Well, folks, the third of grunge's Holy Quadrinity has passed away. After Nirvana's Kurt Cobain (suicide or murder) and Alice In Chains' Layne Staley (drug overdose) , Soundgarden's Chris Cornell has killed himself as well. Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder remains, alone in sadness.
In the Greater Scheme of Seattle Rock, they themselves all joined James Marshall Hendrix (drug overdose), Mother Love Bone and Malfunkshun's Andrew Wood (drug overdose), The Gits' Mia Zapata (rape and murder) and Hole's Kristen Pfaff (drug overdose), Hendrix, Pfaff and Cobain even making it on the infamous 27 Club list of celebrities who died before their 28th birthday. Cornell was 52.
Much has been and will be said about this, and there will be much over-analyzing. I cut ties with them as favourites after two awful days in 1994 culminating in an awful show at the Verdun Auditorium (a venue where both Pearl Jam and Nirvana had wowed me the year before, among other great shows I've seen there), but they have created fine pieces of music in their careers and were good musicians. And despite Nirvana and Pearl Jam getting the credit for putting grunge on the map, Soundgarden (with Green River, which featured future members of PJ, Mother Love Bone and Mudhoney) was the oldest of its generation, having formed in 1984, with its "classic" incarnation dating back to 1990.
You definitely saw a change in the band's music and Cornell's singing style when Pearl Jam made it big, moving away from their metal roots and high-pitched vocals into more angst-riddled, bass-heavy territory, brooding melodies and a growling baritone. The evolution is extremely clear from the Screaming Life (1987) and Fopp (1988) EPs to Ultramega OK (1988) to Louder Than Love (1989) to the apex of their metal years, Badmotorfinger (1991), to the super-grungy Superunknown (1994) to its rehash/copy Down On The Upside (1996, which did have more Alice In Chains-y tones in the music), but Cornell's PJ-lite-ness really came through on all three Audioslave records. I'm surprised they didn't catch more flak than they did, because it would have been easy to categorize Audioslave alongside Better Than Ezra, Candlebox, Creed, Stone Temple Pilots and so many others as just Pearl Jam wanna-bes.
Still, on this day, I thought perhaps I could rank my favourite Cornell songs. It's hard, because all of his projects except Temple Of The Dog (created in memory of former roommate Wood) - even the solo albums - involved other songwriters, so it's difficult to pinpoint his actual involvement in many tracks, but I will omit songs such as Fresh Tendrils (a Matt Cameron number) and Head Down (written by Ben Shepard), for example, off Superunknown.
10B. BIG DUMB SEX (Soundgarden, Louder Than Love, 1989)
10A. SPOONMAN (Soundgarden, Superunknown, 1994)
9. BLOW UP THE OUTSIDE WORLD (Soundgarden, Down On The Upside, 1996)
8. COCHISE (Audioslave, Audioslave, 2002)
7. THE DAY I TRIED TO LIVE (Soundgarden, Superunknown, 1994)
6. JESUS CHRIST POSE (Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger, 1991)
5. PRETTY NOOSE (Soundgarden, Down On The Upside, 1996)
4. RUSTY CAGE (Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger, 1991)
3. OUTSHINED (Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger, 1991)
2. HUNGER STRIKE (Temple Of The Dog, Temple Of The Dog, 1991)
1. 4TH OF JULY (Soundgarden, Superunknown, 1994)
I'm not too fond of Spoonman's lyrics, but the guitar riff ranks as one of the best in rock history. I'd say the rest are all solid rock songs in their own right, and perhaps TOTD's Say Hello 2 Heaven would have warranted inclusion somewhere in there as well; I'm also surprised two songs from Down On The Upside made it here, seeing as I've always been critical of it in the past 20 years.
And maybe I could have included Black Hole Sun as #10B instead of Big Dumb Sex, as it is their biggest hit, and I still listen to it at times, but I tried to look at it objectively, which ones ring truest to my heart and have done so since they came out, and those are the eleven that came to mind right away.
Here's Black Hole Sun anyway, with the famous video directed by Howard Greenhalgh, featuring a critical view at suburban life in the same vein as David Lynch's Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet:
In any event, R.I.P.
Showing posts with label ballad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ballad. Show all posts
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Video Of The Week: Hadley Kennary
Hadley Kennary straddles the line between heartfelt ballads, folk and "new country", that quasi-orchestral-pop music sung with an accent that wins awards that we wouldn't want Toby Keith to get anyway.
Personally, I'd do away with a lot of the instrumentation on her Momentum EP, particularly the bass, which does nothing for me and is just too conventional and too present. The last song on it, 24 Hours, is more along the lines of what I'd like to hear her do more in the future. I'd be up for a solo/acoustic tour with her.
That being said, today I wanted to show her video for Painkiller, a black-and-white clip directed by Joe Barnard:
It's standard, 80s-tinged fare (complete with one-shot-stop up-motion strumming to add punch to a chord switch as if it were light ska), with the darkness-infused lyrics more prevalent in pop since the grunge era. But it ain't half bad.
Personally, I'd do away with a lot of the instrumentation on her Momentum EP, particularly the bass, which does nothing for me and is just too conventional and too present. The last song on it, 24 Hours, is more along the lines of what I'd like to hear her do more in the future. I'd be up for a solo/acoustic tour with her.
That being said, today I wanted to show her video for Painkiller, a black-and-white clip directed by Joe Barnard:
It's standard, 80s-tinged fare (complete with one-shot-stop up-motion strumming to add punch to a chord switch as if it were light ska), with the darkness-infused lyrics more prevalent in pop since the grunge era. But it ain't half bad.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Video Of The Week: The Smashing Pumpkins
"Tomorrow's just an excuse away / So I pull my collar up and face the cold, on my own".
- Billy Corgan, 1995.
Winter's upon us, ice covers the streets and sidewalks - and perhaps even our hearts. The warmth is so far away, a few of us may not even get to experience it again. And in this cold, all I hear are the words to The Smashing Pumpkins' Thirty-Three, the first song Corgan wrote after the seminal 1993 album Siamese Dream which ended up as the final single released from the two-disc epic and so-aptly-titled Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.
Mellon Collie sounded tragic, and in many ways it was. It was the last record the "classic" Pumpkins line-up ever recorded, although said line-up was usually just used sparsely in the studio, with Corgan performing all instruments except drums himself, save for a piano or guitar solo here and there, courtesy of James Iha. It was also one of the harshest tours in rock history, as one 17-year-old fan was crushed to death at the Dublin show, and with touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin overdosing on heroin in New York, resulting in Melvoin's death and Chamberlin's expulsion of the group.
The band didn't stop the tour, however, recruiting studio drummer extraordinaire Matt Walker (who also appeared on later studio singles and 1998's Adore) and keyboardist Dennis Flemion; the band played the Molson Centre on September 11th, 1996 (I won tickets to the show by calling in at CHOM, the local rock station), and released the following single and video (co-directed by Corgan and then-partner Yelena Yemchuk), filmed in stop-motion and leading up to a re-enactment of the Mellon Collie album cover at the end:
- Billy Corgan, 1995.
Winter's upon us, ice covers the streets and sidewalks - and perhaps even our hearts. The warmth is so far away, a few of us may not even get to experience it again. And in this cold, all I hear are the words to The Smashing Pumpkins' Thirty-Three, the first song Corgan wrote after the seminal 1993 album Siamese Dream which ended up as the final single released from the two-disc epic and so-aptly-titled Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness.
Mellon Collie sounded tragic, and in many ways it was. It was the last record the "classic" Pumpkins line-up ever recorded, although said line-up was usually just used sparsely in the studio, with Corgan performing all instruments except drums himself, save for a piano or guitar solo here and there, courtesy of James Iha. It was also one of the harshest tours in rock history, as one 17-year-old fan was crushed to death at the Dublin show, and with touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin overdosing on heroin in New York, resulting in Melvoin's death and Chamberlin's expulsion of the group.
The band didn't stop the tour, however, recruiting studio drummer extraordinaire Matt Walker (who also appeared on later studio singles and 1998's Adore) and keyboardist Dennis Flemion; the band played the Molson Centre on September 11th, 1996 (I won tickets to the show by calling in at CHOM, the local rock station), and released the following single and video (co-directed by Corgan and then-partner Yelena Yemchuk), filmed in stop-motion and leading up to a re-enactment of the Mellon Collie album cover at the end:
Friday, May 6, 2016
Video Of The Week: I Am Snow Angel
I Am Snow Angel released a video today, for the song Keep You Out off of her forthcoming EP, Desert. It was directed by Lauren McCune:
This is one of my favourite Julie Kathryn songs, ethereal and dreamy - darkness and hope intertwined.
This is one of my favourite Julie Kathryn songs, ethereal and dreamy - darkness and hope intertwined.
Friday, April 1, 2016
Video Of The Week: Cowboy Junkies
As I've mentioned previously when featuring Joseph Arthur a year and a half ago, covering Lou Reed in a straightforward, stripped-down manner can prove to be a great idea.
The first ones to be extremely successful with the idea were the Cowboy Junkies - technically from Toronto, though all four band members were born in Montréal - when they covered the Velvet Underground classic Sweet Jane:
I won't go as far as saying it's better than Lou's or the Velvets' versions, but it is certainly on par with it, which is still saying quite a lot.
The song is from 1988's The Trinity Sessions and is based on the Velvets' moody 1969 live version. Margo Timmins' vocals are on full display, as is the subdued-yet-consistent playing of her brother Michael; third sibling Peter Timmins plays drums, while childhood friend Alan Anton handles bass duties.
The first ones to be extremely successful with the idea were the Cowboy Junkies - technically from Toronto, though all four band members were born in Montréal - when they covered the Velvet Underground classic Sweet Jane:
I won't go as far as saying it's better than Lou's or the Velvets' versions, but it is certainly on par with it, which is still saying quite a lot.
The song is from 1988's The Trinity Sessions and is based on the Velvets' moody 1969 live version. Margo Timmins' vocals are on full display, as is the subdued-yet-consistent playing of her brother Michael; third sibling Peter Timmins plays drums, while childhood friend Alan Anton handles bass duties.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Video Of The Week: Shane MacGowan & The Popes
Say what you want about Shane MacGowan, his character, his lack of professionalism, his alcoholism, or the way he leads his life - but there's no denying his songwriting chops.
Even his so-called "sub-par" work, like this video for Lonesome Highway, is a fine Celtic-inspired ballad tha would have been at home on any rocker's album between 1987 and 1997; it's actually from the 1997 record The Crock Of Gold, by Shane MacGowan & The Popes, the band he started when he was kicked out of The Pogues. Because of his character, his lack of professionalism, his alcoholism, and the way he leads his life.
I'm currently looking back at my own songwriting output, as I'm preparing to release poetry books (including my lyrics) in both French and English, each accompanied by a compilation album. This is a song I would have liked to have written myself.
Even his so-called "sub-par" work, like this video for Lonesome Highway, is a fine Celtic-inspired ballad tha would have been at home on any rocker's album between 1987 and 1997; it's actually from the 1997 record The Crock Of Gold, by Shane MacGowan & The Popes, the band he started when he was kicked out of The Pogues. Because of his character, his lack of professionalism, his alcoholism, and the way he leads his life.
I'm currently looking back at my own songwriting output, as I'm preparing to release poetry books (including my lyrics) in both French and English, each accompanied by a compilation album. This is a song I would have liked to have written myself.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Video Of The Week: Blink-182
Blame it on whatever you want, karma, trial-and-error, songwriting skills... but in February 2004, Blink-182 hit songwriting gold with a simply amazing song called I Miss You.
My personal opinion of Blink-182 as a band is that of sophomoric bubblegum-punk for tweens. Whether they were hiding songwriting genius behind a huge barrage of power chords, purposely awful vocal tones and inclinations and a propensity for getting naked in their videos, I can't tell and don't care about finding out any further; all I know is that this song is majestic.
I listen to it often, I've sung it myself, and it has a decorum that I didn't think Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus were capable of; I knew Travis Barker could drum because A. I'm not deaf, and B. I do listen to Transplants, but for the other two members of the band to come up with this miracle of the four-chord variety transcends musical taste.
The video, by acclaimed director Jonas Akerlund (the 2002 film Spun, many Roxette videos, Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up, Madonna's Ray Of Light, Music, American Life and Celebration, Metallica's Turn The Page and Whiskey In The Jar, Smashing Pumpkins' Try, Try, Try, Moby's Porcelain, U2's Beautiful Day (the airport and the eze versions) and Walk On, Ozzy Osbourne's Gets Me Through and Let Me Hear You Scream, Paul McCartney's Lonely Road, Christina Aguilera's Beautiful, The Rolling Stones' Rain Fall Down and Doom And Gloom, and Rammstein's Pussy, Ich Tu Dir Weh and Mein Land), emphasizes the brooding darkness of the song, a true 2000s masterpiece on both ends of the audio-visual spectrum:
My personal opinion of Blink-182 as a band is that of sophomoric bubblegum-punk for tweens. Whether they were hiding songwriting genius behind a huge barrage of power chords, purposely awful vocal tones and inclinations and a propensity for getting naked in their videos, I can't tell and don't care about finding out any further; all I know is that this song is majestic.
I listen to it often, I've sung it myself, and it has a decorum that I didn't think Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus were capable of; I knew Travis Barker could drum because A. I'm not deaf, and B. I do listen to Transplants, but for the other two members of the band to come up with this miracle of the four-chord variety transcends musical taste.
The video, by acclaimed director Jonas Akerlund (the 2002 film Spun, many Roxette videos, Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up, Madonna's Ray Of Light, Music, American Life and Celebration, Metallica's Turn The Page and Whiskey In The Jar, Smashing Pumpkins' Try, Try, Try, Moby's Porcelain, U2's Beautiful Day (the airport and the eze versions) and Walk On, Ozzy Osbourne's Gets Me Through and Let Me Hear You Scream, Paul McCartney's Lonely Road, Christina Aguilera's Beautiful, The Rolling Stones' Rain Fall Down and Doom And Gloom, and Rammstein's Pussy, Ich Tu Dir Weh and Mein Land), emphasizes the brooding darkness of the song, a true 2000s masterpiece on both ends of the audio-visual spectrum:
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Video Of The Week: Pearl Jam
As I'm nearing the end of a streak of sadness, I decided to cap it off with Pearl Jam's ''official video'' for Just Breathe from their 2009 record Backspacer, which is actually taken from a TV broadcast of their appearance on the 2009 Austin City Limits show. It's fitting, though, as the band has always preferred either live videos or not appearing in them at all - they have a bit of an issue with any type of middle ground or compromise when it comes to their art and public appearances, and become intense when both get combined.
If it sounds reminiscent of Eddie Vedder's 2007 soundtrack for Into The Wild, it's because it it: there was a chord in the song Tuolumne that he decided to play with and expand on two years later, which became Just Breathe, which is one of the many PJ songs dealing with death and cycles ending. Many people deem it the best at conveying that message, while I'm partial to Man Of The Hour from the Tim Burton film Big Fish.
Still, Just Breathe has now replaced Yellow Ledbetter as the sad Pearl Jam song playing in movies and TV shows that want to end on a teary note.
It was covered by Willie Nelson on his 2012 album Heroes.
If it sounds reminiscent of Eddie Vedder's 2007 soundtrack for Into The Wild, it's because it it: there was a chord in the song Tuolumne that he decided to play with and expand on two years later, which became Just Breathe, which is one of the many PJ songs dealing with death and cycles ending. Many people deem it the best at conveying that message, while I'm partial to Man Of The Hour from the Tim Burton film Big Fish.
Still, Just Breathe has now replaced Yellow Ledbetter as the sad Pearl Jam song playing in movies and TV shows that want to end on a teary note.
It was covered by Willie Nelson on his 2012 album Heroes.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Video Of The Week: Alabama Shakes
A month and a half since it was released, Alabama Shakes' second record, Sound & Color, is having a similar effect on me as last year's Transgendered Dysphoria Blues by Against Me! in the sense that I've been listening to it non--stop, on repeat, in order or randomly, ever since.
Leader Brittany Howard penned most of the tracks herself, and because I'm still waiting for official videos for some of the standout tracks, I decided to feature the title song this week, in a video directed by James Frost (Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, Radiohead's House Of Cards, OK Go's This Too Shall Pass), featuring a gripping performance by actor Kenneth Morgan:
I'm not the ideal target audience for anything that remotely seems like it could become 2001: A Space Odyssey, because I do not have another 3 hours of my life to waste on feeling 5 years older by the time I'm done with it, but this wasn't half bad.
Leader Brittany Howard penned most of the tracks herself, and because I'm still waiting for official videos for some of the standout tracks, I decided to feature the title song this week, in a video directed by James Frost (Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, Radiohead's House Of Cards, OK Go's This Too Shall Pass), featuring a gripping performance by actor Kenneth Morgan:
I'm not the ideal target audience for anything that remotely seems like it could become 2001: A Space Odyssey, because I do not have another 3 hours of my life to waste on feeling 5 years older by the time I'm done with it, but this wasn't half bad.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Video Of The Week: Snoop Dogg (Featuring Stevie Wonder & Pharrell Williams)
How do you waste the talents of music legend Stevie Wonder, wonderful actress Nia Long, and filmmaker Warren Fu (who has made videos for The Strokes, Daft Punk featuring Julian Casablancas, and The Killers) in under six minutes?
Like this:
It's like everything Pharrell Williams touches turns to shit, like a reverse Midas. And yet, I know I'd better get used to it, because every girl I'll want to have conversations with will LOVE the fucking thing.
Like this:
It's like everything Pharrell Williams touches turns to shit, like a reverse Midas. And yet, I know I'd better get used to it, because every girl I'll want to have conversations with will LOVE the fucking thing.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Video Of The Week: I Am Snow Angel
Winter's got us in its grasp, and will have us for four more months. Might as well get used to the cold.
And so I Am Snow Angel (Julie Kathryn's musical project fusing ballads with electronica) releases a video for a song that fits perfectly with the mood I'm in: trying to find a party in the midst of a season where even trees look dead and your limbs can freeze and fall off.
Directed and filmed by Alexander Cherney with nothing but time-lapsed landscapes (none of them of a frozen tundra, I might add), they bring a sense of warmth and analog to the distant voice and digital instruments used, to produce a nice mixture that blends well together:
And so I Am Snow Angel (Julie Kathryn's musical project fusing ballads with electronica) releases a video for a song that fits perfectly with the mood I'm in: trying to find a party in the midst of a season where even trees look dead and your limbs can freeze and fall off.
Directed and filmed by Alexander Cherney with nothing but time-lapsed landscapes (none of them of a frozen tundra, I might add), they bring a sense of warmth and analog to the distant voice and digital instruments used, to produce a nice mixture that blends well together:
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Video of The Week: I Am Snow Angel
I Am Snow Angel is Julie Kathryn's project-without-her-own-name, shock-full of synths and lash production interspersed with 8-bit sounds; this would not have been out of place 10 years ago, when The Postal Service were making a huge splash within the indie-rock/soft electronica scene.
Directed by We Are Films and Patrick Ermlich, the video for Crocodile is just as the song is: lavish, polished, beautiful and soft, full of blue and white and pretty boy Hardy Winburn.
It works well in the middle of a sad night, at the top of a sad week. It's a ray of light with a dark message to contrast with the black heart of a good soul.
Directed by We Are Films and Patrick Ermlich, the video for Crocodile is just as the song is: lavish, polished, beautiful and soft, full of blue and white and pretty boy Hardy Winburn.
It works well in the middle of a sad night, at the top of a sad week. It's a ray of light with a dark message to contrast with the black heart of a good soul.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Video Of The Week: Allan Lento
Allan Lento's a cool guy, a contemporary legend among a circle of like-minded Montréal singer-songwriters, and the bridge between many eclectic music scenes in town. Everybody loves him, because while he's talented and diverse (he has written over 300 songs he can play live, he's done spoken-word shows, some almost-theater performance pieces, and has a wicked sense of humour), he's also affable and comes up with these great ideas for shows and projects that would include a lot of other participants.
More often than not, he's all about making other people happy.
This song, Crazy On The Beach, is very different-sounding from most of his catalogue, yet it fits so well in it because of its surrealist lyrics and overall vibe; the reason why I'm choosing this video as Video Of The Week - apart from its superb images of Jamaica - is because, for once, it seems about making Allan Lento happy, rather than everyone else around him. It's a nice 180-degree turn. And he looks great surrounded by summer weather and sand and water.
More often than not, he's all about making other people happy.
This song, Crazy On The Beach, is very different-sounding from most of his catalogue, yet it fits so well in it because of its surrealist lyrics and overall vibe; the reason why I'm choosing this video as Video Of The Week - apart from its superb images of Jamaica - is because, for once, it seems about making Allan Lento happy, rather than everyone else around him. It's a nice 180-degree turn. And he looks great surrounded by summer weather and sand and water.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Video Of The Week: Beck
I don't know where Beck is at in his music career - closer to the end, or somewhere in the middle. But this black-and-white video by Sophie Muller, featuring his son Cosmo and referencing a lot of his past songs and videos (all the way back to Loser), is definitely a look behind. Whether it's to gather inspiration to move forward, or move ahead in a new direction, or simply move on remains to be seen, but I'll say this: his latest record, Morning Phase, is pretty good, but I don't think it comes close to his other slow records Mutations and Sea Change:
The songwriting is still good, but it's no longer new, and it doesn't surpass songs of his past in melody or ability to make a deep impression; it's more textured, though, so there's that.
And his live performances are inconsistent at best. Some shows barely last over an hour; half of them would fit onto a single CD, while the other half get Jack White for three songs during the encore...
What's frustrating about Beck is he could probably spit genius out every time, he just chooses not too. That, or his judgement is impaired.
The songwriting is still good, but it's no longer new, and it doesn't surpass songs of his past in melody or ability to make a deep impression; it's more textured, though, so there's that.
And his live performances are inconsistent at best. Some shows barely last over an hour; half of them would fit onto a single CD, while the other half get Jack White for three songs during the encore...
What's frustrating about Beck is he could probably spit genius out every time, he just chooses not too. That, or his judgement is impaired.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Video Of The Week: Joseph Arthur
(As many of you know,) I'm a writer, and I'm a musician. I write my own songs, and I like to re-interpret those of others, particularly when I really love the song and the person who wrote it no longer does it the same way, or no longer can (old age, death) or wants to. And my versions usually differ greatly from the originals.
For years, I'd wanted to cover Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side, and this is exactly how I would have done it (so I kind of no longer have nor want to):
Director Ehud Lazin also did a good job of capturing the slow vibe of Joseph Arthur's version, and juxtaposed it with images of today's New York City - not quite the nightlife, excess and cultural hotbed it was in the 1970s, but still a fine place to live, both literally and figuratively, at any time of the day. The low-fi effects just add a bit of a late-1970s/early 1980s touch to the whole thing, with taste and subtlety.
Joseph Arthur hails from Akron, Ohio, but moved to Atlanta to pursue his music career - or so he thought. He was soon picked up by Peter Gabriel's label and moved to Brooklyn, becoming (with the likes of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - a.k.a. Will Oldham - and Jeffrey Lewis) one of the artists who would - inadvertently - turn it into the hipster haven it is today.
Like many musicians working today, he is involved in many projects, namely the bands RNDM (with Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament) and Fistful Of Mercy with Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison, and also has received some acclaim as a painter and designer. He's made his own album art, which is cool, but opening his own self-serving museum may have been a tad much. In my humble I-operate-a-music-festival-around-my-birthday opinion.
For years, I'd wanted to cover Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side, and this is exactly how I would have done it (so I kind of no longer have nor want to):
Director Ehud Lazin also did a good job of capturing the slow vibe of Joseph Arthur's version, and juxtaposed it with images of today's New York City - not quite the nightlife, excess and cultural hotbed it was in the 1970s, but still a fine place to live, both literally and figuratively, at any time of the day. The low-fi effects just add a bit of a late-1970s/early 1980s touch to the whole thing, with taste and subtlety.
Joseph Arthur hails from Akron, Ohio, but moved to Atlanta to pursue his music career - or so he thought. He was soon picked up by Peter Gabriel's label and moved to Brooklyn, becoming (with the likes of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - a.k.a. Will Oldham - and Jeffrey Lewis) one of the artists who would - inadvertently - turn it into the hipster haven it is today.
Like many musicians working today, he is involved in many projects, namely the bands RNDM (with Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament) and Fistful Of Mercy with Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison, and also has received some acclaim as a painter and designer. He's made his own album art, which is cool, but opening his own self-serving museum may have been a tad much. In my humble I-operate-a-music-festival-around-my-birthday opinion.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Video Of The Week: L.A. Guns
I touched upon this song last week, briefly, and figured it would be the best time to share the video with everybody. I'm talking of course about L.A. Guns' The Ballad Of Jayne, written in tribute to Jayne Mansfield, who died on the very same day that then-singer Phil Lewis was born.
But the story with L.A. Guns was never cut nor clear. Lewis was the band's third lead singer,though he is part of what many call its ''classic'' line-up, i.e. the 1988-1991 era. Of course, the most famous singer to have played with band namesake Tracii Guns is Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses, get it?), but Lewis remains the voice of L.A. Guns for most fans.
Which is why he's currently fronting the band, despite having left it in the mid-1990s - there are no original members in that version of the band, which has been touring and recording since 2002.
However... Tracii Guns also has a band called L.A. Guns touring and recording, with former members Paul Black and Nickey Alexander in tow, making it a ''more legitimate'' version of the band, despite not having the voice people expect to hear when listening to the band.
And how did this two-band-sharing-one-name-and-repertoire thing get to keep existing, you might ask? Simply put, Lewis re-joined a version of the band in the early-00s, an incarnation that Guns eventually left (to join Nikki Sixx's Brides Of Destruction). So that band had the right to keep using the name, since it was the same entity, kind of like a sports franchise roster changes a lot but remains the same team.
But Guns' The Tracii Guns Band was fledgling in the mid-00s, and he technically owns the band's name, so he decided to change his band's name to L.A. Guns because it had the m ost ''original members'' in it.
They fought it off in court and it was decided both entities would be allowed to continue mock-rocking and cock-blocking one another, as long as there was a distinction to represent which version for the band fans are paying for.
Case in point: this flyer from last July:
For the time being, Guns has disbanded his band (as of late 2013), which since that decision, Lewis' band has gone through three lead guitarists. It's a safe bet that one of Lewis or Guns - probably both - will make some sort of arrival and/or departure from an incarnation of the band in the near future, though.
Still, despite its rocky history, the band has some pretty good songs, most of which are on their second (Cocked and Loaded) and third (Hollywood Vampires) albums (out of 13), such as this classic:
But the story with L.A. Guns was never cut nor clear. Lewis was the band's third lead singer,though he is part of what many call its ''classic'' line-up, i.e. the 1988-1991 era. Of course, the most famous singer to have played with band namesake Tracii Guns is Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses, get it?), but Lewis remains the voice of L.A. Guns for most fans.
Which is why he's currently fronting the band, despite having left it in the mid-1990s - there are no original members in that version of the band, which has been touring and recording since 2002.
However... Tracii Guns also has a band called L.A. Guns touring and recording, with former members Paul Black and Nickey Alexander in tow, making it a ''more legitimate'' version of the band, despite not having the voice people expect to hear when listening to the band.
And how did this two-band-sharing-one-name-and-repertoire thing get to keep existing, you might ask? Simply put, Lewis re-joined a version of the band in the early-00s, an incarnation that Guns eventually left (to join Nikki Sixx's Brides Of Destruction). So that band had the right to keep using the name, since it was the same entity, kind of like a sports franchise roster changes a lot but remains the same team.
But Guns' The Tracii Guns Band was fledgling in the mid-00s, and he technically owns the band's name, so he decided to change his band's name to L.A. Guns because it had the m ost ''original members'' in it.
They fought it off in court and it was decided both entities would be allowed to continue mock-rocking and cock-blocking one another, as long as there was a distinction to represent which version for the band fans are paying for.
Case in point: this flyer from last July:
For the time being, Guns has disbanded his band (as of late 2013), which since that decision, Lewis' band has gone through three lead guitarists. It's a safe bet that one of Lewis or Guns - probably both - will make some sort of arrival and/or departure from an incarnation of the band in the near future, though.
Still, despite its rocky history, the band has some pretty good songs, most of which are on their second (Cocked and Loaded) and third (Hollywood Vampires) albums (out of 13), such as this classic:
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Video Of The Week: U2
What, you thought I'd go with the obvious New Year's Day?
No, instead I set my sights on one of U2's numerous recent movie-ballads, Ordinary Love, from the soundtrack to Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. Apart from one cameo from Bono, the band is absent from it; instead, we have the lyrics appearing on-screen in cursive, on walls or boards.
Simple, and effective, just like this b-side-sounding little ditty (in the vein of The Sweetest Thing crossed with The Hands That Built America); it's U2 attempting to sound like U2, in a good way (as opposed to their last record, No Line On The Horizon, where they could bore a zombie back to death.
No, instead I set my sights on one of U2's numerous recent movie-ballads, Ordinary Love, from the soundtrack to Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. Apart from one cameo from Bono, the band is absent from it; instead, we have the lyrics appearing on-screen in cursive, on walls or boards.
Simple, and effective, just like this b-side-sounding little ditty (in the vein of The Sweetest Thing crossed with The Hands That Built America); it's U2 attempting to sound like U2, in a good way (as opposed to their last record, No Line On The Horizon, where they could bore a zombie back to death.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Video Of The Week: Danzig
I spent the week in Ohio (Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Green, Springfield) visiting my mom for Christmas, and had a decent time. But because I'm a night owl and insomniac - and there's little to do over there at night if you don't have a valid driver's license - I resorted to watch a lot of late-night TV, mostly on Adult Swim, which means I got a healthy dose of Family Guy and American Dad.
I'm also a huge fan of The Cleveland Show, and the ad promoting it was from the episode where Rallo's band sings Danzig's Mother, which means I heard it at least 200 times. And considering my brother and I were there to see our mom, it actually represents my Holidays better than any Christmas song would, which explains this:
Danzig is fronted and was founded by Glenn Danzig, who also founded then-punk band The Misfits and horror-metal band Samhaim. Though not an artist I listen to every day (apart from maybe his duet/collaboration with Melissa Auf Der Maur), I'd say he's a pretty big deal and would probably make my top-25 list of influential metal musicians, which makes me feel bad every time I laugh at him getting his pretentious ass kicked by Danny Marianino backstage on YouTube.
I'm also a huge fan of The Cleveland Show, and the ad promoting it was from the episode where Rallo's band sings Danzig's Mother, which means I heard it at least 200 times. And considering my brother and I were there to see our mom, it actually represents my Holidays better than any Christmas song would, which explains this:
Danzig is fronted and was founded by Glenn Danzig, who also founded then-punk band The Misfits and horror-metal band Samhaim. Though not an artist I listen to every day (apart from maybe his duet/collaboration with Melissa Auf Der Maur), I'd say he's a pretty big deal and would probably make my top-25 list of influential metal musicians, which makes me feel bad every time I laugh at him getting his pretentious ass kicked by Danny Marianino backstage on YouTube.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Video Of The Week: Pearl Jam
I've been holding back featuring this video for two reasons, mostly: one, it's relatively plain - just a performance video - and also, I don't usually want to showcase Pearl Jam songs where the lyrics aren't top-notch.
In this case, the power-ballad called Sirens, lead singer Eddie Vedder says the line ''Hear the sirens'' three times before saying anything else - and it isn't even the chorus, it's just a verse. Well, technically, he doesn't say it at all during the chorus, but the more he says it, the less I want to hear sirens.
Still, it's a good slow song, and if it can mean it will replace such songs as Daughter (a song now just barely tolerated just to see what classic Vedder will tag at the end rather than for the song itself), Betterman or Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town in their setlists, it'll have made the world better place.
In this case, the power-ballad called Sirens, lead singer Eddie Vedder says the line ''Hear the sirens'' three times before saying anything else - and it isn't even the chorus, it's just a verse. Well, technically, he doesn't say it at all during the chorus, but the more he says it, the less I want to hear sirens.
Still, it's a good slow song, and if it can mean it will replace such songs as Daughter (a song now just barely tolerated just to see what classic Vedder will tag at the end rather than for the song itself), Betterman or Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town in their setlists, it'll have made the world better place.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Video Of The Week: The Pogues
As the quintessential ''Irish sound'' rock band, The Pogues have written and covered pretty much the entire cannon of what Westerners identify with the Celtic sound. Chief among their compositions are two of the best ballads of the past 75 years Fairytale Of New York, and this one, Rainy Night In Soho:
Soho has one of the best lines in rock ballad history with ''You're the measure of my dreams'', one that shows both the depth and humility often found in singer/composer Shane MacGowan's lyrics.
One weird twist with this song is that it was almost never released. Originally recorded during the sessions for Rum, Sodomy & The Lash (1985), over a dozen versions float around various bootleg recordings and studio vaults, primarily because of a rift between MacGowan and the album's pdoducer, Elvis Costello: Costello preferred a mix that featured an oboe, while MacGowan liked one with a cornet. Various versions were created mixing both to a certain extent to try to make them both happy, but the song was ultimately shelved and not put on the album.
It took until 1991 to released, on the Poguetry In Motion EP. Who won? You could say that MacGowan did, as the cornet version appeared on most versions of the release... except in Canada, where the oboe mix made the cut instead.
The Poguetry In Motion tracks were re-released, remastered and included in the 2004 re-editions of Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, and yet another version of Rainy Night In Soho was also included on the 2004 re-releases of 1990's Hell's Ditch.
The songs is also featured on every compilation of the band's music, with multiple versions making their way to the Just Look Them Straight in the Eye and Say... POGUE MAHONE!! box set, from 2008.
Nothing is ever easy with The Pogues, even releasing their best songs.
Soho has one of the best lines in rock ballad history with ''You're the measure of my dreams'', one that shows both the depth and humility often found in singer/composer Shane MacGowan's lyrics.
One weird twist with this song is that it was almost never released. Originally recorded during the sessions for Rum, Sodomy & The Lash (1985), over a dozen versions float around various bootleg recordings and studio vaults, primarily because of a rift between MacGowan and the album's pdoducer, Elvis Costello: Costello preferred a mix that featured an oboe, while MacGowan liked one with a cornet. Various versions were created mixing both to a certain extent to try to make them both happy, but the song was ultimately shelved and not put on the album.
It took until 1991 to released, on the Poguetry In Motion EP. Who won? You could say that MacGowan did, as the cornet version appeared on most versions of the release... except in Canada, where the oboe mix made the cut instead.
The Poguetry In Motion tracks were re-released, remastered and included in the 2004 re-editions of Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, and yet another version of Rainy Night In Soho was also included on the 2004 re-releases of 1990's Hell's Ditch.
The songs is also featured on every compilation of the band's music, with multiple versions making their way to the Just Look Them Straight in the Eye and Say... POGUE MAHONE!! box set, from 2008.
Nothing is ever easy with The Pogues, even releasing their best songs.
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