Top Five On Friday – 9/17/10

From the Music Memoirs:

Top 5 recent musical discoveries

~ This can be bands, songs, albums a mixture of all of them

1)  “The French Song” by Joan Jett
2)  Sonic Youth
3)  Charles Mingus
4)  “The Rare Ould Times” by Flogging Molly
5)  Steve Shelly, drummer for number 2.  He’s awesome!  Check him out in this clip.  He really gets going three minutes in.

I love rock and roll (and rock and roll concerts)

The title of this post should clue you in that I saw Joan Jett and the Blackhearts perform today.  They were playing at the Lane County Fair.  For the price of  admission, I got to see a very famous performer sing and play her heart out. 

The stage was set up in a corner by the food booths, and it was standing room only.  No seating at all.  I arrived about a half hour before the start of the show to claim a spot.  Of course, I’m so short that there’s really no good spot to be in to see everything.  The half hour went by fairly quickly and Joan and her band came on promptly at 4.

What was the show like?  Well, it rocked!  Joan played all the hits, even Runaways stuff.  She’s not afraid to give the crowd what they want to hear.  I was feeling the music, singing along, shouting, everything.  I had an awesome time, and Joan puts on a great show.  I could only see the top of her head, though.  I couldn’t see most of the other musicians at all.  But, oh, I could hear them!  I snapped some shots with my cell phone camera, the only camera I had available and working.  They didn’t turn out the best, but you can kind of see Joan.

Other than that, I walked around, took more photos with my camera, and ate stuff.  I haven’t been to the fair for a very long time.  I might go back if they get someone like Joan Jett to play again.

Here are some photos:

More on my Flickr photostream.

Top Five On Friday – 8/20/10

Time for Top Five:

Top 5 songs with "time" in the title

1)  “Time” by Pink Floyd
2)  “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel
3)  “Strict Time” by Elvis Costello
4)  “Further In Time” by Afro Celt Sound System
5)  “A Matter Of Time” by Los Lobos

Can’t forget Morris Day and The Time:

Sunday Scribblings – 8/8/10

half-way

I thought I would embed a video from a YouTube search for “halfway.”  It’s a short film called “Only Halfway Home” about Levon Helm.  I don’t really have time to watch it tonight, but I’m sure it will be good:

Youtube Wednesday – 8/4/10

Ok, here’s a video.  It’s a performance of “I”m Happy Just To Dance With You” by The Beatles, led here by George Harrison, from the movie A Hard Day’s Night. It sounds a bit slowed down to me, which is strange.  I love John in the beginning.  Such a typical class clown.

Youtube Wednesday - 6/2/10

Here's an awesome version of the Smashing Pumpkins' "Pug" from the Adore album, performed live on Brazilian TV.  It even has multiple forms of percussion!

Top Five On Friday - 4/23/10

Five:

Top 5 music videos you can watch over and over

1)  "Skeletons" by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, one of the most haunting and beautiful videos and songs ever:



2)  "70 Million" by Hold Your Horses.  Works of art come to life and play instruments!



3) "Her Morning Elegance" by Oren Lavie.  Stop motion, very creative:



4)  "Persistence Of Memory" by Afro Celt Sound System



5)  "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" by Jack Johnson:

 

30

Well, I was going to post yesterday, but I forgot, so I'll just do one big post today.

• First off -- today is my 30th birthday!  It feels strange to hit another decade.  I'm now officially 'old,' or at least not young.  I'm spending today listening to music and going out for BBQ later on tonight.  I gotta have my birthday ribs.  

• I bought two excellent CDs for my birthday, and they couldn't be more different in sound:  Loveless by My Bloody Valentine and American Recordings by Johnny Cash.  One is full of dense, lush, loud, distorted electric guitars, and the other is a man, a voice and a single acoustic guitar.  They are both very great albums and I'm happy to finally own them.  

• I also got myself a couple books.  I had some time to kill the other day, so I went to a local used bookstore.  I was looking for some specific things, and I found the one book I was intending to buy for my birthday all along -- Writing New York: A Literary Anthology.  I found it for $12, only a couple more than I would have spent online.  It's in great condition, and it even has the cover I want.  I also lucked out because it's the expanded edition, which I wasn't aware existed.  More is better!  I also bought Piecework by NYC journalist Pete Hamill.  It's a collection of some of his columns and pieces over the years.

• I've been taking more photos lately now that I have a phone with a decent camera and email access to send the pics to Flickr.  Yesterday I checked out a new vegan donut place in town, and here's what their chocolate frosted looks like:

Youtube Wednesday - 4/21/10

The less said about this clip, the better.  It's a music video homage to one of the greatest musical movies of all time.  There is a really weird cameo appearance.  This is a fun, joyous good time:


Thinking 'Bout Somethin'

HANSON | MySpace Music Videos

Youtube Wednesday - 3/31/10

Today, I have a live performance of the song "Sweetness and Light" by the 90s alternative band Lush.  I discovered this song yesterday and I adore it:

Songs I Like: School Of Seven Bells "Wired For Light"

Intense but beautiful, "Wired For Light" is all about the dreamy voices of the two singers.  I really like the mid-tempo, relaxed pace and the way the sounds just surround you.  The singing pulls me in and doesn't let me go.  I loved this song immediately after I heard it.  I've heard most of the rest of School of Seven Bells' album Alpinisms, but this is by far my favorite song of theirs.  You know what it's like when you love one song so much that you wished all other songs were just like it?  That's the case for me with this song. 

Take a listen for yourself:

MINI REVIEW: COLD MOUNTAIN ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK

Artist: Various artists including Alison Krauss and Jack White
Album Title: Cold Mountain (Music From The Miramax Motion Picture)
Genre: Folk/Americana
2003
Sony Records

When did I buy it?: A friend bought it for me, and it must have been in the year 2004.  I can't remember for sure.


Why did I buy it?: I saw the movie and was really intrigued by the music.  I had read an article about the soundtrack album, how it was supposed to be like "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" but with older styles of music.  While watching the movie, one of the Alison Krauss songs won me over and I must have mentioned it to the friend who bought it for me.

What are the best songs?:  First, I must mention the Sacred Harp Singers at Liberty Church.  Sacred Harp singing uses shape notes and seems to be primarily church music.  It's a very old tradition in American music, and two performances are included here -- "I'm Going Home" and "Idumea."  The former is a rousing performance, very rhythmic and joyous.  The latter, however, steals the show and is probably the finest song on the entire album.  It's a tsunami wave of voice, one powerful voice that goes straight to your heart and soul.  It sounds like the soundtrack to the end of the world.  I cannot remember which scene used "Idumea," but one doesn't need a scene to appreciate this masterpiece.  I can't make out too many of the words, but just listening to the sound of the combined voices moves me greatly.  I also like how one can sometimes make out the louder of the voices above all the rest.

There are some great, simple fiddle-and-banjo tunes by Tim Eriksen, Riley Bagus, Stuart Duncan and a few others, traditional musicians all.  The best of these is Tim Eriksen's "Am I Born To Die?"  The fiddle has a mournful, droning quality that matches the sorrow of Tim's vocal.  You can really feel the sadness and despair in his voice, even without paying attention to the words.  The peoples of Appalachia descend from the Scottish and Irish, and the sound of Tim Eriken's voice here is the voice of centuries of suffering and hard times shared by anyone Celtic.

"Like A Song Bird That Has Fallen," by the Reeltime Travelers, is a good, honest, simple song with percussive banjo, droning fiddle and good folky female vocals.  It's quiet, and it's delightful.

Another of the best songs on this soundtrack is Cassie Franklin's "Lady Margret."  This is a ballad, a Child Ballad in fact, sung a capella.  I'm a sucker for simple, direct songs such as these with no instruments to distract from the power of the human voice.  And what a voice Ms. Franklin possesses!  I love how she plays around with the vowels and the rhythms of the words.  This is an authentic, gripping, haunting song and I just adore it.

Jack White of the White Stripes contributes several songs to this soundtrack, and he does quite well.  His best performance is "Great High Mountain," as Appalachian as they come.  It sounds almost like a Stanley Brothers song and, once again, the fiddle here has a droning quality that reminds one of bagpipes.  Listen closely and you'll hear echoes of the Old Country in that fiddle.

Lastly, Alison Krauss' "You Will Be My Ain True Love" is just incredible.  This is the song that made me want the album.  It's in a minor key and has beauty, sorrow, and so much more.  It's used in a particularly powerful scene in the movie, and when you see this song playing with those images, you won't forget either.

Any bad stuff?:  Gabriel Yared's contributions stick out like a sore thumb.  They are pieces from the movie's score, and while they might be perfectly fine, they just don't fit in with an album full of songs.  They're tacked on to the end of the album, four in a row.  I think I've only listened to a couple of them in their entirety. 

Overall thoughts:  I have a great appreciation for traditional American music like what you find on this album, and the older and simpler, the better.  Truth be told, I like this album much more than "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"  Most of the songs here fit the Civil War theme - quiet, dignified, bittersweet, full of barely-restrained pain.  This is music for thinking and feeling, not for dancing.  What I like best about the album is the great variety of styles represented.  This album includes contemporary folk, authentic-sounding 19th Century folk, mountain balladry, Sacred Harp singing, fiddle tunes and more.  The music here is very simple compared to what we have now, but there's something sacred about the simplicity.  This is what it used to sound like, decades before recorded music and performing bands.  This is music for home, for church, and for one's self. 

This album doesn't get the same amount of attention as "O Brother," and I think a lot of people are missing out on some truly great music.  The music here led to the kind of music on "O Brother," and it's every bit as good.  There are some absolutely amazing performances on this album, and I wish more music fans would take a listen to it.

Youtube Wednesday - 3/24/10

Today's video is a very innovative music video from relatively new artist Diane Birch for her song "Valentino."  The video is very cool, and the song is super catchy:

Youtube Wednesday for St. Patrick's Day

I have a great appreciation for all things Celtic, and that includes the music.  I have much love for Irish and Scottish traditional music.  It's my favorite kind of music of all.  For me, St. Patrick's Day is not about leprechauns, or shamrocks, or beer, or any of that.  For me, it's about celebrating the music I love so dearly. So, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, here are some Youtube videos of some great Irish music performances:

First, here's a song I'm really liking lately -- "Nil 'Na Lá" by Solas.  You gotta love that Gaelic:



Next, the incomparable Chieftains, and a roomful of harp players:



Now, how about a performance by the incredible Altan:



Here's Irish-American fiddler Liz Carroll, performing for President Obama last year:

 

Next, the great Bothy Band:

 

How about a beautiful song?  This one is also from the Bothy Band, featuring the incredible voice of my favorite Irish singer, Triona Ni Dhomhnaill.  Unfortunately it's not a video, just the song, but still great:

 

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!

Top Five On Friday - 3/12/10

Top Five, coming to us from a new site:

Top 5 musical things that make you think of St. Patrick's Day

1)  The Chieftains.  Of course.
2)  Uilleann pipes.  The haunting sound of the Irish soul.
3)  Altan.  One of the best Irish bands ever, in my opinion.
4)  Fiddles.  Can't have much of a session without a fiddle.
5)  Reels.  Here's a good set to get you in the St. Patrick spirit:

Youtube Wednesday - 3/10/10

In honor of The Chieftains' new album release, here's a clip from the recently-broadcast "Music of Ireland" special on PBS:

Chieftains, south of the border

It's been a long time indeed since The Chieftains, the Beatles of Irish music, have released anything new.  Well, the wait is over this week.  They are back with a new album entitled San Patricio.  If those two words look familiar, yet not familiar, they should.  San Patricio is the story of a group of Irish immigrants who deserted the US Army during the Mexican-American war to fight for the Mexican cause.

Paddy Moloney and the Chieftains take this little-known chapter in history and make what sounds to me like great music from it.  They have many special guests on the album, including Ry Cooder, and the music has a decidedly Mexican flavor.  They've explored the sounds of the Latin world before with Santiago, and this album takes a different approach to that sound.  Listening to the previews, I hear a great deal of beauty.  I can tell this is an album I'll be wanting to buy sometime this year, perhaps very soon.

If you'd like to listen to the album in full, go to this NPR website.  Also, here is a Youtube video about the project:

Youtube Wednesday - 3/3/10

There's really only one choice for this week's Youtube Wednesday video -- OK Go's new clip for "This Too Shall Pass":

Youtube Wednesday - 2/24/10

Here's a funny clip from the movie Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story where John C. Reilly makes fun of Bob Dylan:

Just say no to a Jeff Buckley musical

According to this article, there are plans for a Romeo and Juliet-style musical featuring the songs of Jeff Buckley. 

I have just one word for that: No!