Archive | April, 2010

SWOD (Song of the Day/Word of the Day) #15: Neologism

13 Apr

Today’s Word:

Man, would this confuse me

Neologism (Noun): The use or creation of new words or expressions.

Musical Example: There has been a long and illustrious history of musicians thinking about made-up words and placing them into songs. And, this Neologism knows no bounds, extending from Broadway’s use of fantastical in Song of the South’s “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” to Hanson’s “MmmBop,” which still baffles me. What were those kids thinking? But, what I believe is the best example of this art, is a band that successfully creates a brand new word and expression, “Californication”

Yes, I believe the song is supposed to portray the dark side of Hollywood, but that doesn’t leave it resistant to the fact that it is completely made up. The Red Hot Chili Peppers don’t seem to care. They like making up words (or at least combining existing ones). Their song “Quixoticelixer,” meaning an impulsive medicinal concoction if you separate the two words, is just another example of this Neologism

“Californication”

New York Concertpalooza

12 Apr

Disclaimer: Concerts may not come with sick light show

Happy Monday everyone. Well, I should say, happy Monday morning everyone. After a long weekend of little sleep, I am back to blogging with a big smile on my face. I thought we would do a little concert preview on the Music Court today. Summer always brings warm weather and large, triumphant tours. There are a lot of good ones this summer. For today’s post, we will explore some of the names that are going to be popping up (hopefully not just in New York) in your area this summer (and one in the fall). I will do this in chronological order and let you know my feelings on the concert below it. Keep in mind, there are several other amazing tours going on this summer. This is only a short sampling. I would love to hear your thoughts on all of these concerts and others below. Please comment. I urge you.

State Radio and John Butler Trio (June 15, 2010 at Central Park Summerstage)

State Radio and John Butler are good friends. They enjoy very similar things, music being a big knot holding the friendship together. This summer they have decided to let the country hear the fruits of their friendship. And, I am PSYCHED! State Radio and the John Butler Trio are two extraordinary bands. The John Butler Trio will come into this tour riding the success of their new album April Uprising. State Radio, who released their newest album last September, will certainly enjoy Butler’s company while they bang out their own great hits. This should be an exciting concert.

Link with other concert dates: http://www.stateradio.com/content/state-radio-and-john-butler-trio-summer-tour-announcement

Carole King and James Taylor (June 15,16,30 at Madison Square Garden)

It is always exciting when two lyrical masters take the stage together. This combination offers an unusual opportunity to see King and Taylor perform their old hits. They will most definitely make the biggest arena on Earth feel like an intimate venue.

Link: http://www.thegarden.com/events/carole-king-james-taylor-610.html

YES and Peter Frampton (June 26 at Jones Beach Theater)

Welcome back to 1970’s rock. The stuff that happened before it all went to you know what. YES and Peter Frampton will pair up for a 25-city USA tour this summer that will most definitely be a blast. Frampton is hitting the road in support of his new release, Thank You Mr Churchill, which is set to hit the music world on April 27. YES will tour without vocalist Jon Anderson or keyboard player Rick Wakeman who both have ongoing health issues. Yet, guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire, and drummer Alan White, will join forces with Wakeman’s son Oliver on keyboard and Benoit David on lead vocals. It should be a fun concert.

Link with other dates: http://www.yesworld.com/ywtour.html

David Gray and Ray LaMontagne (Aug. 19 at Jones Beach Theater)

David Gray and Ray LaMontagne are sensitive singer/songwriters and their brand of music is relaxing and stunning. When I saw that they were co-headlining, I was understandably excited. Both Gray and LaMontagne’s recent releases were great successes and it will be awesome seeing them on stage together. This a concert where venue can make the show. If the Jones Beach summer night is cool and airy, with a light sea breeze swirling through the air, the music will be elevated to a heavenly level.

Link with other dates: http://www.sentimentalistmag.com/2010/03/31/david-gray-and-ray-lamontagne-announce-joint-tour/

Roger Waters (Oct. 5 at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 12 at Nassau Coliseum, Nov. 3 at Izod Center)

Yes, you have that right. Three dates in the tri-state region. Buffalo will even get Roger Waters. Waters’ tour will focus on the 30th anniversary of The Wall and I am really looking forward to it. I will definitely come home for school for one of these dates. Roger Waters put on an amazing show during his Dark Side of the Moon Tour a few years ago. This fall should be no different.

Link with other dates: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/04/12/roger-waters-announces-30th-anniversary-tour-for-the-wall/

Rumors: The best concert rumor out there is a potential huge Paul McCartney tour that may be his last hurrah. Keep checking back. I hope it happens

Six Degrees of Your Ipod #2

9 Apr

The second instalment of Six Degrees of Your Ipod is happening…RIGHT NOW! I know it is mightily exciting. This weekend will be full of philanthropy and Delta Sigma Phi (two great things).

1.) “Homecoming King” by Guster

Guster, the alternative rock band that was formed by three Tufts University students students in 1991, is quite possibly the best thing to ever come out of Tufts University. Okay, I’ll give you Allan Cormack who won the Noble Prize for his work on x-ray computed tomography. Anyway, all kidding aside, Guster is tremendous band who combines wonderful harmony, awesome bongos, and great instrumentals. “Homecoming King” displays all of these wonderful qualities and more and is some of Guster’s best work.

2.) “Blue Suede Shoes” by Carl Perkins

3.) “Back Home” by Eric Clapton

4.) “Can’t Find My Way Home” by Blind Faith

5.) “Dizzie Miss Lizze” by The Beatles

6.) “Going to Monaco” by The Mountain Goats

John Darnielle is a musical genius and I have not hesitated writing that on this blog numerous times. “Going to Monaco” appears on Bitter Melon Farm which is the second album in a three-part series of compilations of songs. It was released in 1999 and has 27 songs. “Going to Monaco” first appeared on the EP Transmissions to Horace in 1993. The EP has 10 songs (isn’t that more like an album.” The song is a short acoustic ditty with a great lyric.

Connection: In “Homecoming King” Guster makes mention to going back to the year 1994 and in a sense, going home. This is one year after John Darnielle released “Transmissions to Horace” on cassette on the record label Sonic Enemy. Sonic Enemy also released Beck’s first album “Golden Feelings” in 1993 on cassette. On Beck’s album he has a song entitled “Gettin’ Home” about going home. So, Guster to Mountain Goats to Beck.

John Lennon’s a Jealous Guy

8 Apr

John Lennon would have been 70 years old this October if we lived in the world he depicted in his beautiful hit, “Imagine.” Yet, 30 years ago, as Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono returned to the Dakota, the New York apartment building where they lived, Lennon was shot multiple times in the back by Mark David Chapman and killed. His voice and mind may have been silenced that night, but his message of peace and love lives on today.

As Lennon’s October birthday approaches, the city of Liverpool, England, has announced a festival in his honor. Liverpool thankfully understands how important the former Beatles’ musician is. The festival will be a two-month celebration. It will begin on Oct. 9, Lennon’s birthday, at the Cavern Club. The Cavern Club is where the young foursome were first discovered by manager Brian Epstein. The events taking place during the festival are still being ironed out, but it will feature poetry, art, film and a tribute concert titled “Lennon Remembered.” The festival will end on Dec. 9, the 30th anniversary of Lennon’s death.

This is fantastic news. I feel that it is remarkably important to remember John Lennon. Yes, he was certainly cocky and sarcastic, but, he extended a fatidic message of peace that remains just as important today as it did 30 years ago. I am sure Liverpool will put on a great display devoted to the late Lennon that will make super fans, like myself, proud. Give peace a chance and Imagine.

Article: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/04/liverpool-prepares-for-two-month-john-lennon-festival.html

In other John Lennon related news, American Idol had its Lennon-McCartney songbook night on Tuesday and the result was an expected uninspiring string of covers. Yet, Casey James, a 27-year-old contestant from Fort Worth, Texas, stood out with a performance of Lennon’s solo piece, “Jealous Guy.” James’ voice is tender and he certainly gives it his all. I kind of enjoy his bare performance of the Lennon classic. What do you all think?

Article: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/04/07/songs-from-lennonmccartney-catalog-return-to-american-idol/

Lyric of the Day #77: Top 100 Lyricists #70 – Beck

7 Apr

“In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey
butane in my veins and I’m out to cut the junkie
with the plastic eyeballs, spray-paint the vegetables
dog food stalls with the beefcake pantyhose”

– Beck: “Loser” off of Mellow Gold (1994)

Beck being Beck

Please, do not spend a lot of time attempting to decipher the lyrics above. “Loser,” multi-instrumentalist Beck Hansen’s most popular hit, is a string of somewhat unintelligible poetry that provides no apparent pattern or lyrical rhythm. It is the definition of complete musical entropy. Beck’s perplexing lyric is a wave of wonderful randomness and that is what makes it awesome. Yes, you heard it hear first. Sometimes there is just no meaning.

Now, do not get the idea that all of Beck’s lyrics are an odd mixture of random words and phrases picked out of a grand hat. “Loser” is just an example of an experimental lyric. The regurgitated words come together and form a hugger-mugger. A jumbled mass of images set to an acoustic slide and callisthenics in a graveyard. It is Beck, the idiosyncratic music master, at his very finest.

Beck was born in Los Angeles, California to musician David Campbell and former Andy Warhol “Star” and visual artist, Bibbe Hansen. After his parents separated, he chose to stay in Los Angeles with his mother where he was introduced to a burgeoning hip-hop scene and with his mother’s art crowd. His influences were beyond diverse and he caught much of his parent’s talents.

Beck dropped out of high school (like so many musicians) in the mid-1980’s and took a tour of Europe, honing his musical skill through busking. He eventually found his way into the anti-folk movement of New York City in the late-1980’s and was further inspired. After returning to Los Angeles, he started taking several dead-end jobs before finally recording. His first official single was released in 1993 on Flipside Records.”MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack” remains one of my favorite Beck songs. It combines hilarious social criticism with true frustration. It is real and I always respected that about Beck.

“mtv makes me wanna smoke crack
fall out of the window and I’m never comin back
mtv makes me wanna get high
can’t get a ride no matter how I try
and everything’s perfect
and everything’s bright
and everyone’s perky
and everyone’s uptight
I love those videos
I watch ’em all day”

– Beck: “MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack”

Beck opens the song with these lyrics. He depicts the fraudulence of MTV. “Everyone’s perfect,” delineates Beck’s annoyance at the sitcom-like nature of the artificial music videos of the time. It has further expanded into the deceiving programming that currently makes the MTV network the true trash of television. Beck anticipated its arrival.

“Loser”

“MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack”

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