A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to see David Byrne live in concert. It was purported to be a celebration of the work he did with Brian Eno, famed producer and musical renegade, encompassing Eno’s production on classic Talking Heads albums as well as their collaborations like My Life In The Bush of Ghosts and a new, currently digital-only release Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. The show was composed of Byrne, a backing band, a trio of backup singers and a trio of interpretive dancers, and while that sounds like a bad, pretentious idea the whole thing came off very entertaining and ended up being a fine night of live music.
Another big plus was the lack of squirrels in the road. Come on, if you go to see bands with an extensive and memorable back-catalog you know about the squirrels. A pace is building, the classics are rolling out and the audience is having a grand old time, then suddenly the performer announces, “We’d like to play something from our new album” and suddenly it’s all screeching brakes and momentum sliding to a halt. Damn squirrels, they’ll do it every time.
That’s what’s so great about the new collaboration: nary a squirrel to be found. All the songs, even if they’re not immediate attention-getters, are very good and surprisingly song-like. I hesitate to use the word ‘conventional’ because it would tend to paint Everything That Happens… as by-the-numbers, which it definitely isn’t. These songs sat side by side with tunes like “I, Zimbra,” “Once In A Lifetime,” and even “Help Me Somebody” and never interrupted the flow, never incurred massive pee-breaks and beer raids. The album is an album, and not an excuse to tour based around weak product, thank God.
The story goes like this: Byrne found himself in the company of Eno unexpectedly, as both hadn’t co-created in awhile. Eno, over the years, made his bones by becoming an ambient artist as well as the big-time producer of several classic albums, including U2’s The Joshua Tree. Byrne mixed his sound with massive multiculturalism and founded the Luaka Bop label. Now here they were in the company of each other and the inevitable happened: one asked the other if they were up for doing something. The result? Eno sent Byrne some instrumentals he had worked up, yet these frames were distinctively song-based. (more…)
October 30, 2002 – It was close to the end when Warren Zevon made what everyone knew would be his final appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. The cancer had already taken a tremendous toll on him, and every small movement was an effort. Letterman loved Warren’s music, and had supported his career for years. I like to think that it was because Dave recognized that Warren was willing to cross a line that Dave could only approach before retreating. During the Q & A that night, Dave asked Warren what the one thing was that he wanted people to know. The dying songwriter famously replied, “enjoy every sandwich.” Less than a year later, he was gone.
Warren left us with a beautiful farewell album that he called The Wind, and he laid out his final wishes on the emotional closing track:
Shadows are falling and I’m running out of breath
Keep me in your heart for awhile
If I leave you that doesn’t mean I love you any less
Keep me in your heart for awhile
And so we have kept him in our hearts over these last five years. For many of us, hardly a day goes by that Warren doesn’t remain a presence. When his sandwich metaphor is applied to his music, Warren made sure that we would enjoy every sandwich. It’s not just about his music though, any more than our memories of Hunter S. Thompson, surely a kindred spirit to Warren, are just about his writing. In their too-short lives, both men managed to find a freedom that few of us will ever know. (more…)
The career of a music writer certainly does have its perks. While it very often lacks in financial reward, it occasionally compensates with rewards of a more soul-satisfying sort. Last week was a perfectly good example. Over the course of three nights, I was able to see two of America’s most outstanding and individualistic musicians, in settings as disparate as a small rock n’ roll bar in Asbury Park, and a prestigious concert hall in Boston.
It began on Wednesday night when I took the familiar ride to Asbury Park to see singer/songwriter, and occasional Popdose contributor Matthew Ryan for the first time. If you think that Matt is just a guy who occasionally contributes to our esteemed journal, think again. He is one of the most respected songwriters in America, and each or his ten or so albums has been highly acclaimed. If you would like to familiarize yourself with his music, please check out the Popdose Guide to Matthew Ryan.
The Saint is the kind of bar that is vanishing all too quickly from the landscape, one of the last holdouts against the corporate takeover of live venues in Asbury Park, and NJ for that matter. It’s a pure rock dive that has been a stop for some of the most acclaimed bands in the world at some point in their careers. If there are 100 people in the house, the place is jam packed. Stickers and graffiti cover nearly ever inch of wall space. The sound system is superb, the beer is reasonably priced, the crowd is local and friendly. In other words, a club you can love.
I went to see Matt as a fan, not as a journalist, so I didn’t take any notes, or write down his setlist. What I can tell you is that he gave a wonderfully warm, intimate performance accompanied only by a talented violinist and keyboard player named Molly. I just knew it was going to be a special night when, after his first song (“Dulce Et Decorum Est” from his most recent album, Matthew Ryan vs. the Silver State), he took his vocal mic from the stage and placed it on the audience level, where it, and he, remained throughout the set. The rest of Matt’s performance featured songs from his new album, including “American Dirt,” and “It Could’ve Been Worse,” plus songs from nearly every era of his long career. At the end of the night, when it was time to field requests from a crowd that was obviously familiar with his work, Matt unplugged completely and performed the requested song standing next to the person who had asked for it, seeming to sing it just for them. (more…)
Work or play. Family or friends. Protein or carbohydrates. Life is about seeking balance. Lindsey Buckingham has been seeking balance too. In his case, the challenge is to balance his intriguing, but sometimes erratic experimental music impulses, and his undisputed mastery of the pop song form. This battle informed his flawed Fleetwood Mac masterpiece Tusk, an album Buckingham has described as “in some ways my first solo album.” Since then, he has produced two more studio albums with Fleetwood Mac, and five solo albums. Gift of Screws (Reprise) is in some ways his best album since Tusk.
The balance has been attained by blending more meditative tracks, like “Bel Air Rain” and “Time Precious Time,” with more readily accessible pop songs such as “Did You Miss Me.” “Love Runs Deeper” was co-written by Buckingham’s wife Kristen. It is one of the best tracks of the year, and brings to mind one of my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs, Buckingham’s “Go Your Own Way,” with which “Love Runs Deeper” shares a musical spirit, according to Buckingham. Like the earlier song, it has “a steaming guitar solo and choruses that open up into a kind of lift, a sense of joy for sure,” he says.
To bring it all into focus, there are tracks on which Buckingham manages to combine the two. A good example is the album’s opener, “Great Day,” on which his son Will receives a writing credit. “There’s acoustic picking in that song, lead guitar playing, a non-traditional approach to the rhythm section, harmonies, counterpoint,” Buckingham says. “It’s all kind of convoluted together in this strange mix.” I’m sure all that’s true, but check out that fingerpicking. I’m sure I’ll get some argument here, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a guitar player with more skill in that area. Buckingham’s acoustic guitar playing is absolutely dazzling. Then check out the smoking electric guitar solo that ends the song. I don’t know of too many guitar players who can bring it like that on acoustic and electric. (more…)
Ah, the fourth quarter. It isn’t as much of an event as it used to be, but even as the music industry crumbles to dust before our very eyes, artists and labels continue to focus on the last few months of the year for the biggest glut of high-profile releases on the calendar, and 2008 is no exception.
Rather than punishing your eyes with a comprehensive fall music preview, or soliciting input from everyone on the staff, I decided to put together a list of the titles I’m either looking forward to (Lindsey Buckingham, Brian Wilson), need to hear to satisfy some dark, unexplained urge (Gym Class Heroes, Queen), or simply find interesting for some reason (Todd Rundgren, AC/DC). If you’ve been waiting for someone to tell you how to spend the “music” portion of your discretionary income for the next few months, look no further — without further ado, here’s my list of 21 fall releases to watch for.
In which one of country’s most freewheeling (read: consistently interesting) songwriters hooks up with Yep Roc for a song cycle that, if the press kit is to be trusted, is “about women.” You can be certain the songs do more than just live up to that simple billing, especially with titles like “The Rise and Fall of Intelligent Design” — and as an added bonus, our pal Joe Henry was behind the boards (and does a duet with Crowell on one track, “I’ve Done All That I Can”). What, you don’t like country? Yeah, me neither. But I’m buying this. (more…)
If you’ve got nothing to do on a Tuesday from 8 PM to midnight Eastern time, you should head on over to Bastard Radio and listen to Destiny’s Bastard Children, the Web radio show I’ve been cohosting for the last eight years or so. Known as Bastard #1 on the air, my cohosts Bastard #2 and Bastard #3 spin some nice college rock and wax poetic on plenty of topics.
I say this not simply for self-promotion, but because just a few weeks ago Bastard #2 pulled a great one off on #3 that seems fitting for this blog. Each week they play some of the bands that were listed in the Alternative Press “100 Bands You Need to Know in 2008” list. Bastard #3 sits behind the board and pops on the CDs, while #2 talks up the song about to be played. So #2 did his normal thing, #3 hit play and what comes on, but “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley. I’ve been rickrolled on the web before but it’s the first time I’d heard of a radio rickroll. I have to give it up to whomever first started the rickroll, because this shit just never gets old.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to see David Byrne live in concert. It was purported to be a celebration of the work he did with Brian Eno, famed producer and musical renegade, encompassing Eno’s production on classic Talking Heads albums as well as their collaborations like My Life In The Bush of Ghosts and a new, currently digital-only release Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. The show was composed of Byrne, a backing band, a trio of backup singers and a trio of interpretive dancers, and while that sounds like a bad, pretentious idea the whole thing came off very entertaining and ended up being a fine night of live music.
The career of a music writer certainly does have its perks. While it very often lacks in financial reward, it occasionally compensates with rewards of a more soul-satisfying sort. Last week was a perfectly good example. Over the course of three nights, I was able to see two of America’s most outstanding and individualistic musicians, in settings as disparate as a small rock n’ roll bar in Asbury Park, and a prestigious concert hall in Boston.
