Posted by fitz in Music, Soundtracks on Jul 27
Welcome back!
Hi again!
Have you ever seen a movie where music composer John Williams did a movie score? His film scores for movies such as Star Wars, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and so on have entertained us for more than four decades. Some of his influences for the first Star Wars soundtrack may have come from a particular work by composer Gustav Holst. Holst’s most famous piece is “The Planets,” which was a suite of seven movements, each named after a planet and its corresponding astrological character.
In “The Planets,” the seven movements correspond to Mars (War), Venus (Peace), Mercury (the Messenger), Jupiter (Jollity), Saturn (Old Age), Uranus (the Magician) and Neptune (the Mystic). Each movement has a different character to it. For example, Mars is heavy and insistent with horns and drums, like a general marshaling his troops for a battle, while Neptune has a lighter, more mysterious feel to it using woodwinds. And each movement also is tied to the astrological character of the subject.
A new group has taken a similar approach to Holst in their new CD Eight Moons, composing songs about eight of the major moons with names of the gods – from Mars to the distant dwarf planet of Eris. Omnimi seems to seek a blend of classical, choral, and world music to evoke some of the same powerful feelings as Holst’s work – from the dramatic to the relaxing.
And, like Holst, each track feels as though it should be part of a movie soundtrack. “Phobos – Mars I” with its merging of a choir and driving percussion would be at home in a film like the upcoming Conan reboot starring Jason Momoa coming to theaters in 2011. There’s almost a desert feel to some of the percussion, giving it a vaguely “Arabian Nights” flavor.
From Phobos we move to “Io – Jupiter I,” which has a less insistent beat but somehow manages to fill the room with power with higher voices and strings building and building. What’s intriguing is there’s a rock guitar in the middle punctuating the lighter vocal performances, bringing this tune into a more modern era. Parts of the melody would feel right at home in the recent trailers for Chrisopher Nolan’s Inception.
My favorite of the tracks is “Neso – Neptune XIII” which manages to capture an ethereal, almost fairy-like sound and merges it with the incessant roll of the sea. Neso in Greel mythology is one of the goddesses of the sea and one of the 50 Nereids – one of the sea nymphs. Through a use of interesting beats behind the scenes along with the strings and voices it truly feels as though you are rolling along the waves.
Ultimately, I think Omnimi has done an amazing job in composing some truly unique songs in a Holst style. Movie directors and producers seeking full-sounding orchestrations for their own films would do well to give Eight Moons a listen to see how they might be worked into current productions. Hopefully we’ll hear more from Omnimi in the future!
For more information about Omnimi, be sure to check out their website at OmnimiMusic.com.
This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.
–Fitz
p.s. Pick up the CD here:
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Posted by fitz in Music on Jul 23
Hi all…
Once upon a time, I was more aware of up and coming bands. While living around Denver, CO, I regularly listened to KBCO on the radio – a station famous for a mix of both new and old tracks. Through KBCO I was introduced to bands and performers like Peter Mulvey, Snow Patrol, Jason Mraz, Brandi Carlile, and many many others. Unfortunately I don’t get to Denver much to take advantage of that influx of new artists and music. So I’d never heard of the band White Apple Tree before…
White Apple Tree (WAT) consists of brothers Ryan and Taylor Lawhon, and drummer Stefan Mac. Though founded in 2007 by Ryan as a solo project, his brother Taylor and Stefan joined pretty quickly after he recorded a solo five song EP – Taste the Celebration. In 2008, they released a single – “Snowflakes” – that was picked up by the hit TV show Gossip Girl, which gave them worldwide exposure far beyond their Southern California haunts as they toured across America and did numerous local shows. Fans clamored soon after for more songs from the group, resulting in Velvet Mustache – their debut album.
When Velvet Mustache appeared one day and I started to listen, I found myself immersed in a landscape of drums, synthesizers, and the occasional guitar and loving every minute of it. And as I started listening to the words behind the lush electronic landscape, I began to see a very unique point of view start to emerge.
What I immediately heard in the music itself were similarities to groups like Dishwalla and Snow Patrol – the layered electronic sounds mostly based around a synthesizer built upon with drums and voices singing about growing up in Southern California, the trials found in relationships of all kinds, and the swelling numbness all too common in the madness of the everyday.
“Youth” provides driving melodies and drums while its lyrics describing the seeming apathy of today’s kids. “We stick around because we don’t care / None of us have had to work for nothing / Let’s go to Tyler’s house and waste some air…” It’s tragic and yet telling of many of this new generation growing up without a direction. The music injects an urgency lost in the words.
“Clarity” is my favorite song on the album. There’s a beauty to the almost haunting synthesizer melodies and voices that reminds me of the hopeful nature of music I listened to in the ’80s. But again the lyrics call out a moment of clarity in the darkness – “Cover up my eyes / The tint is dark / So no one sees their shit fall apart…”
And “As Seen On TV” compares life to what’s on television and wondering if we’ve become jaded by all the violence. “Not death, life, birth, or pain / Can shock us now, we’re all the same / And now, or then, we’re jaded” they sing “It’s the man with the gun pointed at my chest / A whispered threat under his breath and I know / It’s just as seen on TV…” With another generation raised in front of the tube, can any of us be surprised or affected by the violence in the world? If it happens to us, do we see it as real or break it down mentally as though “this doesn’t happen in real life, just on TV”…
White Apple Tree not only creates great electronic-based music, but lyrics that make you think. Social commentary and music have always gone hand in hand. Is it enough that young bands like WAT try to inject their passion and observations of the world around them into their music? Velvet Mustache is an awesome mix of music and introspection I hope to hear again soon.
For lyrics and more details about the band, be sure to check out their website at WhiteAppleTree.com.
This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.
–Fitz
p.s. Pick up Velvet Mustache below!
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Posted by fitz in Music on Jul 13
Hi again!
Sometimes I get clubbed on the side of the head when I least expect it. Though I’d heard of Great Big Sea when I reviewed Séan McCann’s Lullabies for Bloodshot Eyes a few months ago, I really didn’t know much about this band from Newfoundland, Canada. I listened to Fortune’s Favour and it was good, but didn’t wow me. But when I heard Safe Upon the Shore it was definitely a wake-up call.
This is the 10th album from Great Big Sea, a band that’s been together for 17 years. Safe Upon the Shore was recorded over the space of six months in New Orleans, St. John’s in Newfoundland, and anywhere inspiration happened to strike – including buses and dressing rooms while on tour. Evidently a good portion of the album was recorded on band member (and one of the founders) Alan Doyle’s laptop, which provided a mobile recording studio just about anywhere they happened to be.
Doyle, Bob Hallett, and McCann were the driving songwriters on the album, but it also included some co-writers you might not expect – like Russell Crowe and Canadian singer-songwriters Randy Bachman, Jeremy Fisher, and Joel Plaskett. With the New Orleans vibe and additional influx of influences, the group managed to push their usual sound to something I found to be truly inspired.
With a mix of styles, from folk and Bluegrass to rock I’d be happy to hear in any pub, this group of five musicians – Doyle, Hallett, McCann, Murray Foster and Kris MacFarlane – provides a full bodied sound that uses damn near everything that isn’t nailed down… Guitars, bouzouki, mandolin, banjo, piano, accordion, concertina, whistle, harmonica, fiddle, pipes, bodhran, drums, keyboards, and lord knows what else. If it has strings or keys, I bet these folks can probably pick it up.
But on this album it was the mix of deeper, haunting tracks with those imbued by humor that really caught my attention. For me, albums are made or broken by the way they’re constructed. The “landscape” of music that allows a comfortable mix from highs to lows and everything in between. Safe Upon the Shore provides a landscape as rich as the pictures of Newfoundland I’ve seen… from shores to hills, ice to sky.
The other thing you’ll immediately notice if you listen to the lyrics is the sadness buried in the cheerful melodies. It’s that irony that works for songs like “Good People” touting the fact that we’ll always have good people even when things are at their worst… “We’re running out of trees and we’re running out of space, but we’ll never run out of Good People…” And in “Over the Hills” they describe the life of a soldier – “Safe at home we’d rather stay / watch our children grow and play / we owe the Crown so now we’ll pay – over the hills and far away.” But it’s duty that leads good and men away from their families when their leaders call.
There’s too much on the album I absolutely loved, so I’ll just focus on a few tracks.
“Yankee Sailor” manages to be both cheery and sad describing a love that’s not to be with a beautiful acoustic guitar driving the tune. “We were poor / but I was satisfied / and I thought that you were too / You were pure / and I was terrified / I wasn’t good enough for you…” And when that lass met the Yankee Sailor that led her across the waves he knew he’d lost her. “America is beautiful / and I sure hope you’re right / if I could see you across the water / I’d say America is beautiful tonight…” The whistle in the background, with some amazingly simple but gorgeous harmonies adds emotional depth to this story of love lost.
In “Hit the Ground and Run” we hear the story of a shotgun wedding with some amazing Bluegrass… “You better lock the church door tight ’cause at the slightest crack of light that boy is gonna run…” This song hits the ground running and doesn’t let up to the end with it’s driving banjo riffs and hilarious story sung with humor.
It was “Safe Upon the Shore” that really drove this album home for me. A haunting ballad sung a cappella, the tale unfolds of a woman waiting for her “darling sailor boy” to come home. The lyrics alone are heartbreaking, but the slow reveal and Séan McCann’s emotion-laden voice that really drove this track home. “Now fisherman they cast their nets like miners pan for gold / and sailors push off from the docks and pray the gales will hold / the sea just sits silently / but sometimes she does more / and someone weeps as her love sleeps safe upon the shore…” It reminded me of the poetry of Gordon Lightfoot‘s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” which has haunted my musical memory for 30 years.
But in “Road to Ruin” with its “You can take the sunshine / I can take the moonshine / You can take the high road / I can take the low / though later in the evening / the one thing I believe in / I’m on the road to ruin / it’s the only way to go” I found my wife and I described… Again, the humor of accepting the lives we lead and relationships we keep manages to merge amazingly cheerful music and ironic lyrics into a tune that made even me want to dance.
Where Fortune’s Favour didn’t really capture my soul, Safe Upon the Shore managed to do that quickly and never let me go. I’ll be listening to this album for quite a while and shouting far and wide that I too am on the “Road to Ruin” and happy to be there!
Be sure to check out Safe Upon the Shore when it’s released on July 13, 2010. For more information about the band, check out GreatBigSea.com.
This article first appeared on BlogCritics.org here.
–Fitz
p.s. Pick up this and other great Great Big Sea albums below!
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Posted by fitz in Music, News on Jul 07
Hi all…
This takes the cake for me in the bizarre world of “getting a piece of” just about anything through lawsuits. Men at Work has lost a lawsuit because the flute work of their 1980s hit song “Down Under” was “stolen” from a more than 50 year old Australian folk song – “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gumtree.” And to me, it only sounds vaguely like the flute riff from “Down Under”… So what gives?
Now EMI Songs Australia has to pay 5% of the royalties from the song (earned since 2002 and from all future earnings) to Larrikin Music – the company who owns the copyright for the “Kookaburra” song. What’s even more bizarre is that Larrikin was asking for 60% of the royalties and they’re planning on appealing the ruling to get more of the pie.
Come on people… This is nuts.
If you want money, write an original song. Colin Hay and Ron Strykert did.
–Fitz
Posted by fitz in Music on Jul 06
Hi again!
Howard Jones has been a part of the soundtrack in my head since the 1980s. With such an amazing career with tracks such as “Things Can Only Get Better,” “What Is Love?”, “No One Is to Blame,” and “Everlasting Love,” his synthesizer pop sound seemed to do no wrong as New Wave album after awesome album appeared on the pop charts. Even today, it’s impossible for me to hear “No One Is to Blame” and not sing along in the car.
Even in his mid-50s, Jones is still touring and playing music for his worldwide fans. His songs have appeared in several movies and video games over the last 30 years and there’s just some endearing quality about his talent and personality that keeps him and his music in the limelight.
1984 seems forever ago, but “Like to Get to Know You Well” was a worldwide hit on The 12″ Album. He followed it up with “No One Is to Blame” in 1985 on Dream into Action, the Action Replay EP in 1986, and my favorite album – Cross That Line in 1989 with “The Prisoner” and “Everlasting Love.” Back then, MTV was actually a place to watch amazing music videos such as Jones’ video for “Everlasting Love” featuring a pair of mummies seeking the perfect relationship.
Now he’s releasing a new album – Ordinary Heroes – which provides the same Howard Jones we know and love but with a bit older, wiser, and more introspective flair. He still loves to write about love (“Even if I Don’t Say”, “Love Never Wasted”, and “Someone You Need”), but now he is mixing in songs about children growing up and going out on their own (“Soon You’ll go”), the unrecognized heroes all around us (“Ordinary Heroes”), and the lives of ordinary people (“Straight Ahead”). All ten tracks on the album are wonderful, providing glimpses of an aging Jones who seemingly hasn’t lost a single step since I heard him in high school.
My favorite song on the album by far is “Soon You’ll Go.” There’s something about the concept of watching your children grow, change, and leave the nest that’s one of those amazingly consistent themes of life. Even the recent Toy Story 3 release deals with it in an emotional, yet inevitable way.
“Tiny fingers clutching round the edge of the bed / Wouldn’t listen to a single word your mother said… These things I will hold on to / when I can’t hold on to you…” Howard’s lyrics bely simple sentiments, based in the memories each parent has of their children from birth to the time they move on with their lives. And the piano, Jones’ voice – backed by a choir – and the obvious emotion just emphasizes the story of the lyrics.
“Ordinary Heroes” – the title track – is my other favorite. “Ordinary heroes / There’s one one on every street / You might not recognize them / ‘Cause they’re just like you and me…” Jones focuses on the people behind us, making us strong and safe. The mothers and fathers, wives, and family that make us who we are. Jones’ voice, piano, and a nice acoustic guitar melody woven through the composition reinforce that none of us are truly alone if we look hard enough.
Thoughout the album, Jones’ piano skills lend themselves from the upbeat tunes to the slow songs and his voice sounds just as good now as it ever did. Howard Jones continues the legacy of the ’80s and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down or losing his touch.
If you’re a Howard Jones fan or are simply looking for something more hopeful and upbeat than the current songs beating the airwaves senseless, I’d encourage you to give Jones’ Ordinary Heroes a listen!
For more details about Howard Jones, his albums, songs, or tour dates, be sure to check out HowardJones.com.
Article first published here on Blogcritics.
–Fitz
p.s. Pick up this and other great Howard Jones CDs below!
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Posted by fitz in Movies, Music, Soundtracks on Jun 28
Hey there…
James Newton Howard has always been a bit of a mixed bag for me as far as soundtracks go. There are always some amazing pieces within the whole of one of his movie scores, but I think his soundtrack to The Last Airbender may be my favorite of his so far.
Like a painter, the film score composer has many tools at his or her disposal. Broad strokes done with horns have a different effect than a quiet flute solo and the power of a single violin has a much different effect than the entire string section of an orchestra. And bringing in heavy, percussive drums and cymbals has yet another completely different effect.
It is also the job of any good movie soundtrack to not only enhance the action on screen, but also provide auditory clues to the audience. For example, each time you hear “The Imperial March” in a Star Wars soundtrack from John Williams, you know that Darth Vader is near. But more than that, the music should evoke an emotional response from the audience.
Within the soundtrack to The Last Airbender, I hear bits that make me think of Williams’ work, Basil Poledouris’ work on the Conan movie soundtracks, as well as classical influences from the East and a bit of a Russian feel. The composition as a whole provides many layers that evokes in me a lot of hope for this movie.
The industrial power of the Fire Nation seeks to convince the rest of the world that their way is best and the old ways must give way to the new. The other nations have their own ideas however. The peaceful Air Nation has been destroyed, the Earth Nation has become isolationist, and the Northern and Southern Water Nation tribes are isolated by virtue of location. Where they all once worked together, now the world is full of distrust and a version of the “Might is Right” line of thinking.
The opening “Airbender Suite” provides a taste of the musical themes that persist throughout the soundtrack. The breathy flute gives way to the cresting waves of strings and horns as we prepare to see the story of a world in the midst of a clash of philosophies. All twelve tracks of the soundtrack utilize the full extent of the highs and lows of an amazing orchestra.
Newton has given each tribe a different feel – from the powerful militant drums of the Fire Nation to the light and airy Air Nation flutes. Each tries to capture one of the four elements of Air, Earth, Fire, or Water in terms of a group of instruments, chords, or melody. Immediately I was caught up in the ebb and flow of these inspired orchestrations.
Of the soundtracks I’ve heard so far this summer, The Last Airbender by Howard has to be my favorite. The mix of instruments and styles from around the globe lends itself to some very unique compositions such as “The Four Elements Test,” which takes distinctly Eastern flutes and bells and combines them with the drums, horns, and strings of more Western traditions. Out of the 12 tracks on the soundtrack, this one is my favorite as it builds and builds to its conclusion.
“The Blue Spirit” is my other favorite, as it managed to surprise me with its use of silence to punctuate eerie crescendos and crashing waves of strings and drums. It reminded me of some of my other favorite soundtracks such as Raiders of the Lost Ark by Williams and Gladiator by Hans Zimmer as it progressed from light and soft to a powerful mix of horns and strings worthy of a great climax in the film.
Howard has received eight Oscar nominations so far in his career, including six Best Original Score nods for Defiance, Michael Clayton, The Village, The Prince of Tides, and My Best Friend’s Wedding. Personally I think that The Last Airbender is the best work to date I’ve heard from him and would expect this score to also receive award nominations.
As a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the animated series on Nicktoons that M. Night Shyamalan‘s movie is based on, I have to admit some worry about how it would translate to the screen. If Howard’s film score is any indication of the movie quality, I have gained some newfound hope for the entire experience. We’ll see if the film lives up to the promise of the soundtrack on July 2, 2010! Check out The Last Airbender soundtrack when it’s released on June 29, 2010.
Article first published as Music Review: The Last Airbender Soundtrack on Blogcritics.
–Fitz
p.s. Pick up this and other great soundtracks below!
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Posted by fitz in Music on Jun 09
Hi there!
Somewhere between the 1980s and today, the use of a horn section in a rock band fell out of favor. I’m not sure how or when, but we went from awesome sax solos and trumpets in songs like “Urgent” from Foreigner, “Who Can It Be Now?” from Men at Work, and Huey Lewis and the News when they toured with the horns of the Tower of Power. Sure there are a few groups like the Dave Matthews Band who still use a trumpet or sax now and then, but it’s not quite as integrated into the whole rock experience as it used to be.
Now bring in Frank Viele and the Manhattan Project (from where else, but the New York City metropolitan area) – a six piece group featuring Viele on vocals as well as acoustic and electric guitars, Mario Capdiferro on drums, Rob Liptrot on bass and backing vocals, Eddie Arjun Peters on lead guitar, Pasquale Ianelli playing tenor, soprano, and baritone saxophones, and Andrew Mericle on trumpet. Add to that mix Richie Cannata playing sax (from Billy Joel’s band) on “Turn Around,” Jason Hirth on keyboards on six tracks, and Ben Golder-Novick helping on the alto sax on six tracks… and where having a strong horn sound can sometimes overwhelms a band, these guys sound amazingly well together.
They’ve been touring together for a few years now and Neon Lights is their first full-length album. It doesn’t disappoint, crossing multiple genres (funk, rock, pop, jazz, blues, and swing) on nine great tracks.
What blew me away was the title track – “Neon Lights”. It opens with a bass line that has stuck with me like few recent songs, reminding me of the way the bass line in “Running Down a Dream” from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers wormed its way into my head to the point where I can’t help but sing along. Layer that with Viele’s rough voice, the backing horns, and some sweet lead guitar and it is tough to get me to stop listening to it over and over again…
Like most great bands who write their own songs, the lyrics for “Neon Lights” tell a story as well. A modern tale of wanting the best for an ex- with drug and alcohol problems… “Then my hip starts buzzing, you’re on the telephone / But Honey you know they’re wrong and that you don’t want to stay…” It’s not quite a plea for her to come back (after all, in the first verse they say she “ain’t coming home”), but you can tell he’s worried.
Another great track is “Portland Rain” which has some awesome horn riffs that remind me of some of the great R&B groups of the ’60s and ’70s. It’s a throwback to an earlier time with a guitar solo tearing up a chunk of the song as well.
And so you don’t think it’s all R&B and rock, their song “Try” sounds very much like something you might hear from Dave Matthews. The syncopated rhythms on an acoustic guitar mixed with Viele’s voice talking straight to a girl he wants to get to know better… “Yeah but Baby, there ain’t enough wine in me to tell you that God is on your side / And there ain’t no holy roller that’s gonna bring you peace tonight / … / But if you leet me be your lover, I will bring you peace tonight…” It’s a heck of a pick-up line to play from the stage, but it just might work!
My only complaint with this album isn’t with the musicians, but with Viele’s voice at times. Every now and then it was so gravelly or growly that it was nearly impossible to tell what he was singing. But most of the time when he wasn’t going that far, he sounded great and was backed up by his amazing guitars and horn players.
If you’re looking for something different with some sensational horns and guitars and a funky modern feel, give Frank and the boys a listen. Look for Neon Lights at your favorite music online or brick-and-mortar retailer when it’s available July 13, 2010. And check out their website at FrankVieleMusic.com for a list of tour dates and more information about the band!
This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.
–Fitz
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Posted by fitz in Books, Childrens, Music on May 18
Hi again!
Though this is a book review for Michael Franti‘s book – What I Be – I have to preface the review bits with a story… Feel free to skip ahead to the review bits, but I wanted to provide a bit of context.
In March 2010, my wife and daughters went to the John Mayer concert at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Opening for Mayer was Michael Franti, the lead vocalist for Spearhead. My girls were just as excited about Michael as they were about seeing John Mayer, though I had never heard the song “Say Hey (I Love You)” before we purchased the tickets for my youngest daughter’s 5th birthday.
When they arrived at the concert, they were met inside by a lady we only know as the “John Mayer Ticket Fairy.” And when this nice gal discovered that this was AJ’s first rock concert, she gave the three of them front row tickets on the spot. To say the least, everybody had an amazing time during the concert and both my daughters were brought on stage with several other kids in the audience to dance and sing with Michael.
We will never be able to top this concert experience. But I think Michael has made friends for life.
When my wife discovered that Michael had written a children’s book – What I Be – she asked me to see if I might be able to get it to review. So I asked the nice folks who handle the press for Mr. Franti if they’d mind if I did so and they were kind enough to send not just one copy, but four! We’ll be donating a copy to the elementary school my daughters attend as well as the Pikes Peak Library District in our home town of Colorado Springs.
So what is What I Be? What I Be originally appeared as a song on Michael’s album Everybody Deserves Music and was adapted as an illustrated children’s book later. The story emphasizes the journey of self-acceptance that we all go through as kids and even as adults by taking on the characteristics of nature, which is a great analogy that just about everybody can probably understand.
Far too often, I think we look at nature but don’t see it for what it is. We consider ourselves apart from nature, when in fact we wouldn’t be here without it. So though the book centers on the journey of self, I think there’s also an environmental aspect to the story that shouldn’t be overlooked.
The main message is to share those qualities with others you most want to be associated with. Enjoy life and share laughter, wash away the pain of others, and generate clean air like the tallest trees. Understand your heritage, share the fruits of your labor, feel emotions like waves on the ocean… How can you argue with those sentiments? Through the use of analogy, metaphor, simile, and expressive, descriptive adjectives kids will connect with this book on multiple levels.
Ben Hodson illustrated the book beautifully in a style that evokes the openness of Michael’s message and makes it very kid-friendly. He’s illustrated other book such as Pigs Aren’t Dirty, Bears Aren’t Slow and Other Truths about Misunderstood Animals,” which has such an intriguing title I had to order a copy.
Also included with What I Be is a CD featuring Michael, his son Ade Franti-Rye, and their friend Youssoupha Sidibe singing along and playing with the text of the book. It’s fun to read along with Michael and listen to Sidibe playing a Kora (Senegalese harp).
If you’re looking for a colorful, fun book as a gift for some young reader, What I Be lays a beautiful foundation for further discussion of self acceptance and an awareness of our connection to nature. Definitely good messages all around. For more information about Michael Franti, Spearhead, or his book, be sure to check out his website at MichaelFranti.com.
This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.
–Fitz
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Posted by fitz in Music on May 17
Hello there!
Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I discovered the world of a cappella. A group of us from high school (and then into college) started listening to The Nylons, a doo-wop a cappella group that sang such classics as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” the “Duke of Earl,” “Poison Ivy,” and “(All I Have To Do Is) Dream.” In those few years I think we saw them at least once a year, sometimes twice as they’d tour the Front Range of Colorado. A group singing “a cappella” means that they sing without instrumental accompaniment. No drums, no backing band, just raw, naked vocal talent. It takes more than simply having a great voice – you must also be able to hear the harmonies around you and keep to your part while those around you are singing sometimes wildly different melodies or sounds.
So when I first heard Bobby McFerrin, I was already familiar with the concepts of a cappella. Yes, this is the man who sings “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” – but don’t let that throw you off. “Don’t Worry” was a big hit back in the late ’80s and inspired many to take the time to stop, slow down, and enjoy life for a while. When I bought the album Simple Pleasures on tape (yes, it was that long ago), I was stunned to discover that the man who sang the slacker anthem of my high school was one heck of a talented vocalist with a range that stuns me even today and the gift to create sounds that I still have no idea how the human vocal cords can make.
Like I tend to be with many artists, I visited McFerrin’s realm several times over the next few years, enjoying his albums Medicine Music and Bang! Zoom before his career faded a bit.
In late 2009, I watched The Sing-Off with my family on NBC, which was a competition for amateur a cappella groups from around the world that lasted about a week. Though I’d listened to a few podcasts featuring some of the amazing college a cappella groups around the United States and beyond, it was great to see groups like Nota and the Beelzebubs sing their hearts out for a recording contract. And in the season finale, Bobby McFerrin walked on stage and sang “Drive” with the finalists. The chance to see him perform live with these younger artists, even on television, was enough to remind me of all of his amazing work I’d enjoyed 15-20 years ago.
Now in 2010, McFerrin has released his latest project – VOCAbuLarieS. Only a master of his own voice and singing with others would consider taking more than 1,400 vocal tracks from members of Voicestra, his singing ensemble, and fine vocalists from the worlds of jazz, opera, performance art, early music, cabaret, and rock and roll including Grammy-winning recording artists like R&B singer Lisa Fischer, Brazilian jazz innovator Luciana Souza, Janis Siegel of the Manhattan Transfer, and the stellar ensemble singers of New York Voices. This is truly a magnificent achievement.
The album starts off with the song “Baby,” which first appeared on Medicine Music in 1990. But this version definitely isn’t stuck in the 1990s. Somehow the layers and layers of voices and whistling not only add to the already rich melodies, but give a depth to the song that wasn’t in the original. It provides a good bridge to the past and to what McFerrin and his singing companions will do throughout the rest of the album.
“Wailers,” “The Garden,” and “He Ran for the Train” all seem to have a tribal African feel to them. But “Messages” had a vaguely Indian or Asian feel with the tiny cymbals in the background. And “Brief Eternity” feels like a Gregorian Chant at times in its intricately woven harmonies. So you can tell McFerrin continues to defy categorization. You can’t pin him to one musical style any more than you can trap the wind. And that remains yet another of his gifts.
Though I enjoyed the world-wide musical journey of VOCAbuLarieS, I almost feel that he’s lost his connection to the kidlike wonder that made his early albums more accessible. Simple Pleasures with its incredible energy will always be in the back of my mind when I hear McFerrin’s name. As Jon Bream said at the Star Tribune – “If Glee represents high school, the amazing vocalizing on this CD is a post-doctoral adventure.” I’m not typically one to go to the library to read someone’s doctorate, but if this is to be Bobby McFerrin’s magnum opus, it’s easy on the ears.
I hope to see him appear more often on the national stage in shows like The Sing-Off to inspire new generations of singers in person and through the infinite reach of television. And I hope that he continues to release albums – but I wish he’d visit the past to gain back some of that energy.
This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.
–Fitz
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Posted by fitz in Music on May 11
Hi everyone…
Who would have thought that bluegrass music would become a guilty pleasure for me? In the last year, I’ve been learning to love bluegrass and Americana, with that unique combination of strings, hope, and passion among those fiddles, banjos, and harmonies strummed, picked, and sung to express life’s loves and losses and the road between. Some Strange Country is my first exposure to the band Crooked Still, but they’ve been around since the early 2000′s.
Aoife O’Donovan’s expressive vocals are but a part of the composite that forms when this quintet purrs along on all cylinders. Joined by bassist Corey DiMario, banjo player Greg Liszt, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddler Brittany Haas, the finger-picking and bow-playing layers add depth and balance that makes even the saddest moments full and emotive. To put it bluntly, these people are amazing.
Some Strange Country features a mix of traditional songs, original works, and a surprising version of the Rolling Stones‘ “You Got the Silver.” Nowhere along the album’s path did the group stray from the classical roots of bluegrass or the skills that brought them where they are today – touring to support the album to be released June 1st, 2010.
I knew I was hooked from the first song “Sometimes in this Country.” As O’Donovan sings… “Sometimes I’m in this country / sometimes I’m in this town / sometimes a thought goes through my mind / that I myself will drown…” accompanied by a gentle banjo melody and string bass that drives this song from beginning to end. Through the song you can hear the other band members playing with the rhythm and melody combinations to add almost a jazz-like playfulness between fiddle, cello, the banjo, and vocal harmonies.
Contrast that with the slow, emotional vocal and instrumental melodies of “Distress,” which evokes a feeling of loss. As a lover of traditional Celtic-sounding songs, this one seems to blend an Irish lilt with the bluegrass to create something not entirely new, but sharing a familiar and comfortable sadness that goes beyond ethnic background or musical style.
My second favorite “Half of What We Know” again merges a steady beat with a melody that rises and falls with a Corrs-style chorus above Liszst’s incredible fingers picking the banjo. With poetic verses like “Your lonesomeness I see / but I know it’s not for me / the mountains all have crumbled to the sea…” I lost myself finding meaning in each poetic line. Each turn of phrase might be interpreted any number of ways, as with much of art – a quality missing from far too much of the music heard on the radio today.
And though I’m not a religious person, there’s a passion and energy to “Calvary” that can’t be denied. From the cello and banjo solos and the vocal harmonies, this song simply rocks and tells the story of Jesus’ final day. Who knew a song about events in the Bible could be so well written and entertaining? “Behold faint on the road ‘neath the worlds heavy load / comes a thorn crowned man on the way / with the cross he is bowed but still on through the crowd / he’s ascending to the hill on the grey…” This is the first song in quite a while (since Matt Duke’s acoustic “Kingdom Underground”) where I’ve felt my spirit moved in ways it rarely goes.
Even if you’re not a bluegrass fan and simply like to hear great words, musical skills and performances, I’d recommend you take a listen to what Crooked Still has to offer. This isn’t Hee-Haw bluegrass, but instead a blending of musical styles and sensibilities around the bluegrass feel. Some Strange Country will remain in my listening queue for quite a while.
Be sure to take a look at the Crooked Still website for information about their tour schedule and previous albums.
–Fitz
p.s. Please check out this album and others from Crooked Still below!
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