77 posts tagged “music”
Just saw a trailer for a documentary on Bill Withers called "Still Bill". Looks interesting. Unfortunately, doesn't seem like it has distribution to be in movie theaters any time soon. Check out possible screenings at the Still Bill Web site. Maybe it'll come to cable at some point...
Yet another reminder to complete my list of Top 100 Singers (on which Bill Withers is #43).
Here's some great singing and the best song ever to use the phrase Dad Gum-It:
I've just been reliving the Bon Iver concert I saw this week, through the magic of YouTube. (These videos are from the show on Tuesday.)
It was an incredible concert. Bon Iver have only made one album plus an EP, so I think they pretty much played everything in a short hourlong set, plus a really nice Graham Nash cover ("Simple Man"). I think they basically played everything as it is on the recordings, but the concert still felt live and loose, probably because the album is so tightly produced (one guy doing everything, after all).
The real reason the concert was better than I expected was the singing. Justin Vernon does all his singing in a high falsetto. It's really amazing when you see this very big
guy singing with that voice, and it's a little weird. Why doesn't he sing in his normal register? After all, he sounds really good when he does. Maybe it's because he's so good at the falsetto. Even live, he was hitting all those notes, and what's more, his backing band all sang harmony, sometimes in falsetto, sometimes not, and the blending was terrific.
The band seemed very appreciative of a great crowd (I got there late and was stuck near the very back, there were so many people). Vernon didn't talk much (he made clear why when he said talking between songs "is not my touche, er, forte") but made it feel like an intimate show with crowd participation on a couple songs.
The finale was a bluegrass/folk song, done with the openers Megafaun (which made me wish I'd heard their set):
For everyone with kids, or who just want to hear Disney music done well, Los Lobos just released a new CD of Disney songs. Includes a couple hits from movies (sounds like The Bare Necessities is the best song on the CD) and obscure songs from movies, and even more obscure songs from the theme parks (I think that's the song they play in the Haunted Mansion?)
Sounds good, but maybe a little too mellow -- seemed like The Bare Necessities is the only fast song on the whole album. They even slowed down I Wanna Be Like You, which they had done before, faster, on a Disney tribute album.
Just went through my calendar and found that, after a very slow summer, this is looking like a huge fall for concerts. Can't say I'll be attending all of these concerts, but here is my interest list as of now:
Looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of volunteering at the symphony store this fall/winter. That means I'm going to be hearing some great music, too.
Highlights include:
- 10/17: Itzhak Perlman plays Bach
- 2 Yo-Yo Ma concerts in January
- A couple of Mahler symphonies (1 and 5)
- Preservation Hall Jazz Band
- a pipe organ Xmas concert
...and more.
SF residents, you can still get tickets (except not for Yo-Yo Ma. He's sold out. Na Na.)
Last year, I heard somewhere the song "The Little Patton" by The Seedy Seeds and liked it a lot (enough to post it here -- amusingly, under the title 'I like this song' and I didn't remember that when I titled this post).
Last week, I was listening to a mix I had made of the best songs of 2008 and heard the song again and wondered to myself what The Seedy Seeds were up to now. I hadn't heard from them since that song, so I assume they haven't toured out to the west coast.
Anyway, coincidentally (a "plate of shrimp" moment), I got back from vacation and checked out the music blogs I hadn't looked at for a couple weeks and what should I find, but a new video/song from The Seedy Seeds. Good stuff.
They have a good Web site -- check it out here -- or you can follow them on Twitter (@theseedyseeds). Here's the video:
Coldplay just released a video for one of my favorite songs from the last album, Strawberry Swing.
It appears to have been created with just a giant blackboard, colored chalk, and Chris Martin lying on the blackboard in various positions. Must have taken forever to do, but so worth it...
I just read some exciting news on the music front about a couple bands I love.
First, the new Kings of Convenience record is finally coming, set for release at the end of September. They also plan to tour, and if you're in the mood for a classic folk music concert, where the artists make clever chit-chat between songs and answer to called-out song requests from the enraptured audience, I encourage your attendance. (They also make good music live.) For those who don't know, Kings of Convenience are a mellow mostly-acoustic duo from Norway who specialize in delicate harmonies and warm love songs (but not in a boring way, really).
Here's a taste of new music:
The 2nd piece of news I got today was word that Field Music are back together (who even knew they'd broken up?) and planning a new album. Seems a little further from existence than KoC, but hopefully will arrive before too long. I really loved their last album, Tones of Town, which featured this song:
Soul Power is a documentary about a massive concert that was put on in conjunction with the Rumble In The Jungle Muhammad Ali fight (that got its own great documentary in "When We Were Kings").
The infomercial pitch is this: GET JAMES BROWN LIVE CONCERT FOOTAGE!!! BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! GO SEE SOUL POWER AND WE'LL THROW IN BILL WITHERS CONCERT FOOTAGE, TOO!
If I ever finish writing down my Top 100 Singers, both of these guys will be among the upcoming names. I am sold.
PS - Anyone remember when James Brown died? I doubt it, and that's sad. (It was 2-1/2 years ago, by the way.) Michael Jackson learned EVERYTHING he knew from watching/listening to James Brown. James Brown changed the face of music infinitely more than MJ. James Brown did more for the cause of African-American advancement. I loved Michael, but the Hardest Working Man in Show Business deserved even more weeks of news coverage and adoration when he died and unfortunately, didn't get them. (And wouldn't you rather be the Godfather of Soul than the King of Pop?)
And the countdown continues...
#80. Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie ruled the airwaves in the 80's with slow ballads like "Say You, Say Me" and "You Are". Those, coming off monster ballads as co-lead singer of The Commodores like "Easy" and "Three Times a Lady". But Richie does have the ability to go beyond the treacly ballad. The Commodores started out as a pretty hardcore funk/R&B band and Richie, believe it or not, can get funky. Of course, to me, he'll always be the guy that sang "All Night Long" for about 2 hours straight during the LA Olympics' closing ceremony in 1984.
Trivia: Lionel Richie's main competition in the love song genre in the 80's was probably Kenny Rogers. Did you know Lionel Richie wrote Rogers' megahit "Lady"?
Listen: Lionel Richie, "You Are"
#79. Kool Moe Dee
Is rapping singing? Maybe not exactly, but it counts as vocals and some people are great at it and some aren't, so I'm making room in my countdown for some of my favorite rap vocalists. (Apologies for missing anyone, since I pretty much stopped listening to rap in the early 90's -- when it started to suck.)
Kool Moe Dee was one of the originators, as a member of The Treacherous Three back in the day. He never made it big, due to unoriginal backing beats and raps that never went much past the bragging taunts of the early MC's, but his voice is still one of the best ever. He has a nice, clear deep booming voice and he could handle the fastest tongue-twisters around.
Listen: Kool Moe Dee, "I Go To Work"
#78. Ray LaMontagne
As I said before, most singer-songwriter folkies have nice but bland voices. New Hampshire's own LaMontagne does not. His voice is rich and genuine, the instrument of a guy who feels the music, not a guy who's been trained to sing it. Another true phone book voice. He excels at down-tempo love songs like "Burn", but he also can set fire to a folk/soul mix like "Trouble" or "You Are The Best Thing".
Listen: Ray LaMontange, "Three More Days"
#77. Brian Wilson (and the rest of The Beach Boys)
The Beach Boys need no introduction. They had no great range, musically speaking, but they were great at what they did and they sang in a style never heard before (and never really since, though you might consider The Bee Gees a modern version). The layered harmonies on every song created a new sound, though the attention to detail may have led to a major breakdown by Wilson, and Wilson's voice is probably one of the most recognizable in pop music history.
Listen: The Beach Boys, "Good Vibrations"
#76. Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison was probably the first guy in Rock 'n Roll to be considered a "singer", as opposed to just a howler or a rocker. His high, ethereal vocals always floated above the background music and really drew the attention of the listener more than the rhythm (a rarity in early rock records).
#75. Little Richard
Speaking of "howlers", next on the list is Little Richard. He was the guy (along with Jerry Lee Lewis) who put the danger into Rock 'n Roll and made the parents run in fear. No one sang blues or country music like that, but Rock 'n Roll was different, and Little Richard was one of the first to realize it. No one could then, or ever has been able to, "wooo" like Richard.
#74. Joe Cocker
As far as I know, Joe Cocker is a pure singer, which is actually pretty rare in the rock era. He never played an instrument and his whole career was based on his interpretations of other peoples' songs. Known a little for his ridiculous gesticulations while singing, but more for his raspy voice and exuberant takes on Beatles classics, it was really Cocker's way of rearranging and, usually, adding more power to a song's vocal lead, that made him great.
More trivia: Did you know Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin and ready for the Top 5 if I ever make a list of the Top 100 Guitarists) played lead guitar on Cocker's version of "With A Little Help From My Friends"?
Listen: Joe Cocker, "With A Little Help From My Friends"
#73. Jimmie Rodgers
Did you know there used to be a time when country music required talent and the best songwriters were writing country songs? Hard to believe, I know. But it's true, and Jimmie Rodgers, "The Singing Brakeman", was the first great country talent. A great guitarist and songwriter, but mostly known for his country yodel. Pure and true.
Listen: Jimmie Rodgers, "Blue Yodel #10"
#72. Gladys Knight
Among a list of pop music giants who recorded at Motown in the 60's, Gladys Knight gets lost too often. As soul music was coming of age, Knight and her Pips made some of the greatest music of the time. Knight had a strong voice, technically sound and powerful, with great soul.
Listen: Gladys Knight and The Pips, "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"
#71. Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson doesn't have the strongest voice, doesn't hit all the notes, isn't the fastest guitarist, isn't the best at anything. Except maybe musicality. What Nelson does is use his voice as an instrument and perform with that instrument the best way that fits the song. As an instrument, his voice matches perfectly with the broken old guitar he continues to use. His minimalist style (in singing and guitar-playing) is unique, maybe not to jazz music but certainly to country.
Listen: Willie Nelson, "Georgia On My Mind"
