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A Concert Preview with a Kiss and a Fist

14 Sep

Florence Welch

Florence and the Machine is best known for their sprawling, anthemic sound carried by the distinct power that is Florence Welch’s Brit-blues voice, but before they hit it big with their debut Lungs and last year’s Ceremonials, Florence and her partner-in-crime Isabella “The Machine” Summers wrote a song that many interpreted to be about domestic abuse. It isn’t, according to Florence. The song is more a violent analogy than anything. It is, though, a tremendous debut single, and, as I preview what I’m sure will be a great Jones Beach show tomorrow, I want to focus in on what got me into Florence and the Machine in the first place. It’s quite simple. It was this.

“Kiss with a Fist” contradicts the majority of the material released by the band. While most songs are feature Florence’s crescendoing voice over a slew of heavy wall-of-sound instrumentation, “Kiss with a Fist” is a punk ditty and Florence sings it with an energetic constancy. I first heard the song on a New York radio station and remembered thinking that there was something refreshing in its throwback to British punk. Florence’s femme fatale vocal in “Kiss with a Fist” is refreshingly cheeky, an audacious middle finger to that thing called love. The single-note, distorted guitar solo towards the end just reaffirms the song’s punk roots, and, like all good punk sons, the repetitive rhythm ends in fewer than three minutes.

The Jones Beach show will sure have more of new Florence, but, I do hope she plays this.

One Fish, Dolfish – The Vocal of Max Sollisch

12 Sep

Max Sollisch is a throwback. He is not your typical musician. His music calls back to a day when post-punk low-fi was considered “indie,” before that genre of music was dominated by expansive outlets of multi-instrumentalists singing melodic tunes about nature. Not to say there is anything bad about that. Dolfish, though, is a call-back to when there was an edge to “indie” music. So, in that way, Sollisch reminds me much of John Darnielle, an artist who I admire. Sollisch, like Darnielle, has never given up on his mid-90s low-fi roots. Though, in the mid-90s, Sollisch, like myself, was only around six years old.

Sollisch is a 23-year-old Cleveland-born musician whose debut EP, Your Love is Bummin’ Me Out, was released last December by Minneapolis-based Afternoon Records. The record received praise for encompassing the style I mentioned above. Sollisch’s use of crafty lyric and short song lengths helped establish him as an artist on the rise. And, of course, his voice did not hurt this reputation.

Today, I want to introduce you to Dolfish’s first LP, I’d Rather Disappear Than Stay the Same, which features a backing band of Iowa musicians Sollisch met upon arriving in Des Moines to record. The 12-track record will be released on Oct. 30 of this year.

“I’d Rather Disappear than Stay the Same,” is an excellent example of what I have been writing. Sollisch’s voice, which features a higher-pitched nasal inflection much like Darnielle himself, is both tender and edgy. The raw emotion that he captures with his voice elevates the lyric to new heights. Not to mention, lyrics like “send a hungry rabbit to polish off my remains” certainly do qualify as witty. The song crashes into an infectious combination of acoustic and electric that supports Sollisch’s powerful vocal.

Here is another little teaser from the album. “In My Dreams You Are The One Who Burns the Coffee,” is another short song that, despite its length, has power. As a purely acoustic song, the listener can better hear Sollisch’s voice as he effortlessly guides us through his thoughts. 

You can check out more about Sollisch and Dolfish on his Facebook.

The Voice and The X Factor – What to Expect?

10 Sep

Who would you take in a fight, the judges of the X Factor vs. the judges of the Voice. It is a fair, four-on-four rumble. I would go with The Voice. Cee Lo would simply smother the new X Factor judge Demi Lovato…with uncomfortable come-ons and his wide array of tattoos, of course. Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid would put up a good fight (maybe Reid will call on Bieber for back-up), but ultimately, the country crooner and man with moves like Jagger, would pin Cowell and Reid. The battle between former Mickey Mouse club stars, Spears and Aguilera could get ugly. 

Last year, the Voice and X Factor did not go head-to-head, but this season they will be duking it out for viewers just one channel apart. Fox vs. NBC – the battle of the two singing competitions that are not aging superpower American Idol. Cowell has already thrown the first punch, calling the Voice’s decision to add a third night of auditions into their Wednesday time slot this week, “a cynical, cold-hearted, unprofessional way of doing business.” Oh, yeah. Simon is back!

So what can we expect from Season 2 of the X Factor and Season 3 of the Voice? Why should you watch either show? Well, that’s up to you. But, let’s delve into each show and figure it out.

The X Factor:

In Review:

For all intents and purposes, Simon Cowell’s decision to leave American Idol was smart. Idol has become tired. The talent is tired. It has run its course, despite its attempt of revitalization with the new judges. But, to think, Cowell disrupted one stable judge panel to bring his UK import to the United States, and he couldn’t even keep a panel together for one season – ousting Cheryl Cole in favor of wacko beauty Nicole Scherzinger because Cole was just a little too, how do I say, vocally British for the American public). Now, after one season of the show, he dropped Scherzinger and Paula, and brought in Britney Spears and Demi Lovato. Why? Season one was a complete failure. The ratings weren’t good, and, despite the judge’s attempts to cover it up, the talent just wasn’t great. The wrong winner won and has proceeded to expectedly do nothing – except for taking home the $5 million record deal. In most respects, nothing rewarding came from season one, besides from some of Scherzinger’s loony mannerisms while listening to her over-30 performer, runner-up Josh Krajcik.

What to Expect

The prize is still a $5 million record contract. I mean, somebody is bound to be good this year, right? That, I can’t predict. I can say, though, that if you choose X Factor you can expect:

– A host who…oh wait, they haven’t even decided on a host yet. Kelly Osbourne is apparently a finalist. If she gets it, perhaps Ozzy can perform and make the show infinitely better.

– A new Simon Cowell. Last year, he was anti-Cowell – bathetic and, dare I say, way too nice. He called the group “The Stereo Hogzz” one of the best groups he has ever seen on such a show. Who are the Stereo Hogzz? Exactly. He was trying to save his show by talking up every performer, good or bad. What he forgot is people like mean Cowell. They want the snarky British humor from a well-groomed ogre. He will return if he wants The X Factor to have a season 3.

– The trademark L.A. Reid, Night at Roxbury, head nod.

– One of the new judges is going to be GREAT. The other is going to be terrible. I just have a hunch.

– Justin Bieber as a mentor to L.A. Reid’s team. Guarantee he gets the guy or girl under-30 category stocked with one or two young kids that Bieber can actually ‘mentor’. For some reason, I can’t imagine a 45-year-old struggling blues artist taking advice from Bieber.

– Overly theatrical productions that near on grotesque and hard-to-watch

And the Winner is:

A 16-21 year-old pop/rock artist with an inspiring story

The Voice

In Review

I will admit something. After the blind auditions, I turned the show off last year. I did watch the entire season one, though. Why did I turn it off? Because the vocal battles are nonsensical, Blake Shelton was going to pick a team stacked with quirky female singers that remind him of his wife (and one male performer who will win), and I couldn’t keep looking at Christina Aguilera’s attempt at being 20 again. Also, it wasn’t difficult to predict that the winner was going to be a clone of the winner of season one. This season, though, despite the judges remaining the same, the show producers have changed things up a little bit. In the battle rounds, where a coach picks between two members of their team, the other coaches have a chance to steal the booted performer.

What to Expect

– Cee-Lo will be the coolest judge but lose. Why? I’m not sure. If there was a judge competition, I’d choose him. That should be some consolation.

– This is the year that Aguilera has a wardrobe malfunction. When you play with fire, eventually something is going to pop out of cleavage-exposed tight shirts for girls 20 years younger than you. Cee-Lo will consequently have a heart attack and his cat will revive him.

– Carson Daly will say the phrase “record deal” more than 50 times over the course of the season.

And the Winner Is:

Javier Colon…no, wait…Jermaine Paul…no, wait…

I actually think a quirky female singer will finally win this year, but, get this…she will not be on Blake’s team!

Apollo Ready for Lift Off

5 Sep

James Apollo

James Apollo can actually say that wander is his middle name. Apollo, a singer/songwriter currently based in Colorado and New York, was born in Arkansas, but spent many of his years in Minneapolis, San Francisco, New York, Tennessee, and now, Colorado. Oh, and there is the fact that Apollo’s actual middle name is wanderly. Some people fit their name perfectly.

Apollo has embraced his travel experience and allowed it to shape his music, which likens to that of Tom Waits, Alexi Murdoch, and Joe Pisapia, with excellent lyric baked into pastoral music, worldly and candid. It is the warmth emitted from Apollo’s songs that make them so appealing – a trait that is developed through his quiet, yet noticeably perfervid voice.

On his first tour of Europe, Apollo, who was supporting Grizzly Bear, was invited to perform on BBC. This led to several more radio appearances and a Manchester television feature. His UK audience grew. In 2010, Apollo released his UK debut album Till Your Feet Bleed. His new record Little War, Little Less was released in June of this year. Let’s enjoy a mini sampling of some tunes

“For Now” is a track off of Apollo’s 2010 release. Two elements of the song stand out to me. The delicate melody is intimate. It transports the listener to a mild night somewhere under stars on the open Plains circa 1810. Okay, maybe that’s just me. Its sweet simplicity is engaging and engrossing. Apollo’s voice helps add to this feeling. The vocal demonstrates an example of an individual who understands his voice. Thus the song’s verisimilitude. The listener understands, because Apollo is able to portray his raw emotion effectively.

“Blessed Or Bust,” a track from Apollo’s recent release, is markedly different from “For Now,” but it doesn’t lose any fervor. The song begins with a sprightly piano riff followed by a crash of rhythm, filled with horns and drums. This is where the strength of the song lies. As the song progresses, Apollo’s voice is shadowed by some sprinkled harmony and what even sounds like a flute. The culmination of all instruments, vocals included, at the end of the piece fits perfectly. 

Check out more of Apollo at his website, Facebook , and Twitter

Many Matches in the Matchbox

4 Sep

It’s often shocking how often you find yourself unknowingly enjoying a modern incarnation of a song that has its roots embedded in the past. Covers are great, but they spawn histories that are often forgotten. The Blues Evolution is The Music Court’s attempt to combine two engaging topics, music and history, and share tales of popular blues songs that were first recorded before the first rock n’ roll song was ever created.

Today’s song of choice is “Matchbox,” a blues song born in the 1920s and covered 30 years later by Carl Perkins (and later the Beatles). It is also a great example of musical telephone, where Perkins was forced to guess on the lyric of the decade-old blues song, thus creating an entirely new song that simply held the original’s foundation. So, if you will oblige, let’s take a trip down the long stretch of road that is blues history.

Blind Lemon Jefferson

It all begins with Blind Lemon Jefferson. Well, kind of. Blind Lemon was just one of the many ultra-talented blind blues musicians who inspired the eventual creation of rock n’ roll, but he developed “Matchbox” because he was inspired by a lyric in a Ma Rainey song. Blind Lemon, who has been called the Father of Texas Blues, was inspired by Ma Rainey – “The Mother of the Blues.” The blues ancestry works much like mythology, it seems. Blind Lemon and Ma Rainey inspired Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, and many, many others.

In Ma Rainey’s 1924 record “Lost Wandering Blues,” she sings, “Lord, I’m standing here wondering, Will a matchbox hold my clothes. I’ve got a sun to beat, I’ll be farther down the road.” In a pre-sampling example of sampling, Blind Lemon took that lyric and wrote, “I’m sittin’ here wonderin’ would a matchbox hold my clothes.
I ain’t got so many matches but I got so far to go.” Quite similar, indeed. Blind Lemon’s version of the lyric became more popular, but credit must be given to Ma Rainey as well.

There is Blind Lemon’s high croon and traditional Texas acoustic blues guitar. Gosh, pre-rock n’ roll blues is just awesome, isn’t it? This song was recorded several more times through the 30s and 40s but to no true popularity, though it was through one of these covers that the song was reintroduced to the public.

Thirty years later, Carl Perkins’ father suggested he cover the song in a December, 1956 recording session. Perkins’ father, Buck, was a student of old country music, and several country musicians covered the Blind Lemon song in the 1930s and 40s. He only remembered a few lines of the song. Carl decided to try his luck, and the session pianist, Jerry Lee Lewis (not a bad session pianist!), played a boogie rhythm on the piano. Perkins transformed the song into fast-paced rockabilly…with completely different lyrics.

The line that Blind Lemon adopted from Ma Rainey is still there. It is the only similarity that remains. The song, which Blind Lemon made about a mean woman, became a about a poor boy a long way from home. Here is Carl Perkins performing the song with Johnny Cash and Eric Clapton because we can!

The Beatles, who were inspired by Perkins, had received a request to record a Perkins song, and in 1964 they recorded the song with Perkins himself standing by. Yes, he was invited to the session, and did jam with the band (just not on the track). Ringo was tasked with the vocal responsibilities, and he sang the song while playing his drum set.

From the mother to the father to Mr. Blue Suede Shoes to the greatest band of the 20th century. And to think, I’m sittin’ here wondering if a matchbox will hold my clothes.

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