Beirut

6 Mar

Your sub-conscience can be a bitch… especially when using magic. As avid of a spell caster as I am, I still once in a while try to bite more [magic cookie] than I can chew. The result is my thoughts turning against me, forcing me to simultaneously fend them off while remaining socially acceptable. This is usually attempted via plenty of laughter and some very confusing dialogue most likely involving meta-physics.

Nothing like a friendly music exploring session turning into an exercise in masking your insanity to remind you why you always tell yourself this is the last time. Magic is a hell of a drug. Besides, sometimes thinking that everyone living in your house is just a figment of your imagination is definitely healthy for the soul… even if it has you shaking in half fear. It’s all in a good night’s fun.

Basically, Matt and I decided to have a music listening and sharing session, and I decided to eat a [magic cookie] or x3. Stuff happened, whether really, or in my mind… who knows?

But magic serves its purposes, which is how I, with Matt as my witness, bring to you a brand new term which will rock the very foundations of the internet.

Get ready.

There were hardcore breakdowns, which turn any song super heavy.

Then I invented chill breakdowns, which turn any song super relaxing.

And now I bring you…

A Folk Breakdown, which turns any song… super… ethnic?

I have but one example.

Pay no attention to the song, it’s really good at best, and wait till about 2:10 for the folk breakdown. It’s the sound of some random couple fighting in some foreign language in what could be a short clip from a foreign film set somewhere in some south-eastern European village. And it makes so much sense.

You listen to folk music because you want to connect with your roots and get a feeling for what your ancestors listened to, right? That’s what the name implies anyway because actually, most folk music is actually pretty modern and simply uses old instruments to get that folk sound. But regardless, you are connecting with the sound and you maybe picture in your head some rural villages and farm people.

And now, when this folk breakdown hits you are transported instantly into a scenario taking place in this imaginary rural village. It’s like watching a foreign movie without having to struggle to understand what’s going on because the music does all the speaking. I see it being used a lot more in the future…

And now, let’s backtrack to the actual music, because Beirut is a pretty good band. It started out as a solo project by a New Mexican sporting a mesmerizingly epic voice, a man by the name of Zach Condon. The band is characterized as combining elements of eastern European and Balkan folk sounds with that of mainstream western pop to create this really good music. The mixture of this with the man’s singing and the instruments creates this music that almost sounds unreal. The instruments used range from ukuleles to tubas and from violins to accordions. In your mind you want to picture a band of gypsies or like farmers from an unspecified hovel in Yugoslavia, but in reality it’s just a band of American hipsters being ironic.

But who cares? I cannot stress how awesome this man’s voice is. It is perfect for that Eastern European/ Balkan vibe. And me being ethnically Polish, it is something which I completely dig, down to my very core and roots. Previous to seeing a video of the singer, I always pictured him as some drunken old man, with an amazing voice for his age, wearing a flat cap and a grey suit, singing about some great revolution he partook in, somewhere in Poland.  And that’s the beauty of folk music. It’s specific to ethnic region. You can have folk music for every region on the planet. I’m starting Long Island Folk.

And as an added bonus – folk music is also educational! Why pay attention in history class when folk music tells you everything you’d need to know about it plus more. History class can’t convey the feeling of the olden days dammit!

Here is another song before I wrap this up.

The 3/4 polka intro mixed with the awe-inspiring vocals and the trumpets just get me every time. Like some weird but friendly dream unfolding around you. And when the bass drops I am transported to some rebel Polish army preparing to orchestrate a coup to take back the country sometime during the late 19th century. Truly a beautiful sound if you ask me. And I was also convinced that Mount Wroclai was an actual place in Poland that I’ve been to, until I tried to look it up just now. It seems that I imagined it. Folk music is heavy stuff I guess.

-oko

P.S. Before you ask about my sanity, please first have Matt explain what the hell 60’s psychedelic is all about, because that had me straight out terrified. My thoughts the other night were something like “Are these bands f*cking with me? Were people really that happy during the 60’s? How many drugs were involved in the making of this? And why does all of this sound like it’s not real?” Sorry Matt if I seemed confused towards the end, I was just making sure you weren’t spewing out pre-determined responses. Gotta make reality checks somehow…

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Thursday Morning Psychedelia

3 Mar

Generally, Thursday’s are reserved for music news, but in viewing the stock of potential items I have decided that none of it is that exciting. Billy Joel’s memoir is coming out in June. That’s about it. So, instead of boring you all with unexciting news items, here is The Move performing my psychedelic song choice of the day, “Blackberry Way”

Yes, that is Roy Wood, who would form ELO after his stay with the Move. Wood wrote “Blackberry Way” as a response to the Beatles’ “Penny Lane.” As you can hear, it is gloomier and definitely more strung out. The singer is Carl Wayne whose accented voice works perfectly for the song.

Ever since first hearing this song, I have always liked something about it. It does not blow you away. It is very weak on the psychedelia, even though it does fit into the category of Psychedelic Rock. Perhaps, it is the song’s simplicity that I enjoy. It was The Move’s most successful single (reaching number one on the UK charts). I believe it garnered such attention because it was not an over-the-top release. It is what it is and what it is, is good.

The Spell of Shock Rock: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

2 Mar

Screamin Jay Hawkins

People who view the Music Court frequently know that I am a big fan of the roots of rock n’ roll. No, not the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I’m talking about musicians who inspired famous artists to perform. Rarely do you get to label someone as the sole progenitor of a certain genre, but for the maniacal genre of Shock Rock, one particular forefather sticks out. When Alice Cooper, The New York Dolls and Kiss talk about inspiration they often site Arthur Brown and Screaming Lord Sutch. But when Arthur Brown and Lord Sutch talk about their inspiration, one man sticks out as the man behind Shock Rock. That is the man above. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

Everyone knows shock rock. It is the wild, hyperbolic genre that sees musicians dress in costume and put on a theatrical act for the crowd. The songs are over-the-top, sometimes marked by yells and guttural noises. No one did this better than Screamin’ Jay. Not only did he create the genre, but also because he was so absolutely fantastic at performing it, no one could ever reproduce his sound.

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins was crazy; a solid background for shock rock. He served in the Air Force during World War II and claimed that he was tortured. One story states that upon being liberated, he taped a hand-grenade to his torturer’s mouth and pulled the pin thereby blowing his head off. He also was a boxing champion in Alaska. He was born in Cleveland.

On stage, he began to be known for his gaudy stage outfits, adorning himself in leopard skin and leather. His main influence to shock rockers lies in his performance of “I Put a Spell on You” which is one of the most influential rock songs ever. And, no, that is not an exaggeration.

The song, which was originally supposed to be a blues ballad, turned into an inebriated donnybrook of painful groans, wide-eyed stares and an evil repetitive riff that is both scary and infectious. In layman terms, the entire band was drunk when they recorded the song, and what was once a love song turned into a lascivious, demonic ritual. He doesn’t even remember recording it because he blacked out after. But it is sweet, sweet music to my ears.

It is absolute genius. This is what inspired the shock rockers. This extravagant display of sexually charged music was preposterous in 1956, when the song was released. Carl Perkins had just released “Blue Suede Shoes” and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins was releasing this transmogrification of the blues. He was 12 years ahead of his time. Blues would once again feature songs like “I Put a Spell on You,” but not at Hawkins’ level. Hawkins continued to take his act to new levels and that can be seen in his performance below. This is music!

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Bobby Darin covers “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright”

1 Mar

Often people forget about how multi-talented Bobby Darin was. There were many talented performers in the late 1950’s and Bobby Darin is always considered by experts to be near the top of that illustrious list. Darin wrote and performed, “Dream Lover,” and also saw tremendous success with his versions of “Mack The Knife” and “Beyond the Sea.” He even wrote “Splish Splash” because of a bet that he couldn’t begin a song with the line “Splish Splash, I was taking a bath.” His excellent voice merged with his remarkable ability to play pop, rock, jazz, folk and country music with ease. He was an early example of a true singer/songwriter.

Perhaps he is forgotten because he died at 37 years old. Darin knew that his poor health would eventually catch up to him and it did at such a young age. His talent is remembered by fans of his music, but it should be remembered by fans of all music. He was a trendsetter. A few years after the release of “Dream Lover,” another singer/songwriter, Bob Dylan, would release “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” (which we talked about yesterday).

Here is Bobby Darin covering Dylan’s classic.

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Don’t Think Twice – Nine Inch Oscar – Vinyl is hot hot hot

28 Feb

Suze Rotolo, Bob Dylan muse, dead at 67

When Bob Dylan wrote lines like:

“I’m walkin’ down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where I’m bound, I can’t tell
But goodbye’s too good a word, gal
So I’ll just say fare thee well”

and

“I got a letter on a lonesome day
It was from her ship a-sailin’
Saying I don’t know when I’ll be comin’ back again
It depends on how I’m a-feelin’.”

he was thinking about

her

Many do not know who Suze Rotolo was. I will enlighten you. She was Bob Dylan’s girlfriend and muse for two years after Dylan moved to New York. Dylan was absolutely infatuated with Suze Rotolo. She was 17 when Dylan first met her. He was 20. They were young lovebirds and the relationship did not last long. Dylan began gaining fame and there was questions of his fidelity (Joan Baez). But, for the two years that is lasted, Dylan was positively impacted by Rotolo.

Not only did he write these famous love songs, but also Rotolo was partially responsible for perhaps the most famous album cover of all time (The Freehweelin’ Bob Dylan). Also, she exposed Dylan to CORE (The Congress of Racial Equality) and took him to meetings and marches. This is where Dylan’s first civil rights song came from. “The Death of Emmett Till” was written in part to impress his young girlfriend.

Rotolo died four days ago after a long illness. Dylan fans should give thanks to her for inspiring the greatest lyricist of all time.

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Reznor is an Oscar Winner

After Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails fame, and co-writer Atticus Ross, won the Oscar for best movie score last night he shared these words with his twitter fanbase, “HOLY SH*T doesn’t seem enough.” I think he was happy.

Reznor and Ross won for their Social Network score which was both creative and helped create the movies flow.

The Oscar’s are not a place I ever thought I would see Trent Reznor. Just never seemed to be his scene. But, hey, he is a multi-talented musician and the credit is well deserved. Kudos to Reznor.

Here they are accepting the award:

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Records Back in Business (Yes 12″ LP)

Article: http://www.azcentral.com/business/consumer/articles/2011/02/25/20110225Vinyl-records-spin-back-into-vogue.html

Yeah, not as archaic is you thought

Records are making a comeback?

Brian Passey of USA Today writes, “According to recent Nielsen SoundScan numbers, vinyl was the fastest-growing musical format in 2010, with 2.8 million units sold, the format’s best year since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.”

Yes, CD sales are dropping and vinyl records are finding their way back in stores. Am I surprised? No. Here’s why.

If I know one thing about people, it is that they love novelties. Why do you think zany restaurants like Mars 2112 stay in business. The food isn’t that good and it is overpriced, but the elevator that takes you to the dining room is a spaceship simulator. I know, it’s freaking awesome. Records, similarly, have fallen out of practical use, but as a novelty they work quite well. Instead of pressing play, you need to life the arm and place the needle on one of the round solid lines marking each track. It is a classic feel. It was inevitable. Old baseball cards are more popular than new ones. It is just how it is. I am also not complaining. I have a mini record collection. I have one, though, because I just loved the classic music and the original product is sometimes necessary.

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