Women of Musical Genius Wednesday: Feist

I’m just going be direct here:
Leslie Feist is hot, in every sense of the word.

I came across the talents of Ms. Feist (she typically goes by last name only) via the Kings of Convenience, who wisely utilized her vocal talents on a few select tracks of their latest album. Her voice was hauntingly beautiful enough to seek out her own album Let It Die when it got a US release, and I was not disappointed. Every track smolders with this kind of soul jazz with just a touch of European mystique thrown in for good measure (the album was recorded in France, though Feist herself is Canadian). In short, it’s mood music of the finest variety.

Evidently, the world is catching on. The first single, “Mushaboom” is becoming positively huge, accompanied by one of the best (or at least most adorable) music videos I’ve seen in years, and covers by 'indie-tastic' fellows such as Bright Eyes and the Postal Service. For my money, though, the highlight of the CD is her cover of “Inside and Out” by the Bee Gees. Somehow, Feist even makes disco oh-so-cool.

Feist- Inside and Out

Teary Eyed Tuesdays: When You Can’t Beat Them, Cover Them?

So Billy Bragg’s “A New England” got some much deserved praise last week, which makes me very happy. At the same time, however, I think I took off out the gate with this a little harsh. The emo fans out there are as fiercely protective of their music as I am of mine, and I should be a bit more respectful.

In that spirit, I offer a compromise, something for you kids not ready to give up your beloved emo tunes quite yet…. Ladies and gentlemen, Emocapella.

Based out of George Washington University in glorious Washington DC, the group was founded for the sole purpose of shunning the traditional a Capella songbook for punk and emo tunes. Now to be honest, I don’t particularly care for a Capella groups (with the exception, of course, of the Carmen Sandiego theme song), nor do I care for emo music (you think?), but the juxtaposition of the two—obnoxiously preppy college guys belting out incredibly depressing emo lyrics—is some of the funniest shit I’ve ever encountered. If nothing else, it'll make you laugh and realize how incredibly ludicrous such moping can really be.

Though I recommend all the group has to offer online (I’ve given serious thought to purchasing their album… c’mon, its ten bucks!), this one is truly the cream of the crop:

Emocapella- Even Hitler Had A Girlfriend [linked from their site]

Also, for any and all LiveJournalers out there, you can now get this blog in all its glory as a syndicated feed entitled, appropriately enough, ‘nevergetsung’. (A big thanks to Kati for using her paid accountedness on LJ to set this one up).

Men of Musical Genius Mondays: Jeff Tweedy

And another week begins.

From here on in, Mondays will be devoted to the icons of my music collection, the great singer-songwriter types that make me just sit back and wish I could write, sing, and play like they could. First up in the series is without a doubt the man himself, Mr. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, a man often purported by friends and acquaintances to be my personal god figure. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but he’s at the top of the list for musicians for sure.


Make no mistake my friends, Jeff Tweedy IS Wilco… while he fills out the lineup with fantastic musicians that even will best him in terms of technical abilities (Nels Cline, anybody?), you’ve got to respect that creatively Tweedy will always be the top dog ( just ask Jay Bennett, who got his ass fired live in the documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart... harsh)

The distinction is well earned, however, primarily because Jeff Tweedy is one of those people who just flat out understands music. He writes not only as an artist, but as a listener and a fan… you can tell watching him on stage that he’s living out the dream of every guy who spent his childhood saving up allowance money to buy records, and is absolutely loving every minute of it.

But enough hero worship: what about the music? What sticks out more than anything to me is the versatility of it. A song that was recorded on an album as an all out sonic explosion can be just as poignant and effective as a quiet acoustic ballad in concert, primarily due to the power of the lyrics and the force through which he delivers them. Today’s selection is of the latter variety, a bootleg from a solo show in Chicago a few years ago that I think fares better than the album cut in many ways... not that that probably matters to most of you anyways ;)

Enjoy:

Jeff Tweedy- Sunken Treasure (Live Acoustic)

My Secret Shame

So, I decided to christen this “Free for All Friday,” mainly because I was sick of thinking up theme days (Fresh Fridays? Funky Fridays? It just wasn’t working).

Today, I wish to come clean about something that has troubled my elitist music soul for some time; a secret which I have long feared would ruin my credibility as a connoisseur of hip music.

Put quite simply, I enjoy the Jackson 5.

Let me try to put this into context. Since my earliest days of listening to music, I have been a huge fan of Motown, as any self respecting metro Detroiter should be. I have distinct memories of being four years old and dancing around the living room to “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” (granted, to me at the time it was the song from the California Raisins commercials). However, being a self-respecting metro Detroiter, I also pretty much ignored any Motown output past their unfortunate move to LA.

Then, a got a boxed set of early era Motown for Christmas a few years back, the final disc of which featured some material from that odd transitional period where the studio was operating in both places at once. It was on this CD that I first discovered “I Want You Back,” and I was transfixed. It exploded out of my headphones as a piece of 70s era pop genius. The same thing went for “The Love you Save” and “ABC”… funky, soulful, and at the same time the origins of bubblegum pop as we knew it, a sound often imitated but never duplicated.

Right away, I knew this discovery was something I would have to keep to myself. There was no way in hell any self respecting adolescent male could admit to admiration to anything from Michael Jackson’s catalogue in this day and age. However, this summer, fortune smiled upon me and give me an opening to express my admiration for this song: the release of Motown Remixed, an album that compiled new interpretations of some of the hottest Motown hits, including the standout track on the album…. That’s right, the Z-Trip Remix of “I Want You Back”. At long last, the song received the recognition and treatment it deserved, and I could openly declare my admiration for it.

The Jackson Five- I Want You Back (Z-Trip Remix)

Well, I think for the purposes of my sanity, I’ll be taking the weekend off. It’s been an enjoyable first week of blogging… thanks to all who’ve dropped by to have a look at what I’m up to here, assuming people actually are reading this, that is. Feel free to leave me a line in the comments section to let me know you’re out there ;)

Travelogue Thursdays: Oh, Canada!

Damn. I now feel obliged to continue this alliterative theme day thing, at least for the start. Funny how we paint ourselves in corners like that… meh, we’ll see how it goes.

Anyhow, this day has been devoted to bringing you a specific artist from some far off locale (generally outside the good old USA). Today, however, we begin close to home with our neighbors to the north. Canada is a land of lush musical diversity, from the hip beyond belief Montreal music scene to Toronto’s much beloved native sons, Barenaked Ladies (oh c’mon, admit it—you liked If I Had A Million Dollars at some point in your life too).

Today, however, I wish to focus on another, much more specific phenomenon of Canadian music: the Kermit the Frog voice.

Recently, my friend Alex mentioned in this blog that the voice of Neil Young, surely one of Canada’s finest, reminds her of Kermit the Frog, if only in the best of ways (whatever that’s supposed to mean). Anyhow, it got me to thinking, and there are a lot of Canadian performers who sound like Kermit the Frog: Kevin Hearn (of the aforementioned Barenaked Ladies), Rufus Wainwright, Ron Sexsmith, my political theory professor… okay, he doesn’t sing, but he is Canadian and the similarities are uncanny.

Further complicating matters is the fact that Jim Henson, the originator of Kermit’s voice, was born in Mississippi. Last time I checked, Mississippi is not Canada.

Anyhow, listen and be astounded:

Kevin Hearn- War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
Ron Sexsmith- Lebanon, Tennessee
Rufus Wainwright- April Fools

I guess this will just have to remain one of the great mysteries of the musical world… which reminds me, I’m still waiting for an answer on that Konstantine question.

Women of Musical Genius Wednesdays: Nellie McKay

Admittedly, the overwhelming majority of my music collection consists of white guys playing guitar, and though you’d be surprised what diverse sounds can be produced by such a demographic, I recognize the need to be a more equal-opportunity listener as well. So in another attempt to create obnoxiously alliterative weekly offerings, I present to you the first in a series of posts on my favorite female performers out there today. First up: Nellie McKay.

Bottom line: it’s a damn shame that more people haven’t heard of this girl. I think I heard her do a live set on the now dead for all intents and purposes WDET-FM, and was just amazed that a girl about my age could sound as if she’d been writing music and performing in smoke filled lounges late at night for years. I had to have more—and that’s where the trouble started.

You see, Ms. McKay tends to write music that isn’t, how shall we say this, male friendly. I believe the AMG review described her music as “the soundtrack to some long-lost feminist musical”. Naturally, my dumb guy defense mechanisms kicked in, and I held off on buying the album for the sake of my masculinity, until one fateful day when I stepped into the Barnes and Noble here in East Lansing and saw it on the featured album rack. I couldn’t resist it any longer, said ‘fuck masculinity’, and purchased it (all while avoiding eye contact with the cashier, of course).

And you know what? It was worth it. Yes, Nellie McKay spends an awful lot of time pondering what its like to be a young woman in this day and age, and a lot of it I can’t relate to personally, but it doesn’t change the fact that she can write, play, and sing devastatingly well (The fact that she’s pretty attractive doesn’t hurt either—my friend Chris, after hearing the album, gave it a one sentence review of “I want to marry her”). Sure, it’s resulted in a few embarrassing moments of me singing lyrics like “David don't you hear me at all, David dear I'm just down the hall” while walking to class with my ipod on, but I’m pretty sure nobody caught that anyway.

As a bonus, I’m putting up two Nellie McKay tracks today: one from her stellar double-disc debut album “Get Away from Me” (notable as probably the only time you’ll ever hear MLA format being referenced in a song), as well as one from her should have been released by now follow-up “Pretty Little Head,” which is currently trapped in a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot style struggle with Columbia Records, which you can read about here.

Nellie McKay- Inner Peace

Nellie McKay- Long and Lazy River

Tune in tomorrow for… Time Warp Thursdays? (I’m kidding… God I hope I'm kidding)

Teary-Eyed Tuesdays, or The Alternative to Emo

Today’s post goes out to the emo kids. Consider it an apology of sorts.

I was once amongst your harshest detractors, watching you sitting there with your headphones on, sulking in your own little worlds, and thinking “Give me a break… stand up, quit the pity party, and do something in this world.”

But after going through some personal stuff myself in the past month or so, I feel like I should have cut you kids a little slack. Music is an incredibly cathartic force for things like this: hearing that voice that resonates and tells you that you aren’t the first to feel like this, and won’t be the last… essentially that you are not alone. It’s a great feeling, and I see why you turn to the headphones for solace.

However, while I support the principle, I think you guys have the execution of it all off—basically, you’re choosing the wrong songs to listen to. Of course you’re going to feel like crap after listening to Konstantine on repeat all night long in all of its bloated nine minute glory while weeping into your LJ... it’s one depressing song.*

Fear not, because I’m here to help. Believe it or not, there’s a world of music out there that you can empathize with that will put some life back in you at the same time, or at the very least help you to look at things in a new light. I don’t claim to be an expert on this by any stretch, but I do know what’s worked for me and what perspective I gained from it, and I’d like to share it with you.

So without further ado, the first selection (I’m thinking this will be a weekly deal… neat, huh?)

I begin with the granddaddy of liberating breakup songs, Billy Bragg’s A New England. Billy spent his childhood in England listening to old Motown records, and found that much to his dismay the real world of love did not match up to the ideals of R&B. The result is some of the most powerful and yet thoughtful music about love I’ve ever heard, embodied in this song. It’s the kind of song that you sing out loud to yourself at the top of your lungs on the way home late at night when you think nobody’s listening, bad British accent and all… or maybe that’s just me ;)

When he gets to the chorus, though... somethings always bugged me- the bit about not wanting to change the world. It feels contradictory to Billy Bragg's entire philosophy (he's also a major politcal activist), but I've always dismissed it as just a desperation thing. Now, I think I get it- it's his means of acceptance. He can't change the situation, so he'd just as well move on, hard as it is to do. Brilliant stuff, Bill.

Anyhow, I'll cut myself off here, as it’s really just one of those songs that speaks for itself… absolutely genuis in its simplicity.

Billy Bragg- A New England.mp3

*as an aside, can anybody out there explain to me why this song makes any female between the ages of 16-24 just completely melt? Because I’ve tried to figure it out for a probably a good three years now, and I’m still stumped.

Presidents' Day

For the record (ouch, no pun intended), I don't anticipate doing a helluva lot of gimmicky holiday posts like this one, but everything just falls into place here.

First off, its from a collaboration between two of my favorite acts- Billy Bragg and Wilco (though I don't thing Billy is doing too much on this one). Secondly, said collaboration is Mermaid Avenue, in which great unrecorded lyrics from Woody Guthrie, the godfather of Amerian folk music, were revived and reinterpreted by arguably some of his closest musical descendants.

But most of all, its a song called "Christ for President"- seriously, what's not to like?

Wilco (with Billy Bragg)- Christ for President.mp3

Alright, must be off to ponder The Federalist Papers... see, it really does all just fit into place.

"I'm Sorry, Ladies and Gentlemen...."

...but i started a blog.

well, i guess it's nothing new- I've had that damn LJ for over a year now... fear not, the five or so of you that actually read it, it's not going anywhere.

however, after my recent discovery of the wonderful world of mp3 blogs, i feel like i have a new medium in which to express myself- namely, blabbering on about music and sharing it with all you fine people (once again, all five or so of you).

my hope is to get something up here every couple of days, and keep the mp3s up as long as i have enough MSU webspace, so get them while you can.

so without further ado.... the first song.

The year was 1977, the place was NBC studios. Elvis Costello was performing on Saturday Night Live, back when it actually was a hotbed of hip talent (imagine that). He was under contract to perform his latest single, "Less Than Zero," a song with no relevance whatsoever to the United States. After playing the opening bars, Mr. Costello cuts his band off, apologizes to the audience, and goes full tilt into a rendition of the anti-corporate (and unreleased) "Radio Radio," an act that gets him banned from the show for over a decade. In other words, it was a moment of music snob perfection in history.

I'd always said that if i had a radio show, this live cut would be the first song of my first set. For now though, this is definitely good enough :)

Elvis Costello- Radio Radio (live on SNL).mp3