Recommended Albums #22

18 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

Do Things

Dent May: Do Things (2012)

Dent May’s latest is a departure in style from 2009’s Good Feeling Music of Dent May, which was credited to “Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele”. First, the uke is gone. Do Things makes use of a wider variety of instrumentation to explore a broad range of pop textures. The resulting sound may not be to everyone’s taste, but is decidedly fresh.

More importantly, the songwriting has taken a step forward from May’s past releases. This album is a consistently pleasing listen almost from start to finish, although it may take you a few spins to warm up to it–one must get past the delivery and unconventional sound. After that, though, it’s pure Brian Wilson-informed pop bliss.

May inhabits an idyllic 50’s-60’s pop dream world of happy vibes and positive messages. The instrumentation of certain songs and high-pitched lead vocal may bring the Beach Boys to mind, but the beats are a mix of cheesy Casio keyboard and 70’s disco. In fact, you can match up the beats of certain tunes with the specific disco song they emulate. “Don’t Wait Too Long”, for example, contains the rhythmic skeleton of Chic’s “Good Times”, while “Parents” has the same beat as Shirley & Company’s “Shame, Shame, Shame” with a slower tempo. Maybe this is what the Beach Boys would have sounded like had they formed in 1977, at the height of disco, rather than the peak of a surfing craze.

Contemporary pop may have no single sound that will define it for kids of the future to some up neatly because it’s mostly made up of borrowed and recycled sounds of past eras. You could choose to see this as reason to criticize its lack of originality, but the originality comes in the synthesis of past styles. Let’s face it, almost everything’s been done at this point. What makes the best new pop so much fun is that someone like Dent May can take the innocence of the sixties, the disco beats of the seventies, the synths of the eighties, and mix in a little of that contemporary ironic/homage viewpoint to create a found art from the borrowed parts–a great summer record for 2012.

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/02/23/songs-you-may-have-missed-20/

Listen to: “Best Friend”

Listen to: “Tell Her”

Listen to: “Parents”

“Best Friend” video clip:

Recommended Albums #21

18 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

Rumor & Sigh

Richard Thompson: Rumor and Sigh (1991)

For the uninitiated, Richard Thompson is, quite literally, a legendary British singer, songwriter and guitar god. His renown is somewhat limited outside circles of fans of British folk rock, but catalog is rich with musical treasures waiting for those of eclectic tastes to explore.

Thompson was the teenage lead guitarist and contributing songwriter with the iconic folk rock band Fairport Convention, where he made a huge impact despite his limited time with the band. Shortly after going solo, he made a series of highly regarded albums with his then-wife Linda, herself a leading light of the English folk rock movement. Two of their albums, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight and Shoot Out the Lights made Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the Top 500 Albums of All Time.

After his early 80’s breakup with Linda, Richard again recorded alone, and Rumor and Sigh is a highlight of his solo career. There’s lots to like here, from RT’s twisted, acerbic outlook, often presented through the point of view of a made-up character (a la Pete Townshend) to catchy almost radio-friendly hooks, to his incredible virtuosity on acoustic and electric guitar, to songwriting of the highest caliber.

“I Feel So Good” is sung from the viewpoint of a newly-freed inmate looking to make someone pay for the time he lost. “Keep Your Distance” is an acknowledgment of weakness in the face of an old love (with us it must be all or none at all). And “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” is nothing short of a modern folk classic–the tale of an ill-fated relationship between a red-headed girl, a hell-bent boy, and his prized bike–featuring some of Thompson’s finest acoustic picking.

If you appreciate intelligent rock with an English flavour and aren’t yet familiar with this man’s work, allow me to hold the door for you: you’re about to enter a dark wonderland…

Listen to: “I Feel So Good”

 

Listen to: “Keep Your Distance”

 

Listen to: “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”

Recommended Albums #20

02 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

Loveless Unbeliever

The School: Loveless Unbeliever (2010)

File under: All the best band names are taken. Right next to The Shore, The Bills, Air and other extremely un-Googlable musical collectives. Remember when bands went to the trouble of naming themselves with a combination of words you’d never heard in any other context–Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, Steely Dan, Procol Harum, Mott the Hoople?

Well, that’s a myth too, because back in the day we also had The Cars, The Doors, The Police, Kiss, Queen, Camel, Spirit, and of course Chicago, Boston, Kansas, Asia and America. But at least those bands had the excuse of not anticipating online searches.

Anyway, unfortunately-named British pop band The School have nailed the 60’s girl group sound of the Ronettes, Little Peggy March, etc. They’re clearly steeped in early Motown and Phil Spector arrangement. But other acts have accomplished as much in recent years–imitation is relatively easy. What sets The School apart is that they’ve written some really catchy original songs, raising their act above mere homage. Their sound captures that teen melodrama, their lyrics put across that wide-eyed innocence. But the surprise is that their hooks nearly match those of their source material. And they know, as Brian Wilson did, the value of the nonsense syllable–the “Ba-ba-ba-ooo” and the “Wa-ah-oh-ho” the backup singers coo in harmony. This stuff really does feel 1963.

Fresh songs with nostalgia built-in. It makes for great summer road trip music. Now that school’s out, head for the beach with…The School.

Listen to: “Let it Slip”

Listen to: “Is He Really Coming Home?”

Listen to: “Hoping and Praying”

See also: https://edcyphers.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/songs-you-may-have-missed-79/

Recommended Albums #19

08 Jun 2012 3 Comments

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: , , ,

Red Octopus

Jefferson Starship: Red Octopus (1975)

Of all the albums made by Jefferson Airplane and its splinter bands Jefferson Starship and (cough, spit) Starship, Red Octopus was the biggest seller of them all. It spent an amazing 87 weeks on the Billboard album chart and, between September and December of 1975, went to number one four different times.

The LP’s success, of course, was driven by the massive hit single “Miracles”, an epic Marty Balin love song that the rest of the band didn’t even want to record, fearing the damage the romantic ballad would do their credibility (see: Styx’s “Babe” for reference). “Miracles”, however, spent three weeks at #3 and went on to earn over two million radio plays and classic status.

But it’s follow-up single, “Play On Love” only went to #49 and is far less widely known today, although it is one of Grace Slick’s finest efforts as a songwriter and a vocalist. It’s my opinion the song’s deviation from standard verse-chorus patterns both made it a more interesting listen and hurt its chart performance. If there’s one thing vital to a hit single it’s predictability, unless you’re going to write “Bohemian Rhapsody” of course. And just when you’re expecting a second full chorus, Slick teases you with one line of it before taking you in another direction, ultimately making you wait through a guitar solo and third verse before you finally get the chorus hook again.

And that’s the pattern throughout this LP: the lack of pattern. The song that follows “Play On Love”, Balin’s “Tumblin'”, contains only one extended chorus-like hook, never again repeated. And the album’s grand closer, “There Will Be Love” opens with its anthemic chorus, then throws predictability away in favor of stringing sections together in a more intuitive, suite-like way. I’m reminded of great early 70’s McCartney singles like “Another Day”, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” and “Band On the Run”. A competent songwriter knows to write verse-chorus-and-repeat. An inspired one goes beyond the limitations of the template.

It’s idiosyncracies like these that separate a great rock band from a mere pop act. Perhaps if this were an Air Supply album it would have had more hit singles, but because it was Jefferson Starship at their peak, its more atypical structures raise it to the level of a true classic, never old to my ears.

Listen to: “Play On Love”

Listen to: “Al Garimasu (There is Love)”

Listen to: “There Will Be Love”

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/10/03/songs-you-may-have-missed-185/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2024/07/21/songs-you-may-have-missed-747/

Recommended Albums #18

14 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: , , , ,

These Humble Machines

BT: These Humble Machines (2011)

BT (Brian Transeau from Rockville, Maryland) is a classically trained musician who attended the Berklee College of Music at age 15. He is also widely regarded as one of the forefathers of today’s electronic music and a creator of the house music sub-genre known as “trance”. If that weren’t enough, he has developed revolutionary new music programming and software technologies and, over the course of a 15-year career, worked with such biggies as Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Sting, Seal, Britney Spears and Madonna.

These Humble Machines is a single-disc truncation of BT’s two-disc These Hopeful Machines album, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance album. For the non-trance fan, it’s a more palatable distillation of the longer work, trimming songs of 8- and 11-minutes duration to a more digestible 4-to-6 or so.

As for the “Electronic/Dance album” tag, that’s somewhat misleading in and of itself. Because if you’re not a fan of the genre and BT in particular, what you won’t know is that this is an album which can be appreciated as much or more for its rock and pop elements as for its electronic leanings. Its fusion of styles is unique in BT’s catalogue and possibly in all of contemporary pop. While some songs (especially the instrumental tracks) are indeed electronic and trance music extravaganzas, at least half of These Humble Machines consists of pop rock or pop prog songs with linear lyrics and a rock backbeat overlaid with electronic flourishes.

I’m reminded of when Yes (considered dinosaurs even then) burst back on the scene in 1983 with the Trevor Horn-produced 90125 album and a leaner, contemporized sound that included keyboard sampling. BT has created, in some ways, a modern equivalent–similarly offering up (what are to my ears at least) rock songs topped off with colorful avant-pop sprinkles. I’m not sure if BT has made rock music for the house music audience or house music for rock fans. But, approaching this record from a rock fan’s perspective, I hear propulsive songs with ecstatic choruses in musical settings that feature electronic sounds and keyboards mostly assuming the traditional rock guitar role. And the result is fresh and exhilarating.

“Suddenly” might best typify the album’s blending of genres. “Always” sounds to me, lyrically, like a “Born to Run” update (minus the motorbike motif). And “Love Can Kill You” seems content to simmer in its own groove for a minute and a half before suddenly exploding into a flat-out killer chorus.

“Best Electronic/Dance Album”? I can’t speak to that. But if there were a category called “Best Album for Blaring Out an Open Window at High Volume”, this album would have certainly deserved that Grammy.

Listen to: “Suddenly”

Listen to: “Always”

Listen to: “Love Can Kill You”

Recommended Albums #17

10 May 2012 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Recommended Albums Tags: ,

nether

Dan Fogelberg: Nether Lands (1977)

Though he hit higher subsequent commercial peaks with greeting-card-sentimental pop such as “Same Old Lang Syne”, “Leader of the Band” and “Longer”, Dan Fogelberg hit his artistic high water mark with the May 1977 release of Nether Lands. Despite its certified double platinum status, this is an album unknown to many who are familiar with the ubiquitous radio staples that followed.

Nether Lands followed a songwriting dry spell for Fogelberg–a period of months in which he produced no new music. But when he emerged from dormancy with newly ambitious, classically-influenced and elaborately arranged songs such as the album’s fully-orchestrated lead title track, it seemed he’d only been in a sort of artistic cocoon, undergoing a transformation from a very good folk singer-songwriter into a bolder, more poised composer with many more shades in his palette.

The full-on orchestral treatment can overwhelm a trite pop song. Here, in songs such as the title track and the set-closing “False Faces” the writing is on par with and deserving of its ornate musical trappings.

But the quieter moments shine too. Sublime ballad “Dancing Shoes” and the flute-laced jazz pop of “Give Me Some Time” seem to possess a subtlety and grace uncommon for a 26-year-old writer. Dan was flexing new muscles here, and would continue to do so on his next release, an album made up mostly of instrumentals that would stretch to encompass even more stylistic territory.

Despite the lack of a top 40 hit single, the album contains some of Fogelberg’s finest and most fully-realized compositions. (One is reminded of Elton John’s 1971 Tumbleweed Connection LP which, despite yielding no hits, may be Sir Elton’s best overall album).

Albums like this are the reason I dismiss no musical category or genre wholesale. So-called “soft rock” or “lite rock”, like any other species of music, contains both good and bad. Nether Lands is one of those albums that proves that soft rock was, and is, capable of greatness.

Listen to: “Nether Lands”

Listen to: “Once Upon a Time”

Listen to: “Dancing Shoes”

Listen to: “Lessons Learned”

Listen to: “Give Me Some Time”

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/05/31/songs-you-may-have-missed-115/

See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/09/19/songs-you-may-have-missed-476/

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