14 posts tagged “rock”
I stumbled across an artist by the name of 'Brad Sucks' recently and thought I'd pass him along to you, my adoring public.
All none of you.
According to Wikipedia, that internet bastion of knowledge, Brad Sucks was one of the first few artists to utilize the Creative Commons license for his music distribution.
Posting his music online for free, as well as making the audio tracks fully available for any remixing that might be done by the general public, his original aim was to create 'open source music.' This, alone, is something that makes him worthy of mention.
I don't think it takes a genius to recognize that the music industry is in the middle of a major paradigm shift. The public wants their music for cheap (or for free), and they have the means to get it that way. Record Labels and Distributors, having always functioned as the middle-man between the producer and the consumer, are left with little to do but try to sue anyone who recognizes and takes advantage of the business-model shift.
I have the sneaking suspicion that artists like Brad Sucks will become more and more common in the near future. At least, until the music industry can figure out a way to continue making money in a world now fueled by high-speed internet connections - all navigated by crafty digital pirates.
Beyond that, Brad Sucks doesn't really suck that much. Give him a listen and try to tell me I'm wrong.
I'd like to bring you a musical reference that I suggest you follow up on.
Like the Devil Makes Three, I first discovered the Avett Brothers over at theSixtyOne.com. They only had one song posted over there at the time (they still do), but it was enough to get me hooked. They've got the kind of feel that makes me want to pay them to write the soundtrack to my life right now. Or maybe just follow me around for a day.
Unfortunately, my 'pay people to hang out with me and write music' budget is sorely lacking lately, what with gas prices being high as they are. Instead, I'm resigned to merely playing them as loud and as often as possible. It's rare to find a band these days who can draw a picture with their lyrics, let alone convince me to wander out into the light of day to purchase a concert ticket - and these guys can do both.
Give them a listen. You'll be glad you did.
I hate the use the term 'rockabilly' because I end up conjuring up images of one those guys with a pack of cigarettes rolled into his sleeve on one arm and his fat girlfriend hanging on the other. However, it seems that this is the style that most people are labeling this band with. Personally, I'd call it 'folk-rock-blues' or 'alternative-country,' but I also happen to hate the type of people who spend hours trying to come up with some kind of clever music-label hybrid genre (mostly because I used to be one of those people).
Whatever it is that you would label The Devil Makes Three, it's awesome.
Lyrically, this song is about drinking whiskey in heaven. Jack Daniels whiskey, to be precise. Personally, I'm not much of a whiskey guy, but this is the kind of tune that makes you want to pick a fight before pulling up to the bar to demand a glass. Whether you would actually win a bar fight is your problem, it's the song that's important.
Give it a listen, would ya? I don't really have much more to say on the matter because I want to get back to listening to the full album, now. And maybe picking a fight while I do it.
I'm trying to update here when I can. Really. I just don't have much time while I run around LA with my mother.
New video from Chris Merritt:
Chris
Merritt's new album, 'Hello, Little
Captain,' brings to mind a seemingly common nightmare for me.
You know the one I'm talking about - you're bent over your little desk, No. 2 pencil in hand, not sure if you should be
filling in the circle for answer 'A' or answer 'C' on your ScanTron sheet.
That's when, suddenly, you realize that you can feel the cold plastic curve of
your chair making direct contact with the skin of your buttock. In a panic, you
quickly think back to that morning and don't recall ever putting any pants on.
You take a quick glance at your lap to verify and, to your horror, you realize
your mistake. Those little bubbles on the ScanTron don't seem so damned
important anymore. Your eyes dart frantically around the room to see if anyone
else has noticed your exposed flesh and, as if on cue, people start to turn and
look. Without missing a beat, you jump out of the seat, shirtcocking it out of
the room as fast as you can. Once out in the hallway, you can hear everyone in
the classroom murmuring about your awkward appearance, some of them laughing.
You feel the entire surface of your skin blush bright red. The bell rings and
students begin to pour out classroom doorways as far as the eye can see, all of
them laughing and pointing at you as you desperately try to cover up your
exposed flesh. That's when you discover that your shirt's gone missing, too.
Oh, god.
This is the point at which
you’re most likely to wake up from this particular nightmare, covered in sweat
and feeling horrible.
Well,
that's what this little album does for me. Only, instead of some nondescript
classroom from my high school, this time I'm at an all girls' school somewhere in the mountainous
countryside of Sweden. And it just so happens that I'm the only one who
remembered to put on clothes that morning. Darn the luck.
Yes, folks, this
album makes me feel very good, indeed.
So, with that glowing review in mind, may I be the first to unveil to the world Chris Merritt's latest masterpiece, 'Hello, Little Captain' in all it's rock and roll glory:
001. The Palace Flophouse
Without a doubt, using this song as the introductory piece for the entire album was a good choice. After listening to this track, you get a pretty good idea of what you're in for with the rest of the album - and you're in for some good stuff.
For those of you that were wondering, yes, it's a song about a book. John Steinbeck's 'Cannery Row,' to be specific. If you've never read it before, you definitely should.
Allow me to repeat myself on this one:
...This song is one that Chris originally recorded a number of years ago for a demo he released, but later couldn't decipher the lyrics for...Chris opted to start improvising the lyrics live at shows. The results always turned out to be entertaining enough to continue playing in his live sets...
To my recollection, this song has been in the hopper for about two years now. My best guess is that this song is about a girl. A girl with hands.
You know how they are.
004. Virginia
By far, 'Virginia' is one of the most powerful songs on the album. It kind of makes you want to turn down the lights and settle into a good, cold beer.
Call me crazy, but the melody on the verses have a distinct Frank Black flavor to them.
Another literature-related song. The original story behind this song, 'Beowulf' happens to be one of the most well known examples of Anglo-Saxon literary work. It also happens to be a pretty badass story.
If you close your eyes and listen closely during the guitar solo at the end, you should be able to hear the clinking of ancient Scandinavian beer steins (or whatever they drank out of back then).
Chris first wrote this song as part of an assignment for a songwriting class. He got an A+. Go figure.
Funny sidenote: his professor in that songwriting class was convinced that John Mayer was the second coming. What a mistake to make! Everyone knows that God hates John Mayer.
Another song about a girl. She probably has hands, too.
I hear a lot of Frank Black in this one, too.
I can't even count the number of conversations that Chris and I have had regarding the distinct difference in the way that the concept of space is perceived in southern California as compared to our upbringing in the backwoods of northern Virginia. From what I can tell, this song's about overpopulation and all the joys that come with it.
Another song about a girl. That, or it's about a guy.
Beautiful song, either way. Don't you agree?
Chris is normally pretty comfortable with showing me his songs when they're still in the early stages - but I had to coax him into letting me hear this one in its entirety. Frankly, I think that Chris feels this song to be a little too close to his heart. Luckily, he came to terms with his sensitivity about the subject matter of this song and included it in the album. I don't cry a lot when it comes to music, but I was sobbing the first time I had the chance to listen to this one. If you really believe in the power of music, open your heart and your mind to this song. I think it could change your life. Really.
And there you have it, everyone: my Swedish girls-school fantasy.
And some rock and roll.
Feel free to tell all of your friends about this post, link to it from your fancy little blog, or just pretend that you wrote it yourself. Whatever makes you feel like you did something to help bring a true artist one step closer to his ultimate dream of world rock&roll domination.
If my association with Chris doesn't make you too wary of him, perhaps you would consider pre-ordering the album off of him. You can find it for sale on his MySpace page - just scroll down a bit and click on the 'Buy Now' button located in the left-hand column. The first 150 orders get a fancy CD with a bunch of demo songs on it. Now doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
That, my friends, is what James Brown has been doing to me over the last couple of weeks.
No, I didn't start listening to him because he died recently.
No, I wouldn't be excited at the prospect of him being portrayed by someone like Joaquin Phoenix in a blockbuster movie.
He's not Johnny Cash and I haven't jumped onto any lame media-blitzed dead-musician bandwagon.
I actually was pointed to this song by a friend of mine. And now I can't stop listening. Give it a spin and let me know what you think because, frankly, I'm not going to waste your time with another word on the matter.
(Lame post, I know. But listen to the song - I'm pretty sure you'll find yourself at a loss for words, too.)
One of the stories that was related to me about Johnston, I don't know if this is included in the documentary or not, was about how his father was flying him home on their private plane after Daniel had had an anxiety attack on stage during a concert. While in the sky over midwestern America somewhere, Daniel somehow got the impression that he was Casper the friendly ghost (really, this is how the story was told to me) and took over the controls of the plane, causing them to crash. Both Daniel and his father survived the crash.
Daniel spent the rest of that year in a mental institution.
Anyway, after hearing that story, I decided that it was time I took to tracking down some of this guy's music and, lo, I was not disappointed. This song comes off of Daniel's 'Hi, How Are You' recordings he did in 1983. When I first started listening, I thought it was some kind of joke. The recording quality is horrible - you can tell that this guy just set the tape recorder on top of the piano before he started pounding out the song. Some of the stuff on this album actually sounds like he's making it up as he goes along. And that's not to mention the fact that his voice sounds markedly pre-teen despite the fact that he recorded this album in his early twenties.
That being said, Johnston's genius dawned on me at about the chorus of this song - the third track on this short album. Listening to the melody and the lyrics, this song is one of the best things I've heard in a damned long time.
You might disagree with me, but you also might be an idiot.
I've been practically hypnotized by this tune ever since I first heard it. I'm not sure if there's any danger of suffering any weird psychiatric episodes after listening to this song on repeat for a while, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to find out.
This song is one that Chris originally recorded a number of years ago for a demo he released, but later couldn't decipher the lyrics for. Instead of following in the footsteps of a more pretentious band and suggesting that the lyrics were actually a part of a new language with a lame name like 'hopelandic' (Sigur Ros - fucking hippies), Chris opted to start improvising the lyrics live at shows. The results always turned out to be entertaining enough to continue playing in his live sets.
For this new album, though, Chris has been talking about honing his lyrical prowess and finally wrote out some new wording for this tune. Personally, I'm of the mind that 'Always On My Mind' is a smashing success to that end. You've also got to hand it to his ethnically-diversified bandmates for their role in this little ditty - the bass line and the drum work function as smoothly in this recording as anything I've heard from Chris in the past.
This one's a keeper, folks, even if my review of it isn't. And this time Chris actually gave me permission to post it online for your listening pleasure!
When I first got my hands on their latest album, Switzerland, I was mildly disappointed. I thought it wasn't quite as funny as their previous works, I was saddened that Dick Valentine was a little too obvious in the sexual innuendo of his lyrics.
I was also being a pussy. This album rocks.
And, for whatever reason, this song has been in my head on repeat for months now. Every time I hear the bridge, a single bead of disco-inspired sweat forms on my brow and traces a path slowly down to my jawline. Before the salty essence of that singular droplet loses contact with my skin and freefalls to the earth, my mind is already racing to the dancefloor. It doesn't matter where I'm at, listening with headphones on in my cubicle at work or sitting alone in my room - this song moves me somewhere deep down. That, or it gives me indigestion.
Whatever it is, this song effects me.
Give it a listen and let it effect you, too.
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