Saturday, April 28, 2012

A Tale Of Two Records

Last Tuesday both Brendan Benson and Jack White released solo records. Both are members of The Raconteurs; Brendan has had a long solo career, while Jack has been part of a band you might have heard of called The White Stripes. I found it interesting that these past collaborators both had records come out the same day. Brendan's I was able to download directly from his website, while for Jack's I had to get it Tuesday afternoon from eMusic.

(BTW, I love eMusic. If you check it out and decide to sign up let me know because I can get free credits by recommending people.)

I have liked Brendan Benson for a long time. His first record, One Mississippi, is a power-pop masterpiece. His 2010 record My Old Familiar Friend made my Favorite list that year. His new record, What Kind Of World, has a very good chance of making this years Favorites list.

I like The White Stripes but not nearly as much as BB. I have always had a soft spot for catchy and hooky tunes and Brendan is a master at it. The White Stripes and Jack White I never found terribly catchy. I liked the records as blues-based rock but I didn't go back to those records as I did others.

Here's a new Brendan Benson track called "Here In The Deadlights." It's not the best track on the record but is the only one from the record YouTube has. It is also an excellent representation of what BB is up to.


Now here is Jack White and a (very weird) video for "Sixteen Saltines" off his Blunderbuss record.


This is my favorite tune on the record because it is the catchiest. Jack is a strange dude and that bleeds over into his music. But that makes it interesting. "Interesting" is the key word here. In general maybe Jack White's music is best categorized as interesting. He doesn't have a niche that he falls into. Brendan Benson falls into the power-pop niche very comfortably. Jack White is hard to categorize. He takes more recognizable challenges. He is not afraid to go a bunch of different directions. And it's obvious he is not making a commercially driven record.

That isn't to say that Brendan Benson is not taking chances. His music is just more focused. This record is of a more mature artist compared to where he was 15 years ago. Listen to One Mississippi and it is a much more exuberant record, seemingly teetering on the edge of control. The new record does not feel like it is going to careen over the cliff. The songwriting is top shelf here, and that's why I would say unhesitatingly that I like BB's record better than JW's record. The simple strength of the songwriting. Which record and I going to remember and play in 5 years? I am willing to bet it will be Brendan Benson.


Friday, April 20, 2012

Across The Great Divide

Yesterday the great Levon Helm passed away. He makes the third member of The Band to depart this Earth, joining Richard Manuel and Rick Danko.

I like The Band. I think their eponymous record and Music From Big Pink are both brilliant. Stage Fright is really good. The live record with Dylan is GREAT. The rest is hit or miss. Even The Last Waltz works better as a movie than as a record.

The cliche is that even back then they sounded like a band out of time. I am not sure I totally agree with that. They were building on what they did with Dylan. The Byrds had dipped into what we wind up calling roots rock or Americana or Cosmic American Music, as Gram called it. I really like the way they put their harmonies together: Levon along with Rick and Richard have very distinctive voices and they melded them to great effect. They were also wise to let Robbie Robertson just play guitar and keep his singing to a minimum.

The songs Levon sung are the most recognizable. "The Weight," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Up On Cripple Creek." UoCC has one of my most favorite bass lines. I just love the thick groove Danko gets going on there. It's thick and sexy yet very understated to me. I love TNTDODD because it tells a great story and has a ton of emotion packed in it. Levon, in the guise of Virgil Cain, sounds like a beaten down rebel unclear of why he's been fighting, why his brother had to die. Robbie is a hell of an under-rated songwriter.

One of my favorite tracks is a lesser known one: Jemima Surrender. Enjoy. And rest in peace, Levon.


Saturday, April 14, 2012

Hey Joe Whaddya Know?

Sometimes when I watch other guitar players I get sick to my stomach. Not because they are bad but because they are so good that they remind me I am a hack and should just stop. Happily I don't listen to that stuff anymore (I did stop playing for about 5 years when I decided I would never write a song as "The Only Living Boy In New York").

In the mail today I got the new blu-ray from Joe Bonamassa, who is one of those aforementioned guitarists who make me sick. My buddy Tom, the lead guitarist in Braddock Station Garrison where's that? that's my band, pay attention dammit!, turned me on to him. So thanks Tom! I watched it today and got revved up and decided to write about my boy Joe.

Here's Joe doing "Woke Up Dreaming." This is from his Royal Albert Hall show a few years ago. Be warned it is 10 minutes long. If you only watch a few minutes you'll get the point.


Um, yeah. OK. You see where I am coming from now. This is what happens when your parents have a guitar shop and you've been playing since you were 7 years old. I won't blame my parents for not owning a guitar shop instead I'll just assume that even with the guitar shop and a zillion hours to play I still wouldn't be able to approach what Joe is doing here.

Yes it is really show-offy but that's kind of the point, right? I like when awesome guitar players just let the songs speak for themselves and for the most part decide not to show off but it's also cool to watch an awesome guitar player say "frak it I am going to do something crazy good and make all you punks cry when you next strum Wonderwall."

I like what he does here playing with different styles and using volume to bring the song up and down.  I like that he has bobble heads of himself on his amps. I like that his fingers are moving so fast in spots they are a blur. There's probably little sonic booms going off in the theater. Joe, we no longer know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall because you and your rocket-propelled fingers are making new ones all over the place! Stop!

He's playing the Warner Theater here in DC the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Tickets are already procured though I am much further back than I would have liked. Ah well, so it goes. There will likely be a blog post the Sunday after Thanksgiving where I pretty much just drool onto the keyboard so be ready.

Since that video was an acoustic piece I will leave you with Joe and his band crushing a rocker called "Slow Train." This was the show that was used for the new blu-ray but this particular clip is from a lucky SOB in the third row.






Wednesday, April 11, 2012

My favorite Pearl Jam song

I was listening to Vitalogy today and "Corduroy" came on reminding me that it's probably my most favorite Pearl Jam song of all time. Here it is to jog your memory:


Pearl Jam is number four in the list labeled "Steve's Top 5 Bands." I know a lot of folks who can't stand them and that's fine. Like I have said before the great thing about music is that we all react to it differently be it positively or negatively. Pearl Jam is one of those bands that I admire as well as like. I might not agree with their politics and all that jazz but they walk the walk when it comes to it. I respect that. They are not full of crap so good for them.

Watching the clip here makes me sad I have only seen them once. I was so far away from that show it almost feels like I didn't see them at all so that makes me sadder.  I do have a cool blue Pearl Jam t-shirt with a monkey on it so that counts for something. They really get into it on stage and that's cool to watch. I prefer bands to be into what they are doing, to really be feeling it. Oasis, at least for the first two records, were a great band but man they were boring to watch.

I like this song for a couple reasons. First off, it rocks. It's got a killer riff and it gallops along. Second, I love the lyrics. It makes me think of a young Eddie Vedder getting picked on and beat up in school. Then he becomes a rock star and those same assholes who kicked the shit out of him are lifting their beers saying how cool he is and how the music speaks to them and maybe they can get that girl over there drunk and all nail her. These are the same people who would now call him queer and probably again kick the shit out of him if they crossed paths in a bar or on the street. An interesting development: your juvenile tormenters now wearing your t-shirt. (Side note since I mentioned my PJ t-shirt before, I am not one of those t-shirt wearing tormentors. I don't really fall in the tormented category either. I was pretty much ignored in high school).

Maybe the song isn't really about all that. Maybe it's just about fame and dealing with all the complications fame brings. But that is what I think about when I hear it. I read an interview with Seal a long time ago where they asked him why he doesn't put his lyrics on the record sleeve, or in this case I guess the CD insert. He said something along the lines of it being up to the listener to judge what the lyrics are and interpret the song because when they hear it it belongs to them. I like that idea.

And since I was talking about Pearl Jam, here are two pictures I took of Mike McCready and Jeff Ament when I saw them a year ago at The Black Cat here in DC when they did a mini-tour with Dug Pinnick of King's X and the drummer from The Fastbacks as Tres Mts. A fine record in of itself.




Sunday, April 8, 2012

New High On Fire

Earlier in the week I downloaded the new record from one of my favorite metal outfits High On Fire. The new record is called De Vermis Mysteriis. That would be Latin for Mysteries of the Worm for those who didn't have Jesuits for teachers. The last record was called Snakes For The Divine and the record before that Death Is This Communion. So you can probably infer they are pretty mellow dudes.

Anywho, this is a killer record if you dig heavy, scarier Sabbath-style metal. I highly recommend it if you're casting about for a fresh record and want to frighten your wife. Blasting it through the car window will get you some odd looks from old ladies coming back from the garden store (I speak with experience here). Matt Pike is the guitarist and vocalist and he shreds when needs to and screams when needs to but the band never loses the song's melody. Jeff Matz and Des Kensel are the rhythm section and they maintain the groove especially on tunes like "Madness Of An Architect."

One of the many things I like about metal is the courage to be goofy. I got this from Wikipedia so I cannot verify it's authenticity. But let's assume it's true because it's funny and supports my point. This has Pike talking about the new record's concept (because every great metal record needs a concept, right!?!):

The album’s title (translation: “The Mysteries of the Worm,”) is a nod to a fictional grimoire conceived by the late, great Psycho author Robert Bloch in 1935 and later incorporated into horror master H.P. Lovecraft’s renowned Cthulu Mythos. “It’s a concept record, a little bit,” Pike offers. “I got this idea about Jesus Christ and the Immaculate Conception: What if Jesus had a twin who died at birth to give Jesus his life? And then what if the twin became a time traveler right then? He lives his life only going forward until he finds this scroll from an ancient Chinese alchemist who derived a serum out of the black lotus—which is actually in Robert E. Howard’s ‘Conan’ stories—and then he starts traveling back in time. He can see the past through his ancestors’ eyes, but his enemies can kill him if they kill the ancestor that he’s seeing through at the time. Basically, he keeps waking up in other people’s bodies at bad times. It’s kinda like that old TV show Quantum Leap. Kurt actually pointed that out to me after I told him the idea. But whatever—time travel is a killer concept.”

Mastodon did the same thing a record back but they had Rasputin traveling through time. Rasputin...Jesus' dead twin brother...it's all good, man.

Evidently this is the first single off the new record but I doubt you shall hear it on your radio next to "Party In The USA" or whatever the new summer-time jam is (I am so behind on such things). Unless you have Sirius. Then you'll probably find it on station 40. This is called "Fertile Green" and yes that is the album cover.


Friday, April 6, 2012

Van Halen Recap

So I saw Van Halen last week. Sorry for the delay, I know you have been breathlessly awaiting my report. And on that front I shall say the show was good. Not GREAT!!! just good. It started off on the great side with "Unchained" and "Running With The Devil" and "Everybody Wants Some."

This is the only time I have ever seen Van Halen. Eddie is still the best part of the band, naturally. I've never thought much of Alex, Wolfie comported himself fine in the Michael Anthony role. David Lee Roth  was a goofball, but isn't that what we expect out of Diamond Dave. He forgot the last half of the last verse to "I'll Wait" but it really wasn't important. He did a lot of extemporizing. I would have preferred if his rantings stuck to his rantings from the records so I could rant along.

What was really good was to see Eddie and Dave having a good time. Eddie looked really good, as a matter of fact, even if I was 1000 miles away. He's put on a lot of weight, and I mean that in a good way. He looks like this now when not too long ago he looked like this. So good for him!

So yeah the show started great, but it kind of lost momentum about half way through. Part of that was the obligatory new songs they did and part of it was the predictability of the old songs. The new album is actually surprisingly listenable. It's no FAIR WARNING or WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST. I've listened to it a few times and it has some strong tracks. It's not completely irrelevant, like any Rolling Stones record after, say, 1972. But it's definitely not up to par with say Rush or Iron Maiden's recent albums, two bands that are a) old; but b) still making interesting and fresh sounding records.  I'd say it's better than DIVER DOWN (which upon reflection is not saying much). 

Some of the old songs they did I found timid: "You Really Got Me Now," "Dance The Night Away," "Oh Pretty Woman," "Beautiful Girls" "Ice Cream Man." Those are too obvious. I know, people recognize those, but c'mon, you're Van Fucking Halen. It ain't Gary Cherone up there. Go deep into the catalogue, fellas! Subbing those out with, oh, I don't know, let's say "D.O.A," "Atomic Punk," "Romeo Delight," "In A Simple Rhyme," and...ooohhh...this would have been cool: "Sunday Afternoon In The Park/One Foot Out The Door." Yeah, that would have been epic!

They also did "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love," "Jamie's Cryin'," "Feel Your Love Tonight," "Somebody Get Me A Doctor," "Women In Love," "Panama," "Hot For Teacher," and they ended with "Jump." Eddie did a ten minute version of "Eruption/Cathedral," which was fine. Alex had a drum solo, but once you've seen Neil Peart do it all others pale by comparison. I probably forgot something. What new songs, you ask? Do you really care?

All in all, a good show. Glad I saw them. Got a cool tee-shirt out of it with a pin-up-ish looking girl on a motorcycle. Here's a little taste from our good friends at YouTube:




Sunday, April 1, 2012

Rock n Roll Is Hard Work

Last night my band, Braddock Station Garrison, had our first real show as a four-piece. We have been playing together for about 7 or 8 months, working on original material, tightening up our live show and recording what we plan on being our debut record. We decided it would be fun to put on a show in our practice space (also known as "Tom's Basement"), invite a bunch of friends over, and record it so it looks like we are playing in a club.

Here's the first song from last night's set:


Pretty awesome, eh? I agree!

This song is called "My Waterloo" and is actually over 10 years old. It's been a staple of my solo shows. The lyrics are kind of nonsense; they are heavy on imagery and rather loosely connected imagery at that. I did this song at a little dump of a club in Georgetown once, and remember the stoner coming up to me after the show to tell me how the lyrics really spoke to him. I recall thinking "No kidding! Smoke another joint, wasteoid, it gets better!" But to hear this song now, along with all the rest, come to life with a full band is a real rush.

Performing is among the most exhilarating things I have ever done. Also one of the most exhausting. And one of the most rewarding. There's a real feeling of euphoria when a room full of people are cheering and clapping and shouting and having a good time because of their enjoyment of you and the music you and your friends are creating.  It's really a drug. I was ready to do it all over again.

I wonder what it would be like doing this every night and I believe it would get kind of dull. Patrick and I (Patrick is our bassist and is shrouded in darkness there on the left) were outside about an hour before the show just hanging out by ourselves. He remarked something along the lines of this being the part they don't tell you about in rock n roll school. As Tom Petty said, the waiting is the hardest part. I mentioned that to Tom (guitarist extraordinaire on the right of your screen) and he remembered a story with Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones saying, on the occasion of 25 years of playing with the Stones that it's more like 5 years of playing and 20 years of sitting around.

So our goal with all of this is to have fun, write and perform some pretty good songs, and if we can have a roomful of people, be it old friends or new friends or not friends, clap and cheer for each song we do I will consider that a pretty awesome achievement.

So a sincere thanks to all you made it out and supported us. We had a blast and hope you did to. And we cannot wait for the next show. See you there!

PS here is the link to our YouTube page!