Sing me a song that was a hit before your mother was born.
Speaking of before your mother was born…
iPod Must-Haves
20
May 13
Takes Time
“Takes Time” by Jim Guthrie
For the last several years, Jim Guthrie has been making an impact with his film & game soundtracks (which are awesome: Indie Game The Movie & Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery).
His new solo album struck a very different chord. It’s full of charm and movement. It never overstepped itself, but it sank so easily beneath my skin. It’s a contender for my favorite album of the year.
“I ran out of time making time machines. Time won’t last.”
2
May 13
All I have is you.
Earnestness seems rare now. This is refreshing.
Loud Harp doesn’t seem to take itself for more than it is. And that’s a beautiful thing.
27
Nov 12
Stray Ashes at Isokon
“Stray Ashes at Isokon” by JBM
JBM – ‘You Always Keep Around’ at Isokon from JBM on Vimeo.
Jesse Merchant, JBM, just released a great live performance album of one of my favorite-sounding albums of the year. It’s beautiful in all its mumbling, echoing, droning, reverberating melancholy. This is what my head sounds like most of the time.
JBM – ‘Winter Ghosts’ at Isokon from JBM on Vimeo.
The performance was beautifully filmed, too. Warm, textural, and intimate.
24
Oct 12
I don’t wanna be on this dark road I’m on.
“Fortune Teller” by Calexico
I love lonely songs. They echo so beautifully in my melancholy.
I was just standing, turning around. That’s when they caught me heading down. “Keep on going don’t look away,” that’s what they tell me. That’s what they say.
There are many types of loneliness and many ways one can be alone. There’s the perfect solitude of isolation, the frightening emptiness of hopelessness, the numb silence of detachment, the fearful tremor of uncertainty, and the heavy ache of dread.
You’re a pretty thought, I suppose. I’m just trying to hold up as I go. And one day, I swear, I’ll spread my wings. I’m on my way to finer things.
Loneliness is often like a dog, following faithfully with foreboding in its every breath. After a while, you go for stretches of time forgetting it’s there. But there are moments when you hear its howl. And they howl in lonely songs.
I’m walking with the fortune teller. I can see my own way home. But I don’t like this dark road anymore, and I don’t wanna be alone for long.
I don’t wanna be alone for long. I don’t wanna be on this dark road I’m on.
22
Sep 12
Pop Brilliant: How To Sing a Pop Song
“Midnight” by Yazoo
There are many female pop singers nowadays that could take a lesson (or a few) from Alison Moyet (this song specifically). So, Alison was something like 21 when she and Vince Clarke put down this track. And she killed it. She killed it, then slayed it, then buried it in the backyard.
So, I’ve always dug Upstairs at Eric’s. Haters, hate. It’s a good record. But Midnight is killer. It’s pop perfection. No, it doesn’t mess around with perfection. It burns it up. It’s like a raging fire in a heat wave. And it’s all the vocal. Without that performance it’s just a mediocre pop tune with cheesy pleading lyrics. But the vocal performance takes it where few could have. This is the way to record this kind of pop song. And I don’t think many singers these days could do this.
And this album was how she BEGAN her music career! C’mon. A 21-year-old beginner tearing out this vocal? Amazing.
“Playing with fire gets you burned. And I’m still burning.”
She’s delivering it whole-heartely from the start, bringing all the emotion the song can handle. But when she kicks in a higher gear from around 2:17 on, it explodes the song. It’s no longer some synth-pop, electro-dance tune, it’s Alison pouring, spewing, singing her heart out. And I can’t imagine that it would be easy to get your heart back once you do something like that. After this take, everyone in the studio must have been stunned.
Anyway, yeah, Midnight isn’t just my favorite track on Upstairs, it’s a whole textbook on how to sing a pop song.
16
Sep 12
It’s always been a long-shot or worse
“I’m Not Talking” by AC Newman
I’m a fan of AC Newman’s solo career. And he’s adding to it next month. So, I’m looking forward to that.
No one wants to weigh things down, but they tend to fly away and rescue teams will look for days. I like the way things are. I say abandon the search for an author of a small work.
Speaking of AC Newman’s solo career…
