The first movement of Bach's 6th Brandenburg Concerto is my favorite movement of all the Brandenburgs. The sawing and swaying violas, "simple lines intertwining" (as Nigel Tufnel would say), it's pure heaven. It makes me happy and lifts my spirit to another level. There are no other words.
A few tentative guitar notes to get ready, akin to Bob Marley's Redemption Song, then a rhythm of hand claps and percussion sets the music on track. One guitar note drones as little melodies are picked out. The vocals arrive at 0:54 and we are in a kind of call and response situation as other vocalists enter. The women's vocals are a spine-tingling delight. Other guitars jump into the spaces and keep the ball rolling along.
Matadjem Yinmixan is from the excellent album, Aman Iman (Water Is Life). Check it out. You can also watch an interesting performance of this song with Carlos Santana here.
Estimated Prophet is my favorite middle period Grateful Dead song, which I basically consider to be anything post-1974 and pre-1986. It was written by Bob Weir and John Barlow, and it is the first track on the slick, heavily produced album, Terrapin Station.
I am in love with its quasi-reggae feel, its 7/4 groove, Bob's vocals (accompanied by Donna Jean in multi-track), and, of course, Jerry's new signature funky wah guitar sound and Phil's bass. Especially Phil's bass. Just zero in on it and be amazed by his harmony and timing.
Its first chorus starts with California preaching on the burning shore. Their shows in Cali always got loud cheers on that part. Like many Dead tunes, there are many religious/biblical references: prophets, angels, fire wheel burning, call down thunder. One of Bob's best tunes. A fascinating guy, if you have not seen the documentary about him called The Other One, I highly recommend it.
Tempo changes ahead, watch the curves. Sounds appear unexpectedly with quirky appeal. This is an unusual piece, lots of patterns twisting and evolving. Wondrously bizarre. Like a crowded Indian market.
3) Concrete Boat - Jude McGee and the Soft Touch (Sydney, Australia)
Wow, two from Australia this week. Wow, excellent guitar, love the reverb. This is very glossy and high quality. The vocals are soft and sweet. Wah wah flows with the concrete boat. Nice tune. Various sparkly accoutrements. A dream.
Radiohead's video for House of Cards is the radio edit, which is roughly a minute shorter than the album version from In Rainbows. It doesn't make too much of a difference.
I love the atmosphere, it's minimal and it has space to work with, distance. This is night music. A single guitar groove starts things off and is soon joined by a deep rumbling, vibrating mass. Thom Yorke coos softly, like a dove. The music somehow reminds me of a modernized cross between The Beatles' Sun King and Hendrix's May This Be Love. It's in there, kind of vague and hazy. An aspect of Beethoven's 6th also haunts the vocal melody, part of the final movement. Jonny Greenwood adds the dreamy synth backdrops, he has the sensibilities of a film composer.
Oooh, have another hit...of fresh air, courtesy of quintessential Bay area band Quicksilver Messenger Service. I've loved this song since I first heard it. I think I can say the same thing about Spirit's Fresh Garbage. I was a freshman in high school doncha know.
It was written by one Jesse Oris Farrow, who sang it as Dino Valenti, whose real name was Chet Powers. Three of a kind. His vocals lunge at you from the back of a cold and empty hall, trapped in the glorious agony of some kind of fever. Dino was a freaky guy. According to music writer Richie Unterberger, Dino's "lyrics were trippy stream-of-consciousness one-sided conversations, seemingly directed toward a never-ending parade of beautiful but confused young hippie women."
The layers of reverb create a confusing atmosphere, where are we? John Cipollina plays slashing guitar under the foggy clouds of sound, joined by second guitarist, Gary Duncan, ducking and diving bongos, a groovy bass, and...da drums. The other instrument of note (!) is the piano, played by the legendary Nicky Hopkins, who adds a shimmering Liberace quality to the mysterious affair before heading down the boogie-woogie trail.
Only an equal could follow the Allman Brothers, and Faces certainly were. Although (I Know) I'm Losing You was released in the US on Rod's solo album and as Rod Stewart with Faces elsewhere, it's a 100% Faces tune so I'm giving credit where it's due. Faces it, Rod the Mod was just the singer.
The band is on fire, everyone kicking out the jams. Ron Wood plays a blistering guitar intro, an angry relentless chord with something stuck in its craw. Ian McLagan hammers away at the old piano, playing countless variations on the same chord and crafting little bluesy licks. Kenney Jones pounds the skins, and Ronnie Lane keeps that bottom rolling. Rod is excellent, of course, 1971 was his year of triumph, when he was on top of the mountain. As far as ensemble playing, Faces were right up there with the Stones, Allmans, Zeppelin, and The Who, all of whom released some of their best works that year.
My fantasy football team has me tied to the whipping post this season...the whipping goal post. To paraphrase:
There's no touchdown and he's injured. And I don't know why, I let that running back make me a fool. He can't run for yardage, wrecks my whole score. Now he's got his leg on ice in the dressing room He's fakin it when he says he's so sore...
This isn't a real story, my running backs just can't get it done. Plus I have Beckham Jr and Antonio Brown, who have been bland so far. But let's get back down to Georgia, I don't have any Atlanta players on my team so I think I'm safe.
I gotta stay with this football motif, what kind of team do you think the Allman Brothers would be? I imagine this lineup:
Gregg QB
Jaimoe FB
Betts RB
Duane WR
Oakley TE
Trucks WR
The Roadies* (on back of Fillmore East cover) offensive line and defense. They can handle both sides no problem as long as there's a few cases of PBR on the sideline.
*Red Dog at middle linebacker and center.
Whipping Post is sort of the Layla of the Allman Brothers Band. It's their cross to bear. Dreams is their Bell Bottom Blues. One Way Out is their Evil. Ah, I'm just goofing, going off on a tangent. Whipping Post rocks, no disrespect intended, it's part of loving music so much. See, that's part of the problem with the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. It's too freakin reverent. Rock n roll is a supremely moving art form, yes, but it's crazy and hilarious as well. I can only hope Mozart was as wild as Amadeus portrayed him.
Good Lord I feel like I'm dyin'...and Gregg hadn't even met Cher yet, I don't think. Maybe he was really a masochistic guy. Or else he was observing Sonny and Cher from afar and wrote it about Sonny? "I'll eventually share than pain with you, Bono," said Gregg...eventually. I have no idea.
Coffee and TV fumbles around for the first 0:13, then a cute lil tumbling drum fill kicks everyone awake and the song takes off in earnest. Blur. I posted a track from those slack-jawed hooligans in Oasis so it was only fair to include one from the fairer side.
The beat is straight down the road, unchanging, pure pop. It was written and sung by guitarist Graham Coxon, and although it's a decent melody, I am pretty much all about his frickin great guitar solo. During the outro, the vocals alternate with his guitar madness. Without his guitar, I probably don't care too much about the song.
Blur fan: (gasping) How dare you, sir! Constable! Constable!
OK, uh, sorry Blur fan. I remember when I first heard that early Blur track, "There's No Other Way". I thought it was pretty catchy. I guess.
Oasis had the bloody Gallagher brothers and a tough attitude, like a brawling 90s Sex Pistols thing. I was fascinated by them, their first album was awesome, plus they were in the press a lot, always acting up in public, getting in fights. Blur were maybe too British for me, I didn't understand their social commentaries and cultural references or something. Too coiffed. Posh? If Blur had some crazy brothers running things we wouldn't be talking right now, would we, guvnuh?
How would I describe the essential difference between Oasis and Blur? Well, it's like something my Dad told me about his sibling relationship vs. my Mom's. He said, 'my sister and I used to swing our arms at each other when we fought (Oasis), while your Mom and her brother would just chase each other around the table' (Blur).
As you know, the revolution pancakes blog is dominated by rock and pop and some of their tangential forms. But I love all genres of music, so I felt like including a couple of my favorite classical pieces (the other one is coming up later this month).
Clair de lune is the ethereal third movement from Claude Debussy's Suite bergamasque, a piano suite he composed around 1890, but that he revised heavily before its publication in 1905.
The atmosphere is filled with tenderness and wonder, light and loneliness. I imagine a setting with moonlight in a garden on a soft summer evening, the stars twinkling up above and the moon full and bright. Among all this beauty is a certain melancholy. There is only one person here, not two or a group, although someone may be watching from a short distance. It is a time of quiet contemplation, and the moon is the perfect companion.
This is not a piece I listen to randomly or very often. I dial it up every now and then at the right time.
All aboard for a trip to Sweden! Hurra! One of my grandmothers was from Sweden. The Muppets have the Swedish chef, with his creepy real hands (and I guess Swedes don't like the character, I've never been crazy about him either, he's no Roosevelt Franklin that's for sure). Sweden also reminds me of Bjorn Borg, ABBA, Pippi Longstocking, and the excellent film Mitt liv som hund (My Life As A Dog). And finally, let's not forget one of the coolest capital names, Stockholm, home of the fantastic psychedelic rock band, Dungen.
Dungen translates as "the grove", not dungeon, which is what I've always assumed. Dungeon in Swedish is fängelsehåla as in "kasta honom i fängelsehålan!" (throw him in the dungeon!).
Gjort bort sig ("Made a fool of himself"), is from Dungen's excellent third album, Ta det lugnt ("Take It Easy", låt inte ljudet av dina egna hjul göra dig galen). The song has a festive opening, like we are enjoying a merry romp through the forest. Check when he gets to the part around 0:58 and his voice becomes all reverbed, very much like Krzysztof Klenczon on Nie przejdziemy do historii. Cool fake out at the end, as the tune bounces off into a cosmic candyland with about 0:45 to go. There's even a second fade out with 0:17 to go. Otrolig!
The main dude in Dungen, the Dudegen, is Gustav Ejstes, the whole band is primarily him, unless he's touring and then he can't simultaneously play all the instruments himself on stage. I've seen Dungen a couple of times, the first time Gustav got pissed or was in the moment or it was an accident, and he tipped his keyboard over on stage. He seemed like a man possessed.
Disappearer plays tricks with my mind. It has me convinced that the main riff is identical to another piece of music that I may have heard once. I could be experiencing some sort of aural deja vu, but sometimes I really think it's out there. Maybe a 60s spy movie? A theme from an old TV police show or imaginary western?
It's a ghost story, perfect for this time of year. It begins like an engine idling, then the gas pedal is slammed to the floor and we drive off into a rainy October night, Thurston Moore singing
Here it comes again, out of the rain Seems to have a new kind of same
This guy is driving along in the rain and he keeps seeing signs pop up along the road and they blink and flash and he's possibly getting hung up on subliminal messages, seeing faces in them and tripping on it:
It turns to me and it turns to gold It turns to see a fast lane slow
At 2:20 we are off on a guitar solo that intensifies over time as the car careens around hillsides of dense lurching trees and shadowy figures.
By the end of the song, the message...
...comes alive, through and clearer Ghost arise to a mirror
Whoa, I need a scooby snack if we're talking about g-g-g-ghosts. Jeepers! Now let's see who our ghosts really are...Sonic Youth? Yeah, we would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for our electric guitars getting tuned all weird and stuff.
Bell Bottom Blues is, arguably, the second best known song from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. I have to say a few words about the title track before proceeding. Yes, it's a great song, but I get tired of that endless second half of piano and slide guitar. It's like McCartney's Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey - I enjoy the first part, but the second part gets annoying ("Admiral Halsey notified me, la la la la blah couldn't get to sleep."). I had a friend growing up who always missed the first part of Layla if it was on the radio, heck even when we saw Clapton in concert he went to pee and got back to our area during the second part of Layla. I started calling the song Layla/Jeff's Tune in my friend's honor.
Bell Bottom Blues is my favorite song from the album (but not my favorite Derek and the Dominos tune). Eric Clapton sings it with such pain and longing (for George Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, like pretty much every song on the album, right?), I really feel for him:
I don't want to fade away. Give me one more day, please. I don't want to fade away. In your heart I want to stay.
The music is great, of course. Duane Allman does not play on it, having joined up with the recording sessions after it was completed. I really dig Carl Radle's bass throughout, mostly his melody during the fade away section. Clapton plays a really sweet solo that starts at 2:18.
If you've never listened to Mobb Deep's The Infamous, I recommend you try it. It's a trip into a scene from The Wire, which is as close as I've ever been to that reality. I grew up far removed from the subject matter. I saw Cabrini Green up close once and it was depressing and scary. My family occasionally drove by the Robert Taylor Homes on the highway. I can only imagine the daily violence, poverty, and desperation that exist in housing projects. The two members of Mobb Deep, Prodigy and Havoc, grew up in LeFrak and Queensbridge respectively, and they witnessed this life firsthand.
The Infamous is a frightening and haunting experience. There is nothing positive, no redemption, just endless struggle and fear. Cradle to the Grave has gritty beats, scratchy and unsettling sampled loops, and life or death lyrics. It's a story about police and guns and always running.
If you're interested in reading more about the album, this is a good track by track analysis from Prodigy and Havoc.
Here's some trivia for you. Butthole Surfers lead singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary both attended Trinity University in Texas at the same time as Bob West, the voice of TV's Barney the purple dinosaur. I love you, you love me, let's get together and be crazy.
The name of a song alone is not enough to be included on the blog, I have standards after all. I Saw an X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas is an amazing title, but it's also a great tune. The lyrics...hmmm:
Ten foot tall and the nurse stuck a needle in my arm Well Uncle Doc's nurse use a needle with ungodly charm Walkin' down the hall the dentist LOOMED through the door I Saw an X-Ray of a girl passing gas
How would this guy see such an x-ray? And is he ten feet tall or is the nurse? Let's not go there.
It's pretty much straightforward rock. Heavy opening drums, then guitars. There are a bunch of moaning background voices, what sort of medical building is this? A distorted guitar arrives at 1:53, as Gibby seems to hallucinate about something that happened either just the other day or one hundred years before. This is pretty much how the rest of the song progresses, as one long guitar solo with a sound I think I probably had on my Zoom effects processor. The vocals become a series of moans and growls, as Gibby surfs away on a butthole.
Furry Lewis was a well-known bluesman whose career was resurrected during the 60s. This is a great slide guitar tune, about a man appearing before the judge, and telling his story. Reminds me a bit of the Stones' Prodigal Son.
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