What with real essays to write and all, I haven't been able to take a breath and clear my head and get on my once-much-loved side internet project of music and goodness. So now, after 3 in the mo on a Saturday night when I'm not in much of a state to really write all that much (or well) at all, here goes some gushing about some loves.
I have loved Devendra for a long time, and his new album blows my mind a bit. Especially his FUCKING CRAZY as shit videos. I mean, the songs are definitely weird, and they test the conventional expectations of pop-folk-rock songs (though when you're referred to as a "freak-folk" artist, whaddaya expect?). Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that sometimes the videos don't quite match up with the song or the sound. Example A:
FOOLIN'
Shot one: camera closes in on Devendra in a car, looking adorably forlorn and ravishingly gorgeous (yeah, he was hiding a significant amount of attractiveness under all that hair of his). Shot two: he walks up to a door. Shot three: he takes his jacket off for the guy at the door, and weird shit goes down. What follows could be a little shocking, what with the whipping, biracial homosexual eroticism, cutting of fingers, dabbing of bloody fingerless stumps on girls lips, more whipping, bloody Devendra buttcracks, and other events that ensue. Is it odd that none of what's shown really freaks me out? I mean, I did wonder, briefly, just what exactly possessed him to go this route with the video. Because honestly, what he created is the last thing any listener would imagine for this song. But when it comes to Devendra, it's probably best to not have any expectations; it's more amusing that way. And it's more fun to be caught off-guard.
For instance, if I'd just stuffed Devendra in a weird-folk box, what would I have expected from him? Crooning and acoustic guitars? Weird outfits and pretentious performances? No, it's better not to expect anything at all. He might be following a certain vein of music, but ultimately, he's just another person who has room to do whatever he wants. And because my expectations are down, I'm all the more pleased when I find super-rad videos of Devendra being a boss on his skateboard. Who would have thought?
Release Date - July 12, 2010 - Which means if you haven't checked this out, you're late, so get on that.
Have you ever listened to a cover of a song from one of your favorite artists and not hated it? I hadn't, until I heard Bombay Bicycle Club's take on Joanna Newsom's "Swansea," and miraculously refrained from tearing it apart. In fact, I even enjoyed it, and welcomed the refreshing take on one of Newsom's earlier beauties, despite the fact that BBC only included two of the original's lovely verses (and a weird pronunciation of detrain/detwain?). I did miss some of the quirky lyrics that led me to love Swansea in the first place, but BBC didn't refrain from incorporating quirky vocals via frontman Jack Steadman. I would say that the vocals are an homage to Joanna, but listening through the rest of the album leads me to conclude that it's his natural voice.
Swansea:
The rest of the record is more folky-acoustic-weirdness condensed into a truly beautiful compilation. "Ivy and Gold" really makes me wish I could whistle, "My God" almost makes me wish I believed in one (ALMOST), and "Flaws" creates a stunning world where actual flaws aren't uncomfortable, embarrassing, or burdensome. Or at least they don't sound so bad when Steadman is singing about them. And the harmonies, OH MY, the HARMONIES. So gorgeous.
Release date on iTunes: July 27 ...or stream now for free from NPR!
With breathy, dreamy vocals that envy Marissa Nadler's, Jesca Hoop's swirling new songs will undoubtedly stamp a swelling footprint into the movement that is "new-folk." Swiftly, she goes from four-part vocal harmonies (Whispering Light) to poppy banjo tunes (Four Dreams) to ethereal cooing (Angel Mom) with a light ease that makes her music feel free and pure. While Whispering Light's vocal arrangements compare to fellow folkies Fleet Foxes' White Winter Hymnal (only creepier, darker, and stealthier-- although in Hymnal, Michael does bleed from his head into the snow...), Feast of the Heart sounds something spawned from PJ Harvey. The very next track, Murder of Birds, gives strong and beautiful references to Irish folk music even though it sounds unarguably current.
Hoop is certainly experimental, and she takes grand risks and liberties with her work. The result is a beautiful, timeless sound that could be of yesterday, today, or tomorrow. She has fun, though she never turns too far into any box or corner, which keeps the album exciting. Her abrupt changes in sound never feel too unforewarned, uncomfortable or unnecessary. Furthermore, the different styles she samples stretch her gorgeous voice in every direction, allowing her to melt enigmatically through the album from start to finish. The start, however, is hard to shake, for Whispering Light leaves a haunting paw print on the listener's brain that remains long after the album has ended. The song may just be the best first impression I've ever encountered.
Now that her live chops have been proven spectacular, check out her visually stunning music video for The Kingdom.
Recently I've been paying a lot of attention to the music I listen to, and I assessed that I didn't listen to enough women. For the longest time (2005-2009 -- it was a dark path, but I was young and foolish) I was completely stuck in the frightening phase that is alt-rock. I sampled bands such as Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, Simple Plan, Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Green Day, Foo Fighters, and the list grows more and more monotonous. And "manly." As in, all the artists I was listening to were men.
As a woman, as a musician, and as a growing feminist, discovering that I listened to no female musicians bothered me. So I went and found some great ones! Now that I've educated myself, I present my compiled list of my favorite ladies:
1. Karen O
Yeah Yeah Yeahs' frontwoman Karen O is my number one bad-ass musician heroine. Her style is totally rad (androgynous mixed with bizarre mixed with hawt) and I kind of want to be her. Last summer, I got the chance to see YYY's, which was incredible-- I mean the best concert I've been to incredible-- and the performance was EXCELLENT. KO was dancing maniacally and gleefully around the stage while screaming into the mic and completely beasting. Speaking of beasting, her work on Where the Wild Things Are shows what wonderfully beautiful music she is capable of making (All is Love, people? So catchy, so adorable). And we've seen Karen magnificently collaborate with children in the past, as well-- I direct you to one of my personal favorites, Y-Control, below.
I want to be corrupted by Karen O.
2. Cat Power
I have blogged my love for Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) before, and I've covered her twice. I find myself drawn to her beautiful voice, her ability to be simultaneously enigmatic, personal, and warm, as well as her back-story, which adds to the complexity of her music. You Are Free might be my favorite recurring message on any album I've ever listened to, What Would the Community Think is as gorgeous as it is sad, and everything Cat Power has ever covered has been stunning. Example:
And I absolutely wish I had Cat Power-hair. But I tried the bangs, and it was not so.
3. Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom is completely odd, gorgeous, and original. I place emphasis on the word "original," because really, how many artists make poppy-medieval sounding tunes playing a harp, and playing it so beautifully?
What I love about Joanna is that she is entirely outside of the box, whatever the box that applies to her would be. You can't really put any sort of label on Joanna, although people have certainly tried. If she received a nickel for every time she was called a fairy or an elf, she could buy everyone in the world a harp. 10 times.
PS. I also want Joanna Newsom's hair, so I am currently growing it out. Oh, and I try to focus more time on perusing the dictionary in order to develop Joanna's incredible vocabulary.
4. Lady Gaga
No longer can I deny my love for this lady. I was completely and utterly turned off by her at first, simply because she wasn't showing me anything I couldn't find in the other gaggle of blonde pop-ladies breezing up and down the charts. But then I began to pay a little bit of attention and became amused at just how bizarre Gaga is. Her job suggests that she should be incredibly fake, yet she knows exactly who she is and has decided to scream it to the world. And the world, and more surprisingly, the mass top-40 world, is listening. Gaga dons sunglasses made of cigarettes and pants made of... actually, donning no pants is more typical of Gaga. She makes epic video after epic video, and with the latest (Alejandro) she shows she is not afraid to shock, awe, and piss off a few people. Now I have never been to church, so I can't say what kind of blasphemous actions Lady Gaga is carrying out. I can say, however, that her face (or lack of face) at the very end absolutely terrified me as I watched the video for the first time, alone, in the dark, at three in the morning.
Below is my favorite (and dare I say, underrated?) jam of Gaga's. I particularly enjoy double fist-pumping to this song, which is bad, for I usually listen to this song while driving to work everyday.
5. Tegan and Sara
Has there ever been a duo who can simultaneously pull of the perfect mix of being adorable and angsty as successfully as Tegan and Sara? Well, I haven't found one, so these two are dubbed the winners. Seriously, I want to be in this music video. I WANT TO DO THIS CUTE DANCE.
I don't foresee myself growing a twin or cloning myself anytime soon, so for now I will just stick to fantasizing over what would be if Olivia and Adelaide (twin name is still in the works) existed.
6. Beyonce
Oh, Sasha Fierce, you have totally won my love, what with being a bamf DIVA and all. I completely believe that she could kick my ass (or anyone's ass) on any given day. In particular, I love just how classy Beyonce has become since breaking free from Destiny's Child. I don't mind all of the collaborations with my other favorite pop-songstress, Lady Gaga, either.
This retro homage to/mockery of 1950s housewifery makes me swoon. When she dusts off her Grammys = THE BEST.
7. Marissa Nadler
Psst. Hey. Marissa. How do you do that thing with your voice? You know, that thing where you sound entirely too beautiful to be packed into a three-minute song? How your voice sounds like it should just radiate all over the world and end all the evils in existence? Yeah, can you get back to me on that? Thanks.
P.S. About the ending evils thing. Can your reverb block up the BP oil spill? Get on that.
I must give Feist some major credit, for she was one of the first female artists I majorly got into. Her down-to-earth quirkiness first captivated me. But I quickly fell for her voice (I have a thing for breathy singer-song writers, if Cat Power and Marissa Nadler haven't tipped you off), which wears every emotion in the boldest of colors. I just hope she brings us something else soon. She hasn't presented any new solo material since The Reminder (and the iPod commercial) made waves. Her songs make me so happy, even when they are oh so melancholy.
9. Janelle Monae
This girl knows who she is and where she's going, you can be damn sure of that. I love her style, her dancing, her androgyny, her social commentary, her weirdness, her pipes, and her ideas. She's never afraid to just "be," whether that means being herself or being android Cindi Mayweather. Janelle Monae is presenting ideas that are absolutely innovative and sounds that are entirely catchy, and I have definitely been hooked.
10. Joan Baez
Now this lady rightfully stands a cut above the rest, if not for her legendary career, but for those fine vocal chords. I want to play guitar like Baez, I want to sing like Baez, and I want to roam the Earth and promote causes like Baez. I deeply admire this woman, all she does, and all she stands for. I kick myself everyday, for she came through town two years ago to play a show at the local theatre, but I had not yet entered into my pseudo-hippie folk-loving days. Hopefully, I get the chance to see her and take it. I've already seen Dylan in concert, but a live show from Joan is something I certainly don't want to miss. I probably wouldn't breathe the entire way through, just because those pipes amaze me.
Example:
I am kind of ecstatic that I escaped my rut and found all these wonderful female artists to look up to. Because really, now I get to work at emulating all my women idols, whereas before, I was all, "Yeah! I totally want to be... that sweaty dude?" Hopefully, my list will grow, and I'll continue to add to it ladies I love and admire.
By the way, none of these songs are really in any specific order, save Joanna Newsom, who thoroughly deserves the number one spot.
10. Avi Buffalo - Summer Cum
I cannot believe these kids are, well, kids. I could call them my peers.
While this song doesn't have a trip-tastic video like their equally great "What's In It For?", the lyrics are quirky and the melody is oh so sticky. Also, the best line of the song = "And I could taste a robot's fist." Yep... I can relate.
9. Lightspeed Champion - Marlene
Okay, so there are so many good things about this video, which mainly is the amount of giggles it induces. But this video can never reach the greatness that is the tasty guitar hook during the chorus ("Stop being cool! / Uh-oh.")
8. Janelle Monae - Cold War
R&B from space? I think so. And I love it, her, and her style.
7. Jakob Dylan - Everybody's Hurtin'
Yeah, Jakob, you wear those sunglasses indoors. Oh, and KELLY'S AND NEKO'S BACKGROUND VOCALS.
6. Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse, and Julian Casablancas - Little Girl
Technically, this song has just been released, although it was done quite awhile ago (and it has been on my iPod for awhile, too). Danger Mouse apparently had some beef with EMI, though, and Dark Night of the Soul couldn't be released until July 12. Unfortunately, Sparklehorse left us before we could appreciate the fully released project. RIP Mark Linkous, and I hope whatever afterlife you believe in is giving you peace.
5. Jamie Lidell - Compass
Can you describe this song using words other than "beautiful," or "stunning?" Yeah, I can't either.
4. The Avett Brothers - Slight Figure of Speech
These boys are usually a bit more folky, mellow, and heartfelt, but this song just makes me want to jump around pumping my fists in all directions. Especially when they RAP.
3. Laura Marling - Devil's Spoke
Another individual who just seems much to young to be this good.
2. MGMT - It's Working
I must say, I simply love MGMT's new sound, maybe even more than their old sound. I think this is because their new sound is a little bit 60s-tinged, and I'm such a sucker for the 60s. Another great new band with another great, new, innovative video is also a plus-- the highlight has to be their drummer coming out of the ground wearing a rainbow sombrero.
#1 by a grand-spankin' mile. Joanna Newsom - Baby Birch
Joanna Newsom might just be my favorite person in the world right now. I kind of want to be her. Was I ever surprised to listen to her new album and hear her new voice style. I still love the old warble, but these buttery smooth vocals are so stunning that I'm speechless. Her whole album is great-- the arrangements are BRILLIANT. But Baby Birch, without a doubt, is one of the most emotionally charged tracks on the album, and I could listen to it on repeat all day.
I meant to write about Joanna Newsom's crazy, brilliant, stunning, ambitious triple-album when it came out in March, but I wanted to listen to it through and get a good feel for the entire work before I criticized it. And then I listened to it on repeat for days and days and days, but never got my thoughts out. So here I am, with a belated reaction to the beautiful Have One On Me.
So where to begin, where to begin... just to talk about this massive work is difficult for me to approach. Because it IS massive, and quite long (over 2 hours), so listening to this thing all the way through, multiple times, was no easy challenge. I first downloaded it to my iPod and just played it on shuffle, which is stupid, lemme tell you, because you really should listen to the songs in order.
Starting with Easy <3
The album begins with a soft bang, as Joanna quietly coos "Easy, easy/ My man and me," and goes on from there with a calculated rhythm and melody, while the song swiftly and steadily grows. My very first thought was something along the lines of "Holy vocal chords!" because if you know anything about Joanna, you know that she has a wild, warbly, untamed voice. But here, it is so smooth and stunning, in the best of ways. I mean, not even was I halfway through the opening song when I deduced that Joanna has grown and matured incredibly since the last album.
Up next is the exceptionally complex title track. And it is a stunner.
The song starts out beautifully and quickly livens up ("Here's Lola, tada! to do her famous spider dance for you") and lacks no quirky lyrics. While the song is so adorable that you just want to hug it, it's also so complex that you're a little intimidated. Seriously, to achieve what Joanna's achieved with only 2 songs blows my mind. And there are 16 to go, most over 6 minutes long... Most of the other songs, also, are layered with instrument upon instrument, textured with backing vocals, filled with wild percussion, and obscured with clever lyrics.
Take Baby Birch, for instance.
Possibly the most personal song on the album, with somber lyrics that point to losing a child, either literally, metaphorically, or just in a futuristic sense ("This is the song for baby birch, oh I will never know you, and at the back of what we've done, there is this knowledge of you," and "I wish I could take every path, cause you know I hated to close that doggone door on you.") I've read more than a few reviews that are sure the song is about abortion, and this is further evidenced by On A Good Day, which follows. The lyrics certainly don't rule this theory out, especially when you regard the very end of the song where she talks about catching a rabbit and skinning it quick, or laughing at a mother goose for thinking she wants a "little baby fussing all over my legs." So when I listen to this song, sometimes I follow that story line. Other times, I just believe the song to be a line of stirring metaphors that address loss in general. Either way, the song is so brooding and melancholy, so beautiful, and so easy to get lost in. And I could listen to the line, "Do you remember staring, up at the stars, so far away in their bulletproof cars?" over and over and over again until the song wore thin.
Anybody who's feeling ambitious enough to take this gargantuan listen on really needs to be in the right mood. This album is LONG, and quite testing, because Joanna, clever girl that she is, has intertwined all the songs into a complex and purposeful line. On the first few listens, certain songs really stood out for me (the ones I've listed, the shorter songs "On A Good Day" and "'81," "Good Intentions Paving Company," and "Soft as Chalk"). Others blended together. It probably took me 4 or 5 listens through for me to make the connection between "In California" and "Does Not Suffice": both songs follow the same melodic line and coincide with each other astonishingly. Listening can just become plain overwhelming, too, because you want to take everything in all at once, which is just impossible. But the effort is more than worth it. The songs are beautiful, the album is gorgeous, the musicianship is incredible.
And I'm going to keep telling myself that, because I shelled out 30 bucks to pick up the vinyl edition at my local record store.*
*I do not regret this, though-- the setup of the record is kickass.
This second cover of mine was a lot of fun to do, mostly because we didn't have to go looking for a guitar player. I just quickly threw together the keys on GarageBand and imported it to ProTools and sang. The whole project took about 5 days, maybe spending 30 minutes to an hour on it each day.
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