Songwriters, the blitz edition...

When you like a song, what is it that you like about it? Do you like the melody? Is it the rhythm that gets you? The lyrics? The quality of the singer's voice? Each of us reacts to music in a unique way. Some people cannot enjoy a song if there are any instruments or vocals that are even slightly off of true pitch. Some folks won't be able to enjoy music being sung in a language they do not understand. And we enjoy different songs in different ways. The way I love listening to Remmy Ongala is different from the way I love listening to Gary Jules. And certainly, there are songs we like for no reason other than it evokes a memory of another time in our lives; some childhood moment, some significant event.

I've been on a music listening kick recently. Indeed, everything I've written about so far has been about listening. But truthfully, I don't spend a huge amount of my time listening to music. Often, I prefer quiet, particularly if I am out walking, riding, or driving. But lately, I've been listening to a lot of music, and thinking about why I like a particular song or artist. Typically, this process convinces me I will never write a great song! So there's a sort of torture in listening to great songs. I love it, but it reminds me how far I have to go!

So I thought I'd write down a few thoughts about various random songs. Putting these feelings into words will be either a learning experience for which I am thankful, or a pretentious disaster I rue forever. My odds are on the latter. For no reason at all, and with no thought to ranking, these entries are numbered.

1. Red Vines, by Aimee Mann. I really love this song. Just a great combination of groove, great melody, and beautiful lyrics. The band is smoking, the song has a great pocket, and wow, there's this great poetry being sung over it! Her songs are so personal. One of the things that draws me into her music is that it is so raw, so bare. I think it wouldn't hurt for me to get a bit more personal in my own songwriting.

2. All My Days, by Alexi Murdoch. I love the production on this track, and I think it's just really well put together as a song. Reminds me a little of Nick Drake at times. I particularly enjoy the picking on this tune. It's so much smoother than the stuff I tend to think of. I need to spend some time practicing new picking patterns.

3. Mbiffé, by Amadou and Miriam. Dimanche à Bamako was produced by Manu Chao; talk about a power trio! Bring together the best, and this album is the result! This is the music that inspires me the most. I can't explain it well, but this sort of music moves me at the most fundamental level. I listed Mbiffé here, since it was that simple beginning that immediately drew me into this new album, but the entire album is first rate. I imagine Sénégal Fast-Food is the obvious single, with Manu Chao bringing his voice into the mix. Listening to this doesn't make me think about structures and "songs." It doesn't make me reflect or intellectualize my music. It makes me want to immediately get into the studio and start making some grooves!

4. Smash, by Avishai Cohen. The version I have is from As Is...Live At the Blue Note, a recording I highly recommend. From a compostional standpoint, I feel like listening to Cohen's band on this album is like attending a school for how to put fucking notes together! Aside from being an unbelievably good bassist, his compostions have a really tight harmonic structure that's almost haunting. And talk about finding the pocket of all sorts of crazy time signatures... this music reminds me to work on my technical skills and to study theory.

5. Burnin' And Lootin', Bob Marley and the Wailers. OK. Now you know you're a Wailer lover if you care which version of a particular song you are listening too. I love the music from every stage of Bob's career, but my favorite stuff is from the mid-to-late-seventies. All the songs they had been singing for years suddenly took a bunch of bong hits and slooooowed down. The pocket, already deeper than most bands have a right to be, got even deeper. All the years of playing together was starting to really pay off with an almost supernatural sense of connectedness. And this song is just about the top of the heap for me. This Live At The Roxy recording is a great combination of nice thick, full recording quality, and a band in absolutely top form. Listening to this reminds me that, behind the 'meanings,' the forms, and the grand ideas, it's always gotta have a pocket!

As you can see, I'm heading down the alphabet. I'll continue this next time...

Come on feel the Illinoise! Or, Why I hate Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan's music came to me the way the best music does - by word of mouth. A friend mentioned him to me, and about a year later, I finally got around to checking him out. My reaction, right from the first was, how could I have wasted almost an entire year not listening to this?!

Sufjan Stevens has an amazing gift for melody and orchestration. I don't think there's anyone out there making such gorgeous music. His arrangements are complex, but in a way that never interferes with the beauty of the song.

In 2003, Stevens released Greetings from Michigan - The Great Lake State, and announced that he was planning to do an album for every state. We'll see. So far, it's just Michigan and Illinois.

I wanted to focus on Illinoise for this post. It was the first one I heard, and it's still my favorite.

The first track opens with a beautiful, pulsing piano. It's called Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois. Who could imagine a more beautiful song about such a strange subject?

Track two has perhaps my favorite title: The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself In the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience But You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, "I Have Fought the Big Knives...". How's that for a mouthful? I'll admit, the long titles get annoying when it comes to remembering which song is which. Come on, I'm forty years old! I can't remember stuff like that!

Come On! Feel the Illinoise!, Pt. I: The World's Columbian Exposition / Pt. II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In a Dream is a brisk 5/8 romp with a great piano riff and just a crazy arrangement. Unlike a lot of "experimental" music, Sufjan has a way of keeping strange meters and complex orchestrations grounded in songs with strong, beautiful melodies. This song switched to 4 and really has some amazing sections in the middle. Definitely one of my all time favorite keyboard solos, gritty and gorgeous.

Finally a short name! John Wayne Gacy, Jr. isn't just about the notorious serial killer. It's also the most beautiful ballad on the CD. Really, I don't have words to describe this stuff. Just go listen to it, at least twice.

The biggest hit from this album is probably Chicago. For good reasons - it's a great song, AND it has a short name! It's also a great example of how Stevens uses very direct, personal lyrics. He doesn't sing in elliptical, hidden metaphors, he just sings plainly, even if it isn't. [how's that for mixed up...] An example from this song:

I drove to New York

in the van, with my friend

we slept in parking lots

I don't mind, I don't mind

I was in love with the place

in my mind, in my mind

I made a lot of mistakes

in my mind, in my mind

How simple is that? I always try and get too deep, to reveal some hidden layer in my lyrics. I could take a lesson here. One of the reasons Stevens affects me is the plainspoken lyrics that are intensely personal.

On that note, I want to post a longer section of lyrics, this time from Casimir Pulaski Day:

Golden rod and the 4-H stone

The things I brought you

When I found out you had cancer of the bone

Your father cried on the telephone

And he drove his car to the Navy yard

Just to prove that he was sorry

In the morning through the window shade

When the light pressed up against your shoulder blade

I could see what you were reading

Oh the glory that the lord has made

And the complications you could do without

When I kissed you on the mouth

Tuesday night at the bible study

We lift our hands and pray over your body

But nothing ever happens

I remember at Michael's house

In the living room when you kissed my neck

And I almost touched your blouse

In the morning at the top of the stairs

When your father found out what we did that night

And you told me you were scared

Oh the glory when you ran outside

With your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied

And you told me not to follow you

Isn't that just amazing? Wow. I'm blown away by lyrics like this. I swear, I think I could just listen to this song on an endless loop...

So why then, you ask, do I title this "Why I hate Sufjan Stevens?" Because he is one of those rare songwriters who just seems to have it all together. He's prolific, he writes amazing lyrics, incredible melodies, and top notch arrangement. What's not to hate? As a songwriter perpetually struggling to get above "good," I simultaneously want to worship and strangle a talent like Stevens.

"Lifeline" by Ben Harper

I have a bit of a strange relationship with Ben Harper's music. On paper, he's perfect. Great musician, smokin' band, great voice, and a bent toward social justice issues. And there are some songs where that all comes together amazingly well. Most of Burn to Shine was a real pleasure. But there's just one thing that usually keeps him from being in a lot of my playlists - his lyrics. I usually like the subject of a given song, but there's something about his turn of phrase that rubs me the wrong way. Like, he seems overly fond of turning cliches around so as to make them rather clever. It's kind of cool the first time, but after awhile, it starts to get a bit old for me.

Anyway, I want to get to this album I'm listening to at the moment. It's called Lifeline, and it was recorded live to analog tape in a Paris studio. Needless to say, that's not terribly common these days, and more than anything else, it's a real testament to the tightness of the Innocent Criminals. The ambiance of this session has a warmth that makes this feel more like a record. Not just a group of basically random songs, but a sort of old-school album feel.

Of course, there are plenty of places on this album where Harper's lyrics bug me a little. In "Fight Outta You" he says "Shoulda known better than to mistake business for love," which seems to me a bit pendantic. Of course the next line is "Shoulda known better than to mistake a fist for a glove," which is a lot more intriguing as a bit of wordplay. And that's the way it goes through every song. Some real gems, surrounded by phrases that at times border on trite.

"In the Colors" really lets the band show its stuff. They kick right off with a some great riffs, and really lock down the pocket the whole way through. "Younger than Today" is another great example of my love-hate thing with Harper. Beautiful song, really, but the lyrics bug me. And I don't think I can really explain it. It could be just me. The most memorable melody on the album is the gorgeous slide work on "Paris Sunrise #7." It feels raw, up close, and sensitive. It's maybe no surprise, now that I think about it, that the instrumental is my favorite track...

Overall, Lifeline is a really well made album. It sounds great. I like the stereo spacing on the mix, and the live analog sounds just wonderful. I'll have to give this a few more listens before I find if there's any songs that will make my regular rotation, and join the rank of beauties like "Morning Yearning" and "Happy Everafter In Your Eyes" from Both Sides of the Gun, or "Steal Your Kisses" from Burn to Shine.