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Blackbird

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While out walking the other day, I had a blackbird hovering over my head. Normally I wouldn’t think anything of it, but 2 years ago I got blindsided and attacked in the back of the head by one. According to what I read, you’re supposed to bark like a dog to scare them off. So I put my knowledge to use and started barking in a loud, gruff bark. It did nothing to scare that bird, but I did embarrass myself in front of a bunch of strangers before I took off in a full sprint. I don’t know what it is with me and birds. I’ve been shit on by them 5 times in my life as well. My mom thinks that they think my hair is a nest. I do have quite the mop. I however, believe it is payback for not cleaning my parakeet’s cage as a child. The guilt still haunts me, as I have this reoccurring dream that the poor thing’s poop is piled up to it’s perch. Guess that’s why now I’m only allowed to have plants as pets.

The male Red-winged Blackbird really is beautiful and after I “out ran” it, and escaped another brutal attack, one of my favorite Beatles’ songs popped into my head. “Blackbird” is such a simple, catchy tune that always makes me tap my foot and break out into a whistle.

(Apparently this kid practices his guitar a little bit more than I ever did)

It’s been covered countless times and I’ve seen it performed live by numerous artists. One of my favorites being “The Dead”. This version is from Milwaukee 7/1/03. Just Weir and his guitar, before the band joins in for a little jam and then into “Foolish Heart”.

Click to play

Even Neil Diamond takes a successful stab at his own version.

Click to play

Of all the times I’ve heard this song, I never knew that actual meaning of the lyrics. I had my own interpretation in my head, but after researching the intended meaning, I’ve come to love the song even more.

According to Wiki, “Blackbird was written when Paul McCartney was just sitting while he had free time on a tour. Then he heard a women screaming and a lot of police cars pulled up. The police had her handcuffed and were beating her. There was a giant crowd. Paul thought the black women committed a huge crime. Turns out all she did was sit in the whites section. Paul was shocked, as there was no segregation in England. He decided to write a song. Notice how all the adjectives are bad: dead, dark, sunken, broken, and black. They describe the unfairness. The verbs show the actions of the black people: fly, singing, free, arise, waiting and see. After all those tragedies the African Americans didn’t use violence. It was the lady’s time to be free and arise from the dark black night. There is also the sound of a foot beating in the background. McCartney insisted they have it but couldn’t do it himself so they actually used a metronome. Why? The footsteps represent the marching of all the African Americans.”

Simple tune it may be, but with some very profound lyrics. Thank you Mr. Blackbird for the near attack and causing me to do a little research and thank you even more to Lennon/McCartney for such a beautiful song!

Eno is enough

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I pride myself on listening to a wide variety of music. I’m also a solid asset to have on your trivia team if music or lyrics are the categories. Still, I have to admit that I’ve missed or glossed over many artists, some of them legends. This is the case with Brian Eno.

Yes, I’ve heard of Roxy Music, and I know about his many collaborations with artists I do know and love. I just never took the time out to listen to any of his work. I’m sure I’ve heard some of it. Maybe I’ve heard a lot and never knew. In the end I have to hang my head in shame and admit there’s a living music legend I not hip to. Until now.

I’m going to pause here to bring up a point. Being unfamiliar with an artist can actually be a benefit when you write for a music blog. I’m about to talk about a new album with no existing context or preconceived notions based on previous works by the artist. That may be good or bad, but it makes me feel pure and innocent in some way.

Brian Eno’s newest recording, Drums Between The Bells, hits stores Monday, July 4th. Some of you will be camping then, or are already camping instead of reading this, and I don’t blame you. We’ll all have to get back to the grind at some point, though, and this album might be a nice segue. It’s atmospheric and dreamy, but there are moments of harshness and experimentation that keep it from floating off into space. Poet Rick Holland wrote all the lyrics, though they are presented (mostly in spoken-word style over the musical background) by a number of guest vocalists. To keep this post shorter and give you more time to light things on fire, I’ll just post a couple tracks I like. It’s up to you to listen to the rest.

Click to play Brian Eno – Pour It Out

Click to play Brian Eno – A Title

Ok, just a couple points I feel I should add. Disc 1 of the album includes the vocals; disc 2 is the same songs in instrumental form. There is some cute wordplay between the two, such as the track “Dow,” which becomes “Nikkei” on the second disc. If you have a large stock portfolio you’re laughing your head off right now.

I also want to bring up that musically this reminds me A LOT of post-rock bands like Sigur Ros or Pacific UV. With the exception of a few more frenetic tracks, this would fit in perfectly with your collection if you are a fan of that genre or shoegaze. It would also be great background listening when you just need to relax a bit. It’s absolutely gorgeous at times, and always a good listen.

I hope you all enjoy your holiday, even if it’s just a long weekend at home.

I guess you call this regression

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I’ve spent this year as a ghost and I’m not sure where home is anymore.

Currently on Warped Tour touting their third full-length album, The Wonder Years is a band of Pennsylvania buddies whose albums progress through a story. This album, Suburbia: I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing is inspired by the rambling poem “America” by Allen Ginsberg, a small snippet of which appears below:

America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing.
America two dollars and twenty-seven cents January 17, 1956.
I can’t stand my own mind.
America when will we end the human war?
Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb
I don’t feel good don’t bother me.
I won’t write my poem till I’m in my right mind.
America when will you be angelic?
When will you take off your clothes?
When will you look at yourself through the grave?
When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites?

Their sound is pretty much the same as that of Four Year Strong, and I don’t suppose that is a bad thing. In fact, Alan and Dan from FYS supply guest vocals on track 6, “Summers in PA.” I’m diggin on track 5, “My Life As a Pigeon.” Apparently the cohesive story is supposed to be the band’s complaints about touring, but I still like how some of the complaints can be translated to life.

Click to Enjoy The Wonder Years – My Life As A Pigeon

And with that, I ask you to embrace beardcore. Yes, it is just going to keep happening. We are going to keep subdividing musical genres until everyone gets their identity boxed right up for you. I happily use the term because it was pretty much named for Four Year Strong, a band I will always respect. What the hell, though. We analyze and categorize every goddamn detail of our lives as we try to justify its worth;, we might as well analyze and categorize our art too.

The Wonder Years actually does a very nice job tying this album up and allowing the inspiration from the poem to shine through with more than just an homage in the title. You can find snippets throughout the tracks, song names, and a summation in the final track on the album, “And Now I’m Nothing.”

Click to Enjoy The Wonder Years – And Now I’m Nothing

America this is the impression I get from looking in the television set.
America is this correct?
I’d better get right down to the job.
It’s true I don’t want to join the Army or turn lathes in precision parts
factories, I’m nearsighted and psychopathic anyway.
America I’m putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.

something old, something new

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The Old

Ok, so I’m not really starting with something that old, but I didn’t get a chance to write this one up when it was released in March:

If you remember 90s hip-hop band Tony! Toni! Tone! you might recognize their frontman, Raphael Saadiq. That group has been disbanded for some time now but Saadiq has been releasing solo albums (and quietly collecting Grammy awards) since. I hadn’t been paying him much attention until 2008, when he released the incredible album The Way I See It. From the opening note I was lost in a re-creation of Smokey Robinson’s Motown. The songwriting and production were a spot-on homage to the sounds of yesteryear. Here’s a track from that album in case you didn’t catch it.

Click to play Raphael Saadiq – 100 Yard Dash

I can’t say enough about that record. Seriously, go buy a copy if you don’t own it. Other than the song with Jay-Z (let’s pretend that one never made the album) I think it’s pure gold.

2011 brought the follow-up album Stone Rollin’. I was very excited to see where Mr. Saadiq went next. Would it be more Motown-styled tunes? Would he go another direction completely? It turns out to be a little of both, or maybe a logical progression in a sense. The album starts out with a song that could easily have been on The Way I See It, but departs a bit from there. It’s a little more playful than its predecessor, yet still delves deeper into soul and R&B. My favorite moments are tunes that call Stevie Wonder to mind, which Saadiq does very well. Here’s one that reminds me of earlier Stevie:

Click to play Raphael Saadiq – Go To Hell

And here’s one that hints more at the later, Innervisions-era feel:

Click to play Raphael Saadiq – The Answer

Overall it’s a very good album. Maybe not as cohesive as the release before it, but a little more daring in some respects. Again, the production is the true star. Pay close attention to the guitar sounds, the washed out drums, the vocals. It’s just great.

The New

I’ll admit I’m not much for more current R&B. I just don’t pay it much attention. But when the new Beyonce album, 4, came my way I decided to step out of my comfort zone and give it a shot.

I’ve enjoyed some of Beyonce’s work in the past, and though I never listened to a full album before I went in knowing the girl is very talented. From that aspect, I was not disappointed in the least. The vocals are fantastic through the record. I could just listen to her sing and be happy. The music, on the other hand, didn’t always strike a chord (ha ha, I’m so punny) with me. I do like the opening track, “1 + 1.” Here it is for you.

Click to play Beyonce – 1 + 1

I can easily hear Aretha singing a song like that. I mean the style, not the vocals. Those are just fine as they are.

The other track that stands out to me is “Run The World (Girls).” Beyonce has a knack for writing female-empowering anthems (?) that make you want to shake your ass. If I know my history, I believe “Independent Woman” and “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” nearly lead to feminist riots that would have destroyed most of western civilization. I may be wrong, though. Anyway, this song falls right in with those:

Click to play Beyonce – Run The World (Girls)

So I can’t say I love the album, but it isn’t bad for someone who doesn’t really listen to the genre. If it’s more up your alley be sure to pick up a copy when it drops this week.

The Element of Chaos

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Sometimes you can’t help but just go with the band’s own description…and/or the wiki description… when you want to share some tunes you just discovered. The Go! Team is described as combining “indie rock and garage rock with a mixture of blaxploitation and Bollywood soundtracks, double dutch chants, Charlie Brown piano, car chase horns, old school hip hop and distorted guitars…” Seriously! They don’t even know how to describe their own music to their mums. My iTunes describes them as Electronic, and even though a lot of my favorite bands are also described as Electronic, normally it won’t be the genre I will be clicking first when it hits my library.

But this is the shit. The album Rolling Blackouts starts off sounding like a group of serious-ass female Beastie Boys, moves into that double-dutch sound I mentioned earlier, then morphs into some “Jackie Brown” or “Shaft” -esque movie soundtrack serious hardassedness.

Track 5, “Bust-Out Brigade”, combines all of this plus makes me wish I was watching my alma mater march down main street for our 4th of July parade. I LOVE this!

Click to Enjoy The Go! Team – Bust-Out Brigade

There are a few instrumental-only tracks on this album and they are just as badass as the ones that include catchy or snotty lyrics.

There are six of them. They play instruments. They use samples. They throw sample buttons on their instruments. They just “keep the element of chaos.”

The Head and the Heart

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I have to say… my head and my heart have been at war before, but when it comes to the band “The Head and the Heart”, there’s no struggle between what’s going on in my noggin’ and what I feel in my chest. They are in agreeance on this one and I may be in love.

The Seattle-based band’s self-titled debut album is flooded with passion and vocal harmonics that make my heart go pitter patter along with poetic lyrics that make my head spin. Formed in 2009, the sextet took to the Seattle Public Library’s piano practice room before self releasing “The Head and the Heart”. In 2011 the album was remastered and re-released on Sub Pop Records. According to Sup Pop’s website, “the songs resulting from those first inspired months pick at the multicolored threads of leaving home, finding home, and through that process of deconstruction, finding yourself. These are songs about crossing rivers and roads to get to the one you love, about family far away, and the desire to chase technicolor dreams down foreign horizons.” Following a 2 year journey on the road and living out of a suitcase myself, like an old friend who has been down the same path, the music speaks deeply to me and comforts me with an understanding. Their latest single takes me to a place where I can just be and get “Lost in My Mind” (pun intended),

Click To Enjoy The Head and the Heart – Lost In My Mind

while “Rivers and Roads” creates that aching and longing in your soul for loved ones who are not near.

They do have a more upbeat sound as well, but I’ve chosen to share the ones that make me weepy. Cut me some slack and grab me a kleenex… my niece just graduated from high school today.

Click To Enjoy The Head and the Heart – Down In The Valley

Currently on tour with Iron and Wine, I’d say they’re in excellent company. Tour dates can be found at

http://www.facebook.com/theheadandtheheart?sk=events

So get out from behind your computer and take in a show!

the sound of fighting

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In 2007 Battles blew a lot of people away with the release of Mirrored. They had released a few EPs prior to that but Mirrored was a new introduction for most folks, and an amazing one at that.

I went in thinking, members of Helmet and Don Caballero working together? This should be interesting. I had no idea how groundbreaking it would actually be. It took one listen to the single “Atlas” to make me realize. Take a listen now if you haven’t heard it. In fact, listen again if you have. I’m setting a mood here.

It’s bizarre but completely hypnotic and unique. The instruments are all on synced looping pedals so the band can build theme upon theme. It’s a simple idea but one that hadn’t really been examined so in-depth before. It works and it’s very compelling. The rest of the album has the same appeal. You put it on and you’re virtually guaranteed to sink into the pattern-based brilliance for an hour.
So here we are four years later and the band has been pretty quiet for a while. Late last year vocalist/instrumentalist Tyondai Braxton announced he was leaving the group to focus on his solo career. That left a lot of us wondering what would happen with the rest of the band. It turns out they continued forward with a somewhat modified sound and are releasing their second full-length Gloss Drop this week. Here’s the opening track, “Africastle.”

Click to play Battles – Africastle

This album looks back to Battles’ EP roots, with a mostly instrumental approach. There are a few songs with guest vocals but the focus here is on the music. That’s not to say the vocals are incidental. For example, here’s a track with Gary Numan (yes, THAT Gary Numan) covering those duties:

Click to play Battles – My Machines (Featuring Gary Numan)

It works. The rest of the album ventures into something I wouldn’t expect: world music. There are hints of Caribbean beats all over the place and the heavier mood of previous works is less present. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just an interesting change. Perhaps it’s because of Braxton’s departure, perhaps this is where the band’s next evolution was headed anyway. Regardless, it makes for a good album in a completely different way from anything else in the band’s catalog.

If you were a huge fan of Battles’ previous work and don’t cope well with change, I’d leave this one alone. If, however, you want to see how a band can develop and adapt to change over time, this is a great example. I’ll leave you with one more track because, um, why not?

Click to play Battles – Inchworm

Too Pretty To Say Please

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It’s time again for summer memories.  The kind that forever take on a sepia hue in your mind.  Or on your iPhone, since it has that fancy tool.  Have any made it to your wall? (I mean your physical wall. Inside your home.)

I want some sepia-toned videos.  Can you make that happen?

Sorry.  It’s this album.  It immediately conjures this kind of feeling, right from track one.  Like it’s the soundtrack to your slightly clouded memories.  Or a fondly-remembered road trip.

You might have heard The Wooden Birds on NPR, since a song off their first album was featured as the song of the day…even if it was two years ago.  Maybe the memory of that takes on the same tinted hue for Andrew Kenny and crew.

Click to Enjoy The Wooden Birds – Folly Cub

Andrew Kenny was the main singer and songwriter from American Analog Set before helping to get Broken Social Scene going with a contribution to their album and tour. Then he settled back in his home state of Texas to start The Wooden Birds, a band which has had various members in its two year existence so far. Oh, and apparently he makes a lot of music writers swoon. Sometime last year, Buzzfeed called him one of the hottest guys of indie rock. As in, a hot guy, not as in, oh, watch these up-and-comers. As for Andrew himself, his age confounds me. Look how young he looks… Yet, as for his own original musical crushes, he can remember having a Linda Ronstadt poster so that would definitely take him out of the twentysomething generation.

But the songs are gorgeous and upbeat while staying folksy. And this album, Two Matchsticks, just sounds like how good memories feel. It comes out this Tuesday, and their tour kicks off in Phoenix on June 16.

Click to Enjoy The Wooden Birds – Too Pretty To Say Please

Just because you know it’s a zinger that she likes,
the name a younger her gave to a three-speed bike,
don’t think for a second that you’re ever in the words that she writes

I’m loving this album, and re-playing the shit out of it, and hoping I have a few spare hours this summer to make some memories. But for now this album goes with me everywhere.

Say Goodbye To Tomorrow

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Do you have Ben Harper’s new album yet? It’s been out for two weeks. And he’s going on tour. So get the album. Here – just download it now. Then come back here and let’s talk about it.

Seriously. I’ll wait.

So, he opens the album Give Til It’s Gone with the phrase “Don’t give up on me now,” which haunts me since I know that in the last six months or so, he and Laura Dern have been going through a divorce. He admits in the song, “And I don’t even know, myself, what it would take to know myself. I need to change – I don’t know how. Don’t give up on me now.”

And I’m sorry, I can’t stop being distracted by this. When did he write this song? Whose voice is he using? HE filed for the divorce from Dern in October. In the documents, he claimed they had been separated all year. So when did he write this song? I’m sorry, sometimes I turn into a nosy teenager when I listen to personal music. Oh, don’t worry; I am all up in these details. In September of last year, Dern and Harper and their kids flew to Hawaii to watch Eddie Vedder get married. So everyone’s jaw dropped when he filed. So if you’re still reeling from this news six months later when the album drops, sorry… You wonder.

Then again, by track 3 Ben is gleefully singing about how Rock and Roll is free… So maybe this album represents just how disjointed his life has felt for the last year. Unlike past Harper albums, this one really is all over the place.

Click to Enjoy Ben Harper – Rock N Roll Is Free

I think Harper fans are a bit divided… I know I loved his efforts with the Relentless 7. But I definitely read reviews that picked the hell out of the White Lies for Dark Times album he recorded with that band. And I will give you that Harper’s older albums, like Fight For Your Mind are probably much stronger than this year’s Give.

All I want to know is whether he and Laura Dern are getting back together. ~shrug~

Click to Enjoy Ben Harper – Pray That Our Love Sees The Dawn

I try to be myself, but I forget how. Jackson Browne gives him some vocal assistance on this track. Any love advice, JB?

Joey’s Song

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While sitting here wondering what to talk about for my next post, the news was on in the background and the very touching story of “Joey’s Song” came on, making the decision what to write about much easier.

Just shy of his 5th birthday, Joseph Gomoll, who was afflicted with Dravet’s Syndrome (a rare form of Epilepsy), passed away unexpectedly in March 2010. Shorty after, a foundation was set up by his family in his honor to raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation. Their goal, is to raise money that can be used for research, treatment and support of those affected by this terrible disease.

According to the website (www.joeyssong.org), because music was the centerpiece of Joey’s world, there is no better way to raise money in his name than through music. The Foundation is releasing a series of CDs called “Joey’s Song”. The CDs feature rare and unreleased songs by major recording acts from around the world. In addition, Joey’s Song for Kids features children’s music, most recorded specifically for Joey’s Song.

Click to Enjoy Robbie Fulks covering Dylan’s “I Believe In You”

Click to Enjoy A.A. Bondy’s “Still I Dream”

With the exception of production costs, every penny raised by Joey’s Song will go directly to find a cure and help those affected by epilepsy. With 85% of the music not available anywhere else, this is your chance to hear some great, heartfelt songs for the mere cost of 2 gallons of gas. So reach into your pockets, bike to work a day and please spread the word. CDs in a physical or digital format as well as Joey’s Song T-Shirts are available for you to purchase online. Some of my faves from the CD… “Still I Dream” by A.A. Bondy, “14th Street and Mars” by Michelle Malone and of course, Robbie Fulks cover of Dylan’s “I Believe In You”.

“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.” The power of music never ceases to amaze me!! On this Memorial Day, remember your loved ones who have passed and hold the ones that are still here, a little tighter.