Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I'm ready to embrace the Christmas season, even though many stores have been pushing it since late August (and you think I'm exaggerating). I don't think my parents will ever let me outgrow making a list, so I figure I can kill two birds (turtledoves, even) with one stone and put the non-xbox games portion of my list in Seabass Says for the world to see. Who knows, maybe the world will want to wrap something up for me and slide it under the tree.
To kick things off, I'm thinking the much anticipated and long awaited follow up to Alexi Murdoch's fantastic debut "Time Without Consequence," the internet-only-hand-stamped-limited-edition "Towards the Sun" would be great to find in a vinyl sized stocking. I have no idea if any of the 5000 limited edition copies are left, so I might have to wait for the CD in 2011, but one can hope. One way or another, the album will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.
I think the thing I like the most about Alexi Murdoch's songs is that at first glance, many of them almost seem simplistic, but when you listen a bit more closely you can discover a wealth of emotional and musical depth. See if you agree:
Alexi Murdoch - Someday Soon
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Ben Folds is an Evil Genius
Not too long ago, I wrote about how much I was looking forward to the album "Lonely Avenue," a collaborative effort between one of my favorite authors, Nick Hornby, and one of my favorite musicians, Ben Folds. After having some time to play through the album a bunch of times, I can say that it lived up to my expectations. Hornby's lyrics provide his usual self deprication ("A Working Day"), humor ("Levi Johnston's Blues"), interesting take on the awkward moments in life ("Claire's Ninth"), and biting honesty ("Picture Window" "Belinda"). I think Ben Folds is the perfect musician to bring Hornby's words to life. There has always been a playful juxtaposition between happy/sad and sincerity/humor in Folds' music. He is a man who knows exactly what he's doing with each note, each goofball idea, and every single strike of the piano keys. The man is an evil genius...I bet he has some kind of crazy music lab with beakers and bunsen burners going 24/7.
In my previous post about this album, I mentioned that "Picture Window" sounded like "pure awesome carried in a bag made of fantastic" and I'm thinking I might have undersold it. "Picture Window" is the type of song that grabs you by the tear ducts from note one and dares you not to give in to the urge. I think Ben Folds is at his best when he slows down and delivers the soul searching melancholy of his piano pop. I'm talking about the raw feeling of songs like "Philosophy," "Brick," "Evaporated," "We're Still Fighting It," and "Landed." Hornby and Folds have tapped into that rawness brilliantly with "Picture Window". This thing just crushes me every time I hear it. It isn't a fast song, but in the words of Nick Hornby himself, "There's no story behind the song - the story's in the song. The music is faster than I'd imagined it would be, but that just means that Ben can break your heart quicker."
Ben Folds - Picture Window
A bonus song dedicated to my friend Darren, who may or may not want to smack me upside the head for the dedication:
In my previous post about this album, I mentioned that "Picture Window" sounded like "pure awesome carried in a bag made of fantastic" and I'm thinking I might have undersold it. "Picture Window" is the type of song that grabs you by the tear ducts from note one and dares you not to give in to the urge. I think Ben Folds is at his best when he slows down and delivers the soul searching melancholy of his piano pop. I'm talking about the raw feeling of songs like "Philosophy," "Brick," "Evaporated," "We're Still Fighting It," and "Landed." Hornby and Folds have tapped into that rawness brilliantly with "Picture Window". This thing just crushes me every time I hear it. It isn't a fast song, but in the words of Nick Hornby himself, "There's no story behind the song - the story's in the song. The music is faster than I'd imagined it would be, but that just means that Ben can break your heart quicker."
Ben Folds - Picture Window
A bonus song dedicated to my friend Darren, who may or may not want to smack me upside the head for the dedication:
Monday, November 8, 2010
matt pond PA's Autumnal Sound
I've been lucky enough to get in on the ground floor with a handful of bands and listen to their sound evolve as their exposure and popularity grew. I don't think I made it in on exactly the ground floor with matt pond PA, but I think I managed to get in toward the bottom of the proverbial building. When I started listening to them, they were just getting past the stage where they had to crash on the floor of my friend's apartment every time they came to town for a show. From the beginning of my time listening to matt pond PA's music, there generally seems to be an undercurrent of loss, change, and regret mixed with small glimmers and the occasional flourish of hope and beauty. It isn't really consistently sad music or happy music...to try to put some more of a concrete description to it, I'd say that matt pond PA plays music that embraces the cold and lonely of life in order to come out the other side better for it. How's that for concrete?
I often like to compare music to seasons and Matt Pond and company seem to be comfortably at home in the fall. The feeling of transition and a bright future off in the distance that is encapsulated by the fall is somehow also held firmly in the songs Matt Pond writes. The band is responsible for one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time, "Emblems" (my friend Murph says you must be a bad person if you don't like "Emblems"). There is a magical quality to that album that every time I put it on, I can listen from front to back without interruption and without any desire to skip ahead. I feel like after "Emblems," Matt Pond was consciously trying to get away from that Autumnal feel that I think fits so well. While good albums, I felt like "Several Arrows Later" and "Last Light" were missing something. The undercurrent was too far down. Then, for free through his website, Matt Pond released "Thefreeep" (The Free EP) at a time when it seemed like his band was dissolving around him. To me, "Thefreep" was (to use too extreme a word) an exorcism of sorts. I don't think there was exactly any evil to get rid of, but the EP seems like a stream of consciousness meant to expunge the fog and achieve some kind of clarity.
The result of this clarity I just made up is "The Dark Leaves," and album released in the spring, but absolutely right at home around the fallen leaves and warm fires of the fall. "Remains" is a song that I think showcases what I view to be an energized an centered Matt Pond at his best.
...If you remain in me
I will remain in you
And if you stay with me
I will stay with you...
matt pond PA - Remains
I often like to compare music to seasons and Matt Pond and company seem to be comfortably at home in the fall. The feeling of transition and a bright future off in the distance that is encapsulated by the fall is somehow also held firmly in the songs Matt Pond writes. The band is responsible for one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time, "Emblems" (my friend Murph says you must be a bad person if you don't like "Emblems"). There is a magical quality to that album that every time I put it on, I can listen from front to back without interruption and without any desire to skip ahead. I feel like after "Emblems," Matt Pond was consciously trying to get away from that Autumnal feel that I think fits so well. While good albums, I felt like "Several Arrows Later" and "Last Light" were missing something. The undercurrent was too far down. Then, for free through his website, Matt Pond released "Thefreeep" (The Free EP) at a time when it seemed like his band was dissolving around him. To me, "Thefreep" was (to use too extreme a word) an exorcism of sorts. I don't think there was exactly any evil to get rid of, but the EP seems like a stream of consciousness meant to expunge the fog and achieve some kind of clarity.
The result of this clarity I just made up is "The Dark Leaves," and album released in the spring, but absolutely right at home around the fallen leaves and warm fires of the fall. "Remains" is a song that I think showcases what I view to be an energized an centered Matt Pond at his best.
...If you remain in me
I will remain in you
And if you stay with me
I will stay with you...
matt pond PA - Remains
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