2010 In Review: Top 10 Covers

As you may well know I am a huge fan of covers. I think they are a perfect way to get into new acts and to be introduced to new songs/band through your favorite artists. These are the covers that I think are the absolute best of the year. You will notice a lack of ironic indie acts covering pop songs on this list. That is because sincerity is what catches my eye more often then not. Plus how many solo acoustic covers of “Bad Romance” do we really need?

1.) Summertime – Brian Wilson

 Janis Joplin version

Now I will be talking about the album this is off of a little later, but this song is something special. It is a pretty commonly covered song that has been preformed by Ella Fitzgerald, Sam Cooke and perhaps most famously by Janis Joplin. But you can take all those versions and throw them to the wayside. This is the definitive version of the song, the well placed orchestra, light jazz piano and restrained vocal delivery really drive it home.

2.) My Body is a Cage – Peter Gabriel

Original

I actually heard this version before hearing the Arcade Fire original, and a result of that is I hate the original. It just sounds so weak and distant when compared to this monster. Most artist who use a string section bring them in to play a simple and basic part. Peter Gabriel lets them be a symphony, slowly building tension before bursting out in all its fury. This cover could work as a classical piece and that is where its real strength lies.

3.) In Germany Before The War – The Extra Lens

Original

The last thing I expected to find on this John Darnielle side project was a cover of a Randy Newman Song. What I expected even less was for this cover to be the best song on the album, Undercard is a good album but certainly isn’t excellent. The accordion is what makes the song, accentuating the distant sadness of the song. It just feels my mind with an image of the story teller gazing off with glazed grey eyes absentmindedly play the insurment. Just beautiful.

4.) Let’s Call the whole thing off – Brian Wilson

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

This one is just fun. Most people have heard some version of this Gershwin song before, even if only the time Christopher Walken did it on SNL. Again this is probably my favorite version; it is just a rollicking good time that puts a smile on your face.

5.) Fuck You – William Shatner

Original

Once again this is just fun. It is live and delivered with that usual later life Shatner vocal delivery. If you like Has Been you will love this cover. It is played up and over the top which makes it all the better.

6.) Power of the Heart – Peter Gabriel

Original

Now after that little fun interlude we get another powerful orchestral cover by Peter Gabriel, this time of one of my favorite Lou Reed songs. Again the strings are excellent, and the vocal delivery just breaks my heart.

7.) Bulletproof – Steel Train

Original

When you hear an indie band cover a dance song you expect it to be an ironic cover. Well Steel Train is special. They take this excellent La Roux song and make a version that isn’t poking fun at it, or pointing out some flaw in the lyrics or melody. The are covering it to pay homage/put there own spin on a song the love. The focus on acoustic instruments with spare electric lines throughout is a brilliant stroke

.8.) Turnpike Ghost – Tegan and Sara

Original

Speaking of Steel Train, they came out with an album this year. And (more importantly to this post) came out with a companion album which had every song from the album covered by a female artist. Now all the covers are good, but only one is as good if not better then the original song. They slow it down a little and using an electronic backing that is catchy beyond belief.

9.) Solsbury Hill- Lou Reed

Original

In return for Peter Gabriel covering my favorite Lou Reed song, Lou Reed covers my favorite Peter Gabriel song. But unlike Gabriel, Reed’s cover doesn’t equal the original. It is still an interesting listen. It has been completely transformed into a Lou Reed song full of distortion and feedback that plods along at a hypnotizing pace.

10.) You’ve Got a Friend in Me –Gipsy Kings

Original

Another Randy Newman cover. The Gipsy Kings covered this song for Toy Story 3 (which is my favorite film of the year). It is quick catchy and done in that flamenco style that the Gipsy Kings do so well.

2010 in Review: Disappointments

Well we talked about some of the good now lets hit the bad. There isn’t really a whole lot to go here most albums that came out this year have been good to amazing, even still there are a few that just didn’t hit the mark.

Recovery – Eminem

As much as I talked about how much rap has finally penetrated my listening habits, I still don’t like Eminem. Sure he has a couple of good track but the rest of his stuff is just bad. Now that means that this album wouldn’t really be a disappointment, except that everyone was raving about how great it was. I heard everything from “his best album ever” to “finally got me into Eminem/rap”. So I figured what the hell…what a bad idea on my part. There is only one good song on the entire album “Love the Way You Lie” and that has more to do with producer Alex da Kid then Eminem. Every other song either bores me or grates my ears.

Lady Killer – Celo Green

How did he mess up so badly? The internet favorite “Fuck You” is a brilliant song that sounds like it belongs on Stevie Wonders Songs in the Key of Life (except for the lyrics content of course). The rest of the album is taken up with mediocre to awful faux Motown sensibilities. And since most people would argue that Motown was mostly made of false sentiment when I call this fake Motown you know we are in deep shit. When any song comes up besides “Fuck You” I have to wonder to myself; why am I not just listening to Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye or the Temptations.

Lawrence of Euphoria – Beck

The last two were bad albums with one good song on it. This is a good album with one song that disappoints me so much that it almost ruins the entire thing. This is from Beck’s Record Club where Beck got together with Wilco, Fiest, and Jamie Lidell and covered every track from one of my favorite albums, OAR by Alexander “Skip” Spence. They do a pretty good job on every song except for one, one that happens to be my personal favorite. The original “Lawrence of Euphoria” is only 1:31 and is a manic acoustic tune barely in tune with a jangle that captivates. So Beck and Co. extend it to 5:18 and make it a stripped down dance tune that doesn’t succeed at being a good tribute or a good dance song.



Contra – Vampire Weekend


Out of all the albums in this post this one isn’t actually bad, but it still ends up being the most disappointing. The main problem is Vampire Weekend’s debut was nothing short of brilliant, and Contra is just good. I talked about this album before but what it really boils down to it the song writing has taken a hit. They feel like they just tried to use an electronic sound to mask the fact that these songs just didn’t hit the level they did on their debut. They even do it on songs when without the digital sound they would be amazing. I like the song “California English” but with out the autotune it would be brilliant. Once again this album isn’t bad, but it certainly doesn’t have me excited to see what they do next like Vampire Weekend did.

2010 in Review: Surprises

The year is coming to a close and all the albums that are on my radar are out. So it is time to look back at the gold and shit from 2010. Now going into this year there were several acts that I knew where coming out with albums that I was excited for and expected to be excellent, but even with all these treats waiting I managed to stumble onto somethings that surprised me. These are artists or albums that I had never heard of or albums that I thought were going to suck that were actually good or maybe even great.

I won’t be going into great detail here on most albums since some of them will be included in my Best albums of the Year list and others I have little more to say then “It is worth a listen/skip it”

Rap/hip-hop

This year is the first to convince me that rap albums are worth owning. Let me elaborate. For a long time I hated rap, there was nothing you could do to get me to listen to this shit people were passing for music. In fact until this year I could count the rap albums I owned on one hand (Nerdcore Rising, Secret from the Future, Fight with Tools, 3Feet High and Rising, Demon Days). As my opinion started to soften I began to consider rap artist as single based acts, a fact that is basically true for many acts. There just weren’t any hip-hop acts that I wanted a full album from unless you were MC Frontalot, The Flobots, or Gorillaz.

2010 has changed all that. Sure I got good albums from both MC Frontalot and The Flobots, and an excellent one from Gorillaz, but that wasn’t the defining moment that started my new hip-hop awakening. That came from B.o.B.‘s debut “B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray”. Now I don’t want to talk too much about this album here, but it caught my attention. It was a great example of how close the line between those who consider themselves “street” and geeks has been blurred. And it was through this album that I discovered another breakout artist of 2010.

Janelle Monáe probably shouldn’t be in the hip-hop section because she is so much bigger than that. Again I don’t want to get to deep into it here but she is and artist who gives me hope for the artistry of album making and the ambition of concepts.

Now after talking about two artist that I can’t really get into yet lets talk about the biggest surprise of the year Kanye West. With all the stupid build ups and stunts to it, “My Dark Twisted Fantasy” should have sucked. And the first taste of it certainly didn’t help. Runaway was the first song people heard, along with a 30min mini movie music video for it. I will link to neither since they are both abysmal. So when the album came out I got it with plans of tearing it a new one…too bad it is an amazing album. Not a single song is truly bad except for “Runaway”. In fact “All of the Lights” is one of my favorite songs of the year.

Another established rap act that I just discovered is Sage Francis. His new album “Li(f)e” is a marriage between rap and indie rock in a way that will turn off the more hardcore fans of either genre, but for me this is like peanut butter and chocolate together at last. The best track of this is “Best of Times”, it made me cry the first time I listened to it. It is just a very powerful songs for someone who grew up as kind of an outsider in school.

Collaborations

Another aspect of this year’s music is how many artists have collaborated with good results. Now one would think when two great acts get together they should be able to spin straw into gold, but more often it just doesn’t happen. Every hear Eric Clapton’s album with B.B. King? But this year gave us a great set of collaborations.

There is Danger Mouse and James Mercer of the Strokes form Broken Bells, Jim Bryson And The Weakerthans release “Falcon Lake Incident”, David Bryne and Fatboy Slim come out with “Here Lies Love” with a plethora of guest vocalists, Ben Folds and Nick Hornby’s “Lonely Avenue”, John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno putting out an Extra Lens album “Undercard”, and Elton John and Leon Russell give us “The Union”. Every album one of these albums is at least good and several of them are amazing.

Veterans

The acts that people consider musical dinosaurs seem to all either fall into a pattern or fall to banality and never escape. But there has been some truly amazing music from some so called Dinosaurs. Both Peter Gabriel and Brian Wilson came out with one of the best albums of the year. We also got a very interesting statement from Devo, who, after years of preaching DIY mentality release a completely market tested album, with fans choosing everything from the songs on the album to the color of their hats. It is a really fascinating move and I suggest anyone who is interested in the music industry look into it. Other old acts with good albums this year include Iron Madien, Joe Satriani, Santana, and Peter Wolf.

They're still around?

So what about the bands that seem to have disappeared from the main public view? Well this year say releases from Barenaked Ladies, Shonen Knife, James, Jakob Dylan, and The Crash Test Dummies. The Crash Test Dummies album “Oooh La La” is especially interesting, the album is based around old analog toy synthesizers. You would think a gimmick like that would overpower and album, but listen to the opener “Songbird” and tell me if you spot a gimmick.

So over all this has been a really great year for music that is both accessible and ambitious. I will go into this more once I get to talking about specific albums, but before we get there we have one more stop. Like I said overall 2010 has been a great year for music fans full of more good then bad…which doesn’t mean the bad doesn’t exist. Next time I will take you through my biggest disappointments of 2010, which albums just didn’t meet expectations.

Before Art and After Science: Generative Music

My Updates have really be taking a hit recently as I am wrapping up the semester at school. So in place of an album review I am posting a paper I wrote on the topic of Generative Music. Hopefully you find it interesting. I will be done with finals on the 17th so once those are over I will start reflecting on the past year of music.

Before Art and After Science: Generative Music

-William Leetch

            Music has always been set in stone. Even a live performance, something most would consider the most pliable form of the art, is limited in scope by the way the song was written, but what if that didn’t need to be the case? Through the innovations of composers and musicians, such as Terry Riley and Brian Eno, the ever changing art of Generative (also known as procedural) Music has been formed. Generative Music is the next step in the evolution of music and will be a crucial tool for pushing the boundaries of the art-form.
            What exactly is Generative Music? It is the idea that a piece of music can go on eternally changing all the time. It is an idea that has been around for quite a while. Terry Riley is considered one of the most influential and innovative minimalist composers of all time, and his piece In C is one of the first showcases of the idea of Generative Music, before it was called Generative Music. The piece consists of fifty-two bars of music; now on a normal piece the musician would just play those bars and then be done, but not on In C. Each musician is supposed to play each bar until they feel like moving on to the next one. For example the musician might like playing bar one a lot and proceed to play it thirty times, but once they move on to bar two they might find they hate it so they will only play it three times (Eno). With each individual performer or conductor choosing a different number of times to go through each bar the songs will never be performed exactly the same way twice, and that, in a nut shell, is the idea behind generative music. In C is also one of the few non-digital examples of procedural music.
            Another example of analog generative music is Steve Reich’s It’s Gonna Rain. The piece consists of two identical recordings of a preacher repeating the phrase “it’s gonna rain” played on two different tape machines. Due to the inconsistencies present in the analog equipment the recordings begin to fall out of sync. This process changes the way the songs are perceived; as the sounds change. In Brian Eno’s words, “They start to sound like an echo. Then they sound like a cannon, and gradually they start to sound like all sorts of things.” (Eno)
            It is hard not to immediately think ‘computer’ when the word procedural is uttered; which makes it very fortunate that the roots of modern generative music lay in screen savers. Musician and famed producer Brian Eno, the man who is the crux of all things ambient in music, had discovered this screensaver called Stained Glass. What the screen saver did was take an image and “then it sucks them out, multiplies them, chops them about, collages them together in different ways” (Eno). Eno then realized that if he placed another screensaver into Stained Glass as the source image he could create very basic, but fascinating, generative paintings. Eno saw this as a realization of one of his own goals, creating art that never ended. (“B.E. In Con”)
            Eno has stated on multiple occasions that the fact that a record never changes (and has drastic jumps in mood) started to irk him. He solved the latter with his innovation in ambient music which he discovered when someone put a record on to softly during a rainstorm when he was bed ridden (Amirkhanian). Now to fix the former he needed to turn to more computer literate people. Most innovations have two parts: the idea, the shoe maker, and the execution, the elves. Eno is the shoe maker and he just needed his elves. He found them in the British company Sseyo. Sseyo developed procedural software that allowed the user to make a generative song with the preinstalled instruments. The user adjusts the delay and the scale that they wish to use and then the program creates it for the artist. (Eno)
            One of the greatest innovations of procedural music is the way it allows those without musical talent to produce for their own amusement and pleasure. On the iPad there is an app called Bloom. Bloom allows the user to create songs using different moods, simply by touching the screen in different places. A higher point in the screen produces a higher pitch. This creates an interesting bridge in the divide between creator and consumer in the world of ambient music, which has been the goal of that type of music all along.
            So the next question is, what does all this mean to those not interested music creation as an art? In comes Lauri Gröhn, a physicist behind the program Synestesia. The purpose of this program is to generate, using some very complex math, a piece of music for a painting or photo. This allows an artist to exhibit their art with a musical backing without the need for licensing music. Like Bloom, Synestesia is a way for amateurs to work at the same level as pros.
            The most interesting question, one that seems to be on the horizon but has not become fully articulated is, when does this cease to be a form of art? If this progresses further will there be any need for musicians or will mathematicians fill the role just fine? Both are valid questions, and both are curmudgeonly conservative. Anyone who wants to look to the future needs to find a way to adapt to, instead of denounce, new technology. The truly great will always find a way to place their personality in their work; they will find a way to make this new form of music, as Brian Eno put it, “Familiar and new […] like watching a river” (“B.E. In Con”).

Works Cited

Amirkhanian, Charles. “Brian Eno Part 1.” Latest Speaking of Music Rewind podcast from the Exploratorium. 18 Dec. 2009. Web. 27 July 2010.

“Brian Eno In Conversation.” Artscape. ABC, 21 July 2009. Web. 28 July 2010.

Eno, Brian. “Generative Music.” Imagination Conference. San Francisco. 8 June 1996 Web. 27 July 2010

Gröhn, Lauri. "Lauri Gröhn: Translation of the Text "Musiikkia Kuvista 2003", 12.12.2003." Synestesia Software Music: Copyright 2001-2007 by Lauri Gröhn; Synestesia Music Generated from Pictures. 12 Dec. 2003. Web. 17 Oct. 2010. .

Mitts, Håkan. "Interview with Lauri Gröhn – Listen to Your Images!
The 3 Inch Canvas." The 3 Inch Canvas
Dedicated to Promoting Art on Mobiles. 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. .

#41 The Sunset Tree/ So You Want To Get Into...The Mountain Goats Part 3

Best Song: Dilauded vs Dance Music

Track List:

1.) You or Your Memory
2.) Broom People
3.) This Year
4.) Dilaudid
5.) Dance Music
6.) Dinu Lipatti’s Bones
7.) Up The Wolves
8.) Lion’s Teeth
9.) Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod
10.) Magpie
11.) Song for Dennis Brown
12.) Love Love Love
13.) Pale Green Things

Yes this post is serving two masters. Not only is this the next step of my journey through The Mountain Goats; it is also one of my favorite albums. The timing worked out extremely well… almost as if I had planned it! (wink, wink)

When I first heard this album my mind rebelled against liking it, and looking back I can’t reconstruct my reasoning. Was it the personal tone of the record? The theme of abuse? Or more realistically was it the fact that I didn’t think about the lyrics at all? If I had to guess it would probably be the last point. When you get right down to it without the lyrics this album is just good, with them it is brilliant.

Because the best way to describe The Sunset Tree is as the best book that I have never read. Every story told is beautifully blunt and cathartic. From the drunken youthful angst of “This Year” to the savage revenge dreamed in “Lion’s Teeth” to the distant sorrow expressed in “Pale Green Things”. Every word is in the right place.

Not that this album doesn’t work well musically either. It contains John Darnielle’s greatest work as a composer: “Dilauded”. This is the song that made me think that maybe The Mountain Goats were worth my while. The desperation expressed in the lyrics and vocal delivery are only matched by the driving strings. This song can only be matched by the one it flow into. “Dance Music” is all about escapism. The juxtaposition of the terrible scene depicted with the upbeat piano driven music of the song is captivating. But still the feeling that one can hide in their favorite music is one that even the happiest most well adjusted person can relate to, it is the emotional in for the album.

Now unfortunately we get the only stinker on the album after those two master pieces. “Dinu Lipatti’s Bones” isn’t a bad song, in fact I would love it…except for the fact that the vocals repel me like it’s a can of Raid. I won’t get into it here because my problem with this song is much better represented on Get Lonely which is the next album I will talk about.

The Sunset Tree is the greatest thing to ever come out of John Darnielle’s brain. It is his magnum opus and I doubt he will ever top it. He certainly didn’t with the next album he came out with.

Till next time.

So You Want to get into…The Mountain Goats Part 2

Part 1


Life of the World to Come

Best Song: Hebrew 11:40

1.) 1 Samuel 15:23
2.) Psalms 40:2
3.) Genesis 3:23
4.) Philippians 3:20-21
5.) Hebrews 11:40
6.) Genesis 30:3
7.) Romans 10:9
8.) 1 John 4:16
9.) Matthew 25:21
10.) Deuteronomy 2:10
11.) Isaiah 45:23
12.) Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace

So after my opinion of the Mountain Goats was sofftened by Heretic Pride, I had to get his newest release when it came out. And wouldn’t you know I really liked it. It was way more consistent then Heretic Pride, keeping me interested throughout its entire span. This was actually one of the first albums I talked about on this site, almost a year ago in my Top Albums of 2009 posts. Listening to it again my opinion has not changed much. “Hebrews 11:40” is still one of the best songs that John Darinelle has ever written. It showcases everything he is good at. Amazing arrangement of strings, interesting percussion, and a vocal delivery that sounds detached and distant, which ups the effectiveness of the song by a great deal.

“1 Samuel 15:23” still bores the hell out of me. If it wasn’t for the fact that some earlier albums have strong openers, I would guess that I would just hate all Mountain Goats openers based on Heretic Pride and The Life of the World to Come. The only other bad song on the album is “Deuteronomy”; in fact this is the only place where my opinion has changed. I used to let “Dueteronomy” go based solely on the emotion behind it, but I don’t even let it pass on that any more. When it comes down to it the song just drags on and on never drawing me in and never playing with my emotions.

Other then that the entire album is made up of good songs, few really stand out but I really have a special place for this album in my journey through the world of John Darnielle. It is because of The Life of the World to Come I chose to delve back into the Mountain Goats discography. My next stop would be a great one, to the best album in The Mountain Goats discography. I am of course talking about….

…To Be Continued

#42 Who's Next

Best Song: Baba O'Riley

1.) Baba O'Riley
2.) Bargain
3.) Love Ain't For Keeping
4.) My Wife
5.) The Song Is Over
6.) Getting In Tune
7.) Going Mobile
8.) Behind Blue Eyes
9.) Won't Get Fooled Again


Who's Next is a masterpiece with one flaw. All the songs are over shadowed by the opener. Not only is “Baba O'riley” the best song on the album, it is one of the best songs ever written. The synth loop was ground breaking and avoids the usual dated feel that comes with most synths. The song manages to send chills down my spine every time I listen to it. The synth comes in and I am anticipating the drums and bass. Then I am waiting for the vocals to burst in with Daltrey's signature roar. The guitar is really just the icing on the cake at this point. One of the things that makes the song is how minimal the song is, while still being an arena shaking tune. Every arena band after The Who wishes they could have a song like this in their catalog and not a single one comes close.

But like I said after "Baba O'Riley" nothing seems quite as good till the last three songs pick it up again. That doesn't make the rest of the songs bad, just underwhelming. Both "Bargain" and "Love Ain't for Keeping" are two great songs that showcase the musicianship of the band just fine. "My Wife" is our John Entwistle song on the album and is one of his best. It is a little dark like all his songs, but it showcases his arrangement skills more then anything else. The interplay between the bass and drums is certainly the main focus of the song, as it often is with The Who. The guitar is there to keep everything together, bass, drum, piano, and horns all can use it as their time keeper.

"The Song Is Over" is a little pretentious and the synth part seems a little dated so if you where going to pass on one song it would be this one."Getting in Tune" on the other hand is one of those songs about music full of comparisons between music and life. Not only is he getting in tune with the song but with life. Just like all of the songs the rhythm section makes the song reach another level. John Entwislte is my favorite bassist, and Keith moon is my favorite drummers. They both knew how to keep their parts interesting without going off track with pointless fills and solos.

Of course now I can really get pumped again, "Going Mobile" is almost as good as "Baba O'riley". I love the acoustic guitar part that feels like it is being played by Pete Townshend sitting in the passenger seat of a car with his feet out the window. The entire songs succeeds in filling the mind with images of traveling, making it one of my favorite songs to listen to in my car. "I'm an air-conditioned gypsy." is probably my favorite line on the entire album. "Behind Blue Eyes" is all about the slow build. I have heard people complain about the arena rock bridge almost ruining the song. This is the exact opposite of the truth. "Behind Blue Eyes" needs the full arch to make it work. It needs to build dissipate and resolve so it can stand alone and appear to be attached to the final song. A lot of penultimate songs suffer the fate of being considered an intro to the closer and "Behind Blue Eyes" avoids that.

And what a closer we have! "Won't Get Fooled Again" is over 8min long but never once feels like it is over staying it's welcome. Well maybe a little during the guitar solo but it earns that little indulgence with the main body of the song. Rebellious to the core but in a call to arms to be savvy, not to just follow because they are told to. Who's Next fell in a string of classic albums by The Who that started with The Who Sell Out and ended with Quaraphenia. Who's Next is merely the third best of these four classics, what are the next two? We will just have to wait and see won't we...