We’ve talked at length about the rainy days of the heart, and the rainy days of the mind. All that’s left is the rainy days of the natural world. I don’t know what it’s like where you’re surfing from, but someone’s been toggling the downpour switch here in Southern California. Our manic rainy day season deserves a soundtrack, something appropriately somber, wet, but not necessarily gloomy. After all, there is both a joy and a sadness in puddles, gray skies and the cold.
So for those of us getting drenched, here’s a VSQ-friendly playlist for all your rainy day needs. Stay dry out there, but not too dry.
Alanis Morisette – “Thank U”
An intrinsic part of any late ’90s hit compilation, it may be safe to take this one out of the nostalgia box during the April showers. The reflective tone, mid-tempo pacing and subdued prettiness make this a comfortable fit for early morning drizzles. There’s something about water from the sky that turns people inward – maybe it’s the fact that we can’t as freely go out into the world, or that we keep to ourselves to stay warm and dry and wrapped up. Whatever the reason, “Thank U” should make decent company.
Bon Iver – “Blood Bank” If rain songs are about hitting that sweet spot of quietness and intimacy, Bon Iver does that mess all the time. While “Skinny Love” is the obvious career standout that even your Mom really likes, it’s something like “Blood Bank” that stands out as a really good rain song. Bon Iver foregoes his trademark falsetto to tell us a story that alternates between a heartbeat-style drums and fragile, quiet moments. What more do you need to compliment an afternoon walk among the flooded gutters, or the tap tap tap of the rain?
Interpol – “Hands Away” Interpol isn’t a band that reels it back very often, but they’re certainly capable of it. “Hands Away” is a slow burner, slowly picking up steam as the seconds tick by. It’s got a focus on ambiance and atmosphere, instead of hooks and lyrics, that results in a whole lot of beautiful tension. It’s the tension that sets the rainy mood for listeners and keeps things sharp and steady.
Amy Winehouse – “Take The Box” Is there anything as fitting for gray days than a hearty soul song? The Frank track “Take The Box” is a reminder of what we lost with Amy Winehouse. A smooth, flexible voice adds romance to the rain that would otherwise just be an inconvenience. Despite being about an emotionally trying time, the song is restrained with a calm class, but still manages to relieve the heart’s traffic. It’s completely soulful for these slowed down days.
Massive Attack – “Weather Storm” Trip hop’s down-tempo ambiance and electronic stylings make it great dark weather music. But “Weather Storm” doesn’t completely conform to that definition – it’s definitely more jazzy, perhaps more suited to hypnotism than introversion. A good rain song isn’t about engaging your full attention, but setting up intangible feelings to color the scene. A subtle, wordless 5 minutes from Massive Attack will do that for you and then some.
Be Sure to Check Out:
The String Quartet Tribute to Alanis Morrissette’s Jagged Little Pill Available at Amazon
Vitamin String Quartet Performs Bon Iver
Available at iTunes and Amazon
InterStellar: The String Quartet Tribute to Interpol
Available at iTunes and Amazon
Vitamin String Quartet Performs Amy Winehouse
Available at iTunes and Amazon
Who could forget Nelly’s 2002 hit “Hot in Herre?” It inspired many covers even by non-rap groups (looking at you, Coldplay), including one by miss Jenny Owen Youngs. Youngs adds some fun gender role reversal and cute folk-rock strumming to the otherwise hot and heavy hip hop song. She soothingly suggests “it’s gettin’ hot in here, so take off all your clothes” to a monotonous chorus of men chanting back “I am getting’ so hot, I wanna take my clothes off” (they also cleverly replace “Nelly just fall out” with “Jenny just fall out” in the background of the last verse). Matching the quirkiness of the song, the video takes place in an igloo nightclub where Eskimos, penguins and polar bears join Youngs at the bar.
At first, the soaring “woh-ohs,” indie harmonies and heavy British accents seem a funny match for American R&B band City High’s “What Would You Do?” from 2001. But when the cliché hip hop lyrics of “Saturday night I was at this real wild party / They had the liquor overflowing the cup / About five or six strippers trying to work for a buck” turn into the urban philosophical question of “What would you do if your son was at home / Crying all alone on the bedroom floor / ‘Cause he’s hungry / And the only way to feed him is to / Sleep with a man for a little bit of money,” the song comes into its own. Regardless of who is singing, no matter the musical genre or even subject matter, the lyrical response of “Get up on my feet and stop making up tired excuses” is transcendent, life-affirming advice.
Sometimes you really like a song, but if you hear it one more time, you might throw your radio out of the car window. The cure for this predicament of loving a worn-out song? Covers. That’s why I found it refreshing to hear Kentucky-born singer-songwriter Dawn Landes add her own bluegrass swing to Swedish band Peter Bjorn & John’s 2006 indie-pop favorite “Young Folks.” The YouTube video even features the young songstress recording the cover with older male backup singers, personifying the dichotomy of different age groups in the chorus: “And we don’t care about the young folks / Talking ’bout the young style / And we don’t care about the old folks / Talking ’bout the old style too.”
As it was explored last time, there are certain songs that are forever fresh because they are powerfully covered in every era. These are the songs that wriggle their way into the minds of listeners, and moreso into other creators. They’re inescapable and beg to be reborn in new, interesting and revealing ways. One of the most successful, constantly covered songs is the timeless and heart exploding Joy Division hit, “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”
Part of it is that the song was a legend in its own time having been released just before Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis committed suicide. But the song has outlasted the initial myth-making and found new audiences who latch onto something else in its dark reflections, spacious ’80s sound and catchy driving melody.
When Nouvelle Vague covered it in their 2004 self-titled debut in slick bossa nova form, they stripped it of its urgency and made the tragedy of the relationships seem relaxing, which is a whole new tragedy unto itself. It’s a cover that reveals to us that you can change the whole sound and atmosphere, but if the lyrics remain (“Resentments ride high, emotions won’t grow”) you can never fully lose the powerful weight of a song.
There are different ways to perform surgery on a song. Indie titans Broken Social Scene took a stab at it on the soundtrack to The Time Traveler’s Wife, and they removed any semblance of pop riffs in favor of something that brings slow motion drowning to mind. Kevin Drew apparently tries to do a distorted imitation of Ian Curtis’ voice, which may be a little odd, but it’s a dramatic performance all the same. Nouvelle Vague giggles, and Broken Social Scene bellows.
Even simplifying a song to its barest elements will do things to the message. Evelyn Evelyn, a duo made of Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley, have the song set to a ukelele and a large, empty room. Palmer whispers sickly into the mic and Webley is a somber monotone, but the most telling change is that this is now a duet. What was once Curtis’ painfully personal expression of defeat is suddenly the saddest agreement. It’s one thing for one speaker to lose hope, but to hear it in a quiet call & response style shows that “Love Will Tear Us Apart” has plenty of darkness to mine.
Yet one of the most notable covers of the song in recent times, and one of the most straightforward is singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez’s acoustic take. It’s the type of cover that is so effortless and organic that a newcomer might assume the song is meant to be this way. It approximates everything from the building drum hits to the subtle urgency shifts with nothing more than a six-string guitar, and that’s amazing and infectious. Breaking a song down to its bare sonic elements, the way a lot of VSQ songs do in fact, has the best results when it retains the pieces that are more than just notes and instruments. It’s energy, mindset, story and all the other intangibles that aren’t easy to translate. Jose Gonzalez’s version isn’t quite the new wave despair of the original, but it’s remarkably faithful to the other parts that matter most.
String Quartet Tribute to New Order & Joy Division
Available at iTunes and Amazon
Final exams have barely wrapped. That was rough, right? Even a couple years removed, I still accurately remember the endless weariness, the desperate futility, and the all nighters that concluded not when you finally nailed down the material, but when you had given up and made peace with whatever grade would come your way.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember that so many have gone through the trials and tribulations of higher education. I mean, yeah, a lot of people have an education in their background, but even people you don’t expect. Case in point: legendary punk rockers.
Greg Graffin of veteran punk rock band Bad Religion is a man of learning. A double major in geology and anthropology, he went on to get a Master’s degree at UCLA and then a PhD at Cornell University. He can reasonably be called Dr. Graffin, PhD of zoology and lead singer of Bad Religion. But what’s most stunning about this is that the doctorate came in 2003 – well after he had found fame and notoriety through his music. Today, he can be found part of the time giving lectures in life sciences. In between world tours and recording sessions, Graffin made time to pursue formal knowledge, and that’s as punk as anything else.
But it’s Bad Religion – you might expect a band as wordy and political as them to be a bit nerdy, right? The real delight is when you make a judgment on an artist based on their work, only to find out that you are wrong (probably.) I give you: Ke$ha. The be-dollared alias of Kesha Sebert apparently has a near-perfect SAT score, indicating a potential for gargantuan intelligence, or at least, test taking skills. It throws her music into a new context – perhaps the insistence on including a dollar sign in her name is a subtle critique of exploitative consumerism! Or maybe it just looks cool. Even the studious just want to do cool things.
Of all the tags you could attach to musicians, one of the least expected has to be “astrophysicist.” But that’s precisely what Brian May of Queen is, and that’s mountains more difficult than your garden variety degrees. Were it not for Queen’s rocket to superstardom, the man would have had his PhD much earlier. How strange it must be to be thinking of the velocity of interplanetary dust, and then shifting your mindspace to eclectic, operatic rock & roll epics.
It’s always fun to see people with a wealth of intellectual cred pursue something outside of their field. It’s also fun to find out what the musicians of our time did before getting traction in song making. When those two sensations are combined, it gives depth to the people behind the mic, and reminds us that even with an education, you still have the capacity to make some wild turns.
Check Out:
The String Quartet Tribute to Bad Religion: History Repeating
After catching wind that Jack White of the White Stripes is set to release a solo album, headline Hangout Music Festival and perform at Sasquatch in Washington, we must say, the man has us all in a bit of a tizzy. So why the long faces? Mr. White was recently quoted in an interview with NME saying there is “absolutely no chance” of a White Stripes reunion. . . Unless both he and Meg concurrently end up bankrupt, which is unlikely.
But fear not, fellow mourners. Apparently during his solo sets, Jack’s been peppering in a few White Stripes tunes in addition to his new songs. So between Jack, White Stripes past releases, and our string quartet renditions of the bands’ best hits, we’ll never have to go without.
It was almost exactly two years ago that the music world lost Mark Linkous, better known as Sparklehorse. Under this name, he worked with everyone from Danger Mouse to Thom Yorke and even filmmaker David Lynch. It’s not so simple to describe what he sounded like, but it was easy to describe how his music felt: Often peaceful, but with a heavy underlying pain. When we lost Linkous, it brought to mind the old adage that all artists suffer for their work. Sometimes that’s a romanticized notion, as if darkness in music is actually an exciting flavor, but when we lose an artist of Linkous’ talent, it reminds us that some artists suffer more than others.
In a eulogy written by Emily Haines of Metric, she said his music made us feel as though we were “stones on a river bed.” It’s an apt image, one that’s both tumultuous and peaceful, but still buried underwater. His music could sound like classic 90s alternative with driving riffs, but with a lo-fi fuzz that gave it distance as on the songs “Happy Man” or “Pig,” or he could bring it down to unparalleled intimate levels as on “It’s A Wonderful Life.” A lot of singer-songwriters sing in a sort of breathy, quiet tone, but Linkous sang in levels below whispering. It was weak, like a faint radio signal, but it conveyed more heart than any amount of hollering.
He always seemed to live near the edge of tragedy. An accidental overdose in the 90’s left him wheelchair bound for months, which became fodder for his album Good Morning Spider, a well received and often troubled album about the climb toward happiness, the fragility of our lives and the kicking of loneliness, all wrapped up in catchy, mellow melodies. It was as soothing as sadness could get.
One way to judge an artist’s talent is by the opinion his peers have of him. If that is in anyway reflected by the sheer amount of collaborations Linkous had, then it’s safe to say he was pretty well respected. Even before his collaboration with Danger Mouse and David Lynch on the album Dark Night of the Soul, which featured mind-blowing all-stars on each track, he was already hammering things out with veterans like Tom Waits. His talent didn’t go unrecognized.
Still, it all came to an end just two years ago. He was the type of artist who felt like he made music because he had to – because there was no other way to beat back the darkness. It was the kind of too-real core that made his music both thrilling and uncomfortable, in the same way some Elliott Smith songs are now haunting to listen to. Mark Linkous deserves to be remembered as a reminder that there’s a cost to making music and that tortured suffering shouldn’t be a requirement. But even above all that, he was another great songwriter lost to us, and a unique mind that couldn’t be spared.
If you’re a fan of Tenacious D, you probably heard recently that they’re finally coming out with their 3rd album this year. It’s a great time to come out with new material, as the success of Flight of the Conchords and Lonely Island have propelled the world of parody music to new heights. It’s the right time to continue the popularity of the medium.
Has there ever been a greater time for joke music than the last ten years or so? If there is a golden age for this type of thing, then it’s got to be now. The whole genre has taken a peculiar evolution and split into different beasts so that it may exist both in the straight music world and along the comedy circuits. It’s also evolved from the point of parody into more of a self-deprecating celebration of genres, where the butt of the joke isn’t the style or band they’re mocking anymore, but the performers themselves.
If we want to talk about the history of musical comedy, there’s always the Vaudeville tradition of variety shows that featured comedy and music in some acts, but much of the explosion seems to have come in the last 30 years, with rapid growth in the last 10. The biggest of which is, of course, the ever present and immortal “Weird Al” Yankovic, who got famous for parodying Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” with “Eat It” and achieved modern sales success for parodying Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’” with “White & Nerdy.”
The interesting thing about the through line from Weird Al to today is the difference in the intent of musical comedy. Weird Al has always been a parody machine, whose style fits in with the comedy of the day like Airplane! It was a comedy based on cleverness and warping familiar hits into absurdity. Although Weird Al has stayed with us this entire time, as sharp as ever, he’s joined in his category by the modern big names: Flight of the Conchords, Lonely Island and Tenacious D. These are bands that work in different genres (folk, pop and rap, and folk metal[?]) but all within the same sketch comedy style, where the premise of the very song is the joke and not necessarily making fun of anyone but themselves. There’s a sincere appreciation for the music they’re aping, and even when they highlight the weirdness of it, they still come off as complete fans. It’s a reminder that parody doesn’t always have to stick it’s nose up at something.
The weirdest sensation is when they manage to make something that’s just a good song even without the jokes. Remember when “I’m On A Boat” caught fire and how surprising it was that it was actually kind of infectious to listen to? Musical comedy is able to exist in the concert world with other musicians, which is why Tenacious D is playing Sasquatch Music Festival, or even in the small stand-up comedy club circuit with acts like Garfunkel & Oates or Demitri Martin or Stephen Lynch. There’s a variety and popularity in the here and now for funny music that either wasn’t around or was less visible.
I don’t remember a time when there were this much active and high quality musical comedy available (maybe that’s because I don’t consider Bloodhound Gang a comedy group.) But from the big names on down, it’s never been easier – and more exciting – to marry two sensational mediums.
As winter comes to an end, a new season rears its head: music festival season. From here on out, it’s just a straight shot through the big multi-day festivals, whether it be Coachella or Bonnaroo or Sasquatch. That’s not even thinking about the smaller festivals happening everywhere on college campuses or in major cities. If you’ve got the financial capabilities, it’s a good way to overload on music, but as a quick browse on Yahoo! Answers will show, no one really knows how to go about preparing for them. Having been to two or three festivals myself, I think I’m uniquely capable of providing you with a comprehensive, all-encompassing, five item list of essentials that you will find to be widely unhelpful and kind of passive aggressive. Make sure your printer has ink, because you’re going to want to bring this around.
1. A Picture-taking device. I’m sure you have a nice DSLR in your closet, but lets leave the professional equipment for taking sad pictures of trees. If you want to be retro ironic, get a disposable camera. Most of your pictures will turn out blurry with bad lighting, but it will be good for a laugh. If you want to be high tech and inconvenient, just bring an iPad and be that guy. There’s nothing convenient about holding a 10 inch board up above your head in a tightly packed crowd to take a picture that could be done on your phone, but at least everyone around you will know you keep up with gadgets.
2. Entertainment options. Let’s face it: you’ll be lucky if you know half the bands on the bill, and even if you do, you’ll know two songs at most. But if you’re going with friends, they’re likely to have different tastes, and you might be dragged to a show or two that isn’t your bag. Instead of making the most of it and dancing to the beat, why not make your displeasure especially noticeable by bringing entertainment? A book to read in the mosh pit, or a game to play by the stage. Turn your back to the band so that they know for sure you don’t care for their brand of post-shoegaze glamcore.
3. Protection from other people. You’re going to be in a lot of crowds, and that means contact with the unwashed masses. Obviously, no one wants this; that would require being in the moment and letting go of your hang ups and exiting your comfort zone. What if someone is dancing in front of you and also sweating in the 90 degree desert weather? That would be the worst. Bring anything that restricts your movement and protects you from the sticky film of others, like a winter coat, a rain coat, or even a full body fencing suit. Avoid the dance, the thrash and even the sway. Maintain your cleanliness at all cost.
4. Uncomfortable footwear. Probably high heels, whether you are male or female. Why not? It’s a challenge, and if fashion is about form over function, surely you can stand 12 hours of standing on grassy fields in stilletos, right? Bonus points for making you taller, which will surely lessen the viewing experience of the short people behind you.
5. Blogging devices. Because concerts these days are less about experiencing the show in its entirety and more about documenting the show for others at a fraction of its live power. Often this means bringing a video camera to record a band’s hit single in grainy, low-quality pixelization from a mile away, but try to get creative with new ways to misrepresent a performance. Can you maybe paint a watercolor during a song?
Some say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, while others in the music industry call it “plagiarism.” Laws must be set in place to protect the creative properties of musicians, but sometimes artists (or their business managers) take lawsuits to a whole other level – even children’s show dinosaur Barney was sued over the “I Love You” song. Since there are only seven notes in the ever-popular diatonic scale and only so many rhyming lyrics in the English language, there’s bound to be some overlap in the billions of songs created. Bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin are as famous for their own songs as they are for “reinventing” songs by lesser known artists, speeding up the tempo, adding some rock n’ roll flare and climbing to the top of the charts, leaving the original artists in the dust.
Some bands may actually just be victims of the idea that “great minds think/sing alike” – Coldplay drummer Will Champion denied Yusuf Islam’s (formerly Cat Stevens) claim that Coldplay’s 2008 “Viva La Vida” copied melodies from his 1973 song “Foreigner Suite,” saying “It’s tough when people accuse you of stealing something when you know that you didn’t. We accept that it’s part of the territory…There are elements of our music that I’ve heard in other people’s music, but it’s a very difficult thing to define. I think it [plagiarism] lies on an intent to steal, which we certainly have never done and never would.” While countless songs sound similar, whether intended or not, it’s mainly the moneymakers that result in lawsuits like these:
The titles are perhaps the closest resemblance these songs have to one another. But Chicago-based singer-songwriter Rebecca Francescatti sued Lady Gaga last year, claiming that the rhythm and melody of “Judas” was lifted from her song “Juda,” which she first recorded with her band Rebecca F. & the Memes in 1999. Upon first listen, Gaga’s upbeat dance number seems to have nothing to do with Francescatti’s 90s sound. But upon closer inspection, some similarities can be heard, which is suspicious considering Francescatti’s former bass player Brian Gaynor worked on Lady Gaga’s Born This Way. Francescatti’s attorney Christopher Niro told NBC that he didn’t expect quick money out of the lawsuit, but at least it brought attention to the issue (and a little of Gaga’s fame to the otherwise unknown musician): “These lawsuits are not resolved quickly, but it’s a way for artists like my client to knock on the doors of the high and mighty.”
Everyone has heard The Verve’s 1997 hit “Bittersweet Symphony.” But few modern listeners are familiar with The Rolling Stones’ 1965 tune “The Last Time” – and fewer know The Andrew Oldham Orchestra recording of the song. But they’ll recognize the sweeping strings of the melody instantly – The Verve sampled it in their song. And even though the band obtained a license to use it, former Stones manager Allen Klein sued The Verve, arguing that they used more than the license covered. And in a domino effect of lawsuits, this led Andrew Oldham to also sue the band, who had to relinquish all royalties and change the songwriting credit to Jagger/Richards. The best part of this unfortunate money-grubbing ordeal? The Stones themselves styled their song from The Staples Singers’ version of the 1955 traditional Gospel song “This May Be the Last Time.”
Lennon’s cover of “You Can’t Catch Me”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBTX___KJSs
If I asked you where the lyrics “Here come old flattop / He come groovin’ up slowly” came from, you might reply “The Beatles, duh.” But don’t be so quick to jump the gun, Mother Superior…John Lennon was sued in 1969 for stealing the guitar riff and the line from Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me.” Like The Rolling Stones’ case, it was not the band but a man on the business side who sued – industry exec Morris Levy, who owned the song, along with many other early rock songs from poor, black, underrepresented artists. In an attempt to avoid the courtroom limelight that was following him at the time, Lennon settled with Levy. Levy dropped the lawsuit in exchange for Lennon actually covering the Chuck Berry song in full, along with other songs Levy owned, to increase their value with a Beatle singing them. The producer of Lennon’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll” cover album, Phil Spector, ran away with the first session tapes, so Lennon ended up finishing it on his own.
Fiona Apple’s resurgence under the music world’s radar has arrived, at long last.
The singer-songwriter premiered a handful of new songs from her upcoming album (that employs an impressive 23-word title) at SXSW this week. Slated for a summer release, the LP will be Apple’s first in 7 years. Since we still have quite the wait before “The Idler Wheel is wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords will serve you more than Ropes will ever do” is released, (told you it was lengthy,) you can bet we’ll be spinning this in a bout of heightened anticipation.
