Friday, June 5, 2015
6/5/15
"So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
'Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go."
~Leaving on a Jet Plane
Eisley/John Denver
Beautiful song, beautiful interpretation. On replay now. Can't believe this is the first time I've heard it with a string section behind it. Let me reiterate how stunning I think Sherri DuPree Bemis is as a singer and human being. And, knowing the life she lives as a musician who is also married to one, I can only imagine the sentiment of goodbye and return with the one you love as so eloquently displayed in this song have a meaning near and dear to her heart. While there are not shortage of covers of this track, I am very glad to hear this one from this vantage point. Some songs, some sentiments, do not get old or tired no matter how many times you encounter them. Some just floor you every time.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
6/4/15
"Chancing, glancing, so enough mood for romancing
So love dawn can't you see
That you only gotta dance with me."
~Lowdown
My Morning Jacket, At Dawn
Because friends are cool and summer tours are better, I get to see My Morning Jacket perform in a few hours. What an epic band they truly are, maintaining such a strong presence and popularity despite the labels they've encountered as a jam band for a decade and a half. While I am hardly heading into this concert as a superfan, I'm familiar enough with their aesthetic and discography to know my ears are in store for some fluid guitars, loud swells, classic-rock rhythms and the powerful high range and almost-twang of Jim James.
It's a fortunate coincidence I've been in classic rock and alt-country mode all week. My mind is on forests and trees and lakes and grasses and skies instead of the pavement and highways and sky-high structures around me daily. Summer calls for open-air getaways and I've yet to be able to escape. If I cannot be there myself, it is at least a comfort to run away to music that can make me feel just as pensive or reflective or carefree, or otherwise altogether chill. So many bands do it well but My Morning Jacket is one of the leaders of this tribe, with refreshing American rock that does not bother with the trends of the day, and instead relies on satisfying progressions and melodies, a healthy dose of harmonies and a dash of blues-rock soul. To last this long, in this era, requires timeless chops. How else could they make it 15 years? This is not a band to be sad to, though they can be back, this is not a band to flaunt to, though I anticipate hispter fashion galore as I roll up in my work clothes.
Should be a treat - and an unexpected one at that. Obviously I hope they play "Bermuda Highway." That line about dreams and the crack of the bed and the wall is an unforgettable metaphor. But their latest LP, "The Watefall," is lush-lush-lush and a bit wordier than their older material, which I totally dig. Regardless of whether I am familiar with the songs or not, I'm looking forward to jaw-dropping guitar playing, and getting lost-lost-lost.
"There is only so many ways that one can
Look at a given situation
And I wish you all the love in this world and beyond."
~Get the Point
My Morning Jacket, Waterfall
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
5/27/15
"Jesus Christ. I'm 26.
All the people I graduated with,
All have kids,
All have wives,
All have people who care if they come home at night.
Well, Jesus Christ, did I fuck up?"
~Passing Through a Screen Door
The Wonder Years, The Greatest Generation
I am compelled to post this tonight as it will only remain true to my life for the next several hours -- and because it is a pop punk bridge for the modern age that reflects ultimately what I find many in my generation often grappling with.
I know it seems like all we care about is what's happening on our phones but the timeless mortal longings for companionship and love and meaning in our lives - surprisingly!!! - remain. In my conversations this past year, with friends or acquaintances or strangers of a similar age, I've heard plenty of takeaways on what it means to be alone, what it means to be coupled up, or somewhere in between. Some seem dead-set on running as far as they can from commitment of any sort, thinking such trappings spell doom for their individualized futures; others seek it like water in a drought, gasping and grasping for something to hold onto other than themselves that will provide vitality. Still others I meet are in some sort of medium ground, not alone and not lost though conventionally behind the times and, through their personal choices, redefining them. Some others just don't seem to care where they fit. They just seem happy.
I am one of those who is not alone, though I live that way. I am one of those who pokes and prods and rips up roots almost fast as I can grow them, though I have a few places I can call home enough to find someone to laugh with and buy me a drink. I often feel as though I have fucked up, though I know in my heart of hearts and deepest of consciousness that I have not.
To me this song spells out fervent desire for change, without yet knowing which kind to make. It starts from the feeling that the present in all its normalcy is not adequate, when the room to run is so far and wide and somewhere out there is something more. That feeling, the opposite of sought-after stability, is glorious in its own way, and glamorized thoroughly, but it presents challenges and fears in the way traditional settling down might in others. What if nowhere feels like home? What if there's no one to look over at, and smile to know all you've shared? What if, to be running and constantly seeking, means you lose everything that is worthwhile after all? Answering these questions sometimes only brings a stronger desire for sameness, for stillness, for closeness that may not be found outside in the world but behind your bedroom door. And then the cycle begins again...
With this song, with this album, Dan Campbell and The Wonder Years presented a story of the times that I hope will preserve the emotional trials and struggles felt by many in the here and now. It helps that it is incredibly fluid, aggressive and devastating rock music, that makes your neck arch and fingers drum and throat ache to shout. I shouted these words 10 rows deep last August, screaming as loud as I ever would packed among hundreds of strangers younger than me, or older than me, or cooler than me, or more scene than me, and for that day, for that set, I did not feel fucked up. I did not feel like I'd missed out. I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
All the people I graduated with,
All have kids,
All have wives,
All have people who care if they come home at night.
Well, Jesus Christ, did I fuck up?"
~Passing Through a Screen Door
The Wonder Years, The Greatest Generation
I am compelled to post this tonight as it will only remain true to my life for the next several hours -- and because it is a pop punk bridge for the modern age that reflects ultimately what I find many in my generation often grappling with.
I know it seems like all we care about is what's happening on our phones but the timeless mortal longings for companionship and love and meaning in our lives - surprisingly!!! - remain. In my conversations this past year, with friends or acquaintances or strangers of a similar age, I've heard plenty of takeaways on what it means to be alone, what it means to be coupled up, or somewhere in between. Some seem dead-set on running as far as they can from commitment of any sort, thinking such trappings spell doom for their individualized futures; others seek it like water in a drought, gasping and grasping for something to hold onto other than themselves that will provide vitality. Still others I meet are in some sort of medium ground, not alone and not lost though conventionally behind the times and, through their personal choices, redefining them. Some others just don't seem to care where they fit. They just seem happy.
I am one of those who is not alone, though I live that way. I am one of those who pokes and prods and rips up roots almost fast as I can grow them, though I have a few places I can call home enough to find someone to laugh with and buy me a drink. I often feel as though I have fucked up, though I know in my heart of hearts and deepest of consciousness that I have not.
To me this song spells out fervent desire for change, without yet knowing which kind to make. It starts from the feeling that the present in all its normalcy is not adequate, when the room to run is so far and wide and somewhere out there is something more. That feeling, the opposite of sought-after stability, is glorious in its own way, and glamorized thoroughly, but it presents challenges and fears in the way traditional settling down might in others. What if nowhere feels like home? What if there's no one to look over at, and smile to know all you've shared? What if, to be running and constantly seeking, means you lose everything that is worthwhile after all? Answering these questions sometimes only brings a stronger desire for sameness, for stillness, for closeness that may not be found outside in the world but behind your bedroom door. And then the cycle begins again...
With this song, with this album, Dan Campbell and The Wonder Years presented a story of the times that I hope will preserve the emotional trials and struggles felt by many in the here and now. It helps that it is incredibly fluid, aggressive and devastating rock music, that makes your neck arch and fingers drum and throat ache to shout. I shouted these words 10 rows deep last August, screaming as loud as I ever would packed among hundreds of strangers younger than me, or older than me, or cooler than me, or more scene than me, and for that day, for that set, I did not feel fucked up. I did not feel like I'd missed out. I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
5/26/15
Yesterday, on an impromptu drive through southern Pennsylvania, I caught a three-song Dawes set the radio. One of these was "If I Wanted Someone," which is my favorite track on 2011's "Nothing is Wrong." But the first was "Things Happen," one of their newest singles that is very new to me, and sports a chorus that shattered like a china plate over my head.
"In a different time, on a different floor
I might mourn the loss of who I'm not anymore.
So I'm driving up to Oakland for a good look back,
And a few revisions to my plan of attack.
Let's make a list of all the things the world has put you through,
Let's raise a glass to all the people you're not speaking to
I don't know what else you wanted me to say to you
Things happen, that's all they ever do."
~Things Happen
Dawes, All Your Favorite Bands
I love the way they blend blues-folk feel with rock sensibilities, an Americana blend through and through. This track felt a little more classic than those on "Nothing is Wrong," at least vocally, as if they went back to draw more inspiration from 70s rootsy rock than the mellow-hipster contemporaries they found themselves on the radio among in recent years. I love the guitar line too, something very spacey-hippie about it. Whoever mixed this deserves some serious credit, because it sounds straight from the stage. Given I never got into Dawes' 2013 release I'm not sure what kind of evolution I missed, but if it wound up with the kind of raw layers and harmonies produced at the end of "Things Happen," then I'd say they are heading in the right direction. The album is now streaming in pre-release form on NPR, and I think I will listen for more - more ringing guitars, more honest-to-goodness honest folk, more feelings from the 10,000-foot perspective.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
5/14/15
"What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me.
And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see,
Love to be
In the arms of all I'm keeping here with me.
What a curious life
We have found here tonight
There is music that sounds on the street
There are lights in the clouds
Anna's ghost all around
Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me
Soft and sweet
How the notes all bend and reach above the trees"
So many times people try to cover songs from Neutral Milk Hotel's "In an Aeroplane Over the Sea" and it is arguably a huge waste of time, because those songs are so classic and memorable and legitimate classics, reaching even beyond the cult status they once achieved. They are great songs because they are beautiful songs, because they are well-written songs. Because Jeff Magnum channeled something innate in him. Yet as far as the cover efforts go, I have never seen anyone do it as well as the brilliant and talented Lera Lynn.
She and her band truly make this song her own, with a twinge of blues-rock in the guitar and a downbeat swing on the kit. The mournful solo, the doo-wop bass line.they bring out an accessible folk quality in this song that was formerly slightly unreachable in its literary pretense. It's far more approachable, here. There's the same dark passion that exists in the original, but it is funneled through something more immediate, in this live and lively setting. Then...the way she sings the final verse is as promising of an up-and-coming performer I could imagine, and the best kind of indie rock female vocal, in my estimation. So strong and beautiful and crystal clear. I am a little obsessed and more inspired.
"Oh how I remember you
How I would push my fingers through
Your mouth to make those muscles move
That made your voice so smooth and sweet
But now we keep where we don't know
All secrets sleep in winter clothes
The one you loved so long ago
Now he don't even know his name
What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
And when we meet on a cloud
I'll be laughing out loud
I'll be laughing with everyone I see
Can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all."
~In An Aeroplane Over The Sea
Neutral Milk Hotel, In An Aeroplane Over the Sea/Lera Lynn at Athfest 2011
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me.
And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see,
Love to be
In the arms of all I'm keeping here with me.
What a curious life
We have found here tonight
There is music that sounds on the street
There are lights in the clouds
Anna's ghost all around
Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me
Soft and sweet
How the notes all bend and reach above the trees"
So many times people try to cover songs from Neutral Milk Hotel's "In an Aeroplane Over the Sea" and it is arguably a huge waste of time, because those songs are so classic and memorable and legitimate classics, reaching even beyond the cult status they once achieved. They are great songs because they are beautiful songs, because they are well-written songs. Because Jeff Magnum channeled something innate in him. Yet as far as the cover efforts go, I have never seen anyone do it as well as the brilliant and talented Lera Lynn.
She and her band truly make this song her own, with a twinge of blues-rock in the guitar and a downbeat swing on the kit. The mournful solo, the doo-wop bass line.they bring out an accessible folk quality in this song that was formerly slightly unreachable in its literary pretense. It's far more approachable, here. There's the same dark passion that exists in the original, but it is funneled through something more immediate, in this live and lively setting. Then...the way she sings the final verse is as promising of an up-and-coming performer I could imagine, and the best kind of indie rock female vocal, in my estimation. So strong and beautiful and crystal clear. I am a little obsessed and more inspired.
"Oh how I remember you
How I would push my fingers through
Your mouth to make those muscles move
That made your voice so smooth and sweet
But now we keep where we don't know
All secrets sleep in winter clothes
The one you loved so long ago
Now he don't even know his name
What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
And when we meet on a cloud
I'll be laughing out loud
I'll be laughing with everyone I see
Can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all."
~In An Aeroplane Over The Sea
Neutral Milk Hotel, In An Aeroplane Over the Sea/Lera Lynn at Athfest 2011
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