I'm Not Calling You A Liar

I must admit that I'm not the type that ravenously delves into new music. Many people will purchase new releases quickly, hit or miss. I tend to wait a bit, gather reviews and opinions of those I respect, and purchase releases often months (er...or years) later. Still, it's not a bad method of culling out music, and the purchases I do make tend to be winners.

Given this, I have not yet purchased or digested all the 2009 releases that I might want yet, but one of the joys of last year that I did get too was Florence + The Machine's Lungs. Interesting album title, but, boy, does lead singer Florence Welch have a set of them. I love the sound of the female voice, and rarely do you hear one as strong as Welch's on the pop music scene. Still, for a powerful voice, there is a great deal of nuance in the voice of this 23 year old Brit, and she shows a lot of maturity for a debut.

Florence + the Machine quickly got a lot of exposure last year. The fast paced, punkish "Kiss With A Fist" was used in the Megan Fox film "Jennifer's Body" as well as an episode of the sit-com "Community". Another number was used in on of the generic police shows filling our airways. Besides the life that pours from songs like "Kiss With A Fist" or "The Dog Days Are Over", Welch and her cowriters have an interesting, well let's say, humor in their lyrics. "The Girl With One Eye" describes a macabre way the title character becomes one-eyed. "The Bird Song" involves a Poe-like tale right out of "The Tell Tale Heart".

Among all the wonderful uptempo songs, I particularly enjoy when Welch tones it down a bit. "I'm Not Calling You A Liar", has (slightly) less bizarre lyrics, and really shows control as the song winds about and Welch's voice moves amidst the strings and percussion between lilting vulnerability and aching strength. Just wonderful! Enjoy this live youtube of her at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC.

Walking On A Wire

Following his departure from the classic English folk/rock band Fairport Convention, songwriter and guitarist extraordinaire Richard Thompson would release one poorly-selling solo album before joining with his new wife Linda for a series of outstanding albums. Their marriage would take some interesting turns including a three-year musical hiatus while they joined a Sufi Muslim commune, eventually their relationship would end in divorce. Still, in Linda, Richard had found an perfect partner to interpret his songs vocally, especially their dispirited themes. Their final album together, Shoot Out The Lights, released right before their divorce is often linked with their failing marriage. This connection may not be entirely fair as Thomsom's songs were never (before or after this album) particularly cheerful; furthermore, many songs were written a couple years earlier prior to the Thomson's marital problems. Still whether fair or not, the songs on this album, especially those sung by Linda Thompson, convey an emotional bankrupcy made even more poignant by the real life events that were occurring.

The entire album is outstanding, but today's song Walking On A Wire really is a highlight. Linda's voice conveys perfectly (and quite beautifully for the topic) how a slowly failing relationship can be so draining; you can feel the fatigue in the slow tempo.

"This grindstone's wearing me
Your claws are tearing me
Don't use me endlessly
It's too long, too long to myself
Where's the justice and where's the sense?
When all the pain is on my side of the fence"

With lines of regret ("I wish I could please you tonight") and uncertainty ("It scares you when you don't know whichever way the wind might blow"), we get the feel of a disintigrating relationship, and the singer is just too tired to fight it. Richard finishes the song with an agonizing guitar solo that perfectly caps the song. Now 28 years later, I'm not sure how important or relevant it is to know how closely this song mirrored the duo's own emotions at the time; the song itself, no matter when you hear it, still rips through your heart.

Detroit 442

When thinking of Blondie, many remember them as a glossy pop group responsible for a number of top ten singles (“The Tide is High”, “Call Me”, “One Way or Another”, etc.). Remember, though, the group started out in the mid-’70s out of the New York City punk scene. Blondie played in places like CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City with such artists as the Ramones, Patti Smith and Television. American punk bands often had more of a melodic sensibility compared with some of their British counterparts like the Sex Pistols or The Clash (early on at least): the Ramones would cover late '50's/early '60's fare ("Do You Wanna Dance", "Needles and Pins"), the opening of Patti Smith's "Free Money" has a beautiful melody accompanied by solo piano. Compared with these artists who are still viewed as seminal punk bands, many forget Blondie's gritty roots, indeed because they were embraced by the establishment and would become top 40 fixtures.

Blondie’s early music was harder and less produced but always tuneful, and Detroit 442 (found on the Plastic Letters album and on other compilations), with it’s relentless tempo and harsh guitars, shows a different side of Blondie. By the time of their third album, “Parallel Lines”, they had perfected the product seen in their hits. Even the album covers reflect this change with "Plastic Letters" showing a tired, possible drugged looking Harry sitting on the bumper of a police car; contrast that with the more put-together appearance of Harry on "Parallel Lines". Debbie Harry was always a more assured vocalist than her later image of fashionplate or coked-out sex symbol would suggest. In this song, she is abrasive growling and spitting out lyrics menacingly. Oh, by the way, it's also a great, fast paced driving song if you're making such a mix.

Check out their first two albums, Blondie and Plastic Letters, to see an energized, tougher side of Blondie. I've embedded the youtube video, but for a rougher version of the song (and of Harry), I've included another link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drNWjF7N3Rs

The Lonely Shepherd

Context is everything.

I remember music commercials in the late 70's/early 80's and hearing about this mysterious Zamfir. Apparenlty he was "Master of the Pan Flute", which sounded mysterious for the very reason a young teen might be unacquainted with what a pan flute exactly is. Still, he joined the ranks of others like Slim Whitman or Floyd Kramer. Who was buying these records? No adult that I knew either in my parents or grandparents generation had these artists. Could they have really sold more than artists that I HAD heard of, like Elvis and The Beatles?

I bring up this story not to defame Georghe Zamfir (yes, Zamfir is his last name), the Romanian musician who single handedly revived interest in a cultural instrument that was fading away. I picture a young generation of recent pan-flautists that 30 years ago didn't exist. Even the boy Manny from the wonderful TV comedy "Modern Family" plays a similar instrument in an episode. Furthermore, I've never been "Master" of anything, so Zamfir's got one up on me there.

Needless to say, aside from 10 second snippets in commercials, I had never heard anything by Zamfir, and probably would have been short-sighted enough to continue this trend. Happily, Quentin Tarantino has more vision, for he used Zamfir's "The Lonely Shepherd" in his Kill Bill saga. As I listened to the excellent Kill Bill, Vol.I Soundtrack, I heard this haunting piece (played with the James Last Orchestra) and was immediately drawn back to memories of the movies. It sets the mood for philosophical musings of Michael Madson and is played at the end as the wonderful David Carradine/Bill calmly questions Sofie Fatale. Zamfir's atmospheric playing really sets the tone and is joined by the orchestra's brass mid-song to convey a grandeur that fits in well with other spaghetti western pieces used throughout the film.

Of course, the context of the song in the film really means everything, and Taranrtino particularly is an expert at choosing lesser-known songs to create moods in his films. Think how other songs, like Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" or Bernard Hermann's "Twisted Nerve" (which whistles as Darryl Hannah in nurse garb prepares to kill The Bride) even have heightened grandeur in the context of the film. Think how cheesy fare like Santa Esmerelda's cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" are not only tolerable but effective is scenes like the final showdown between the Bride and Lucy Liu's O-Ren Ishii.

All of this makes me wonder if I would still enjoy this song as much (or even have come across the song at all) if it wasn't placed so perfectly in a great film. After all, I didn't call any 1-800 numbers after those commercials in the '80's, nor was I particularly drawn to Zamfir's work in "The Karate Kid". Also, I haven't rushed out after this soundtrack and purchased other Zamfir albums, despite that it's my favorite song on a great soundtrack.

So, I give you the video of this piece below, though, if you've never seen "Kill Bill", you might have a completely different perspective.

Monday Playlist

Is there any better week for a dedicated playlist than Monday? Oh sure, you could have a playlist centered around every single day of the week (my guess is a Thursday playlist would be the most difficult to create, though I already have some ideas). Still, what with the beginning of the work week and the letdown of finishing a weekend, we'd all probably agree, Monday is a challenging day. Today was especially difficult given the excitement (and later hours) yesterday of the Super Bowl, and coming down off a diet of high carbs and grease didn't make getting up this morning easier.

So, below is my Monday Playlist. Some of the songs are quite obvious choices, especially Fleetwood Mac and the Boomtown Rats. Extra credit will be given to the Tegan and Sara song which mentions Monday in the title three times.

1) "Monday Morning" by Fleetwood Mac
2) "Monday" by The Jam
3) "Come Monday" by Jimmy Buffett
4) "Stormy Monday" by The Allman Brothers Band
5) "Monday, Monday" by The Mamas & The Papas
6) "Rainy Days And Mondays" by The Carpenters
7) "Blue Monday" by Fats Domino
8) "New Moon on Monday" by Duran Duran
9) "Monday Monday Monday" by Tegan and Sara
10) "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats

You'll notice that I'm not immune to 1970's kitsch by my inclusion of the Carpenters. You'll also notice I have not included an obvious choice, "Manic Monday" by The Bangles. I assure you this omission was intentional - I've never liked that song despite any positive attributes singer Susanna Hoffs may have, vocally or otherwise.

Now let's all have a great week - before long we'll be singing Friday songs (the Easybeats, anybody?)

Scorpio

Yesterday, on satellite radio, I caught Casey Kasem's American Top 40 show from way back in 1971. The top ten consisted of such songs as Climax's "Precious and Few", Nilsson's "Without You" and Don McLean's "American Pie". Yet among those soft-rock hits was something different: a groovin' funk number by Dennis Coffey called "Scorpio" which peaked at #6 on Billboard's Pop Chart. Coffey was an outstanding session guitarist who played on such great numbers as "Cloud Nine" (The Temptations), "War" (Edwin Starr), and "It's Your Thing" (The Isley Brothers). Often our hindsight view of funk concentrates on a few key artists like James Brown, Sly & the Family Stone, or Funkadelic, but a proper perspective of funk really should focus on the diversity of the era's singles. Coffey put out only two top 40 instrumentals, but both "Scorpio" and its follow-up hit "Taurus" are classics of the era and have been sampled several times since in hip-hop numbers. "Scorpio" sizzles with all the classic funk elements including heavy organ and a strong bass line by Bob Babbitt (it even adds some bongos in for good measure). The original is a bit harder to come by (iTunes and other sites have only rerecorded versions), but youtube has some great videos of the youth on Soul Train dancing to it. There's also an excellent version done by the Kashmere String Band (and released on the Stones Throw compilation Cold Heat: Heavy Funk Rareties 1968-1974 that's easier to find and worth checking out.

Riverboat Shuffle

When listening to classic jazz from the 1920's, I am often amazed how a 20 minute cornet solo can speak to me more than a 5 minute hard bop solo. The ability to convey a warm, powerful melody in such a succinct period of time is a gift; few possessed this gift as Bix Beiderbecke did. Bix's solos conveyed such a warm tone and beauty; nowhere is that clearer than with his work with Frank Trumbauer and his Orchestra. In songs like "Singin' The Blues" and "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", Bix's cornet shines over his bandmates. "Riverboat Shuffle", written by Bix's friend Hoagy Carmichael, too is a wondeful, lively piece with Bix's solos the highlights (though Eddie Lang does some nice guitar work). Bix had recorded a solid rendition before with the Wolverines in 1924, but the 1927 remake with Traumbauer's group is even better. The two Columbia collections "Singin' the Blues" and "At The Jazz Band Ball" are still the essential discs to catch Bix's peak period. Sadly after a short stint in the Paul Whiteman band, Bix's alcoholism would catch up with him; he died in 1931 at age 28. Louis Armstrong said of Bix, "I've heard a lot of cats try to play like Bix, but ain't nobody play like him yet."