Tonight is the fourth season of NBC's The Voice, at 8 pm with new coaches Shakira and Usher (replacing Christina and Cee-lo).
I'm excited for how this will go (though I hope I'm not as disappointed as I was with Idol's hyped up team of Mariah Carey, Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj - great entertainers but the show itself not so entertaining)!
To be honest, the past few seasons of The Voice haven't been that great either. Well. Maybe they've been okay, but they just didn't capture me in the way that the first one did. Something about the potrayal of contestants or selection of music not being as compelling when it first started with its small summer run. (There has been SO much unecessary filler after that.) I think it'll be really interesting to see what sort of coaching and attitude the new coaches will provide, given that they're such experienced performers themselves.
Also, with Pascha weekend coming up, here is a free download of Hillsong's Easter single, "Man of Sorrows" (title from the Isaiah 53 passage). The song is co-written by Matt Crocker and Brooke Ligertwood, nee Fraser. The link above also contains very thoughtful links to lyrics, sheet music and translations.
Look out for Eastery things this week! This may very well be my favorite holiday, as I love the idea and smells of spring coupled with the promise of new life, and little things like the egg hunts (the unadulterated fun and play of looking for things!), even if we don't really get seasons in the L.A. area... Must've read The Secret Garden too many times as a child.
Yesterday was the last day of South by Southwest a.k.a. SXSW, Austin's annual music festival that has now expanded into a multimedia extravaganza.
A lot of people have gotten great exposure and big breaks from performing at the festival, including Franz Ferdinand and John Mayer. (Actual success rates are debatable though, understandable when any event gets this big.)
If you want to know how far the South by Southwest Music Festival has
strayed from its anti-corporate, indie rock roots, you need only
consider this: One of the most popular shows on the final night of the
festival was Justin Timberlake, playing a concert sponsored by Chevrolet
to promote the newly revamped Myspace Web site.
Not that I madly despise all things corporate, but there is something sad and lost when the little things go big. Also, I am on the new Myspace, which I plan to share about in a future post.]
Thanks to a heads-up from FB, I learned that NPR has up for download The Mix, a hefty playlist of music from SXSW acts available until April 4:
It says a lot about SXSW's size and scope that this "sampler" of the
annual music festival spans six and a half hours, but here we are: 100
songs by 100 artists worth discovering at this year's big event.
Handpicked
from among thousands of artists, this genre-traversing playlist picks
highlights, discoveries and future thrills from this year's festival —
and, for the next 30 days, it's available for free download in its
entirety, as one 813 MB zip file, right here. Of course, for those
without that much hard-drive space, you can download each song
individually, as well as stream The Austin 100 on this page and through
NPR Music's various mobile devices.
I downloaded mine in a chunk with the zip file already, though I have yet to listen to it. Will share in the near future if I find any new favorites!
As a tide-over from this past weekend, here are three songs I like from modern Irish bands, two big names and one less well-known one that has a catchy, nostalgic sound:
The big one - U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," probably my favorite song by the band. "With or Without You" is also really lovely, but there's something about this song that has a different tinge to it. Something about putting to words a feeling that often seems so elusive.
"No Words" by The Script. This is from their latest album, #3, released last year, which also included the single "Hall of Fame" which you may have heard on the radio a few times. Lyrically, "No Words" isn't anything totally new, but it has an interesting sound and is my favorite off the third album. The Dublin trio first got big in the U.S. with the song "Breakeven," which imho is their best song to date.
Last video is another trio, this cute set called the Original Rudeboys. They do acoustic hip-hop and still mostly get local buzz and airplay, though there are some articles online about how they turned down an opening spot for Chris Brown. This is a live vid from the song "Stars in My Eyes" that they first uploaded on YouTube and which started the band:
Aren't they fun? Their sound is fresh for the current moment, though it also reminds me of melodic hip-hop/pop medleys from the 90s. I lahv the 90s, but man it's weird that it's the new decade to make a comeback.
Have you ever looked at Rolling Stones' "Greatest" lists? I was recently looking at their ultimate artists list, which started as 50 and was updated to 100, and I thought, Man, having to rank these must have been a pain.
Of course you can't really rank these sort of things fairly, and the source is a little biased anyway, but I like to use it for leads on expanding my musical vocabulary. I didn't grow up with a lot of classic pop names, so I use these things as a sort of reader.
In 2004 — 50 years after Elvis Presley walked into Sun Studios and cut "That's All Right" — Rolling Stone celebrated rock & roll's first half-century in grand style, assembling a panel of 55 top musicians, writers and industry executives (everyone from Keith Richards to ?uestlove of the Roots) and asking them to pick the most influential artists of the rock & roll era. The resulting list of 100 artists, published in two issues of Rolling Stone in 2004 and 2005, and updated in 2011, is a broad survey of rock history, spanning Sixties heroes (the Beatles) and modern insurgents (Eminem), and touching on early pioneers (Chuck Berry) and the bluesmen who made it all possible (Howlin' Wolf).
The essays on these top 100 artists are by their peers: singers, producers and musicians. In these fan testimonials, indie rockers pay tribute to world-beating rappers (Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig on Jay-Z), young pop stars honor stylistic godmothers (Britney Spears on Madonna) and Billy Joel admits that Elton John "kicks my ass on piano." Rock & roll is now a music with a rich past. But at its best, it is still the sound of forward motion. As you read this book, remember: This is what we have to live up to.
Rate Your Music has the complete list, from 100 to 1, all in one page and in one scrollable view, making for a much easier time to see who landed where.
Also, Rolling Stone, just on the 5th of this month, created an updated section titled The New Immortals. It's a list of 14 younger modern artists whom they believe have the skills or splash to take on the mantle and last as names to be remembered in future decades.
Not sure I agree with everything, but it was fun looking up some bands in that list as well.
Plus reading all the arguments going on in the comments is always entertaining too. XD;;
My friend sent me this video of this twelve-year-old singing Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man":
Good job and lovely voice, no?
Totally reminded me of Justin Bieber's little youtube journey, which also reminded me of the trajectory of the young male voice.
I've heard it pointed out that boys' singing voices have a certain quality to them that makes for a beautiful tone. I think it's the combination of having a naturally lower timber with the high pure tone of being a small kid, while also possessing the flexibility and range that pre-puberty allows.
Thus the angelic sounds and magic of all-boys choirs - gotta catch it while you can!
For most boys, that really pretty, youthful tone completely changes and disappears with age. For those who try to keep it, it often ends up sounding a little whiny, tinny and nasal. A few examples that come to mind are Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson. MJ didn't come out so tinny, but definitely a totally different tone from the richness you hear as part of the Jackson 5, no?
And for all those who know whom I'm talking about, anyone know whatever happened to Billy Gilman?
Yep. So a pretty common phenomenon. I think Bieber is in the midst of finding out which side of the tracks his voice will lie (though for now, from what I've heard, I'm not too expectant... :X).
The other side of my theory supposes on the adult male voices that do stand out. I think the ones that are able to keep that rich yet youthful tone, for that reason of rarity and aesthetic, stand out and find immense succes, a la Bruno Mars. Maybe Sean Kingston a little bit too.
Can you think of any others, or any thoughts to add?
NKOTB and 98 Degrees also announce plans for new music.
By Jocelyn Vena (@jocelyn1212)
The New Kids on the Block
are ready to blow your minds again. The guys will hit the road this
summer, and they are bringing along some friends. They have recruited Boyz II Men and the recently reunited 98 Degrees to join them on the trek billed as the Package Tour.
The
tour kicks off on May 31 in Uncasville, Connecticut, and will then
travel around the country with stops in Las Vegas, Los Angeles,
Nashville and more. The tour wraps up on July 13 in Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
"Ladies, we're coming for you," NKOTB's Donnie Wahlberg said in a
statement. "This is going to be the craziest year yet — the single, the
album, the tour with 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men ... We can't wait to
give fans 'The Package!' "
But Donnie isn't the only boy-bander
ready for the tour. 98 Degrees are also up for the challenge as they
prepare for the opening slot on the tour. They reunited last year,
playing the NKOTB-headlined Mixtape Festival last summer.
"We are really excited to get back on the road together and tour with
our friends in NKOTB and Boyz II Men," Nick Lachey said. "Looking
forward to playing our hits and trying out some of our new tracks too."
"We
couldn't be more excited to join New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees
on 'The Package Tour,' " BIIM member Shawn Stockman said. "This summer
is going to be fun and fans will not want to miss it."
The guys —
including all the members of NKOTB, 98 Degrees and BIIM — appeared on
"The View" on Tuesday (January 22) to formally announce the trek. "We're
going to be headlining a tour alone. Our fans have been waiting for us
to be onstage as just the five of us," Donnie said of going at it
without the guys of the Backstreet Boys this time around, before the
room went crazy for the news that all the guys would be hitting the road
together.
This isn't the first time NKOTB have combined boy-band forces. They toured with the Backstreet Boys
in 2011 under the moniker NKOTBSB. The groups not only performed parts
of the hit-packed set solo but also as a ninesome. Jordan Knight said,
"These guys are classic. To have two great groups from the '90s come on
tour with us ... we're getting a lot of people involved to come to the
show."
"We've been so inspired in our career by both of these
groups," Lachey added about the opportunity to tour with the two boy
bands. The group also confirmed they are working on new music.
Declaring themselves the "Dirty Dozen," BIIM confirmed they will be up first during the tour, followed by 98 and then NKOTB.
But wait, there's more. The guys in NKOTB have new music on the way. They will drop their next album, 10, on April 2. Its first single, "Remix (I Like The)," will hit the streets on January 28.
The North American Package Tour dates are as follows:
» 5/31 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena » 6/1 - Uniondale, NY @ Nassau Coliseum » 6/2 - Boston, MA @ TD Garden » 6/4 - Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Place » 6/6 - Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre » 6/7 - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre » 6/8 - Auburn Hills, MI @ The Palace of Auburn Hills » 6/9 - Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena » 6/11 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Consol Energy Center » 6/13 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center » 6/14 - Washington, DC @ Verizon Center » 6/15 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center » 6/18 - Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena » 6/19 - Charlotte, NC @ Time Warner Cable Arena » 6/20 - Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena » 6/21 - Orlando, FL @ Amway Center » 6/22 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ BB&T Center » 6/25 - Cincinnati, OH @ US Bank Arena » 6/27 - Houston, TX @ Toyota Center » 6/28 - Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center » 6/29 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Chesapeake Energy Arena » 6/30 - St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center » 7/5 - Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center Arena » 7/6 - Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Events Center » 7/7 - San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion » 7/9 - Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome » 7/12 - Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena » 7/13 - Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
Article via Mtv.com.
I love this whole tale. Not the bad bits, but the soft amazing parts shining through. If all else fails, maybe I'll make it my goal in life to write and interview for NPR.
Click through to listen to the audio interview/article and learn more on the evolution of the song, "Strange Fruit."
Abel Meeropol watches as his sons, Robert and Michael, play with a train set. (Courtesy of Robert and Michael Meeropol)
One of Billie Holiday's most iconic songs is "Strange Fruit," a
haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism. Many people know that
the man who wrote the song was inspired by a photograph of a lynching. But they might not realize that he's also tied to another watershed moment in America's history.
The
man behind "Strange Fruit" is New York City's Abel Meeropol, and he
really has two stories. They both begin at Dewitt Clinton High School, a
public high school in the Bronx that has an astonishing number of
famous people in its alumni. James Baldwin went there. So did Countee
Cullen, Richard Rodgers, Burt Lancaster, Stan Lee, Neil Simon, Richard
Avedon and Ralph Lauren.
Meeropol graduated from Dewitt Clinton
in 1921; he went on to teach English there for 17 years. He was also a
poet and a social activist, says Gerard Pelisson, who wrote a book about the school.
In the late 1930s, Pellison says, Meeropol "was very disturbed at the
continuation of racism in America, and seeing a photograph of a
lynching sort of put him over the edge."
Meeropol once said the
photograph "haunted" him "for days." So he wrote a poem about it, which
was then printed in a teachers union publication. An amateur composer,
Meeropol also set his words to music. He played it for a New York club
owner — who ultimately gave it to Billie Holiday.
When Holiday
decided to sing "Strange Fruit," the song reached millions of people.
While the lyrics never mention lynching, the metaphor is painfully
clear:
Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant South, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh, And the sudden smell of burning flesh! Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop, Here is a strange and bitter crop.
In 1999, Time magazine named "Strange Fruit" the "song of
the century." The Library of Congress put it in the National Recording
Registry. It's been recorded dozens of times. Herbie Hancock and Marcus Miller did an instrumental version, with Miller evoking the poem on his mournful bass clarinet.
Miller
says he was surprised to learn the song was written by a white Jewish
guy from the Bronx. "Strange Fruit," he says, took extraordinary courage
both for Meeropol to write and for Holiday to sing.
"The '60s hadn't happened yet," he says. "Things like that weren't talked about. They certainly weren't sung about."
New York lawmakers didn't like "Strange Fruit." In 1940, Meeropol was
called to testify before a committee investigating communism in public
schools. They wanted to know whether the American Communist Party had
paid him to write the song. They had not — but, like many New York
teachers in his day, Meeropol was a Communist.
Journalist David Margolick, who wrote Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song,
says, "There are a million reasons to disparage communism now. But
American Communism, one point it had in its favor was that it was
concerned about civil rights very early."
Meeropol left his teaching job at Dewitt Clinton in 1945. He eventually quit the Communist Party.
And
that's where the second part of Meeropol's story begins. The link is
the pseudonym he used when writing poetry and music: Lewis Allan.
"Abel
Meeropol's pen name 'Lewis Allan' were the names of their children who
were stillborn, who never lived," says his son, Robert Meeropol. He and
his older brother, Michael, were raised by Abel and his wife, Anne
Meeropol, after the boys' parents — Ethel and Julius Rosenberg — were executed for espionage in 1953.
Julius
and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for conspiring to give
atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs had also been
Communists.
The couple's trial and execution made national headlines, and there
was also something of a salacious element, given that the Rosenbergs
were a married couple. News accounts described it as "the first husband
and wife to die in the electric chair."
At the time, the
Rosenberg sons, Robert and Michael, were 6 and 10, respectively. News
photographs of the boys show them dressed in suits visiting their
parents in prison.
"They're these little boys and they're
wearing these caps, and they look so young and so vulnerable. It's
really a very poignant image," says Margolick.
Robert Meeropol
says that in the months following his parents' execution, it was unclear
who would take care of him and his brother. It was the height of
McCarthyism. Even family members were fearful of being in any way
associated with the Rosenbergs or Communism.
Then, at a
Christmas party at the home of W.E.B. Du Bois, the boys were introduced
to Abel and Anne Meeropol. A few weeks later, they were living with
them.
"One of the most remarkable things was how quickly we
adapted," Robert says. "First of all, Abel, what I remember about him as
a 6-year-old was that he was a real jokester. He liked to tell silly
jokes and play word games, and he would put on these comedy shows that
would leave me rolling."
There is something else about Abel
Meeropol that seems to connect the man who wrote "Strange Fruit" to the
man who created a loving family out of a national scandal. "He was
incredibly softhearted," Robert says.
For example, there was an old Japanese maple tree in their backyard, which sent out many new seedlings every year.
"I
was the official lawnmower," Robert says, "and I was going to mow over
them, and he said, 'Oh, no, you can't kill the seedlings!' I said, 'What
are you going to do with them, Dad? There are dozens of them.'
"Well,
he dug them up and put them in coffee cans and lined them up along the
side of the house. And there were hundreds of them. But he couldn't
bring himself to just kill them. It was just something he couldn't do."
Abel
Meeropol died in 1986. His sons, Robert and Michael, both became
college professors. They're also both involved in social issues. Robert
founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children. And he says that even after all these years, he still finds himself unable to kill things in his own garden.
Happy Friday and Happy MLK Weekend! Happy to share this interesting-lovely song and music video by Canadian group, Walk Off the Earth. Appreciate their harmonious musicality and the balance they play in contrast.
Shoutout of thanks to Nicole over at Big English for doing her rec'd song at the bottom of every post, which is what led me to the band's Youtube channel and this song! Here is "Red Hands" (title reminds me of Lady Macbeth):
Emeli Sandé, born Adele Emeli Sandé, is a London-based Scottish singer and songwriter. I just heard about her from watching some clips on the upcoming 2013 BRITS Awards. Sandé was nominated for three categories, those of Best British Female, Best British Album and two nods in Best British Song.
Her voice and tone often remind me very much of a more clear-toned Leona Lewis, clearer and more classic R&B. In "Clown," Sandé sounds like a sweeter, higher-toned Mary J, and in "Daddy" her voice reminds me of a less-nasal Rihanna. To be honest, the color of Sandé's voice isn't very distinctive, but it is extremely supple and definitely has power and range. She's a solid performer, which you can see in her live videos. As a songwriter, she's also skilled in crafting a sound. I like that every song has a bit of a dark tinge to it, sonically speaking, even though the lyric material may be hopeful or sweet. Not in a depressing way but in a more atmospheric, Batman-movie sort of way.
On first listen, my favorite songs from her 2012 album Our Version of Events are "Where I Sleep," "Next to Me" and "River." A little more bare bone, "Suitcase" and "Breaking the Law" have a nice acoustic sound.
For the weekend, I wanted to share some fun and frivolous music :D
This article is a little old, back from March 2011, but is still applicable enough. I stumbled across it and enjoyed the truth within the humor. It is kind of a funny phenomenon when people go "unplugged" and try to take facetious lyrics onto a new, respectable plane, even if the main factor is fun. My favorite was #5, which as Hilo noted did start off rather charming and then got totally giggle-worthy toward the bridge. Take it to the bridge!
Watching Katy Perry's cover
of Lady Gaga's "Born this Way" reminded us: In college, roughly 68% of
undergraduates (a figure we made up for purposes of sounding researched)
take up the acoustic guitar. Think of it as a rite of passage marred by
awful covers of Neil Young and the inevitable Blackbird tab.
The world of rock today is no different from those lazy nights on a
beer-drenched sofa. Artists still preen and peacock their talents
through the acoustic guitar, as if it alone signifies musicianship.
Flash-produced, fast tunes don't stand a chance to a beige Gibson and a
Dylan cover stored safely in the back pocket.
While performance has allowed unplugged the opportunity of
incorporating piano and percussion-lite, we still manage a groan when
artists demand that we somehow take these songs seriously. We groan even
more when we find ourselves falling down the rabbit hole.
So, here are they are, the Top 10 Gratuitous Acoustic Pop Covers:
10. Avril Lavigne- "Tik Tok"
Artists often use acoustic arrangements to highlight the lyrical content
of a song in need of praise and attention. This cover is a sober take
on a so-drunk-you-lose-track-of-your-knickers party anthem. It, like its
original, praises the puke-and-rally.
9. Alanis Morissette- "My Humps"
To it and its artist's credit, the "My Humps" cover was intended as a
joke. The song serves as a medium for our beloved alt-rock royalty to
make a triumphant, viral return to cultural consciousness.
Unfortunately, it serves to illustrate that Alanis Morissette, once
gifted and real, needs to use gimmicks to get our attention.
8. 30 Seconds to Mars- "Message in a Bottle"
The internet has truly failed the younger generation if 30 Seconds to
Mars thought this song deserved more attention. Was "Canary in a Coal
Mine" a close second?
7. José Feliciano- "Light My Fire"
The heat of the original, which came in part from its drug-addled
vocalist, is doused in this Latin-inspired arrangement. In its heyday,
the song profiteered from the popularity of its predecessor, topping the
charts; which means some of you probably have it in a dusty collection
of 45's you've been meaning to sort through. Joke's on you.
6. Johnny Cash- "Hurt"
Cash was the arbiter of cool. His decision to cover a song by Nine Inch
Nails sent ripples of prestige, the effects of which we're still seeing
today (Academy-award winner for Best Score, pfff). That said, Cash
didn't need to sing a song about drug use or its deleterious effects for
us to take notice.
5. Obadiah Parker- "Hey Ya"
The stripped, earnest cover provided by Obadiah Parker endears you to
the song until you're jolted from sublimity with the phrase, "Shake it
like a Polaroid picture." Without reconciling this artistic gap, there's
really no reason to cover the song except to make it acceptable in
certain households (you know, the way Elvis was acceptable in certain
households). With honesty out the door, egg on your face, and a
gratuitous Scrubs nod to boot, well: "You know what to do."
4. Iron & Wine- "Such Great Heights"
This cover eliminates the issues presented by the original's lead vocals
(which come uncomfortably close to those of a tone-deaf,
rhythm-deficient fourth grader). Unfortunately, the song trades indie
for hipster--making it a perfect song with which to swoon your high
school girlfriend or laze around wishing you had one, but as far as
we're concerned: 6 of 1.
3. Travis- "Hit Me Baby One More Time"
This song did wonders for Britney Spears' lyricist, but at what cost?
2. Dynamite Hack- "Boyz In The Hood"
There are some covers so emblematic that they stand apart from their
predecessors in style--forging new ground off their own merit. This song
manages to both honor and mock its Eazy E counterpart, spurning the
typical dialogue about art and racial politics. Intentions aside, the
cover still captures the essence of misogyny and latent violence that
made the song so very special.
And the number one most gratuitous acoustic pop cover?
:O:O:O ---- Thought it would be more fun if I left a little anticipation for you! Click through to answer the question preluding the list's number one.
Yay, new music (well - or old, depending on how you look at it - new to me!) for listening ears!
I've only listened to a couple of these on the list, Mayer's Born and Raised and Barnes' Stories to Tell, so I'm looking forward to exploring some new sounds and tunes, especially as I tackle more job applications. And as a horrid little pile of tissues continues to grow next to me - beware, all, of the season's rife common cold!
I'm also in the process of listening to Dylan's Tempest, Springsteen's Wrecking Ball and Gary Clark Jr.'s Blak and Blu, three albums which I read about in Rolling Stone's 2012 Rock & Roll Yearbook while waiting at the airport. Interesting to see how different the proportion of male artists versus female artists is in these different lists...
Anyway, I'd love to hear about anyone else's happy discoveries of 2012! Also, you can listen to a lot of the albums listed below on the Performing Songwriter website, so click through for the full article.
Performing Songwriter’s Best of 2012
—By Lydia Hutchinson
My takeaway from the music of 2012? Indies rule. In a major way.
Great
music and original sounds are what happen when the confines of the
corporate world fall away, and last year was a shining example of that.
From artists who have lived their creative lives in the independent
realm, to major label artists crossing over to taste the freedom
themselves.
What follows are my personal favorites of the past
year—the majority of which are independent releases—that I loved as much
on the first listen as I still do after constant rotations in my car,
kitchen and living room. Enjoy—and let me know which ones were your favorites of 2012!
1. Bonnie Raitt: Slipstream
In a career filled with outstanding albums,
Slipstream may be Bonnie Raitt’s greatest
one yet. As always, she has unearthed song gems, polished them with a voice that
gets warmer and more moving with time, and delivers each one with the best
musicianship and production on the planet. This also marks Bonnie’s first album
on her own label, and it should be a case study in how to do it right: put
together a winning team, connect with fans, honor the music, and spread
gratitude, goodwill and integrity every step of the way. Bonnie Raitt’s Concert Review in Performing Songwriter
2. Gretchen Peters: Hello Cruel
World
Gretchen Peters is one of the finest songwriters of any
genre, and that fact is on full display on Hello Cruel World. There’s not
a wasted word or missed note, and the visuals she paints lyrically and
melodically are astounding. With hits for artists like Trisha Yearwood (“On A
Bus To St. Cloud”) and Martina McBride (“Independence Day”) to her credit, it’s
in her own voice where you’ll find the true, beating heart of her songs. Gretchen Peters’ Feature in Performing Songwriter
3. Mary Chapin Carpenter: Ashes and
Roses
This is Mary Chapin’s best album. Ever. It’s spare,
honest, absolutely moving, and showcases her brilliance in a soft, smoky
spotlight. The collection chronicles grief and loss, and leads us to healing and
renewal. She’s the perfect guide for such a personal journey, even bringing James
Taylor along for part of the ride. Don’t miss this one … it’s
perfection. Mary Chapin Carpenter’s Feature in Performing Songwriter
4. Sylvie Lewis: It’s All True
This was the understated surprise of the year, and one
of my favorite releases of all time. It’s quirky and smart and such a delight to
listen to. Produced by Richard Swift (The Shins), It’s All
True features the sultry songstress alongside renowned writing partners and
special guests such as Gary Go, Sondre
Lerche, Don Henry, and Pasquale Catalano. Sylvie Lewis’ Performing Songwriter Feature
5. Dave Barnes: Stories to Tell
Grammy-nominated Dave Barnes, who penned the Blake
Shelton hit “God Gave Me You,” is one of Nashville’s favorite songwriters and
artists. He took Stories to Tell to L.A. to record, which also took him
out of his comfort zone and gave us some of his most personal work to date. A
great writer, musician and vocalist, Dave is a bona fide triple threat. But go
on and make it a quadruple: He’s also a great guy. Dave Barnes’ Performing Songwriter Feature
6. Radney Foster: Unplugged and
Lonesome
Radney Foster takes us back 20 years and reinvents one
of the best country records ever made: Del Rio Texas, 1959 … this time
live and unplugged. A hit songwriter who can craft a perfect tune with a
memorable chorus like nobody’s business, he also delivers with mastery. I don’t
think I’ll ever get tired of singing along to this CD. Radney Foster’s Performing Songwriter Feature
7. John Mayer: Born and Raised
I’ve been a fan of John
Mayer’s music since his first release, Room for Squares. After forays
into other styles with subsequent albums, Born and Raised feels like he
came full circle and picked up where Squares left off. The album didn’t
get as much coverage as it should have since Mayer had to cancel his tour and
have throat surgery after the release. Meanwhile, it’s been great to have this
disc to spin. On an endless loop, I might add.
8. Jessie Baylin: Little Spark
If you love modern pop, the classic sound of ’60s Brill
Building, and the poetic sensibilities of ’70s Laurel Canyon, then Jessie
Baylin’s “Little Spark” will make your heart sing. From soulful orchestrations
to quirky juke-joint sounds, it’s a treat from beginning to end. Jessie Baylin’s Performing Songwriter Feature
9. Shawn Colvin: All Fall Down
Any CD Shawn
Colvin records will automatically be a favorite of mine. And last year’s
All Fall Down—released at the same time as her memoir Diamond in the
Rough—is no exception. She brought this, her eighth studio album, to
Nashville and enlisted the great Buddy
Miller to produce it. Always personal and poetic, Shawn sounds as great as
ever. Shawn Colvin’s Performing Songwriter Feature
10. Ruthie Foster: Let It Burn
A sonic gumbo of sounds from The Big Easy’s most
respected musicians infuse this soulful and sizzling recording by Ruthie Foster,
garnering it a 2013 Grammy nod for Best Blues Album. With guests like The Blind
Boys of Alabama and soul icon William Bell, Ruthie’s already powerful voice is
sent soaring. Ruthie Foster: Performing Songwriter Feature
Can't believe it's already mid-December! The passage of time always has my mini subconscious freaking out.
Anyway, you've probably heard this U2 song before, BUUUT... have you heard this very cool version featuring Mary J. Blige?! It was after hearing this duet rendition that I started liking the song. Testament to the powerful pipes of Mary J!
This might just be a week full of songs #oftheday ;)
Another song I came across from a past gym class! "Your Song," as covered by... some unknown. It's a beautiful, mellow piano arrangement, so I asked the gym instructor!, and she said it was by The Chosen. I looked it up, and it only seems to show up as some song in the gym company's music bank. A little further digging revealed that it maybe a cover of an Ellie Goulding cover though - I guess it's cheaper to find someone else to cover it, regardless of it not being an original version. Enjoy!
So my gym membership ends today *:(* I previously bought a three-month Groupon that has been serving me quite well. Perhaps the best thing about my little gym stint, even better than the newfound (newformed?) muscles, is the newfound music! For the record, Gold's Gym plays pretty nice tunes. I've often heard new songs from group classes and overhead that I go look up at home later.
One track is "Countdown" by Beyonce, from her album 4. It was one of the songs for a dance class and is a superfun, catchy tune, with an interesting use of the line "killing me softly" and an impressive mesh of lots of styles and elements:
The band I've recently been crushing on, The Script, (I just really like their goofy, down-to-earth attitude, I think they're adorable!) recently released an album a couple of months ago. Titled #3, the album has ten tracks of pop-rap-rock sounds, and this is my favorite song from the album. Though I still think "Breakeven" is the best song they've done, "No Words" is really catchy and the contrast is quite interesting. While the sentiment is sweet and nothing new, sonically, it's a little dark and almost haunting, retaining a modern edginess:
Has everyone else heard this song? I'm pretty sure they're blasting it on the radio stations now.
I first heard this song this past weekend and my reaction was: O_O. That's a statement. Don't wish to delve into all the Chris Brown and Rihanna commentary myself, so I'll just say that I did very much like the nod to Michael with "The Way You Make Me Feel" utilization and reference.
I'm over the moon about this, you guys. I seriously think it needs to happen.
I get email alerts from the Grammy Museum, and today I saw one on an initiative called Give Fans the Credit. It's for:
Real
music fans want to know who wrote, produced, and played on their
favorite tracks. Making credits available so that fans can find out what
other songs a songwriter wrote or a producer produced will lead to more
music discovery. The Recording Academy®, the organization internationally known for the GRAMMY®
Awards, has launched "Give Fans The Credit" - a new campaign that helps
enhance fans' discovery of new music by working to ensure all music
creators are credited for their work on digitally released recordings.
Honorary Ambassadors for this campaign include: 12-time GRAMMY-winning
producer T Bone Burnett; GRAMMY-winning songwriter Lamont Dozier;
singer/songwriter/percussionist Sheila E; singer/songwriter Skylar Grey;
five-time GRAMMY-winning producer/songwriter Jimmy Jam;
two-time GRAMMY-winning producer/songwriter RedOne; GRAMMY-winning
singer/songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, and
three-time GRAMMY-winning producer Don Was.
An online petition for fans to sign along with further information is available at www.givefansthecredit.com. Get involved and help us convince digital music services to let fans know who made the music they enjoy!
Honestly, this accreditation is so long overdue. On my music blog, I got slammed once for putting up the wrong co-songwriter credit on a Jason Mraz, which I had pulled from Wikipedia (I had searched multiple sites and Wiki seemed the best out of the ones I found). And it was so bogus because Wiki then started using my blog post as a citation source! The internet is just a whirlpool of very potentially bogus information, especially when it comes to truth and origins of data, so trustworthy sources and authorities in different fields really need to be available.
Back to my blog story, I only found out who the proper songwriters were from a tip someone left in the comments - music performing rights royalty organizations like ASCAP, BMI and SESAC have a search portion of their site where you can verify who actually worked on a song, but it's a big hassle (and in some cases, there's still a disclaimer regarding accuracy of information!). Because each person involved may be under a different music organization, you may end up having to search all three sites using different terms to find what you want. And think of what search errors you can find if you're looking for a song with a very common title, or that has been remade by the same artist!
This kind of information should be available, for matters of verification as well as for the benefit of fans. I can't think of a person in music who wouldn't want their name to be credited in their work, and it doesn't sound at all difficult for digital music services to add on. I'm sure all the documentation exists already, so a lot of it would just be some sort of copy/paste algorithm to have the information automatically attached to songs.
One of the primary plusses of the internet and digital services is that they're supposed to make things easy and convenient for users. This sort of feature would really add to that aspect, and I see it as incredibly beneficial to anyone involved and/or interested in music: A dance fan who loves the production on a catchy track can search by production team and find more songs in the same vein. You're a songwriter and you think a song is dope; now you can find the names of whom you would potentially want to work with. A young listener, inspired by a certain sound, finds out who's playing guitar on a track and can easily locate other songs the guitarist has played on.
If you're into this, please please please get involved and sign online - it's so easy, all you enter is your name and a valid e-mail address.
9-girl group Girls' Generation, photo by Matthew Niederhauser.
My friend sent me a lengthy feature article from The New Yorker on K-pop entitled "Factory Girls," by John Seabrook. It has taken me a while to read the whole thing, mostly because the first half was a lot of background on things I already knew. For those with an existing knowledge of K-pop, skip ahead to page four or five to get to the good stuff. That's when he starts talking more about the current attitudes toward K-pop and what's going on in intersection between the Western and Asian music industry.
I've pulled some quotes from the article that I found of interest and wanted to share. Click on the link above to access the full article. Some of the quotes, which are given below in italics and include page references in parentheses, are followed by my own thoughts and comments in normal type:
"Hallyu, far from seeming like a benign export from a
nonthreatening country, is now commonly described as an 'invasion,' as
though it were a sort of mental Asian carp that is clogging up the minds
of the young." (3)
Nice insertion on the imperialistic
nature, perceived or actual, of the Korean wave. Someone I once knew
referred to it as "colonialism." Do not appreciate the "Asian carp"
metaphor though, especially as a fish does not really hold up as
something that clogs minds - kind of reaching there, aren't we?
"Lee and his colleagues produced a manual of cultural technology—it’s
known around S.M. as C.T.—that catalogued the steps necessary to
popularize K-pop artists in different Asian countries." (5)
Interesting paragraph on page 5 here. I didn't know about this! Reminds me of Facebook's extensive manual on acceptable and unacceptable behavior on their social media site, as well as what sort of actions monitors are supposed to take.
"The rapper and producer Swizz Beatz has spoken of wanting to pair Chris Brown with Y.G.’s BIGBANG,
a five-member boy group, and Nicki Minaj with the agency’s other big
success, 2NE1, a fashion-forward four-member girl group. 'Bridging the
gaps with collaborations can be the start of a global phenomenon,' he
told the music magazine The Fader." (5)
This is interesting! I know collabs have happened and they are a possible future avenue, though I'm not sure how much they'll really be able to be normalized in the near future. I see this happening, if it does, more in my granny years. But I want to look up and read this article and see what Swizz Beatz has to say.
" 'China is obviously a huge opportunity for us in five to ten years’ time.' " (5)
A statement by a music executive quoted in the article, as the central impetus for this interest and involvement in Asian pop music. An interesting prediction - I wonder if copyright and licensing, and/or buyer responsibility and support, will actually advance enough to make this true.
"Touring, which the label is counting on the Girls to do, could also be a problem." (6)
First sentence in an interesting paragraph contrasting the touring culture of American entertainers versus the television-based publicity of Korean singers. Also gives a representative reference of the repetitive failure K-pop entertainers have met in America with the Wonder Girls example. I don't really see anyone of the K-pop prototype breaking out of this cycle.
Jacobson said that he was commissioning hundreds of songs from a broad
range of songwriters—Asian, American, and European—as more and more
Western writers become aware of K-pop’s potential. “I don’t want to lose
the Asian flavor. I want songs that speak to Girls’ Generation’s brand
and also speak to the sound in America right now.” (6)
(Bold emphasis added) Okay, a little strange and possibly unintentionally offensive. Would someone care to take a stab at what exactly is "Asian flavor"? No smart-alecky answers like "soy sauce," please. My exasperated Asian face --> -_-
"When you replicate the American entertainment business, and add the
Confucian virtue of rigid respect for elders to the traditionally
unequal relationship between artists and suits, the consequences can be
nasty." (7)
A little obvious but true. Still very engrained in Korean business. Reminds me of that chapter on Korean Air's distastrous past in Malcom Gladwell's book, Outliers.
"He’s a Korean pop star, but he’s not K-pop, and by satirizing standard
K-pop tropes in 'Gangnam Style,' PSY may have subverted K-pop’s chances
of making it big in the West." (7)
I wouldn't make this sort of hypothesis - I would say his a success is a reflection of the divide in taste between Asia and America, and the mass audience that "Gangnam Style" has reached will hardly know enough about K-pop to recognize characteristics to be subverted in the future. It's just those characteristics themselves that subvert their own chances of "making it big in the West."
" [...] I found myself wondering why overproduced, derivative pop music,
performed by second-tier singers, would appeal to a mass American
audience, who can hear better performers doing more original material
right here at home?" (8)
And this is pretty much the thing.
"Connection, he explained, was the essence of pop music, according to his
boss, Jimmy Iovine. 'Jimmy always says it’s all about the connection
between the artist and the fans,' he said." (8)
That's true. Explains zealous Asian fangirl screaming. I have a theory in my subconscious that much of the exuberant fan culture surrounding Asian pop music relates to the fantasy/vicarious element capitalizing on romanticism and adding excitement to a very suppressed life, or at the least, supposed life, be it in culture or relationship. Sorry, kernel of thought, I will not do you justice here.
"At one point, the crowd watched a slightly creepy video with cartoonish
illustrations about the love that the S.M. family members feel for each
other." (8)
"Occasionally, the concert seemed like a giant pep rally." (8)
:x I can totally see this.
" 'First, beauty. Second, graciousness and humility. Third, dancing. And
fourth, vocal. Also, brevity. Nothing lasts more than three and a half
minutes. Let’s time it.' " (8)
Okay. So this is the way of how I got to this point.
First, a friend on FB sent me a YouTube clip of The Voice UK, which features judges Jessie J (such a solid voice btw - like an R&B influenced Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland), will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas, classic crooner Sir Tom Jones and Danny O'Donoghue from Irish three-piece band, The Script.
I was surprised because I had no idea the UK Voice panel consisted of these four artists.
Then, I was amused, because I find tremendous visual similarities between Danny O'Donoghue and Kim Jaejoong, former member of K-pop boy band 동방신기/TVXQ and current member of JYJ.
Man, is it just me?!?! But I TOTALLY see it. IT'S THERE. KEEP LOOKING. Maybe this picture?
Maybe you just have to see them both live in video. Or maybe you have to have watched enough Jaejoong to see the similarity. Or maybe it's just Jaejoong's newish, pristinely straight nose. The feline face shape? I REALLY THINK I'M ON TO SOMETHING THOUGH.
Anyway, after discovering this Irish-Korean counterpart phenomenon, I started looking into The Script's recent activities. I hadn't realized the new song I'd been hearing on the radio, "Hall of Fame," was by them! And that will.i.am was featured on it, and that the collaboration is due to the whole Voice UK gig! Many pop discoveries.
I've since listened to their recently released album, #3, on Spotify, and my favorite track on it is "No Words" - I think overall it's one of the best on the album so I really hope they release it. Going through their discography, I discovered that they do a lot
of pop-rap-singing in a number of their songs, even in the first
album, despite their band categorization. I enjoy hip hop beats and piano hooks, but my taste tends to veer toward melodic lines and singing, so I still consider "Breakeven" from the first album as the most solid song by them.
Anyway, that led me to wander over to their Twitter accounts, and I saw on @TheScript_Danny the announcement that the official music video for "Six Degrees of Separation" had just been released. Clicked through to YouTube/Vevo and watched it, and a few other things struck me:
Mr. Danny has some amazing eyelashes. Mark Sheehan, the bald band member with the reddish facial hair, has a great voice. Totally works for pop and could see him singing other stuff too. Interesting reggae intonations there. Do more singing, Mark!
Then, the lyrics started to get at me. I'm a lyrics person, so I tend to assign as much import to the words as I do the melody and rhythm of a song. The chorus is a count-up of the "six degrees of separation," and I KNOW it's really pompous of me, though I don't mean to be, but I started doing a little editing in my head. The original chorus goes:
First, you think the worst is a broken heart
What's gonna kill you is the second part
And the third, is when your world splits down the middle
And fourth, you're gonna think that you fixed yourself
Fifth, you see them out with someone else
And the sixth, is when you admit that you may have fucked up a little
I was (very mildly, really more like just musing) wondering why the connectors didn't work more in harmony with each other, really build on that progression, such as:
First, you think the worst is a broken heart
But what's gonna kill you is the second part
And the third, is when your world splits down the middle
And fourth is when you think that you fixed yourself
Then fifth, you see them out with someone else
And the sixth, is when you admit that you may have fucked up a little
Of course this all reflects my preference in language and as a songwriter, wanting things to read as smoothly as a paragraph of a story, and I have no idea as to how Danny O'Donoghue's thought process goes when he's penning words to a song. Maybe it's exactly the way he wanted it, or maybe it's the way it just came out in the honesty of the moment, and reflects the way he thinks and speaks and his natural use of language. But I especially would have liked the "then" to contrast, as well as lead in, between thinking you've fixed yourself and seeing them with someone else.
I don't know.
Maybe the standard of English is just going up in smoke, maybe I'm just being a stick in the mud. That sentiment (on the standard of English) doesn't have anything to do with the way the chorus went though - songwriters must and should write in a way that's true to them. It's actually my dissatisfaction with how there's an apostrophe missing in their lyric video, and really, professionals should know better. I wish there had been a competent proofer T_T:
SEE AT 0:37?! IT SHOULD BE "LIFE'S OK," NOT "LIFES OK." Oy. Sigh. And it's not just a stylistic thing because right above that line, they've used "YOU'RE."
But I really like how they use "ye." ;D
P.S. I am by far far from a perfect linguist or grammarinator myself. I may not be the most diehard Script fan, but I dolike the band and think that they make catchy tunes, have great production skills and have a very genuine, refreshing, endearing attitude, and I'm glad they're part of the music landscape. Sad I missed their Los Angeles tour dates!
Recently my cousin asked me for recommendations of K-pop male solo singers "without girlie voices," and the first one I probably thought of was 박효신 / Park Hyo Shin. I first heard him through the theme song of the K-drama, 미안하다 사랑한다 / I'm Sorry, I Love You. The song was called "눈의 꽃 / Snowflower" (originally Yuki no Hana by Japanese singer, Nakashima Mika).
You can probably tell my leanings already, and I admit it! I love the big, tragic, dramatic ballads (and stories). It's like literal soul food or something, it just tugs something inside me! XD It is melodramatic angst, and done well, it is so, so good. There is just something about melodic shamelessness ... can ... not ... resist. !!!
Anyway, I sent my cousin a handful of recommendations and wanted to share with you. I can already feel myself getting sucked back into the Korean vortex... but you have to admit, this genre really does suit an autumnal mood.
4. 휘성 / Wheesung - 일년이면/ Already One Year (2005)
그대 닮은 사람마저 미워해봐요 / I'll have to hate those who look like you
* * *
(Skip to 0:40 for the start of the song)
Wheesung is a respected R&B singer in Korea, formerly under M-Boat and thereby connected with YG Entertainment (company that houses Se7en, 2NE1, Big Bang, 1TYM, etc.). He has a pleasant voice and soulful tone that lends itself really well to these pop-soul tracks. Full lyrics here.
3. 허각 / Huh Gak - 죽고 싶단 말 밖에 / Told You I Wanna Die(2011)
미칠 듯 숨이 막혀 / Michil deut soomi makhyeo /
Can’t breathe, suffocating, as if I ‘m crazy
* * *
This guy is a newbie who won one of of South Korea's televised singing competitions, "Superstar K 2." His voice is great for emoting and I just love how he uses it for all these little things and contrasts between the verses and the chorus.
2. 김범수 / Kim Bum Soo - 보고싶다 / I Want to See You (2002)
죽을 만큼 보고 싶다, 죽을 만큼 잊고 싶다 / Miss you to death, Want to forget you to death * * *
Kim Bum Soo will probably go to the grave unable to escape this song. Perhaps the King of Korean Ballads (which are all presumably tragically minded), Kim Bum Soo sings with sorrow and desperation on this track that became the theme song for the classic K-drama, 천국의 계단 / Stairway to Heaven. Remote control? Check. Tissues? Check. Ice cream and chips? Check. And we press "on"... Yep, still a tearjerker.
1.박효신 / Park Hyo Shin - 동경 / Yearning (2001)
내 이름조차 생각이나 날까요 / Will even my name pass through your thoughts?
* * *
The Co-King, perhaps, of Korean Ballads, Park Hyo Shin has got a voice. It's deep and cloudy and slightly raspy, even a little stuffy, but his emotive tone and accurate pitch make whatever qualms I might have negligible. This song is kind of an oldie, from his second album, but it's still so good. Full lyrics here.
Hope you enjoyed this little list! Searching for my favorite lines has reminded me to get back on that lyrics/translation project. In my online research, I came across another girl who compiled a list of her sixteen favorite K-pop ballads. Check it out if you want to try out some more depressing songs! :D
Okay, bye, I have to go look up more Park Hyo Shin now.
Sharing a pretty awesome list today. I'm not an active fan of L.A. Weekly, actually my prior impression was that I was just not very impressed? But I really liked this list they compiled of:
Yeah, yeah, we know. The top 20 greatest musicians of all time, in any genre. Where do we get off? Well, we'll tell you where we get off -- at Accuracy Station. Our team of writers listened to thousands and thousands of hours of music for this list, digging deep into the annals of history and exploring the sounds of the entire globe. We painstakingly researched the shit out of practically all music ever made, modern and classical, popular and experimental, chart-topping and obscure. You may not agree with every artist on this list, but one thing is for certain: You're going to respect the hell out of it. -Ben Westhoff
20. Johannes Sebastian Bach
Bach was a total badass. His name is practically synonymous with Baroque music, and by the turn of the 18th century he had become its master composer. His choir, instrument, and orchestral arrangements are painstakingly technical and well-organized, and he was a compositional powerhouse. Over his lifetime, he produced over 200 cantatas, concertos, and suites, which are still considered among the most beautifully arranged pieces of all time. Not exactly a lightweight. -Chris Walker
19. The Rolling Stones
They may have claimed "It's only rock n' roll," but the music of the Rolling Stones helped define a generation. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the crew came to represent the edgier side of the British Invasion, serving as countercultural symbols of youthful rebellion and sexual liberation during a time of sweeping social change. By 1965 the Stones were dominating charts around the world. We owe much of today's pop-rock structures to the music they pioneered. -Chris Walker
18. Xian Xinghai
Chinese composer Xian Xinghai's 1939 epic Yellow River Cantata was written as a protest against the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. His seminal composition, it is a moving and patriotic call for solidarity. But Xinghai's legacy also includes over 300 other works, and his unique perspective on western classical traditions challenged his contemporaries to move beyond imitating European composers. In the process, he gave form to a distinctive Chinese art form that has guided generations of Eastern musicians. -Chris Walker
. . .
Credits as listed. Click through on title above or here for full L.A. Weekly article and complete list with enlarged pictures.
Also, with Pascha weekend coming up, here is a free download of Hillsong's Easter single, "Man of Sorrows" (title from the Isaiah 53 passage). The song is co-written by Matt Crocker and Brooke Ligertwood, nee Fraser. The link above also contains very thoughtful links to lyrics, sheet music and translations.
