American Songwriter » May/June 2007

BRIGHT EYES > Cassadaga

John D. Luerssen — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:43:12 +0000

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Like it or lump it, the eclectic six-minute sound collage that launches Cassadaga finds Conor Oberst fusing haunting atmospherics, filmstrip dialogue and dusty Americana as he takes his cue from "A Day in the Life." In doing so, Saddle Creek's own poet laureate sets the tone-rather brilliantly-for the 12 songs that follow.

Label: Saddle Creek
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Like it or lump it, the eclectic six-minute sound collage that launches Cassadaga finds Conor Oberst fusing haunting atmospherics, filmstrip dialogue and dusty Americana as he takes his cue from "A Day in the Life." In doing so, Saddle Creek's own poet laureate sets the tone-rather brilliantly-for the 12 songs that follow.

Crafted in a variety of approaches, Bright Eyes turn around with a thought-provoking assemblage of country rock winners ("Classic Cars"), torch songs ("Lime Tree," "No One Would Riot For Less") and expertly crafted chamber pop ("Coat Check Dream Song"). Thumping melodies steer "Hot Knives" and "Soul Singer In A Session Band," each recalling The Pogues' Celtic charms. Meanwhile the sweet, swooning "Make a Plan To Love Me"-replete with plucked strings and a Phil Spector-like production-may be the best affirmation that Oberst really is the musical brainchild hipster adulators have long insisted. Donning a number of musical hats-from the blasphemous yet celebratory charge of "Four Winds" to the shuffling ode to detox-ing known as "Cleanse Song" -Bright Eyes' sonic captain never veers from the course of consistency with Cassadaga. Balancing optimism and somberness with a keenly majestic musical vision, Oberst has given us his masterpiece.

PANDA BEAR > Person Pitch

Matthew Shearon — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:37:29 +0000

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Animal Collective's Noah Lennox closes his eyes and swan dives into a mix of melodic sampling and dubbing on his third solo release. The over 12-minute "Bros" jangles with hollow vocals in lockstep with the clanging repetition that sends the listener to a surprisingly meditative state-of-mind. And it here when Lennox borrows classic pop portions and stirs in haunting clips from everyday life, but it in general this track and the album as whole, presents a joyous cacophony. "Comfy in Nautica" opens this box of treats with some choral phrasings that sound almost primal underneath the claps and synth warbling while "Search for Delicious" presents a realm of refracted light, as if it were breaking through water's surface and you just glimpse a prism's rainbow.

ROLE MODELS: Elvis Perkins

Brian T. Atkinson — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:30:37 +0000

It's sort of hard to narrow the list...but if I had to pick one or two whose music I find the most compelling and rich, it'd have to be Mr. Cohen and Mr. Dylan. When listening to those guys at their best, the song and performance become like a force of nature. They're something elemental that can be broken down into its parts-but it needn't be. I find them so impressive and potent because their music can be such a complete and powerful event.My Top Dogs It's sort of hard to narrow the list...but if I had to pick one or two whose music I find the most compelling and rich, it'd have to be Mr. Cohen and Mr. Dylan. When listening to those guys at their best, the song and performance become like a force of nature. They're something elemental that can be broken down into its parts-but it needn't be. I find them so impressive and potent because their music can be such a complete and powerful event. Early Listening I listened to a whole lot of weird stuff in my teenage years that was offered to me by MTV. Not really knowing where to get my music at that time, I took it; I went for the glam-rock moment-Poison, Cinderella, Guns ‘n Roses and Warrant. At this point, I don't know that they have much to say to me. Digging Deeper I do remember hearing Simon and Garfunkel songs coming at me through various channels before making my own musical choices. I knew there was something mystical about them. They and Cat Stevens suggested that I'd be able to choose music for myself. Career Move I don't know if I can pinpoint when I decided to become a songwriter. I know that I felt good with a guitar in my hand, more than I did with other tools of creation and destruction. I wasn't ever given too much of an example of how to be anything other than a creative person. My father [Anthony Perkins, best known as Norman Bates in Psycho] was into words and wordplay...he was a singer himself. I'm the kind of person who just takes literature and poetry into my quiet time. I was a writer of words and a player of guitar. They just found themselves meeting together. Father & Son It wasn't the easiest jump into my consciousness to see my father as a successful artist. I think I have experienced my fair share of self-imposed pressure to make my folks and other creative people in my ancestry proud-to feel like my own person, not just be "son of" or "nephew of," or whatever. I wanted to be my own creative presence. Hollywood Exposure I wasn't around actors when I was younger [so much] that I wasn't impressed by it. In other words, when one did appear, it was as extraordinary a thing as it would be for anyone seeing someone in the wild...that they've seen on the screen. I wasn't desensitized by any means. My dad did a good a good job of keeping work and home separate so it didn't feel like a Hollywood family. It wasn't a happening every Thanksgiving; it was pretty tame. Different Strokes...For Different Folks I have no idea what kind of music is being heard these days [on screen]. I myself am not in the mind frame to hear a song in a movie-or on the radio, for that matter-and go and buy it. The Songs, The Album [My songs are] all written in the language of my mind, my experiences. In essence, it makes sense that it's an Elvis Perkins album. As much as we try to have a linear ending of our experience, the reality is that songs get locked into our personalities and our stance toward the world. There are so many common threads that any human deals with from day to day...that what we have here is a chaotic blanket of all the colors of a rainbow, and I hope that the songs make some sense together. Elvis Perkins' latest album, Ash Wednesday, is available online and at retail locations.

PAOLO NUTINI: Freedom & Time

Bill Locey — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:25:56 +0000

Sometimes, it's best to begin at the beginning, such as the proper pronunciation of Paolo Nutini's name. He's this month's Next Big Thing, and we here at American Songwriter are all over that one. So when given the choices of "Paolo," "Paulo," "Paul," "Mr. Nutini," "Hey Kid" or "Hey You," the singer (and he would know) went for the first option during a recent phoner from Nashville. And the winner is: "Pay-Oh-Low."Sometimes, it's best to begin at the beginning, such as the proper pronunciation of Paolo Nutini's name. He's this month's Next Big Thing, and we here at American Songwriter are all over that one. So when given the choices of "Paolo," "Paulo," "Paul," "Mr. Nutini," "Hey Kid" or "Hey You," the singer (and he would know) went for the first option during a recent phoner from Nashville. And the winner is: "Pay-Oh-Low." The girls think he's hot; everyone else thinks he has a great voice and cool songs. Christmas has arrived 10 months early for the bean counters at Atlantic Records, where Nutini's debut disc (These Streets), is hotter than free pizza, making a No. 3 entry onto the U.K. charts. "New Shoes," of which he can now afford Imelda Marcos quantities, is the hit single, and "Jenny Don't Be Hasty" is the album's catchy love-lost lullaby. The pretty boy Nutini is just 20 years old and seems to be taking the whole newly-rich rock star thing quite well. "No, I'm neither...neither rich nor a rock star. As far as the record's concerned, I just sort of check in every now and again, and I really don't know what to do with that information. I don't know how you gauge success from that. All I know is that when people are at your shows, that's success to me." People are indeed coming to his shows, and Nutini has been going to shows as well-opening a pair of gigs for the Rolling Stones at their request. He is just beginning a U.S. tour in March to be followed by a trip Down Under, following The Cinematics, K T Tunstall and Snow Patrol as recent Scots of note. And Nutini isn't short for MacNutini. His family is originally from Tuscany in Italy, but they've been in Scotland for four generations. The young Paolo has a Scottish brogue so thick he should come with subtitles. He was all set to take over the family fish & chips business in Paisley, Scotland, but relatives (mostly grandpa) changed everything by playing the youngster all sorts of Ben E. King-era Drifters records and other classic American r&b-which makes one wonder what will become of youngsters raised on Jackass, Saw< and death metal? In any case, the first thing that attracts most ears but Van Gogh's is Nutini's voice, sort of this cool, raspy, perfect bluesy voice-the voice of a much older man. "I'm not entirely sure what happened,'' says Paolo. "I sang when I was a kid, you know, then my voice changed when I was about 17. It changed from being quite light and soft to having more of a rasp. I'd been on a few tours with some bands and we indulged in some rock and roll clichés, so I think it just might be wear and tear on the voice.'' Definitely feeling musical, Nutini hit the road at the ripe old age of 15 as a roadie for Speedway, the Scottish band, not the insane style of motorcycle racing. He carried the gear and sold t-shirts but also got to open the shows. It worked. By the time he was a geezer of rock at 17, Nutini had signed a deal with The Drifters' label, Atlantic, and moved to London to write songs and prepare himself for his debut album. And like any good student, he learned how to take good notes. "Just after I turned 17, I got a publishing deal. That's what gave me money to move there in the first place, and I was conscious of the fact that my job was writing songs and preparing for this album. The way I used to do it was when something happened to me, whether it was a big thing or a little thing, I wrote it down and got maybe a whole page of notes...then as the situation progressed, I'd eventually pick out the thing I wanted and make it the hook of the song. And I've always been fascinated by these guys that are sort of men that know what they want, but wear their hearts on their sleeves.'' Once again, it's true that bad love makes for good songs. Nutini was dumped by a 23-year-old hottie he met at a bar in London once she found out he was only 18. Ain't love grand? The hit song about "Jenny" surely is. And the kid is wise beyond his years, getting to the gist of the matter in a jiffy. "Someone said to me the other day, ‘You must feel so privileged...you've probably got unlimited access to pretty much anything you want at 20,' and I said, ‘Yeah, two things-freedom and time.' And I think that's the whole essence of being a 20-year-old kid in this business.''

ALEXA RAY JOEL: Q&A

Evan Schlansky — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:16:04 +0000

Like Sean Lennon and Jakob Dylan, Alexa Ray Joel has some big shoes to fill. As Billy Joel's daughter, the 21-year-old's pop-and-soul-fused music is a magnet for both the curious and the snarky. Thankfully, she's got the talent to back it up. With an EP, Sketches, out in stores, and a full-length album in the works, Joel lets us in on her creative process.Like Sean Lennon and Jakob Dylan, Alexa Ray Joel has some big shoes to fill. As Billy Joel's daughter, the 21-year- old's pop-and-soul-fused music is a magnet for both the curious and the snarky. Thankfully, she's got the talent to back it up. With an EP, Sketches, out in stores, and a full-length album in the works, Joel lets us in on her creative process. So, did you write any songs today? Today?!? Uh, no, I was trying to finish and idea in the shower actually, but it didn't work [laughs]. I haven't written in a couple weeks, but I wrote four or five songs at the end of last year, so maybe it's just a break for now. Were those the songs that were on the EP, Sketches? No, that EP to me is so old now, I actually recorded the EP in May. So those songs are written early on the year, last year. These new songs, do you think you'll be using them? Oh, definitely, I have eight songs that I'm pretty pleased with enough to record, and it's just really good to have them on file for the band to be able to hear back and everything, and to distribute to record people and all of that. And I'd like to put those songs on my final full-length album, which I hope to work on soon this year. Are they much different from what you've written before? Some of them are. I've been all over the place with my writing because I have really eclectic tastes in music. I'm influenced by a lot of different genres, so I think that a lot of the songs I wrote last year are somewhat more idealistic, and maybe a little more poppy, and some of these go a little deeper. And I definitely focused more on the lyrics. There's a jazz song in there that's very Billie Holliday, and there's a country song, so it's really all over the place. It's not all on that vein of pop/soul/blues, which is the mostly the genre of my EP. When did you first start writing and what was the impetus to do so? It's hard to pinpoint when I first started writing - even when I was as young as five or six I had ideas in my head that I would sing out loud. The art of finishing a song didn't really come until I was 15 or 16. That's when I started to get more serious with the piano and I was still taking classical piano lessons and had gotten fairly good at it, somewhat intermediate level at that point, and that really shed a new light for me on writing songs. But there wasn't any really definitive point where I really started writing, because I grew up with my Dad and was constantly surrounded by music, and we were always singing together, so there was always creative energy around the house. Those early songs, can you describe one or two? They were much more, it's funny, I actually think I was a better piano player back then; I stopped taking lessons a couple of years ago, so definitely, the piano accompaniment is a lot more complex. It's much more theater influenced. When I was 18, I was at the Musical Theater program at NYU, so my music took on a musical theater tone to it. It was in some ways more complex, but not necessarily as edgy, and a bit more dreamy and idealistic in the romantic scenes that I used to use for lyrics, because I didn't really have a boyfriend at that point, or know as much, so it was more idealistic. And just younger in general, I sounded younger on them. But it doesn't mean that I don't like and value those ideas, because they got me to the point I am now. Do you imagine that in five years the songs you write will go through a change? Yeah, I think that every couple of months, it definitely, I saw a huge change, I've never written as many songs as I did last year, and it makes perfect sense to me, because I was touring and a lot really happened for me both personally and professionally. It was a very prolific year. So I hope to be that prolific in the future, but no, I definitely think that every couple of months...my songwriting is...every song is derivative of what I'm listening to at the moment. For example, my country song, I had just gotten sort of bored of doing the same old style, and I had just finished writing a jazz song, and I wanted to do something completely different. I think it's important to always push yourself as a songwriter and if you do that, then your songwriting will evolve on a regular basis. Would you say songs come easily to you, or is there a part you have to work on more than others? I've been really lucky, the end of last year again, it was really easy for me, I had been through so much, and I had just finished a two month tour, being in a different city every day, touring the west coast where they didn't know me as well, every day was a challenge, and I think that that really inspired a lot of songs during and after that period. And it was really easy, I was just inspired by what I was going through and everything just kind of poured out. So for me, it seems the pattern is that songs are easiest for me when I'm really in the throes of things. I don't think I write as well when a lot of time has gone back and I look back and reflect because I like to write when I'm feeling it in the moment. But everyone's different. Some times are harder than others, but I enjoy writing when it's easier, I'm not going to lie! Do you get your lyrics in a subconscious fashion or do you do a lot of work on them? I write lyrics usually. It's really weird, I usually have the melody first, and the lyrics, if I'm really feeling what I want to write about in the moment, it really does come pouring out. I think it's sometimes, you don't want it to sound dorky, but you want to use what you think would sing well, so that's something that I often struggle with. So no, usually it does come pretty naturally. I don't like to push things too hard when I'm writing with music or lyrics, because I have done that in the past, and it usually doesn't end up working! I just get frustrated and nothing much comes out of it. I think that when you're in that mode you sort of have to shut yourself away from other people and get in your own space and do it. Most of my songs that I'm the most pleased with, one of them I wrote in an hour and a half, another one took me all night and I was up til 5. As long as you're in that mode and in that space, anything can happen. With your own songs or somebody else's, how do you recognize that this is a well-written song? That's a really hard question! I'm very similar to my dad in my taste, which makes sense, growing up with him and listening to the music that he likes, and I think everybody has their own ideas of what a well written song is. It's something that everybody has really strong opinions about, and yet it's so subjective, what makes a good song. I look to my dad as the ultimate role model, as someone who knows how to write a good, well-written song. It might not be your favorite song, but it's going to be well-written. I think it's because he really focuses on the melody, and his technique seems to work. You have to find a technique that works. He focuses on the melody first, and then, the lyrics are always very fitting, like what he's singing, you never say "oh, that sounds awkward." Like the pieces of a puzzle, everything just fits together. If you have that message, then, and it works. Elton John, for instance, he doesn't write his own lyrics, but he has an understanding with Bernie, and every song just seems to fit-his lyrics always fit with Elton's melodies. So I don't quite know what makes a great song, but I think it needs to fit together well, and if there's a bridge, it can't be...my favorite songs are simple songs. Paul McCartney was a genius at writing simple songs, like "Yesterday." There isn't a bridge that just seems like "where is this going," which is why I can't wrap my head around a lot of alternative music and jam band music-it doesn't seem to fit like a song should, it isn't cohesive enough for me. But then again, that's just my opinion, so... What do you think makes for bad songwriting? Hmmm. I have to say, I'm kind of a purist, in that I really don't believe in being too strung out when you're writing. I don't believe in like, taking pills or drugs or whatever and then writing. And I think that a lot of people will hear a song on the radio and go, "Wow, they were really drugged out when they wrote that," you know? And sometimes it works, Sgt. Pepper, I'm sure they were doing whatever, and those songs are great. But sometimes, it makes things the opposite of what I was saying before - things come way out of left field and your trying to match it up with a verse, and it's not cohesive. I think can sometimes lead to bad songwriting [laughs<]. And also, I'm not really a big fan or repeating too much at the end, like repeating a chorus over and over, or something, I get bored easily so I don't like when things are so repetitive that it's only two chords...but at the same time I don't like it when a song is too complicated that the parts are all over the place, so either side of that medium, that can sometimes make for not the best song. Do you ever listen to Regina Spektor? Yeah, I do, I've actually been listening to her quite a bit lately. My boyfriend really likes her. She seems to be doing really really well. It's funny because the issue of Rolling Stone I was in, I have to admit it was the first issue of Rolling Stone I read from front to back, and they seemed to really like her, so she's definitely got the credibility, which I think is really hard for female artists to get. I think her music is great, but she repeats the verses a lot. It seems to take something away, in my opinion. I have to be honest, it's one of those things, I'm trying to be more open minded about music, being with my dad, who has very strong opinions, but he can be kind of brutal almost, but he has a right to be [laughs]. But when I first listened I thought, mmm, I don't know, it might be a little too Tori Amos-y for me, but I listened again, I like it more and more the more I listen to it. That's the style that really works for her, but if I tried to do that style, with my voice and my sense of melody, it would be a disaster, just like I feel like if she tried to do my thing, it would sound weird [laughs]. So it's all about what works for the particular artist. But her form is definitely different; I'm influenced by really traditional forms. Even right now, I've been listening to a lot of Dolly Parton. I'm very, very old school, and every time I try to listen to more contemporary stuff, sometimes I do like it, but it doesn't seem to resonate with me as much as the older stuff did, for whatever reason. I really think I like songs that sound like...classics. There are songs that might be cooler or have better production, but I like songs that sound like they're timeless. I'm always trying to emulate that with my songs. You have a song "The Revolution Song" which talks about having trouble with authority. What's the problem? Well, I wrote that when I was in my freshman year at NYU. I was 18, I'm 21 now. That was a couple years ago, and I was very angry and frustrated at that point in my life, because I felt a little directionless and isolated. I wasn't really fitting in at the theatre program. I'm certainly not shy anymore, but I was certainly quite introverted at that time in my life, and here I was with all these theatre people who are so outgoing. They were very competitive about their parts, getting the lead part in the play...I just didn't understand that, so I found myself retreating more and more to the practice rooms - I was kind of going through that self-pitying phase that every teenager has to go through [laughs]. But I'm really glad that I went through it and I'm glad the anger was so strong at that point, because it inspired a lot of songs. Towards the end of freshman year I wrote so many songs, and that song was one of the easiest for me to write. I remember the chorus just came in a second, and I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea for the bridge, so that was really liberating, one of the most liberating songs for me to write, and I think that for my own mental well being, I needed to get that song out there. It's funny, I was in college at the time, but I've played for so many different audiences and different age groups, that the college kids, that song really resonates with them and how they're feeling. Music critics often get things wrong, and some of the strangest reviews I've ever seen are of Billy Joel albums, classic records where they put it down for whatever reason. Do you think music critics are incapable of understanding good songwriting? A lot of times I think they are. But everybody has their own tastes. I personally don't really like hip hop. I'll dance to it maybe, but it's not something I'd listen to and go, "oh, genius." But a lot of critics, particularly Entertainment Weekly, they're always giving [hip hop albums] great reviews. They kind of put me down a little bit, saying that my voice was too nasally, and that I was too much like my Dad. I told my Dad, kind of complaining to him, I said "this is my first not-good review" and he laughed and said, "are you kidding me, you're so lucky if that's not a good review. They used to put me down all the time." And that to me is just, of course I'm biased, but it's just crazy to me to write a bad review of my dad because I can't wrap my head around how someone can't think that that's brilliant, but everyone has their own idea of what's brilliant. But I do think a lot of the times that they could write better reviews in that they could discuss the music more. And I do think a lot of reviews these days aren't really music reviews, they're presumptuous, like, oh, I know what this person was thinking. Or this person is trying to be that person. My dad would get upset, "Why do they think I'm trying to be Elton John, I was never trying to be Elton John. I wanted to be Paul McCartney!" They should not try to get inside the artist's head so much, just discuss the music and the melody, and where they went with the bridge there, stuff like that. That to me would be more productive for them. But I really can't complain too much because they've been really nice to me [laughs]! So I don't want to get on their bad side too much because a lot of people do read reviews, especially the New York Times and all of that. My dad always says "you've got to get a thicker skin" because they critiqued one little thing in Entertainment Weekly amongst a lot of great reviews and here I am getting sensitive about it, but I definitely need to get a thicker skin. Or just plain not read them anymore, like my Dad, he doesn't read them, but I do, I always peek at what they're saying. Has your Dad ever given you any songwriting advice? Well, he always says to treat your songs like they're your babies, and to not let anyone mess with them, to be protective of them. I think that's a huge part of why he's the legend that he is, he always had creative control over, not just the ideas but the production of his ideas, the distribution of his music, and he was so involved on every aspect, not just strictly musically. For career advice, that's really good advice. Have you ever started writing a song and thought, oh, this sounds like my Dad's melody, I can't do that? [Laughs]I'm sure I have. I do that all the time, I'm like my dad, I'm not afraid of being derivative, I like to copy styles that like! [laughs], as long as you do a good job of it, because all music's derivative. I have this idea in my head right now actually, it's like a, oh what's that band, it's like a Steve Miller band style song mixed with like, the Eagles, and I'm trying to get that kind of country rock theme down, and I have the verses and the B section, and whenever I get to the chorus, I just wanna sing "take it easy" by the Eagles. I keep wanting to sing that for the chorus. And I laugh with my dad about that, I say "does that ever happen to you?" and he says, "oh my god, all the time." So sometimes when you're influenced by an artist it's hard to get away because they're ideas that you really love, from them, really resonate in your mind and your subconscious and you don't really realize ‘til afterwards that you're singing somebody else's idea. That's something that happens all the time, but I think the challenge of songwriting is taking that style, and really making it your own. Even if it's just changing it a little bit. There's certain chord changes and melodies that tons of people use, but they find a way to make it fresh, even if it's changing one note, or one chord. I don't think there's anything wrong with that... Do you have a favorite song or album by your dad? Um...I can't really pick an album, cause I really think that they're all good. The Stranger I love, Nylon Curtain, Turnstiles, River of Dreams I really, really love, because I was older when he came out with that. So I really got to sit down and listen to that, and I knew a lot of what he was talking about, because that was at the time my parents were getting divorced. He wrote about that, so I could relate to a lot of the themes from that album. And of course "Lullabye," the song he wrote from me was on that, so that might have to be my favorite album, and that would be my favorite song of his. But "And So it Goes" is a really really beautiful melody, because it's like a hymn, and it's so simple, and yet it's very haunting. And, I think he would agree with me, the best melodies are really pure. That's why both my dad and I love old musical theater so much, because some of the best melodies came from that. But he really has too many good songs for me to pick a favorite, but definitely "Lullabye" is up there, especially when I'm in a sad or reflective mood. Is there anybody you'd like to write a song with? I would love to, if he were around, I would have loved to be around to write a song with Ray Charles, to collaborate with him. He's a real hero of mine - Ray's my middle name, you know - so his music, I really grew up with and was influenced by from when I was as young as five, on. Would you like to have a Top 40 hit, is that the kind of career you're hoping for? I'm pretty ambitious, I kind of want it all [laughs] First of all, it's really important for me to have credibility, I want to be taken seriously, and I have to be, otherwise I'll just be Billy Joel's daughter, forever. I mean, I am, and I'm proud to be it, but I want to have my own name, and my own style of music. And having longevity, having a long fruitful career is really important. I'd really like to be a cross-over artist. I'd like to have a pop song of mine on a pop station, while at the same time having my country song on the Top 40 country station. That would be the ultimate dream - that would be the icing on the cake for me.

THE SCHLANSKY FILES: Do Look Back

Evan Schlansky — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:13:14 +0000

These days, history can be rewritten fairly easily. If George Lucas wants to make it so Greedo shoots first in the original Star Wars, that's no longer an issue. If you want to graft the vocals from "Within You Without You" to the music of "Tomorrow Never Knows," well, you can do that too. And if you want to see Bob Dylan acting well behaved and likable in 1965, look no further than the deleted scenes in the DVD reissue of Don't Look Back. Let's take a deeper look at the two most recent Dylan and Beatles projects...we can talk about Star Wars later.These days, history can be rewritten fairly easily. If George Lucas wants to make it so Greedo shoots first in the original Star Wars, that's no longer an issue. If you want to graft the vocals from "Within You Without You" to the music of "Tomorrow Never Knows," well, you can do that too. And if you want to see Bob Dylan acting well behaved and likable in 1965, look no further than the deleted scenes in the DVD reissue of Don't Look Back. Let's take a deeper look at the two most recent Dylan and Beatles projects...we can talk about Star Wars later. Who wrote more instantly memorable, classic songs than The Beatles? Nobody, that's who. You can name ten amazing Beatles songs, and your gym teacher probably can too, and between the two of you, you will have left out 30 more deserving classics. From "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to "Julia," they're virtually all great. But how do they sound, say, all together? Does a great song spliced with another great song make an even greater song? Or does it make a complete mess? That's the question posed by the Beatles' Love. Created by the father/son production team of George and Giles Martin, Love functions like an auditory jigsaw puzzle. It features 26 new Beatles tracks, made by tying together elements from over 100 different Beatles songs. Although technically a soundtrack designed to accompany the Beatles-approved Cirque du Soleil extravaganza in Las Vegas, as a standalone album Love provides a fun, if bumpy, trip down memory lane. This is not the first time The Beatles have been mashed up. Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse made his name with 2004's imaginative Grey Album, which combined rapper Jay-Z's Black Album with the Beatles' White Album (and provoked the wrath of copyright lawyers). Similar underground projects include DJ BC's The Beastles, which paired the Beastie Boys with the Fab Four in remixed bangers like "Let it Beast" and "Mother Nature's Rump." Critical reaction to Love has been "mixed" as well. Mojo gave it top honors, saying, "You'll listen to it more than Anthology, certainly," and Blender praised its presentation of "songs as familiar as the Ten Commandments." Others, however, panned it as a novelty record-calling it too sonically confusing. By failing to review it in its surround sound format, all sort of miss the point. When it comes to appreciating Love, it helps if you have the 3-D glasses, as it were. Surround sound is God's gift to stereophiles, and at $300 for a basic system, it's really worth it for you to pick it up. It always freaks me out a little when reviewers ignore the fact that an album has been remixed in surround sound and pan it as another excuse to repackage old material. Listen to the record as it was intended to be heard, people! You wouldn't review a record based on the liner notes. I'm sorry. I've got surround sound superiority complex. (p.s. When you get it, go back and check out the film version of The Beatles Anthology. You'll be blown away!) The Beatles turned Bob Dylan on to the drums. Dylan turned The Beatles on to pot. The whole world got to revel in the consequences. In the recently reissued film Don't Look Back, we take another look at the time frame when this is all happening, as Dylan is in England giving famously obscure and pissy answers to any reporter unlucky enough to ask them. When I first watched the original, it was more than a little disheartening, seeing my newfound hero acting like a total dick. What I failed to appreciate at the time was that Dylan was practically inventing the role of "rock star" for all who followed, by refusing to play it "straight." The new bonus footage, dubbed "Bob Dylan 65 Revisited," is cut like an actual film and plays like an entirely different movie on the same subject! Here we see a Dylan who's way more relaxed, giving away tickets and being nice to his fans. Thirty-six minutes in, he actually answers a question with a straight answer. Bizarre! Unlike the original, we get full versions of songs instead of clips, including rare tracks like "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" and "I'll Keep It With Mine." What would have happened had D.A. Pennebaker released this version of the film, instead of the one he did? We'll never know, but it's nice to have both.

Best of the Flatt & Scruggs TV Show: Classic Bluegrass from 1956 to 1962,

americansongwriter — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:08:22 +0000

Label: Shanachie
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Before The Ballad of Jed Clampett, and long before their ascension to bluegrass royalty, Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, and the Foggy Mountain Boys hosted Flatt & Scruggs Grand Ole Opry, a continuum of their Martha White-sponsored radio show, which aired throughout the South during the ‘50s and ‘60s. The boys have a demeanor for radio, as evidenced by fiddle player Paul Warren's goofy grins, Flatt's staid delivery and Scruggs' bemused expression as he works his three-fingered magic on the banjo. And that's the real treat here-savoring a rare, intimate glimpse of the Foggy Mountain Boys in their uninhibited prime. Now on DVD are the first selections from 36 master tapes (there are two half-hour episodes per disc, with more releases to follow) that were discovered and donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Highlights include classic takes of "Earl's Breakdown" and "Foggy Mountain Special," never released sacred numbers such as "Precious Memories" and "Are You Washed in the Blood" and a mesmerizing rendition of "Wildwood Flower" with guest Mother Maybelle Carter. These black-and-white performances show a seasoned, hardworking band at their best, and preserve a candid moment in bluegrass music history.

MIRANDA LAMBERT > Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Kristi Singer — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:06:15 +0000

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" src="http://www.americansongwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/miranda-lambert-web-149x300.jpg" alt="MIRANDA LAMBERT > Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" width="99" height="200" />

Young country starlet Miranda Lambert continues to blaze her way into the country music industry spotlight with yet another great release, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, is due out on Columbia Nashville. Her second album for the label, it follows Lambert's No. 1 selling debut, Kerosene. Lambert displays a similar energy and strong writing talent on her follow-up, writing eight of the 11 cuts with additional interpretations of songs by Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and Carlene Carter.Label: COLUMBIA NASHVILLE
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Musically speaking, Lambert feels that her sound has grown: "I feel like I've upgraded a little as far as my songwriting and my vocals and my performance," Lambert said during an interview from her Texas home. "I've grown and I think it really shows in this record."

Raw and honest, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend covers a wide spectrum of emotions including heartbreak, strength, rebellion, bitterness, desperation and fame. From the upbeat, rebellious, "don't mess with me" title track (which Lambert comments that she's "been the crazy ex-girlfriend but hopefully that's in the past"), to the honest "Famous in a Small Town" (about her real-life experiences growing up in Lindale, Tex.) to the traditional "Love Letters," Lambert has in her hands a well-rounded and real country album that will continue to earn her well-deserved recognition. One of Lambert's most personal tracks is "More Like Her," which she comments that "it's a painful song, but as a songwriter you really throw yourself out there emotionally and it's a little scary that I even have it on the record."

Lambert's talents have her up for two Academy of Country Music nominations: Best New Female Vocalist and Best Female Vocalist, where she joins Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Sara Evans and Carrie Underwood.

EPIPHONE > Firebird Studio/Worn Cherry

Matt Reasor — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:02:04 +0000

Firebird Studio/Worn Cherry" src="http://www.americansongwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/firebird-web-133x300.jpg" alt="EPIPHONE > Firebird Studio/Worn Cherry" width="88" height="200" />

List Price $665.00
Website: EPIPHONE

There are few guitars that make me shred, much less in public. I took this guitar to a gig last week, and a close friend approached me afterwards and commented, "Man great show. I was not expecting the rippin' guitar. Back into shreddin', Reasor?" You just can't help it with the Epiphone Firebird Studio. After I got this guitar, there was almost no transition time before I added it to my mainstay lineup for live shows. The reason is because no other guitar in my collection has the tone of the Firebird. I literally can't stop playing it-not a common thing here in the Tackle Box.

The F-Bird combines the "reverse-body" style of the original series with the traditional set-neck design and full-size, Alnico Classic humbucking pickups. To top it off, it features Steinberger 40:1 direct drive, gearless tuners for unequalled tuning precision and ease-of-use, while maintaining the traditional Firebird "banjo" tuner look.

This tuner system is extremely interesting, in a good way, and in an inconvenient way as well. While it might be damn near impossible to change a string on stage with the gearless tuning system, it is less likely that your string will break because of it. It's a risk worth running.

Tonally, you will be dealing with frequencies you have never experienced on a Fender or any other guitar. The Firebird Studio toes the mark on Southern rock. There is not a better guitar for Skynyrd-or the Stones for that matter.

Available in the new "worn" cherry finish, this guitar might be new, but it has the warmth and feel of a vintage instrument. Standard Features: Binding, B/N Body, Mahogany Bridge/Tremolo, Tune-o-matic with stop-bar tailpiece Fingerboard, Rosewood Frets: 22 Inlays, Dot Neck Joint, Set Neck Material, Mahogany Nut Width: 1.68", Pickups: Alnico Classic HB Scale: 24-3/4".

If you don't have four-grand for a standard Gibson Firebird, but need the tone and aesthetic beauty, then I would more than suggest the Epiphone Firebird Studio. Go to www.epiphone.com to get your rip going.

WILCO > Sky Blue Sky

Evan Schlansky — Tue, 01 May 2007 22:01:44 +0000

Sky Blue Sky" src="http://www.americansongwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/wilco-300x199.jpg" alt="WILCO > Sky Blue Sky" width="200" height="132" />

A new Wilco album. And so I must take off my reviewer hat, and put on my fan-boy t-shirt, for you see, Wilco is my favorite band. Or they were. Or they are. It's unclear. Is Wilco even Wilco any more? Lead singer, songwriter and head visionary Jeff Tweedy has done his best to blur the lines of what kind of music the band makes-every new album is a rejection of their past and a declaration of their freaky new future. Having dispensed of dual drummers, two multi-instrumentalists and one mad genius producer (bassist John Stiratt remains a constant), Tweedy has surrounded himself with a coterie of forward-thinking employees. Sky Blue Sky is the first Wilco record to feature the revamped line-up of guitarist Nels Cline, keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and musical jack-of-all-trades, Pat Sansone.

After the difficult birth of 2004's A Ghost Is Born, a record that asserted its independence from tonality with a 15-minute noise collage, Sky Blue Sky is a far more amiable, easy going affair. In fact, it's the first Wilco album since Being There that seems to be in a reasonably good mood.

The first song, "Either Way," is a surprise right out of the gate. It's as lyrically straightforward as can be. "Maybe you still love me, maybe you don't," sings Tweedy, possibly addressing his band's growing fan base. By track two, "You Are My Face," he's back to the abstract in a big way, singing nonsense that makes pretty good sense, emotionally. Tweedy retains a fondness for the poetry of everyday things, and images of nature like "the currency of leaves." "Impossible Germany," which might be a sneaky zen rewrite of "Jesus Etc.," is one of several songs that finds the band jamming out like the Allman Brothers, had the Allman Brothers been extremely sensitive singer/songwriters.

A small hurricane of guitar blows sideways through "Side With the Seeds," as Cline busts out his signature hummingbird riffs. "Leave Me Like You Found Me" is a novelty-it sounds straight off of A.M., with a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot arrangement. Simple and haunting, it could be an Uncle Tupelo song dressed in drag.

The band seems to be enjoying themselves within the shifting math rock of "Shake it Off," and the ‘70s r&b toss-off "Hate it Here," which boasts a chord progression that echoes George Harrison's "Isn't it A Pity." Perhaps the most plaintive song to ever reference lawn mowing, it's a twist on an old fantasy, only this time it's the woman who goes out for a pack of cigarettes and never comes back. "What am I gonna do when I run out of lawn to mow?" asks Tweedy, half-comically, half filled with dread.

These songs will slay live, and the life-affirming "What Light" will make a great sing-along at the shows. In fact, the songs seem like they were born out of the best moments of their live shows, accurately captured on 2005's Kicking Television: Live in Chicago.

A great alt-country band is gone. But Tweedy has surrounded himself with some good men, who do the name and the music proud. A new band stands in their ashes; Wilco is dead. Long live Wilco.