Archive | November, 2011

The Crazy Road of Stained Glass

9 Nov

Stained Glass

Another Obscure Classic Rock post and another underappreciated band. Stained Glass was a pop band from San Jose, California, that was formed in 1964 by Jim McPherson, bass, Roger Hedge, guitar, Bob Rominger, guitar, and Dennis Carrasco, drums. They all provided vocals.

After being signed by RCA at the end of 1966, Stained Glass was instructed to record a version of the Beatles’ “If I Needed Someone.” RCA estimated that the Beatles were not going release the single in the US for a bit of time, and their slight miscalculation probably impacted the limited success of Stained Glass’s version, but, the song garnered enough airplay to spark a brief East Coast tour for the California band. The immediate follow up to the band’s first single was “My Buddy Sin”/ “Vanity Fair” which was released in the same year. We are going to take a listen to “My Buddy Sin.”

“My Buddy Sin”  moves like a merseybeat tune (and this is understandable because their last recording was just that, a Beatles’ merseybeat song), but the band adds in some other elements that makes this song stand out. First off, the vocal harmony is unorthodox. It is not your typical light-hearted, fast-paced, early Beau Brummels’ like American merseybeat harmony. No, instead, it almost takes a page out of the Association’s handbook. The harmony is rich and delicate. It is fresh and entrapping, more like a choir than a pop group. The song also features a bluesy harmonica and a fast-paced blues guitar solo over an angelic vocal background. It is an odd mixture of genres, some popular at the time, and some prescient (British folk, for example). It, to me at least, seems like a strong second release. A great song. It is overlooked though, in favor of the band’s 1967 version (and following single) of “We Got a Long Way To Go,” which is, despite its popularity, a little trite and uninspiring. After another follow-up single and the departure of Hedge, Stained Glass released their first album Crazy Horse Roads, which is perhaps best known for its controversial cover (see picture below), but should actually be known as a strong release from a budding psychedelic band that sampled strong vocal harmony and garge rock flavor.

Sort of - Kind of - Definitely distrubing

The needle touches down on typical fuzzy garage-rock guitar, Stained Glass harmony, psychedelic sampling, and hints of folk. It is wholly diverse and filling. Yet it did not, and still has not, gained the recognition it deserves. This case kind of surprises me. Stained Glass was too good of a band to just fall into obscurity. They were able to fuse genres and that generally leads to success. Perhaps it also sometimes distracts listeners. I am including the most accessible song from the album and one of my favorites.

Listen to McPherson’s driving, funky bass and Rominger’s loud hollow-bodied electric with fuzz. Catch the vibes. The psychedelic flavoring can be heard in the riff and solo, as well as the echoed choral endings. I hear Blues Magoos and a little Count Five. Pretty much, Stained Glass should have gained more success than they did and that is unfortunate.

In 1969 Rominger was replaced by Tom Bryant and a second album, “Aurora” was released which didn’t sell well either. The group disbanded in 1970. According to the wikipedia page for the band,  the very talented Jim McPherson died in 1985. Dennis Carrasco lives in the San Jose area. Tom Bryant lives on the east coast. Bob Rominger lives in Newnan, Georgia.

Higher and Higher: Passion Pit, the Concert Review

7 Nov

Hey devoted followers and fair weathered readers, you may have noticed I’m taking a slight break from my normal column to delve into the wide world of concert reviews.  I’d heard mixed reviews of seeing Passion Pit live but they left no doubts that they can put on one hell of a show.

I’d like to digress for just a little, though, to give a shout out to the opening band, We Barbarians.  The opener for the last show in the same venue, whose name I won’t speak, left a lot to be desired, mostly an hour of my life that I could never get back so I was slightly biased.  The Barbarians, however, forced me to reconsider what I had previously learned and I think you should check them out above this.  Take a look at this link for some pictures of the venue (Cornell University) and the show itself (Barton Hall).

Now, on to the main attraction.  Let me set the stage for you.  We Barbarians finishes playing at 9 and it’s 9:30.  In a space meant for 1,000, you’re surrounded by 4,999 people who want nothing more than to get closer to you than your girlfriend.  You’re sweating from places you didn’t know you could sweat from and smoke hangs in the air from both the smoke machines and the kids smoking weed in a 360 degree radius surrounding you.  Needless to say, you’re quite hot and bothered.  And then the music starts and, if only for an hour, you and the crowd are no longer at odds with each other but become one in the same pursuit.

For one thing, I was really surprised with lead singer’s Michael Angelakos’ stage presence and stage act.  From the first song he was interacting with the crowd, having us sing along, a trend which he continued for the entire evening.  Also, despite not playing an instrument for most of the show, he did include theatrics in his stage act, such as twirling, throwing and catching his microphone, reminiscent of Roger Daltrey of the Who.

Also, I was really impressed with the band’s ability to recreate their very electronic sound on stage.  The band did a really good job of switching instruments to replicate multiple parts and Angelakos’ high pitched, falsetto vocals sound the exact same as they do on record.  You could tell the band was having fun on stage and that energy kept the crowd jumping, dancing and just grooving to the music.  Go see them, it’s worth it.

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The Olivia Tremor Control – Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle

7 Nov

This post goes out to all those good things which existed in the 90s. Most of them were and still are completely unknown to anyone because they were buried in a sea of garbage that is usually associated with that era (by me anyway). Rarely does anyone even go back to that time period even as a result, unless it is for cartoon show themes. But let me tell you, there are some things from the 90s which stand out like shining jewels among the debris, and I am proud to present one to you tonight.

The Olivia Tremor Control is definitely up there in my top 5 in terms of bands. Part of the Elephant Six Collaborative and hailing from Athens Georgia, the band is the most perfect form of psychedelic rock. They basically sound as if the Beatles had never stopped making music, and this was just actually where they were in the 90s. The album which I will be sharing is called Music from the unrealized film script: Dusk at Cubist Castle. It was released in 1996 and was sadly swept away in the unfortunate river of boy bands, rap, and other nonsense. But I have managed to fish it out (I proudly own the CD), and will write a few words about it.

The first song on the album is “The Opera House”. A barely inaudible vocal loop flies by quickly and a raw guitar starts playing its hard rock line. Don’t forget to notice the bizarre assortment of horns coming in from all angles. “We feel OK, which is how we feel most of the time now” The lyrics are only going to get trippier from this point on in the album and I feel like this song is very good warm up.

Something I love about this band is the fact that the lyrics are always approaching dark in sort of psychotic fashion, but restrain themselves just before that point. It gives the lyrics this sort of friendly sarcastic vibe, which I most definitely rock out to and practice on a day to day basis. &)

“Jumping Fences”: This title alone speaks on a more psychedelic level. Another almost downright silly guitar intro is quickly forgotten as the rhythm joins the party, especially that suave bass line. The lyrics in this song have got to be some of my favorite ever. “We both know that this world made no sense, when you jumped everybody’s fence.” I feel like you either understand what this line means or you don’t, and it all depends on your experience with magic.

This song at a little under 2 minutes is a quick, rocking display of why this band sounds like the Beatles. If you don’t hear the similarity then you may have never heard the Beatles. And don’t think that I’m saying that they are ripping the Beatles off. The Olivia Tremor Control has definitely contributed more to this genre of psychedelic rock than almost any other band, they just had the misfortune of picking the 90s.

I  really am not sure which song off this album is my favorite, but there definitely are times when I believe that song to be “Holiday Surprise 1, 2, 3”. This song starts out slow and easy, almost with a country vibe. I’d like you to notice the vocal layering which this band uses, because that is what gives these songs that darker edge. Specifically the lines “Don’t Worry” and “In a dream” employ this and definitely to great effect.

Somewhere at around 2 minutes this song plateaus at what can only be described as being launched through the clouds and peaking in to a full and beautiful sun. Immediately after you begin your descent and the song acknowledges that fact. “Please, Please, Don’t you ever change your mind on me.”

“Courtyard” can be best described as a haphazard song. The melody is wonky and rhythm is simple,the piano is just downright ridiculous, and yet it contains some of my favorite lines ever. “Going back to where you are, and there’s nothing that I can’t tell you that you don’t already know.” I still can’t accurately tell what it means. Also a short song, it is the kind that puts a smile on your face whatever the situation. It’s simple and fun.

The Olivia Tremor is rumored to have reunited to create a new album, which makes me very happy. This band deserves a lot more recognition then it currently has. Almost no one makes such well thought out and all around trippy music they use. If you are lucky enough to own a CD or Record of theirs, then you will be rewarded by being able to actually notice all the different layers each and every song contains. Seriously, there could be up to 12 sounds playing at once at any given time during a song, and mp3’s will never be able to do that justice.

The more stuff happening at once, the tripper, am I right? You just have to learn how to pry out the gems.

&)

Listen to this band, because bands like Korn definitely did not deserve the fame.

-oko

P.S. This song, Tropical Bells, is trippy enough as it is. But then someone decided to make this video for it. &)))))

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A Poetic Commute – Some Itinerant Posting From The Music Court

4 Nov

Not quite like this, but, it was pretty splendid.

Happy Friday readers. I have a short, delicate post for you all this afternoon. A “poetic” post, if you will. Today, as I commuted to work, I noticed a radiant sunrise (and people ignoring it) and it goaded me to take out my blackberry and scribble down some words in a note. So, in a manner similar to SWOD (an old Music Court category where I took a vocabular word and matched it to a song), I will do the same with my brief poetic passage below. What the heck, right? Let’s change it up a bit (like the theme). Will this be consistent? I’m not sure? I enjoy creative writing, and while I do not often propagate this information, I feel that some well-intended verse cannot hurt. Let’s get to it, shall we.

“Why must we ignore the sunrise? Have we become immune to its ineffable splendor? Do we not wake up early on vacations to fit the early sunrise into our perturbed schedules and spurious relaxation? We “plan” to see a daily event that we could witness everyday. And we say “wow” as the sun performs its matutinal act over an eastern mountain or a spotless sea. We hug. We kiss. We claim to respect the pulchritude of our observable realm. “I understand.” But I, we, you do not.

 The Fall sunrise, a sky dappled with orange smoke with red undertones. A halcyon melody, a wake-up song to the world. It bathes clouds in light as it methodically unwraps itself from warm bed sheets. It doesn’t smile, yawn, wave, but sits up and stares  at specks of moving particles, neurons and synapses, shooting signals at incredible speeds.  Yet, it is shunned, forced to rise while only getting passing glances from the same quotidian molecules, looking only at the train, distracted by pieces of bland technology, and the market presentation at noon. Take a moment before the fire is lit and the sun sits on its throne in the sky. For a brief moment it is waking up and it’s never a dull, pablum morning. We can learn from a sunrise, if we would only open our eyes.”

Mrs. Robinson, Are You Trying to Seduce Me?

3 Nov

People of today, Lady Gaga isn’t the first one to push boundaries of what we are willing to accept from our stars in terms of eccentricity.  Elton John started blazing trails of strange looking clothing, obnoxiously large earrings and oversized sunglasses back in the 70s, and his reign as a pop icon has lasted for more than four decades.  Just to give you some perspective on how popular he is, here are some stats I find unbelievable.  He’s sold more than 250 million albums, putting him in the same class as Elvis, the Beatles, Michael Jackson and the Rolling Stones; those numbers helped by his seven straight number one albums in the US. Oh, in case you weren’t impressed enough, his tribute to Princess Dianna A Candle in the Wind, sold 33 million (THAT’S RIGHT 33 MILLION) copies.  (To put that in perspective, it takes one million copies sold to make a record platinum certified and five million to make it diamond certified.)  He’s still relevant too, check out Elton at the Grammys with Eminem.

They probably consider themselves a folk duo, but Simon and Garfunkel are pretty much everything a pop band should be.  From the folk mold, they sampled acoustic instrumentation, simple harmonies and traditional song structure.  But folk in many cases had become political (like Dylan) or attempted to emulate the common man by sounding like him (like Woodie Guthrie) or was rough around the edges (like Pete Seeger), yet Simon and Garfunkel inherited none of these characteristics.  Their songs are finely polished and record not man at his most weary, but man at a stage of perfection, with graceful harmonies that are caressing enough to put a baby to sleep.

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