Every Moment Has A Song

Rare Photo: Grammy Committee Vote

11 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in On a Lighter Note Tags: fun., grammy committee

“I know Fun. released their first album back in 2009 but really, who’s gonna know that? I say we give ’em Best New Artist and call it a day. I gotta pee…”

Songs You May Have Missed #329

11 Feb 2013 2 Comments

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: blackfield

Blackfield: “Blackfield” (2005)

Moody, brooding, haunting, lush, rich, gorgeous…it’s easy to apply adjectives to the music of Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen. What’s difficult is pinning down the precise nature of the magic in the music they make together–what makes it so singular.

This is the song “Blackfield” from the album of the same name, by the duo of the same name. If you’re looking for a comparison, all I can come up with is Dark Side of the Moon. Though it’s an imperfect match, if you like that album there’s a good chance you’ll hear the beauty in what these guys do as well. This would sit atop my list of contemporary rock to recommend to fans of classic rock.

Songs You May Have Missed #328

11 Feb 2013 1 Comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: drink me, waterbed

Drink Me: “Waterbed” (1995)

Drink Me, a Brooklyn duo who produced two albums in the first half of the 90’s, were quite simply genius. With a degree of musical economy to match the great Roger Miller or the early Beach Boys, their concise songs could nevertheless pack a lyrical wallop.

One of the problems I’ve always had with the nebulous label of “Alternative Music”, which has been applied to everyone from R.E.M. to Jason Mraz, is that it mostly describes mainstream music. If your albums sell gold and platinum and chart in the top 5, what are you the alternative to?

Just as the word “awesome”, applied to double cheeseburger, leaves one little verbal ammunition for describing the birth of a child, the term “Alternative” leaves us lacking a useful label for music that is truly unlike any you’ve heard before. I would call Brave Combo and King Missile and the early work of They Might Be Giants “Alternative”. And I’d put Drink Me in that category–if the category didn’t include Oasis.

Imagine if Simon & Garfunkel had a sense of humor. And maybe a drinking problem–or possibly bipolar disorder. And a tendency to experiment with hallucinogenics. On second thought: don’t imagine, just listen. Really, there’s nothing like these guys.

The world’s a waterbed

A swaying plastic field of yielding limbs and idleness

A troubled bubble pipe of love but I can’t deny

The pie-eyed piper’s cry

The marriage bed’s a boat

Of sound design and lines beyond reproach

And lashed to the Missus’ mast one could defy

The siren’s sultry sighs

And if youth is a bathtub

Filled with bubbles and toys

Then the water gets cold as you start getting old

And my skin’s getting wrinkled but I’m still lingering

In Time’s untiring car

We sat in back with a flask and clasped beneath the stars

And watched out loose and useless youth go rolling by

But I’m going to learn to drive

In a little while

Mom Convinces Michael Bublé To Let Her Son Sing

11 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in General Posts Tags: michael buble

It’s getting to the point where even when you pay to see a professional singer perform, someone wants to turn it into an episode of My Kid’s Got Talent.

My first reaction was: He’s really good! Wow, that worked out really well.

My deleyed reaction was: How incredibly inappropriate to do something like that. No matter how well your teenage son can sing, the fact is that no one in the room paid money to see him. And you’re fortunate your interruption of the concert didn’t get you kicked out.