11/3/15

"Lover you may cause me tears
Drag me through the best of years
But I love you so.

Any of the songs I wrote
Older than a year or two
But I love you so."

Must absolutely get this out there: I love The Staves so so much. If there was ever an incentive to clear your throat to sing, it's their perfectly close  harmonies layered over gently plucked strings. I came across them a couple years ago, but rediscovered their work this year via a documentary about touring in VW vans called "austin to boston" and remembered how beautiful they are, and also that they are British. 

The past few days, they're all I want to listen to, paying close attention to how they divide their parts and soar effortlessly between ranges. For all the talented singer-songwriters out there, for all the talented trios, I think it's rare to find a sound this instantly mature and realized. Haunting refrains in "Make it Holy" on their 2013 release "If I Was" have me captivated, like play-it-on-the-hour kind of listening, but their debut LP "Dead & Born & Grown" suits this time of year so well, the kind of americana folk blend that feels pure and timeless and heartfelt and warm. Songs are equal parts romantic and independent, walking that line between emotional release and reverent realistic self-awareness, which is also good for fall. There's some solid auxiliary and accompaniment, but the harmonies steal the spotlight every time. The acoustics are uncluttered and crisp, I love how it is recorded. But even more worth a listen is their live recordings, with harmonies floating through the air. Just beautiful, and not just for its own sake.         

Carry me home on your shoulders
Lower me onto my bed
Show me the night that I dreamed about before."
~Mexico

The Staves, Dead and Born and Grown

10/26/15

"Years ago, my heart was set to live, oh
But I've been trying hard against unbelievable odds
It gets so hard in times like now to hold on
My guns they're waiting to be stuck by
At my side is God

And there ain't no one goin' turn me 'round
Ain't no one goin' turn me 'round."

~Ballad of El Goodo, #1 Record.
Big Star

Over the past week or so I've learned I cannot get enough of Big Star, the best band of the latter 20th century whose mass-market destiny was shot down by forces beyond their own control but whose talent never faded.

They were on my radar, in the background, back in the day for their authorship of "Thirteen" and its subsequent gorgeous covers, but learning about the band via Netflix doc has me floored, unable to grasp the fact that there was music this good being created that most listeners, as far as the masses were concerned, never heard.

Their story is an exceptionally tragic pairing of ego and industry, both in states of implosion. This sound is so perfectly encapsulating what would've been a hit ... "Radio City" is as close to a perfect album as I have heard in some time. "Back of the Car"is the greatest teenage love song I never heard before,  the harmonica counterpoint in "Life is White" is blues rock at its best, and the outro harmonies on "What's Going Ahn" are ghostly, and haunting. This record has no dull moments.

But, their debut, "#1 Record" is so good, too, so rich and pure, full of contrasting melodies, sing-a-long hooks cloaked in a cynicism. I believe someone in the Netflix described it as close to a perfect record, and I am inclined to agree. Alex Chilton and Chris Bell follow in the footsteps of Lennon-McCartney, with the added benefit of free-wheeling rock 'n' roll of the 1970s informing their efforts. These songs have a softer edge than "Radio City," which brings an edgier tone and a little more structure. Then we get to "Third/Sister Lovers," and there we find this band exploring boundaries it only previously toed, as far as dynamics and range and scope. Each record of theirs is progressively wild, pressing boundaries, but still so centered on what it means to write rock songs of weight and consequence.

Discovering this band has re-centered me musically, in the way that I was shifted as a teenager when I discovered Zeppelin. Just because something was released decades ago doesn't mean it can't be appreciated in today's environment - in fact, it deserves more of a spotlight if only to better compare against those who are trying to make moves and be the greats today.  I think what gets me the most is that no matter how many listeners did or did not get to absorb and adore Big Star in their heyday, is how absolutely breathtaking their sound is decades later. True style, true talent, it does not fade with the trends of the times.

"I like love but I don't know
All these girls, they come and go
Always nothing left to say

And I resigned everyone
Ever since I was young
I'm starting to understand
What's going on and how it's planned."
~What's Going Ahn, Radio City
Big Star