as Welsh-only band

5. Side projects!
The Peth (Myspace), featuring SFA's drummer, Dafydd Ieuan.
Neon Neon (Myspace), featuring SFA singer Gruff Rhys.
Acid Casuals (website), featuring SFA keyboardist Cian Ciaran.

6. Furry costumes!

7. Intriguing singer with lots of personality and smooth voice!
Gruff Rhys singing “Turning Tide”

8. Cool album art!

8. Silliness!

9. Non-English-language double albums!
Mwng review

10. Most importantly, great tunes!
"International Language of Screaming"
"Sidewalk Serfer Girl"

~~~

Some more samples of their work:

Just grand. Keep it up, boys! You add joy to my life.

p.s. Oh, did I mention lots of cool videos?

SFA homepage

Uber Cover

2009-11-17T22:32:00.000-08:00

Some covers transcend their source material overwhelmingly.

Here's the (admittedly catchy) "My Girl (Gone Gone Gone)" by Vancouver, Canada's Chilliwack:

And then there's the sublime reinterpretation by the little-known Recess Monkeys, which captures nuances untapped previously:

The performance speaks for itself...

p.s. For info on Chilliwack, including a listen to their recent "Patent On The Wind" go to Bill Henderson's website.

(For info on the SCTV gang, you're on your own.)

Ono, it's Yoko! Again!

2009-11-12T06:54:00.001-08:00

I've always had a strained relationship with Yoko Ono's music. Always strikes me as grating, often weird just for the sake of being weird, and her voice isn't exactly mellifluous. If she weren't ever related to John Lennon, I probably wouldn't have checked out her music beyond a song or two, and certainly not followed her career for 40 years and counting. In all this time, she's only recorded a few tracks that I find accessible enough to listen to more than once.

But now there's an exception: The first track off of her new album, Between My Head And The Sky, is called "Waiting for the D Train" and it rocks (and swings). That bass is kickin!

Waiting for the D Train, Amazon MP3

The past is forgiven, Yoko! Your crazy ululating vocals are perfect for this track, and Sean Lennon jamming on the guitar just makes it all the better. Makes me happy to see them carrying on in such an unruly way. (At 76 years old, how many other women are doing crazy sh*t like this?) Give her credit!

Yoko on Jimmy Fallon Show

As for the rest of the album, I can't say it's a "keeper" but it is certainly consistent within her sonic universe. Some songs are simple and poetic, like "Feel The Sand" and "Healing," where she urges "Let's put all the sad songs together and change the negative energy, to create a beautiful future." Hippy sentiments, yes, but regardless of your feelings about Ms. Ono, you could say a lot worse things in a song.

A Camel and some Wolfmen

2009-11-10T23:38:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit of a student of the cover song. I've collected about 40 CDs' worth of covers I "just have to have for that perfect moment" (which may be in 5-10 years). What makes a cover version so compelling I must add it to my library? Some possibilities:

1. It reinvents the original in a new and interesting way. Good examples are Devo's rendition of the Rolling Stones "I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)" or Nouvelle Vague's peppy version of the Violent Femmes "Blister In The Sun."

2. It offers a sonic upgrade on the original. Def Leppard did an admirable job of this with the T. Rex classic "20th Century Boy" recently.

3. It reveals emotional depths of a song, possibly untapped before. Like what Grant-Lee Phillips did with the Psychedelic Furs "Love My Way."

Today's happy find touches on all three, to some degree. Here's the original weirdly humurous and somewhat mystical Brian Eno song from his 1974 album Here Come The Warm Jets (with amusing camel photo to ponder while you listen to the lyrics).

And here's the propulsively played cover by UK's The Wolfmen (featuring two members of the late 70's Siouxsie & The Banshees[!]) from 2008:

The latter one certainly doesn't replace the original. Eno was (and is) brilliant and this song is clear evidence of that. But the cover, as I recently came across it in Little Steven's "Coolest Songs In The World" series (at Vol. 8 and counting)brought it back into my awareness. And for that, I'm grateful.

"There's no such name as Brahbrah"

2009-11-05T21:50:00.000-08:00

What's the name of that band?

It's right there in mind, but I can't quite grasp it...

Oh yes, Flight Of The Conchords! Those cheeky New Zealanders have released a CD of songs from Season Two of their HBO series. In case you're not familiar with these humorous Kiwis, here's a sample:

So how do the new songs compare with the breakthrough collection from Season One released in 2008? Not bad at all. There aren't any bust-a-gut genius tracks like "Business Time" or "Robot" or a brilliant spoof/tribute like "Bowie" (on YouTube) but Jermaine and Bret have come up with a consistent set of tracks that put a smile on my face from the first track "Hurt Feelings" (exposing rappers' sensitive side) through to the finale "Angels," complete with heavenly choir. A highlight for me is "Petrov, Yelyena and Me" which sounds like Ween doing a cabaret sendup. I give them a lot of credit for coming up with such a variety of material in one year while producting a TV show and recording the songs. If this is a "sophomore slump," it's only in comparison to the heights achieve on their first season/album.

If you're a fan of the show, you've probably already heard the songs in truncated form anyway. The CD just lets you hear them in full, in the car or on your iPod while walking, without the distraction of the episode plot. Good to have them around.

I hope they do another season, but I've read that they found the whole experience of filming a TV show quite exhausting, and I predict this will be it...for the show, not for the Conchords themselves. I have a feeling they will go on longer than that other famous pop/folk duo, Simon & Garfunkel, that they so skillfully impersonate in Episode 7.

Do you prefer your Beatles in stereo or mono?

2009-11-04T06:05:00.000-08:00

Or either or neither? That's fine too.

With the 2009 (at last!) remastered reissues of the entire Beatles catalog, I'm dutifully listening to each and every one, including the mono versions. I'm not going about it in an organized or sequential way, but instead listening as they arrive: by mail from Amazon, in person from Starbucks or the local library, or from my friend Nick (thanks Nick!), so I'm not doing that "evaluate the artists' growth from hopped-up Hamburg-happenin' urchins to world weary studio warriors who had to 'let it be' an eventful seven years later" thing. Not today, anyway. I'm just going to talk briefly about the issue of mono vs. stereo, their first album Please Please Me in particular.

As the reissue liner notes point out, mono was the preferred format in the early to mid 60's, and stereo records were released only in small numbers for hi-fi listeners. They recorded the whole album in one day (!) to only two tracks, so when creating the stereo mix, all the voices went on the right side and all the instruments went on the left. Listening to this "fake stereo" mix now, I notice quite a bit of bleed-through of each to the other side. If it weren't for that, it would sound really weird. I mean, how does a band of four guys singing and playing guitars simultaneously somehow put their voices on one side of you and their instruments on the other? Not physically possible.

So the official release, and reissue, of this album really should be the mono version, where you hear all the instruments and voices in one big mash on all sides of your ears, which is what you would've heard if you'd seen them from the back of Liverpool's Cavern Club in 1962 anyway. (Or more likely, out of one little speaker in your car.) But the mono version is only available with the box set (all you need is cash...it's pricey), and that's a shame, because most people will only hear this "stereo" version.

Someday, I hope a studio wizard isolates each voice and instrument and creates a truer stereo mix, putting John, Paul, George and Ringo in different places in your headphones, so you can close your eyes and imagine them playing here, there, but not everywhere.

Devo's "Are We Not Men?" Again!

2009-11-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

"Deluxe"
"Remastered"

Hey, okay, so major labels are desperately repackaging old stuff to sell as new, because, frankly, aside from Taylor Swift, Clay Aiken, etc. they ain't got much good stuff left to peddle. All the good bands are either releasing on smaller indie labels that give them more creative control, or starting their own labels and just doing it themselves. See Morton Valence, for example: homepage

So, when I see the words "Deluxe" and "Remastered" mentioned in a major label release, I'm a little suspicious. But, er, I have a weakness: "Bonus tracks!" Warner Bros. reissued Devo's classic 1978 major-label debut today, and they included not just a couple of B-sides, or demo tracks (which I usually only want to hear once anyway), but in this case, an entire concert of the whole album performed live in 2009 in London. Since I couldn't be there for that special event, this is the next best thing. My order is placed; thanks Warner Bros. for once in a great while offering good value for the money! (Only $9.99!)
Amazon - Devo: Are We Not Men? Deluxe Remastered Version

Oh, and in case you're wondering why I'm so excited about "that weird band who had one hit in the 80's," this excerpt from an Amazon reviewer Jason Gilmour sums it up well:

"DEVO created a kind of glorious primitive futurism that is complex while being darkly funny. 'Are We Not Men' is a blistering manifesto."

Rush fans: Neil Peart sighting (er, hearing)

2009-10-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you who like Neil Peart's drumming but not Geddy Lee's singing (how could that be? but I hear you do exist), I've got a song for you: The closing track to Vertical Horizon's recent release Burning the Days, called "Even Now." Neil played drums, wrote the lyrics, and in classic Rush tradition, helped push the song length to nearly 7 minutes! It's an epic track and sounds really good. Nice mainstream American rock, with a Canadian twist.

Available here, among other places:
Amazon - Burning the Days on MP3

Why don't they make 'em like this anymore?

2009-10-21T22:36:00.001-07:00

Lush was a (relatively) short-lived band from London who combined "shoegaze" guitar dynamics (lots of fuzz and feedback) with broad spectrum girl-group harmonies. They reached a peak early on with the song Superblast from the 1992 album Spooky.

I can listen to this 10 times for any track from Nirvana (a band of some note active around that time).

Do you shout over the music?

2009-10-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Talking over music is like spitting on a painting. It obscures the art. Turn it down, or better yet off, and have a good conversation.

Singing with music with all your heart is entering into communion. Turn it up and sing out loud!