One of the best reasons for starting my own web site is to give myself a place to rant about the music I love! If anything here rings bells for you, I’d be glad to hear about it, and to take suggestions of things you think I should hear. If you want even more amateur music input, try my daughter Emma’s site too.
February 24, 2010
Loving Ivor Cutler
As a young teen, I’d listen to fuzzy radio broadcasts of the Dr. Demento show from a station in New York. With my trusty tape recorder, I’d record each episode and then edit them down to a personal “best of” novelty songs collection.
Topping the list was a very odd but incredibly compelling song by a Scot named Ivor Cutler, “I’ve Got No Common Sense.” The words to that ’song’ have stuck in my head ever since, and it’s popped into my head and stayed there (sometimes too long) repeatedly over the last 30 years. Cutler doesn’t really sing, and in this song scratches a violin tunelessly as accompaniment. But his words came from such a strange place that they fire all kinds of connections that make them endlessly compelling. For a long time, that one song was all I knew of Cutler.
About ten years ago, I stumbled on an actual Ivor Cutler CD, A Wet Handle. I had reservations, figuring that the novelty might be pretty thin considering I’d formed my attachment to one of his songs at the age of 13 or so. However, the 80-odd short tracks on that CD were every bit as odd and wonderful as ‘No Common Sense.’ Each short poem is delivered in Cutler’s flat Scottish brogue, and takes a listener on wee vacations into the unexpected. Some are truly bizarre, near-nonsense poems, some make sharp personal or political observations. All of them make you want to stick around and listen to the next one.
Having Ivor Cutler on my iPod is my favourite way to hear him. I’ve added A Flat Man to my Cutler collection, giving me over 150 tracks that pop up frequently between the regular songs on rotation, and insert a bit of well-needed weirdness into my day. It’s hard to not stop and listen to a Cutler poem or song. His voice is quiet, his delivery rarely changes its tone, and yet I can’t help but quiet down and hear him out. Even if I know all the words already.
If you’re a listener who aches for an occasional poke in the head from a kindly trickster, I can’t recommend Ivor Cutler strongly enough.
January 31, 2010
Rediscovering Tom Ze
As an ardent Talking Heads fan in the 80s, I was one of the many who followed David Byrne down his Luaka Bop track into the world of Brazilian music. The original Brazil Classics album was not a life-changer for me, but I do remember liking the quirkiness of the couple of Tom Ze tracks that were included.
I’m not sure what prompted me to check out Tom Ze again recently (I’ve never seen a review anywhere), but I did. And this time, it is as close to being a life changer as any music has ever been.
The first album I stumbled upon was Danç-Êh-Sá, from 2006. Tom Ze is now around 70 years old. In the 70s, he was popular and political and being arrested for his lyrics by the Brazilian government. I can’t think of a single American/Canadian/British artist who was famous in the 70s and is still making music that is as wonderful and adventurous as Tom Ze. Most artists take on their role of stately elder by either softening their edges and “maturing” or repeatedly doing the same thing they’ve always done.
Tom Ze gets his hands on some digital recording technology and completely re-imagines what a song can be. I don’t speak Portugese, but I don’t think he does on this album either. Instead, there are voices as instruments, sometimes his own winking croon and often choruses of harmonizing backup singers, all spouting perfect nonsense.
I described this album to my friend Jackson the other night as the sound of a playful and irreverent 10-year old boy inhabiting the body of a musical genius. I can’t think of a better way of putting it. Silly little vocal musings, almost-fart sounds, the kind of little riffs that a clever kid could pluck out on a guitar and find awesome… all of these find a home in songs put together by a master of rhythm and timing. And now that he can play with samples too, things get truly awesome. There is always the anchor of great Brazilian rhythm, but never in a predictable, repetitive way. And the goings-on over top of those shifting, irresistible rhythms twist and turn and provide constant surprise and delight. Not because he’s come up with great “one-liners” that are momentarily amusing, but because he can insert so many elements into a song that are both perfect and unexpected.
It’s nearly impossible to describe this album in words, but I’ve been playing it repeatedly for a couple of weeks now, and I continue to want to put it on again as soon as it’s done. There are many other Tom Ze albums (I’m still wading through them), and if you’d like a gentler introduction to his music, the Brazil Classics: Best of Tom Ze is a good place to start.
But if you want a full immersion into the world of a brilliant artist who continues to hit new creative peaks in his seventh decade, then you can’t do better than Danç-Êh-Sá.
January 18, 2010
Cover Songs Playlist
I just love a good cover song. One that creates something more than the original version offered. One that stands on it’s own, whether you know the source or not.
I’ve been building up a list of my favourite covers for a while now. Here they are…
Take Me To The River, Talking Heads
The Fat Lady of Limbourg, Shivaree
This Must Be the Place, Arcade Fire
Moonage Daydream, Danny Michel
Shout Bama Lama, The Detroit Cobras
Hard To Handle, The Black Crowes
Sweet Thing, The Waterboys
Lady Stardust, Danny Michel
Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except for Me and My Monkey, My Brightest Diamond
Burning Down the House, Tom Jones
The Man Who Sold The World, Nirvana
Brimful Of Asha, Fatboy Slim
Young Lust, Luther Wright & The Wrongs
Rock el Casbah, Rachid Taha
I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone, Paul Revere & The Raiders
Milkshake, pictures
Walt Whitman’s Niece, Billy Bragg & Wilco
Helter Skelter, Derwood Andrews
Hey Sailor, The Detroit Cobras
I’m a Believer, The Monkeys
I Heard It Through The Grapevine, The Slits
Norwegian Wood, Cornershop
Another Brick In The Wall-Part 2, Luther Wright & The Wrongs
Too Drunk To Fuck, Nouvelle Vague
Young Americans, Danny Michel
Yer Blues, Eugene McGuinness
Sinfonía Agridulce, Mexican Institute of Sound
Ashtray Heart, The White Stripes
Grown So Ugly, The Black Keys
I Wanna Be Like You, The Morning Benders
This Is Not A Love Song, Nouvelle Vague
Track ‘em down and let me know what you think. And I’m always, always open to suggestions for new additions to the list…
January 8, 2010
Best of 2009 List
Those of you who know me well know that I’m a list junkie. I love reading people’s rankings of things, and best of all I like end-of-the-year (or end of decade) lists of music.
I’ve threatened to make my own lists for years. Now, with my own website I have no reason not to finally do it.
So here’s my 2009 best music list. Because this is my own page, my own rules apply! Music on this list didn’t have to be released in 2009, but only had to come to my attention in 2009.
Without further ado (and in roughly alphabetical order):
The Acorn – Glory Hope Mountain
Lots of bands are doing the quiet-ish and quirky-ish folk thing these days, but nobody does it better than The Acorn. The songs have a drive that is often lost when the mood is quiet. Each song feels unique, is memorable and brings a palpable emotion with it. The vocals are “indie” but without the strain or intentional hiccups that come with less skilled singers. This group really seems to know when to change things up, from chants and handclaps to African guitar runs, everything works. A truly beautiful album. http://www.myspace.com/theacorn
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Most of what I read about this album before I heard it celebrated its “accessibility.” As a real lover of the outrageous and tipsy Sung Tongs, this worried me. And at first listen, this effort was way too Beach Boys-ey for my liking. It was only when the songs would come up individually on my iPod’s shuffle that I would think that this was a really good song. A few such occasions made me go back and try it again as a whole. It’s pretty impressive. True, it’s no longer as off-kilter as their earlier stuff, but these guys can really pack a song with interesting stuff and take it almost to overload, but they sure can sing and keep it pretty and tuneful enough to pull me along. And I keep liking it more as I listen, so this one will continue into 2010. http://www.myspace.com/animalcollective
Bon Iver – Blood Bank EP
I typically don’t like EPs, being an old-fashioned album lover. And this one makes it clear why they bug me… if they’re really good, I want more. And that’s certainly the case with this one. An artist with a definitive sound like this (For Emma, Forever Ago) can easily fall into repetition, but that doesn’t happen here. The sound from the first album gets stretched, distorted and messed with, without losing whatever it was that worked the first time around. Bon Iver using the same vocal distortions as Cher? It works. http://www.boniver.org/
The Books – The Lemon of Pink (or Thought for Food, or Lost and Safe)
This is one of the picks that wasn’t new in 2009, but The Books were one of my best discoveries of the year, and I listened to all three albums a lot. The Lemon of Pink is my favourite, although I tend to skip the first two songs and go right to the remarkable “tokyo.” The Books blend acoustic instruments and skippy electronics and samples in the best possible way. The songs work as real songs, not as little wandering experiments, with the electronics contributing not just bits of ear candy but essential elements of the tune. I listened to them a lot, and it’s still working! www.thebooksmusic.com/
Brian Eno – Before and After Science
Another not-new pick. This was a big-time favourite of mine back in high school, and was responsible for a fair bit of “horizon-widening” at the time. I heard it playing in a store (!) this year and immediately went and re-listened. It’s still a damn fine record, and sounds surprisingly contemporary despite being released in 1977. The depth of the sound is impressive; it has none of that hollow feeling that older recordings sometimes have. The song writing is funny, sometimes indulgent and always engaging. Eno’s voice is affected, but it works in these settings. The album has moments of really rocking out, and lots of hints of the ambient Eno to come, and they all fit together well. If you remember this one, listen again. If you’ve never heard it, prepare to be amazed at what was going on in pop music over 30 years ago! http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/
Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
Ever since my friend Brent sent me a copy of I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning I’ve been amazed by Conor Oberst’s song writing. Lots of people write really good songs, very few write songs that sound like classics the very first time you hear them. He knows how to put all the “right” elements into a song, but doesn’t leave it at that. There’s always a quirk or two that defines the song, and that’s what makes a song last. You wait for the quirks, you memorize them, and the tune is what takes you on the ride past them. While not as consistently inventive and engaging as I’m Wide Awake, this one has enough great songs to put it on constant rotation. And I like it better than the Mystic Valley recording, which was a bit too just plain good for my liking. http://www.conoroberst.com/
Delta 5 – Singles and Sessions
As a fan of late 70s funk-punk, I was shocked when I heard Delta 5 for the first time this year. How could I have missed this? As a perennial Talking Heads fan, I’ve often wondered why nobody else seemed to do what they did as well as they did it. Well, Delta 5 did. I’ve pared the album down a bit, but the songs I really like are really good. Whitey-funk bass lines, shout-along female vocals, chittery guitars… this one made me laugh, sing along and shake my whitey butt!
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
I have no idea what the title means, but the album has really grown on me. It’s one of those ones that I listened to and then couldn’t quite figure out why I wanted to put it on again, but I did. And then I did it again. Etc. The mix of the two women singers and the male singer keeps the sound lively. There’s no definitive sound here, between songs or within individual songs. They nod to oddball folk, punk-funk, indie rock and lots more beside. But instead of sounding scattered like it so easily could have, something holds it all together. The fact that I can’t figure out what the glue that holds it together might be is probably what keeps me coming back. http://www.myspace.com/dirtyprojectors
ESG – A South Bronx Story
This one is similar to my discovery of Delta 5. How did I not know about this stuff when it came out? Three New York sisters, a drummer and a guitarist, these guys are sampled everywhere, and for good reason. They made very stark, beat based, proto-hip hop/funk with minimalist, repeated lyrics. At their best, they sound fresh and revolutionary today. Cool stuff.
Fire on Fire – The Orchard and Forest Fire – Survival
I’ve lumped these two together, because between them they’ve taking up a lot of listening time this year. For the longest time I’d have to check to see which one was playing (the fault of my bad memory more than the similarity musically). I like bands that take folk/pop songwriting conventions and twist them into something unstable yet recognizable. Both of these do that to perfection. Multi-instrumental attacks and a fair bit of chaos rule, but the majority of the songs are strong enough at the core that they end up being enhanced by the goings-on. Sort of a beauty in the beast thing. http://www.myspace.com/fireonfiremusic http://www.myspace.com/fuckforestfire
Grampall Jookabox – Ropechain
I’m not sure this is a great album. But it’s odd and compelling enough that I keep checking it out to see if I really do like it or not. Sometimes I do, sometimes not so much. But never not so much that I don’t go back again. This band is so post-everything it barely makes sense. Songs like You Will Love My Boom, I Will Save Young Michael (as in MJ) and We Know We Might Be Fucked are prog-rock/funk/rap meltdowns that only barely hang together as songs. And yet I put them on and am compelled to hear them through. Weird. http://www.myspace.com/jookabox
Juana Molina – Un Dia
This album was a compulsion for months… I couldn’t get enough of it. And it still works, even though I came dangerously close to overplaying it. I’m at a loss as to how to describe this music. It’s sung in Spanish, so I have no idea what she’s saying. Acoustic instruments and vocals layer over one another into something dense and otherworldly and the songs are fairly long and envelope you in a mood that’s quite ecstatic for something that’s quite low key. Just listen, and prepare to be hypnotized. http://www.juanamolina.com/
Nigeria Rock Special
You know when somebody’s doing something that takes a lot of talent, but it’s a bit corny? It can be embarrassing, right? But if they’re doing that something with all their formidable talent and it’s being done completely, absolutely sincerely, the corniness vanishes and becomes awesomeness. That pretty much describes the music on this album. These are Nigerian musicians in the 1970s, freaking out on James Brown, Sly Stone and crazy social changes in their own country. They take all their own formidable talents and musical traditions and apply them full bore to funking out like stone soul Americans, and the result gets endless play in my house! http://www.soundsoftheuniverse.com/releases/?id=11954
Mexican Institute of Sound – Soy Sauce
Lots of bands have taken traditional Mexican music and instruments and warped them into modern dance music (Nortec Collective etc), and lots of musicians have built new-world music by ignoring all borders of language and style (Manu Chao etc). The Mexican Institute of Sound does both on this record, and I love it. It’s excellent, it’s funny and I keep playing it. You should too! http://www.myspace.com/mexicaninstituteofsound