30 years later and it still sounds awesome...
The other day i saw a live Billy Joel concert from 1978--a year after The Stranger was released. What a fucking good album that is. Billy Joel is the man. A premier songwriter, an honest man, but apparently an alcoholic. That's okay though, it happens.
I've been listening to his Greatest Hits (from 1985) a lot this summer. He did a great job of capturing the time period. Hits off of An Innocent man were a tribute to songs of the 50s and 60s, the songs that probably inspired him when he was starting to play.
Of the many things I love about Billy Joel, near the top of the list is his crystal clear inspiration. Every song he writes is directed to someone, or something, about a very specific topic. It makes for something transcendent, in a sing-along-with-it-in-your-car kind of way. Reliable meter, reliable rhyme, i just love the way he tells stories. Watching him solo in that '78 concert was damn impressive too, but no one needs me to to tell the world Billy Joel is a talented musician whose made tons of contributions to modern pop that can hopefully lift hearts and tell someone a little bit about what went on at one point in time.
This is what Joel said about John Mellancamp during the latter's introduction to the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame:
"Don’t let this club membership change you, John. Stay ornery, stay mean. We need you to be pissed off, and restless, because no matter what they tell us - we know, this country is going to hell in a handcart. This country’s been hijacked. You know it and I know it. People are worried. People are scared, and people are angry. People need to hear a voice like yours that’s out there to echo the discontent that’s out there in the heartland. They need to hear stories about it. [Audience applauds] They need to hear stories about frustration, alienation and desperation. They need to know that somewhere out there somebody feels the way that they do, in the small towns and in the big cities. They need to hear it. And it doesn’t matter if they hear it on a jukebox, in the local gin mill, or in a goddamn truck commercial, because they ain’t gonna hear it on the radio anymore. They don’t care how they hear it, as long as they hear it good and loud and clear the way you’ve always been saying it all along. You’re right, John, this is still our country."
i <3 musicians.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
8/10/08
Wedding guest dancers to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" be damned, "Time after Time" is Cyndi Lauper's best work. Such a powerful song, and a great addition to the growing collection of American pop standards. 'Cause if you ask me, sometimes girls don't want to have fun, they want to be hopeless romantics. This song says it so well:
lying in my bed I hear the clock tick,
and think of you
caught up in circles,
confusion is nothing new
flashback-warm nights-
almost left behind.
suitcases of memories,
time after...
sometimes you picture me,
I'm walking too far ahead.
you're calling to me, I can't hear
what you've said.
Then you say "go slow"
I fall behind,
the second hand unwinds
if you're lost and you will find me
time after time
if you fall I will catch you
I'll be waiting
time after time...
-Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time"
She's So Unusual (1983)
The original video for the song is weird and adorable and 80s, though Lauper clutching a plastic dog doesn't make too much sense. Usually when I'm lovesick I've got a cigarette in one hand and the other on a non-ringing telephone. Never did find myself a plastic dog to pass the nights with. Makes me sort of sad I missed out on the 80s, I would have thrived.
Lauper is a fantastic musical icon, I hope to see her place in music history sparkle and bounce as much as she does. I love how she managed fun and flair while still delivering honest, artful songwriting. She made a statement she could sell without selling herself, it seems, and I think that's quite an accomplishment.
Today I came across a a stunning rendition by jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. It's her top selling song on iTunes, and it's no wonder because it's a great match up. Wilson's got true jazz pipes--the song gets richer, melodic tones than Lauper performs with. Love you Cyndi, but Wilson is a supreme vocalist, and this song sounds gorgeous in her deep, range. Takes the song from sugary to chcolately, and it's a deeper, more fulfilling taste.
Lauper's acoustic version is equally stunning, a chill-inducing moment of reflection.
Other "Time After Time" covers--pick your flavor.
Rob Thomas
(god i hate Matchbox Twenty. that's all.)
Sarah McLachlan & Cyndi Lauper
(Sarah's fantastic, she's got such quiet control which is so nice on this song. Plus, it's nice to see musicians collaborate like that.)
INOJ
(Totally remember hearing this on the radio when I was in 4th grade)
Miles Davis
(Even if you're not a jazz fan, picking up on the bits you recognize makes this a great interpretation. And check out those pants! Miles, you crazy wonderful musician. He's so cool to watch. And the tension he builds! He really runs with this one, the chorus is hard to find. Really makes it his, almost unrecognizable.)
Novaspace
(This is so unbelievably awful, even as a dance song. i don't want to dance to this! club music can't have this many words! weird ass video, too.)
Saosin
(Doesn't really do much for me, but it does show the span of musicians this song has reached. There isn't really a personal style in this one, though. It's just being sung.)
Eva Cassidy
(Absolutely haunting, she was such an interpreter.)
Cassidy''s version on a Smallville montage. Aww. Love Clark & Lana so much. One of my favorite WB couples from back in the day.
Quietdrive
(This cover hit #25 on the American top 40 charts--not bad for what started, supposedly as a punk band. Although very little of this sounds punk at all to me, which is kind of disappointing. Candy pop punk, I guess.)
...
time after time. Let's see where else this songs goes.
lying in my bed I hear the clock tick,
and think of you
caught up in circles,
confusion is nothing new
flashback-warm nights-
almost left behind.
suitcases of memories,
time after...
sometimes you picture me,
I'm walking too far ahead.
you're calling to me, I can't hear
what you've said.
Then you say "go slow"
I fall behind,
the second hand unwinds
if you're lost and you will find me
time after time
if you fall I will catch you
I'll be waiting
time after time...
-Cyndi Lauper, "Time After Time"
She's So Unusual (1983)
The original video for the song is weird and adorable and 80s, though Lauper clutching a plastic dog doesn't make too much sense. Usually when I'm lovesick I've got a cigarette in one hand and the other on a non-ringing telephone. Never did find myself a plastic dog to pass the nights with. Makes me sort of sad I missed out on the 80s, I would have thrived.
Lauper is a fantastic musical icon, I hope to see her place in music history sparkle and bounce as much as she does. I love how she managed fun and flair while still delivering honest, artful songwriting. She made a statement she could sell without selling herself, it seems, and I think that's quite an accomplishment.
Today I came across a a stunning rendition by jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. It's her top selling song on iTunes, and it's no wonder because it's a great match up. Wilson's got true jazz pipes--the song gets richer, melodic tones than Lauper performs with. Love you Cyndi, but Wilson is a supreme vocalist, and this song sounds gorgeous in her deep, range. Takes the song from sugary to chcolately, and it's a deeper, more fulfilling taste.
Lauper's acoustic version is equally stunning, a chill-inducing moment of reflection.
Other "Time After Time" covers--pick your flavor.
Rob Thomas
(god i hate Matchbox Twenty. that's all.)
Sarah McLachlan & Cyndi Lauper
(Sarah's fantastic, she's got such quiet control which is so nice on this song. Plus, it's nice to see musicians collaborate like that.)
INOJ
(Totally remember hearing this on the radio when I was in 4th grade)
Miles Davis
(Even if you're not a jazz fan, picking up on the bits you recognize makes this a great interpretation. And check out those pants! Miles, you crazy wonderful musician. He's so cool to watch. And the tension he builds! He really runs with this one, the chorus is hard to find. Really makes it his, almost unrecognizable.)
Novaspace
(This is so unbelievably awful, even as a dance song. i don't want to dance to this! club music can't have this many words! weird ass video, too.)
Saosin
(Doesn't really do much for me, but it does show the span of musicians this song has reached. There isn't really a personal style in this one, though. It's just being sung.)
Eva Cassidy
(Absolutely haunting, she was such an interpreter.)
Cassidy''s version on a Smallville montage. Aww. Love Clark & Lana so much. One of my favorite WB couples from back in the day.
Quietdrive
(This cover hit #25 on the American top 40 charts--not bad for what started, supposedly as a punk band. Although very little of this sounds punk at all to me, which is kind of disappointing. Candy pop punk, I guess.)
...
time after time. Let's see where else this songs goes.
Friday, August 8, 2008
8/8/08
If the only Rufus Wainwright song you have on you iTunes is his or "Across the Universe" cover, you're missing out on one hell of a songwriter.
Theatrical, decadent, explicit and honest, Wainwright consistently manages to bare his soul and pour his heart on top of yours.
His voice is like a stage voice gone flat, and that's okay. Rich and fluid, but pained and just so unique. Varied instrumentation and plenty of string arrangements create a baroque-sounding symphony of a melancholy, homosexual man. (read:awesome, if you like that sort of thing?)
Scores and scores of musicians play on Wainwright's records--a few who are known, most who aren't. It's refreshing to see musicians reach out to others when they're trying to craft their record. There's no isolation, and his records end up being these unfolding panoramas, with all kinds of combinations.
The first record of his that I heard was "Poses," god what a great CD. The opening track, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk." is a favorite song of mine. So fluid, so simple. And he plays with keys so well! He can change the mood without letting the song freeze, his melodies are always moving. (if that makes any sense...watch that one ^ and you'll see what i mean).
I love how he makes simple, everyday things such tales. Great with metaphor, too. His themes are consistently the same--heartbreak, society, the usual of a songwriter--but his lyrics strike a balance between colloquial and creative. He manages an optimistic desperation--you savor the sadness but you're not saturated by it. And he's got a sense of humor--poking fun at himself with just the right amount of cheek (see "Old Whore's Diet).
The man just drips of style. Videos feature artful decadence, but there's something almost mocking about it. (See April Fools)
I'm dying to see him live.
Listening Rufus when you're kind of bummed out can be uplifting--his melodies sound like they belong on Broadway, so there's an element of theatrics that's ultimately cheerful if you're into that sort of sound. A Rufus Wainwright CD is great if you're spending the night alone and wish you weren't. He just sounds like he's lonely, too.
Wainwright's for a certain kind of taste, that's for sure. If you're not into stuff that's really traditionally orchestrated (or if you can't get over the gay factor) you probably won't find much depth in it. But if you're looking for something that's fashionable and flavored with just the right amount of sass, he's a fantastic, fantastic find.
A modern minstrel if i ever heard one:
Poses
(Beautiful performance, beautiful, honest song.)
And above all, an entertainer:
Oh, What a World
(Although...really? Why witches? I don't really get it, but that's okay. Do your thing, man.)
Theatrical, decadent, explicit and honest, Wainwright consistently manages to bare his soul and pour his heart on top of yours.
His voice is like a stage voice gone flat, and that's okay. Rich and fluid, but pained and just so unique. Varied instrumentation and plenty of string arrangements create a baroque-sounding symphony of a melancholy, homosexual man. (read:awesome, if you like that sort of thing?)
Scores and scores of musicians play on Wainwright's records--a few who are known, most who aren't. It's refreshing to see musicians reach out to others when they're trying to craft their record. There's no isolation, and his records end up being these unfolding panoramas, with all kinds of combinations.
The first record of his that I heard was "Poses," god what a great CD. The opening track, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk." is a favorite song of mine. So fluid, so simple. And he plays with keys so well! He can change the mood without letting the song freeze, his melodies are always moving. (if that makes any sense...watch that one ^ and you'll see what i mean).
I love how he makes simple, everyday things such tales. Great with metaphor, too. His themes are consistently the same--heartbreak, society, the usual of a songwriter--but his lyrics strike a balance between colloquial and creative. He manages an optimistic desperation--you savor the sadness but you're not saturated by it. And he's got a sense of humor--poking fun at himself with just the right amount of cheek (see "Old Whore's Diet).
The man just drips of style. Videos feature artful decadence, but there's something almost mocking about it. (See April Fools)
I'm dying to see him live.
Listening Rufus when you're kind of bummed out can be uplifting--his melodies sound like they belong on Broadway, so there's an element of theatrics that's ultimately cheerful if you're into that sort of sound. A Rufus Wainwright CD is great if you're spending the night alone and wish you weren't. He just sounds like he's lonely, too.
Wainwright's for a certain kind of taste, that's for sure. If you're not into stuff that's really traditionally orchestrated (or if you can't get over the gay factor) you probably won't find much depth in it. But if you're looking for something that's fashionable and flavored with just the right amount of sass, he's a fantastic, fantastic find.
A modern minstrel if i ever heard one:
Poses
(Beautiful performance, beautiful, honest song.)
And above all, an entertainer:
Oh, What a World
(Although...really? Why witches? I don't really get it, but that's okay. Do your thing, man.)
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
8/5/08
I'm glad I was there when emo happened. I know "emo" as we've come to define is nearly two decades in the making, but for me, around 2002-2005 is where it all began, where all these artists who seemed to fit me started creeping out of the closet (really, I was just a lonely kid on Limewire)
Jesse Lacey, Adam Lazzarra, John Nolan, Andrew McMahon, Jim Adkins, (and for theatrical measure) Conor Oberst...those guys were writing my fucking soundtrack.
Violence, guns and car crashes from TBS or Brand New, lonely-awkward guy heartbreak from SoCo or Straylight Run, and the madness and drama wrapped up in Bright Eyes' "Fevers and Mirrors"...those kind of songs taught me about love and relationships and people as much as chick flicks marketed toward teenage girls, or Jane Austen or wherever we get all our ideals from.
It was all so bright-sounding, so new to me and so true-to-my-own life. Looking back some of the stories are tragic, some are just plain whiny, and some of the lyrics really fucking suck.
Jimmy Eat World was big, too--the first time I realized SoCo's Konstantine referenced "For Me This is Heaven" I felt like I was discovering a tomb of buried treasure.
Then Elliott Smith's "From a Basement on a Hill" was released when I was 16, and I found out about a whole bunch of other stuff. After lots of classic rock up til high school,combined with lots of Tori Amos from ballet class, trembling songwriting like his was some kind of music for my "still-not-bleeding" ears.
Then there was the first Spill Canvas record, Sunsets and Car Crashes. god such a cheesy title, but I listened to that thing every waking moment. I must've burned 5 copies of that thing because I kept breaking or scratching the ones I'd carry around with me. I preached that record like it was the damn third testament, pawning it off to anyone who would listen to see if it got to them the way it got to me.
I think I had it before it was actually released, too (zomg!!) and I remember hearing different studio versions of the songs and being like "what the fuck happened to my songs!" It's especially noticeable on "Caterpillars" or the backup vocals on the title track.
Made me smile when I heard his single on the XM radio station at work. "All Over You" or whatever. I had to go out and buy that CD when it came out, too. I had to see what he did. It sounds exactly the same to me, the same kind of writing, same kind of phrases all direct and dramatic and frustrated and insistent.
I've made leaps and bounds in my emotional and musical maturity in the past five years, but I hope that fucking CD will always have that same kind of magic to me.
What very well might be on every mix CD i made sophomore year of high school:
Something Vague
(Sing me to death, Conor Oberst! This guy just wails...let's see how his solo album, stripped of the Bright Eyes name, fares with his fans.)
Embers and Envelopes
(I forgot how much I liked Mae. The have a new CD that I really want to hear, but for some reason it would be weird.)
Cute without the "e"
(I never would've admitted loving this song, but you bet I did.)
Punk Rock Princess
(So bright. So bouncy. So cuffed-wrists holding hands. Ah, memories! I still listen to this song, it is so fucking cute, and somehow still sarcastic. And look at McMahon in his sweater. He looks/sounds so young!)
Sweetnesshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
(Don't ask how I responded when I saw that Paramore was covering that. So many wires in my head got crossed.)
And of course...
The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
I remember watching that video to death. "Your Favorite Weapon" was an instant favorite as soon as I heard it, for whatever reason, I downloaded it, I think, after hearing Seventy Times Seven. When I looked them up and realized they had just released this second record...well, next time I was at the mall with my mom I took my restaurant paycheck and bought "Deja Entendu." Peeled through those liner notes, I couldn't believe what this dude was saying and how it sounded.
Still fucking love that song.
Jesse Lacey, Adam Lazzarra, John Nolan, Andrew McMahon, Jim Adkins, (and for theatrical measure) Conor Oberst...those guys were writing my fucking soundtrack.
Violence, guns and car crashes from TBS or Brand New, lonely-awkward guy heartbreak from SoCo or Straylight Run, and the madness and drama wrapped up in Bright Eyes' "Fevers and Mirrors"...those kind of songs taught me about love and relationships and people as much as chick flicks marketed toward teenage girls, or Jane Austen or wherever we get all our ideals from.
It was all so bright-sounding, so new to me and so true-to-my-own life. Looking back some of the stories are tragic, some are just plain whiny, and some of the lyrics really fucking suck.
Jimmy Eat World was big, too--the first time I realized SoCo's Konstantine referenced "For Me This is Heaven" I felt like I was discovering a tomb of buried treasure.
Then Elliott Smith's "From a Basement on a Hill" was released when I was 16, and I found out about a whole bunch of other stuff. After lots of classic rock up til high school,combined with lots of Tori Amos from ballet class, trembling songwriting like his was some kind of music for my "still-not-bleeding" ears.
Then there was the first Spill Canvas record, Sunsets and Car Crashes. god such a cheesy title, but I listened to that thing every waking moment. I must've burned 5 copies of that thing because I kept breaking or scratching the ones I'd carry around with me. I preached that record like it was the damn third testament, pawning it off to anyone who would listen to see if it got to them the way it got to me.
I think I had it before it was actually released, too (zomg!!) and I remember hearing different studio versions of the songs and being like "what the fuck happened to my songs!" It's especially noticeable on "Caterpillars" or the backup vocals on the title track.
Made me smile when I heard his single on the XM radio station at work. "All Over You" or whatever. I had to go out and buy that CD when it came out, too. I had to see what he did. It sounds exactly the same to me, the same kind of writing, same kind of phrases all direct and dramatic and frustrated and insistent.
I've made leaps and bounds in my emotional and musical maturity in the past five years, but I hope that fucking CD will always have that same kind of magic to me.
What very well might be on every mix CD i made sophomore year of high school:
Something Vague
(Sing me to death, Conor Oberst! This guy just wails...let's see how his solo album, stripped of the Bright Eyes name, fares with his fans.)
Embers and Envelopes
(I forgot how much I liked Mae. The have a new CD that I really want to hear, but for some reason it would be weird.)
Cute without the "e"
(I never would've admitted loving this song, but you bet I did.)
Punk Rock Princess
(So bright. So bouncy. So cuffed-wrists holding hands. Ah, memories! I still listen to this song, it is so fucking cute, and somehow still sarcastic. And look at McMahon in his sweater. He looks/sounds so young!)
Sweetnesshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
(Don't ask how I responded when I saw that Paramore was covering that. So many wires in my head got crossed.)
And of course...
The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
I remember watching that video to death. "Your Favorite Weapon" was an instant favorite as soon as I heard it, for whatever reason, I downloaded it, I think, after hearing Seventy Times Seven. When I looked them up and realized they had just released this second record...well, next time I was at the mall with my mom I took my restaurant paycheck and bought "Deja Entendu." Peeled through those liner notes, I couldn't believe what this dude was saying and how it sounded.
Still fucking love that song.
8/4/08
Anyone else click on "The New Facebook?"
I imagine this is what an alternate universe feels like.
I imagine this is what an alternate universe feels like.
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