Is That A Rash?

Shimmer - Shimmer
So this whole "neo-soul" thing that groups like Maroon 5 are making a lot of money playing has never really been my thing. I mean, perhaps for me it's an occasional guilty pleasure to listen and groove along to these catchy tunes, but they never seem to have must lasting power in my library. Of course, with Maroon 5 specifically, I could never get over the whole Kara's Flowers thing. I mean a band adds a few years and 1 member and all of a sudden they've got soul? Huh?

Well, my friend Justin Rosolino mentioned this band Shimmer to me sometime last year. I listened to the couple of tracks they had posted to their website and was intrigued, but was going to save my full judgement until their debut album was released. Well, here we have the new album just released this week (thanks Robert for catching it) and it is on Rhapsody.

Not quite sure what to make of this band. This disc is not what I was expecting. A lot more neo-soul than I expected. Of course, the two tracks I heard early on had solid tinges of soul, but I was hoping that the full disc would also exploit a lot of the rock those tracks showed too. "Shoulda Known" was one of those I heard a while back and it is a funkified rocker that I enjoyed. Still not my typical fare, but the guy can certainly sing and this track has some loud, groovin' guitars. Good stuff. Most of the rest of the album, though, heads more towards Maroon 5 land with a more stripped down, soul-pop approach. But, the one huge difference here that ultimately makes this disc light years better than anything the 5 of Burgundy can muster is that the lead singer, Skip Peri, has got some golden pipes. Dude can sing. Think Jeff Buckley mixed with Lenny Kravitz (the on-pitch version of Lenny) mixed with Prince. Just don't judge him by his appearance... he wears disco and 80's pop tshirts ALWAYS and sweats a lot, apparently. I urge you NOT to look at the photo section of their website before listening to their stuff. Some of it is downright frightening. The crotch-grab-while-wearing-a-George-Michael-tshirt shot is a bit much for me.

So, in the end, not what I was wanting to hear, but still a solid execution of the genre for which they are shooting. Some cool instrumentation in places and growing on me in spots... I hate to admit... I need some anti-neo-soul lotion... it's a nasty rash. Enjoy!

Bravely Go Where Many Have Gone Before

Ash / The Bravery / The Crimea
The Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC
March 11, 2005>
So I'm kinda bored with the new stuff in Rhapsody right now so I thought I'd play a little catch-up and finally post about the show I went to about a month ago. I was looking forward to this one since The Bravery is one of the current "it" bands, I was enjoying the new Ash CD, and I really love The Crimea's EP Lottery Winners on Acid. Unfortuanately, The Crimea had already started playing by the time we got there, but we still got to see a decent amount of their set. Lead singer definitely has charisma, but it certainly seemed that they were trying to weird-out the trendy crowd that had shown up to see The Bravery. Very intense, very noisy, very jerky, in their own little world. I would love to have seen more but they played a short set. I love their recorded stuff so much but will have to see them again live to really get their vibe. Hope I get the opportunity soon.

The Bravery played 2nd and man, what a walk down memory lane. My friend and I couldn't stop laughing at how plucked from the early 80's they were, right down to their haircuts and their incessant posing. The lead singer continually put his foot up on the monitor and leaned forward, wailing into the mic... something he must have learned in "How to Be a Rock Star: 101." I swear it seems that some record executive, after catching wind of this "New, New Wave" movement, went out and created the "perfect" new wave revival band. For me, it was all too much and I just couldn't get into their stuff. Just too put on and seemingly insincere. The guitarist even wore a face paint, a la Adam Ant... By the way, after seeing this show I REALLY wanted to hate their album but so far, it's not so bad. Just so long as I don't have to look at them while I listen to their music, I guess...

The Ash, for me, was a lot more enjoyable and certainly a lot LOUDER. They certainly got the "rock out" bug lately as their live show matched their latest release, Meltdown, in shear drive and true hard rock vibes. Even their older, punkier stuff came off as more rockin' in this show. They've been around a while, but their energy levels are certainly not decreasing. A good bit of the audience was very familiar with Ash, and sang along to many of their older tunes. All-in-all a good time. Definitely recommended.

Click on the picture above to be taken to a little photo album of the show. My camera phone is really crappy so don't expect much.

So Exactly How Did It Get So Oily?

British Sea Power - Open Season
I love this band. Of course, it's mostly because I love their music... but I also love their image and the fact that they are so unabashedly British. Even right down the the production on their albums which, to me, can be so abrasive. I personally have to run it through an equalizer to warm it up a little with some bass, reducing the mids a little... But, I don't fault them for this because I know the sound they want to capture... that old school brit, "Jesus and the Mary Chain" brashness.

And while this album has the same production feel of their debut album, they do not hit us with as much of the raucous guitars and in-your-face songs. Don't get me wrong, any of the songs on Open Season could easily fit on The Decline of British Sea Power, but the overall feel of the album is different. I suppose to some it could come off as a band trying to tone down their sound for the masses, but I see it as a band growing and perhaps becoming a little more introspective. "It Ended On an Oily Stage" starts the album off perfectly and is joined by "Please Stand Up" as classic BSP. I'd say the only two tracks that were surprising by themselves would be the last two of the album, "The Land Beyond" which kinda sounds a little tweepopish, and "True Adventures" running an epic 8 minutes and closing out the album in a mysteriousf fashion. Enjoy!

Mmmmust... rrresist... p-p-p-pun... arrrgh...

Richard Goode - Mozart
Well, if I continue this trend, I might just have to add a "Classical Album Reviews" category or something. Showing my other side here... I'll get to the other new releases out today... but for now...

I love Nonesuch Records. Of course, as you now know, I first fell in love with them when they started releasing the Górecki recordings. Not only were the recordings top-notch quality and top-notch performances, they also injected a proper amount of style to the packaging and marketing. So many classical recordings seriously lack in those areas therefore potentially losing any kind of mass appeal. The covers of the Górecki discs just about forced you to want to take a listen. Call me shallow or crazy, but I think that kind of stuff is important if your goal is to get as many people to listen to the albums as possible. And Nonesuch does it so well. Not like a porn movie where all the money is spent on the packaging and the movie inside is a low-budget disaster (I almost used the words "sucks" or "blows" but thought better of it...), Nonesuch's recordings match their gorgeous exterior.

This album, released today and available on Rhapsody, is no exception. It's packaging fits so well alongside the Górecki albums and the other greats in Nonesuch's catalog (including the impeccably dressed A Ghost Is Born by Wilco). And inside that package is yet another stellar album. The production on this one is as clean as I have heard for a piano-only album. Sure, you may think it's easy to achieve that when there's only one instrument involved, but I can assure you that recording the piano is not easy. With this recording we get to hear the crystal clear sounds of the piano filled with the expression of Mr. Goode without having to endure the miscellaneous sounds a piano can make, nor the sounds of the airspace between the mic(s) and the piano strings.

Richard Goode has had a lengthy successful career, considered to be a master interpreter of Beethoven. He has two releases of Bach Paritas, both of which are critically acclaimed and one of which appears on Rhapsody. This recording of Mozart takes us through lesser known pieces that are so well played that you will even forget to notice his playing... as natural as the pieces themselves. Mozart as it should be played. With emotion, but also with a keen sense of structure, melody, and timing. Mozart was the master of the "Classical" period, providing that incredibly sturdy bridge between the regimented counterpoint of Bach and the romantics, such as Beethoven and Brahms. Mr. Goode does sweet justice to these pieces.

Ok, need to get back to some good indie stuff before I become too refined here. Enjoy!

Neil and The Crickets

Great Lake Swimmers- Great Lake Swimmers Ok, while we wait for the completely new albums to be added to Rhapsody today (not a great new releases week anyway though), here's one that was released two years ago but is being re-released today. It's a beautifully quiet, delicate album with heavy Neil Young influence (the good kind). The band is based in Toronto--one of my favorite cities--and actually just released their 2nd album, Bodies and Minds, in Canada last month. Unfortunately, it won't see release in the US until August 16th, so I assume it will be that long before we see it show up in Rhapsody.

This self-titled debut album is haunting, with simple acoustic instrumentation and vocals recorded in what sounds like a cave, complete with a lo-fi hiss that gives the impression of a light breeze, a distant river, or even a family of crickets. Don't let me give the impression that it has a hokey feel though... the atmosphere adds nicely to the sparse songs. The vocals have just the right amount of shakiness and modesty to fit the songs very well, while still able to occasionally lift up the songs with beautiful little harmonies. Album has a gorgeous closer...

... and I think those really might be crickets. Sure hope they recorded it outside in the summer up there. I've been there in the winter. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Enjoy!

And Now For Something Completely Different... Sorta.

Kronos Quartet - Henryk Górecki: Already It Is Dusk (String Quartet No. 1, Op. 62) (1988) / Quasi una Fantasia (String Quartet No. 2, Op. 64) (1990-91) I received such a great response to the last post. Rock on to all of you who took the time to listen to that incredible work. Luckily, it's not the only thing Mr. Górecki has written. It's definitely the piece that has received the most attention and is my favorite, but I also love just about everything else of his I've had the opportunity to hear. On the wave of attention that the Symphony No. 3 recording brought (went to #13 on the British POP charts!!), Nonesuch records released a series of fantastic recordings of Górecki's stuff. The album in today's post is one of those.

I was so excited when I saw this album released way back in 1993. What could be better than the Kronos Quartet performing works by Górecki? I rushed out and bought it and listened to it as quickly as I could. Well, what a surprise. I really wasn't sure what to expect from this recording as I knew that Górecki was (is) a modern composer and that his 3rd Symphony was a surprise to some when he wrote it back in 1976 because it was unchararcteristically traditional. But, what direction had he taken since writing his 3rd? This recording is comprised of two pieces. The first, Already It Is Dusk, was written in 1988, and the second, Quasi una Fantasia, was written in 1990 and 1991. So we're 10 plus years beyond his 3rd and upon my first listen I really wasn't to sure I was happy about the progress.

These two pieces are not at all as initially digestible as his 3rd. These are much more thorny, much more dissonant, and much more schizophrenic. A difficult listen. I am generally not a fan of modern classical music, and that was my first impression of these pieces. But, because it was Górecki and because of the impeccable playing of the Kronos Quartet, I forced myself to give it a better listen. It was a struggle at first, but in the end it was this recording that truly clued me into Górecki's amazing talent. Don't get me wrong, I was well aware of his skills after hearing his third, but for me, this 2nd album was kinda like an awesome sophomore effort from a band... the one that proves to you that they aren't just a one-good-album band... one where they don't just try to copy their first album but continue their growth as artists. Granted, there were many albums of Górecki's stuff out before this, but it was the 2nd one I heard so it had that same effect for me.

I don't think there is a more passionate composer alive today and hardly a one throughout history. He has an amazing ability to grab hold of your emotions and do with them as he will. These pieces are full of anger, frustration, fear, resignation, disillusionment. Again, as with the 3rd Symphony, it deserves and requires a serious listen. I don't expect it will have you in tears, but your heart will race at times and by the end of the pieces, you will probably feel the same kind of exhaustion as the music exudes. I love, love, love it.

Fingers crossed that the other Nonesuch Górecki albums are added to Rhapsody soon too. Some awesome choral works. Enjoy!

Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki - Symphony No. 3 Oooooo, I am so excited to tell you about this one! Thank you Mr. Robert of the Radish for asking me that "Desert Island Song" question earlier today and making my scour my brain (I know, that shouldn't take too long... haha... you're funny) for my absolute favorites. In doing so, I discovered that the best recording of my absolute favorite "classical" piece is now available on Rhapsody! Now, in the end I didn't choose anything from this album even though it is one of my favorites of all time because I'd probably end up shooting myself if I were listening to this album and stranded on a desert island (or maybe jumping out of a tall palm tree if I didn't have a gun). It is so, so, so, so sad. While I consider myself to be in touch with my emotions and willing to pour myself into music and be moved by it, nothing has evoked such a strong emotional response from me as this one has.

Now, before you get all excited and jump right into this one, let me get you in the right frame of mind. First of all, don't even attempt to listen to this one unless you have a solid 30 minutes set aside in your day to sit down, put this on, and listen to it closely. That's how long the first of three movements is and it is just so incredibly important that you listen to this one straight through and don't lose focus. It is so intense and putting it on as background music is just so inappropriate for this kind of beauty. Secondly, make sure you're wearing waterproof mascara if you are an eye makeup kind of person. And guys, don't invite your "dude" friends over right after this. If you do not have tears running down your face by minute 13, then you are either not following my first instruction above, or you're dead. Thirdly, let me just tell you a little about the piece itself. The first thing you are going to hear is a double bass (yes, the enormous upright bass) playing a beautiful, tragic melody. You might have to turn up the volume to hear this, but hearing it is important. You see, what you are hearing is the first statement of what becomes a huge canon... (or round, for the layfolks out there... you know... row, row, row your boat... ). Listen closely and you'll hear that right after the double bass starts playing the melody the 2nd time, another double bass comes in a little after, playing the same melody in a round. Only difference is that the 2nd double bass is starting a 4th higher than the original double bass. After that 2nd double bass starts playing the melody the 2nd time, a cello comes in playing the same melody in a round as well... and it also starts a 4th higher. This continues further and further up until we finally get to the violins wailing the sorrowful melody, the previous instruments still pushing through the round, the basses reduced to a rumbling, and emotions soaring.

Intense for sure, I see this as the mounting cries of the people of Gorecki's homeland, Poland, during the 2nd World War. Gorecki is strongly patriotic and wrote this symphony for his country. When the canon is in full swing, the violins are practically screaming with the pain of his people, while the now rumbling lower instruments represent, to me, the crumbling buildings, distant bombs, and underlying sounds of destruction and death. Slowly, the fury subsides, the screaming drops out, the rumbling does as well, and we wind down the canon fading out in the middle, peaceful instruments... a sigh of relief as the smoke clears, perhaps.

We are then presented with a bright sound, from the piano.. the striking of a single key. Almost signaling some soft of enlightenment or perhaps realization... as this is followed by the beautiful soprano sounds of Dawn Upshaw singing the Lamentation of the Holy Cross Monastery. The words, in Polish, are a mother crying over a dying son. Perhaps the realization note was the realization that her son had been wounded and is dying. Her voice is now weeping over his body, sorrowful, passionate. Her short prayer then builds into an incredible crescendo as she gives in to the realization that he is dying and we are hurled back into the thickest part of the canon, the wailing and the rumbling at full force. This is, in my mind, as dramatic a moment in classical music history as I canthink of. This is when my tears continually find their way to the surface.

Slowly we are let back down to the ground by the canon as again the peaceful instruments fade out and we are left shellshocked, tired, trying to make sense of all that has just happened...

Ok, phew... that's enough. I do encourage you to listen to the rest of the Symphony as well as it is all beautiful and hard-hitting. As you can tell I love love love this piece and I hope I can introduce it to at least one person out there who ends up feeling the same way about it. Enjoy!

Woohoo, I'm Goin' Bigtime!

No, just kidding. No bigtime for me. I just finally got around to forking out the 8 or so bucks for a domain name. I've been meaning to do this for a while, but am just now doing it because I am starting to play around with some other blogging tools/hosts, etc. and don't want to have to keep telling people new URLs if I make changes. So... drumroll please... from now on, please go to: http://www.worthymusic.net Exciting, don't you think? Yeah, me either. For now, I am going to stay on Blogger, but I am looking at some other possibilities like Typepad, WordPress, Movable Type, Textpattern, etc. but all of those cost some level above free, whether it be for the software itself or, in most cases, the web space to host it. So, I am testing out a bunch of stuff to see what I like. I think the biggest reason for me wanting to make the switch besides my curiousity is post categories... something so simple, but just apparently not something Blogger will be adding any time soon. Also, I like some things like the TypeLists in TypePad, etc. We'll see. One added feature of actually paying for it would be that I could hold someone accountable when things don't work. I've been having a lot of problems with Blogger lately but since it's a free service I get what I get... sigh... Chris