Posts Tagged ‘Jon Brion’

The Popdose Interview: Neil Finn

The new benefit album from Neil Finn’s 7 Worlds Collide collective, The Sun Came Out, doesn’t aspire to the sorts of Grand Gestures that mark so many multi-artist charity compilations. Instead, its charms are subdued and homespun, and its songs (such as “Learn to Crawl”) are intoxicating in their low-key tunefulness. Those same qualities, along with an enormous generosity of spirit, are the ones that have sustained Finn through three decades as a recording artist — perhaps the most underrated artist of his era, as we are prone to suggest frequently here at Popdose.

The album comes by those characteristics naturally. Finn and his family opened their home (and his home studio) in New Zealand for three weeks last Christmastime to most of the crew from the previous 7 Worlds incarnation — Johnny Marr, Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway from Radiohead, Sebastian Steinberg, Lisa Germano — as well as newbies including Wilco, KT Tunstall, and down-under singer-songwriters Don McGlashan, Bic Runga, and Glenn Richards. The sessions were, by all accounts, full of frivolity, on-the-spot collaboration, and various forms (this being the holiday season) of good cheer; they also marked a musical reunion for various Finn family members including brother Tim, sons Liam and Elroy, and — singing on record for the first time — Neil’s wife Sharon.

In addition to preparing and publicizing The Sun Came Out (which emerges tomorrow in the U.S.), Finn has been readying a new Crowded House album for release this winter and has recently found time to play a few gigs (with and without his 7 Worlds compatriots) in London and Los Angeles. His interview with Popdose, patched in from New Zealand through his U.S. publicist’s office (thus saving your intrepid interviewer a whopping phone bill), found him answering queries about the minutiae of long-past Crowded House gigs as well as reader questions ranging from the profound to the ridiculous. (Sadly, dear reader who calls himself “maxus,” he had no answer whatsoever for the question, “Imagine if writing songs in flat keys suddenly became a major felony. How would you imagine a day in Neil Finn’s Violent Life of Crime, circa September 2010?”) Here’s a live clip from the first 7 Worlds Collide project: (more…)

The Popdose Interview: Sara Watkins

51rxpqa2bmxl_sclzzzzzzz_1Ever since George Clooney lip-synched his way through Dan Tyminski’s version of “I am a Man of Constant Sorrow” in the Coen Brothers’ O Brother Where Art Thou, Bluegrass and American Roots music has enjoyed a mini-renaissance, with venerable old lions like Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson, and current artists like Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Norman Blake and the Old Crow Medicine Show being exposed to a far wider audience.

Riding the crest of that wave was Nickel Creek. A young trio which wedded strong instrumental and vocal technique and bluegrass sensibilities to modern pop music (their short career included covers of songs by Pavement and Britney Spears, a tour with Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket in a “supergroup” called Mutual Admiration Society, and a tour opening for Fiona Apple and serving as her backup band). Nickel Creek went on indefinite hiatus a few years ago, leaving one of its members, fiddle player Sara Watkins, without a regular gig. Sara has now returned with her eponymous debut solo album, produced by John Paul Jones and featuring a veritable who’s who of the roots/folk/bluegrass scene. All of this is to say, if you enjoy roots music and bluegrass, and have not yet heard Sara Watkins, you should most definitely check her out.

Sara was kind enough to speak with us about her solo record on May 29. In addition to educating me on the existence of something called a Hardanger Fiddle, she spoke about her songwriting process, her other projects, the differences between being a member of Nickel Creek and a solo artist, and showed what I consider to be a remarkable degree of humility with respect to her own talent. (more…)

CD Review: Rhett Miller, “Rhett Miller”

Rhett MillerOld 97’s leader Rhett Miller has a real knack for taking lyrically dark material, and setting it to a upbeat tune. He takes that ability to a whole new level of his self-titled fourth solo album (Shout Factory). Miller has a real Elvis Costello-like way with melody, and slightly skewed, occasionally acerbic lyrics. In other words, he’s more than just another pretty face with a great head of hair. That said, he does have some nice hair.

This time out, Miller’s darkness was created by the death of his grandmother, along with the suicide of his hero, writer David Foster Wallace. In “Like Love,” Miller sings that the girl of his dreams “wanted things that I couldn’t afford, like love.” But don’t despair, he soon finds another girl of his dreams to take her place.

Miller claims that the bizarre tale that is “Happy Birthday Don’t Die” was all there in his head when he woke up on the morning that he was headed to Texas to make the album. The sci-fi inspired story seems to have something to do with a little old lady who is buried in the catacombs of a colony planet, and is celebrating her 100th birthday by dying. Typical, right?

The album’s best track is a little gem called “If It’s Not Love.” “Now the whole situation, went to hell an hour late. Are you on the side of reason, or is your heart made out of hate,” wonders Miller before stating “you make a great big deal out of nothing, and then you cut me down to size.” All of this drama plays out over a stomping beat and chiming electric guitars before giving way to a drop dead perfect chorus in which Miller says, “if you’re not gonna be the one, you’re gonna be the one I miss.” Or what about “Another Girlfriend,” in which Miller boasts “the last thing I need, is another girlfriend. Two is enough, for me. Two is enough, and you would make three.” Clever stuff.

Miller has a great foil in producer and multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion, who plays guitar and bass on all 12 tracks. The production is simple, clean, and relatively unadorned by any sort of flourishes, which allows the songs to stand on their own. the rest of the assembled team includes the Apples in Stereo’s John Dufilho on drums and Billy Harvey on guitar.

There is no wheel reinvention going on here, but if the idea of 12 well-written, cleanly produced songs that melodically deny their own dark roots appeals, Rhett Miller is for you.

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The Friday Mixtape: 5/29/09

This week’s mixtape is Chris Hansen approved! Truly! Would Chris Hansen steer you wrong? By the way, why don’t you head into the kitchen for some sweet tea and brownies?

Emerson, Lake & Powell – Vacant Possession from Emerson, Lake & Powell (1987)
Ennio Morricone – L’estasi Dell’oro from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly [Expanded] (1966)
Firewater – 7th Avenue Static from Psychopharmacology (2001)
Joe Walsh – Rockets from There Goes the Neighborhood (1981)
Jon Brion – Voices from Meaningless (2001)
Mr. Bungle – Vanity Fair from California (1999)
Pinetop Seven – Drying Out from Rigging the Toplights (1988)
Sentenced – No One There from The Cold White Light (2002)
Spock’s Beard – Ghosts of Autumn from Feel Euphoria (2003)
Talk Talk – Ascension Day from Laughing Stock (1991)
Television – No Glamour for Willi from Television (1992)
The Kinks – Underneath the Neon Sign from Soap Opera (1975)
The Rutles – Eine Kleine Middle Klasse Musik from Archaeology (1996)
Utopia – You Make Me Crazy from Adventures in Utopia (1980)

Popdose Interview: Jonatha Brooke

Jonatha Brooke is one of those artists whose name always sounds familiar – if only because, really, how many people named “Jonatha” do you know? – but whose music you may not be familiar with…though, frankly, you really should be. She’s a talented singer-songwriter who first got her career rolling in the early ’90s as a member of a duo called The Story, with collaborator Jennifer Kimball, but Brooke soon stood on her own two feet and has trotted out album after album … some on major labels, some on indies … to critical acclaim and a decidedly diehard following. Popdose had the opportunity to speak with Brooke, and we took full advantage of it, asking her about as much of her back catalog as time allowed, quizzing her about how she recently came to collaborate with the late Woody Guthrie (and whether she could even concentrate with the awareness of what Billy Bragg and Wilco had already done with the man’s lyrics), and wondering where she stands on the state of the music industry today.

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Cutouts Gone Wild!: The Grays, “Ro Sham Bo”

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The Grays – Ro Sham Bo (1994)
purchase this album (Amazon)

You’ve known this was coming since last week, when I promised an album from the great lost power-pop group of the ’90s. (Well, most of you did, anyway. I’m not sure what the person who guessed “Damn Yankees” was thinking.)

If you’ve never heard of the Grays, well, you’re in pretty much the same boat as everyone else; despite a stellar pedigree, a generous helping of Epic-assisted buzz, and no shortage of fawning from critics and pop nerds all over the planet, Ro Sham Bo was a commercial nonstarter.

There were good reasons for this. First, and probably most importantly, the guys who made up the Grays Jason Falkner, Jon Brion, Buddy Judge, and Dan McCarroll were, and had always been, out of step with commercial trends. Falkner was a member of the Three O’Clock and Jellyfish, and Brion had done time with ‘Til Tuesday (not to mention session work for surprise! Jellyfish), which should tell you everything you need to know about their luck as recording artists.

There was also the problem of being in a band in the first place specifically, that all four members professed to hate it. Falkner, for one, had vowed never to join another band after leaving Jellyfish. Still, the quartet went into Ro Sham Bo with the best of intentions, seeking to avoid any ego-dug pitfalls by dividing songwriting and performing duties more or less evenly. Epic, meanwhile, was doubtless hoping that the sales sum of the band would be more than its parts.

Snake eyes on both rolls, obviously. (more…)

Contemplating Jon Brion’s “Ruin My Day”

I don’t wait by the phone like I used to
I don’t hope for kind words you might say
You don’t prey on my mind like you used to
But you can still ruin my day

I’ve always been amazed, amused and, ultimately, saddened by the importance of perception in our romantic interludes. In the span of days, or minutes (as the case may be), one can go from floating on air, dropping their guard completely, and falling head over heels for someone to being sickened by the sight of them.

It isn’t that the person who once caused our heart to skip a beat each time we saw them has changed, mind you, but that our perception of them has. We’ve all probably been on the receiving end of such changes in perception and, truth be told, it would be disheartening to know what minor detail brought about such a dramatic change in perception.

In one such instance, a friend of mine who’d been unreachable for the past couple weeks, caught up in the throes of passion with someone they described as “the one,” called me out of the blue and asked if I had any dinner plans. When I asked why they weren’t spending every available minute with ‘the one,” they rolled their eyes and informed me that they’d broken it off. “Too needy,” they replied with a shrug. You or them, I asked? “Not funny,” they shot back, punching me in the arm.

See, it was only when “the one” seemed aloof and unattainable that my friend had dropped everything to pursue them. Only after “the one” reciprocated the affection and then went one further by displaying a sense of vulnerability did my friend decide they weren’t really “the one” after all. The idea that my friend might go the rest of their life repeating this chain of events struck me as incredibly sad. What was sadder is that I knew I’d been guilty of much the same thing at various points in my life. (more…)

Songs for the Dumped: Volume Seven

songsforthedumped.gifDavid Medsker takes us on a mad, dark journey into a land most of us are probably familiar with — the Land of the Co-Dependent Relationship That Will Not Die, No Matter How Much Each Participant Believes It Should, And Hangs On Probably By The Force Of Sheer Utter Convenience. But in doing so, he teaches us valuable lessons: 1. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent and 2. You should always pay bands royalties if you feel as though you’re sort of copying their stuff. Both important lessons for this Valentine’s season.

“Go, Tribe! Or: The Milk Is Never, Ever Fresh”
By David Medsker

My breakup song story has one hell of a pregnant pause; it actually takes place nearly five years after the final breakup with the lass in question. I say final breakup because this was one of those multiple-breakup relationships. You know the kind, the one that Larry Miller brilliantly lampooned by pretending to open a refrigerator and saying, “This milk is sour! Maybe tomorrow it’ll be fresh,” and putting the milk back in the fridge. If you’re in one of those right now, end it. The milk is never, ever fresh.

The relationship, in total, lasted a little more than six years, and even as I was breaking up with her, I still loved her. But it was abundantly clear to me that things would never work out – she still hadn’t told her mother that I had moved to Chicago to be with her, which I had done a year and a half earlier – so I put head before heart and pulled the plug. I even went so far as to utter words that St. Peter will surely repeat back to me on my day of judgment: “I still love you…but I don’t like you very much.” I’m a bastard, it’s true. (more…)