American Songwriter » Alternative

THE DUKE & THE KING: On the Horizon

Jewly Hight — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:18:10 +0000

The Duke and the King, at the Basement in Nashville on August 11.

Simone Felice’s journey from his sibling-led group, The Felice Brothers, to his new band with Robert “Chicken” Burke, The Duke & The King, lends itself to various interpretations. Sonically, it marks a shift from country-rock leanings to mellowed, harmony-sweetened country-soul, though he considers both styles incidental: “The Felice Brothers don’t try to sound like that—they just sound like that. And for me, it’s the same.” Lyrically, Felice intensified The Felice Brothers’ literary sensibilities, weaving strong narrative threads through the ten songs on The Duke & The King’s debut, Nothing Gold Can Stay. But nothing gets at the heart of Felice’s move from one to the other like generational theory. He was The Felice Brothers’ sole Gen X-er (everybody else being of Generation Y), and had a full decade on the youngest band member. For a group built on close familial ties, spirited music and the scrappy, collective pursuit of an audience, that didn’t matter. Until it did. Not that Felice had put the generational difference into words before being asked to during the interview for this article: “I didn’t sit down and think of it that way. But when you articulate it that way, it does make a lot of sense… I’m at a little different place in my life and I’ve had a lot of time on earth to have the kind of tragedies and jubilance that it takes to maybe write some different kinds of songs.” (No doubt, one of the tragedies he’s alluding to is losing the baby he and his longtime partner were expecting last winter. He told fans of the experience—and his new musical venture—in an open letter.) A song Felice contributed to the latest Felice Brothers album, Yonder Is the Clock, foreshadowed the direction he’d pursue on Nothing Gold; “All When We Were Young” is a reflection on youthful freedom receding in the rearview. “When I wrote “All When We Were Young”—I never really thought about it this way, but you just sort of brought it out of me—it opened that door,” says Felice. “The Duke & The King record, it’s all just true stories about the way my heart felt when I was a little kid, when I first got turned on to music.” With Burke, a longtime friend who’s worked with George Clinton and a capella group Sweet Honey In the Rock, Felice captured a particular season of life, one still close enough to youth to call to mind its innocent—and not-so-innocent—pleasures in detail, but beyond the point of retrieving them. Between album opener “If You Ever Get Famous,” pivotal tracks “Still Remember Love” and “Union Street” and closer “One More American Song,” a group of friends go from cruising around with ripped jeans, big dreams and fervently shared musical tastes to adulthood’s isolation and narrowing possibilities. All that’s to say, Felice’s new project pursues different themes than his work with The Felice Brothers. But there’s important continuity, too. Yonder is a Mark Twain reference; so is The Duke & The King, the names of two swindlers in Huckleberry Finn. “Here they are rolling down the river, and they’re setting up these bootleg Shakespeare shows,” Felice summarizes. “And it reminded me of how The Felice Brothers used to be when we first started. We used to just drive up and down the Hudson River and play anywhere we could, in any bar, in any subway…. And then also what happens to the Duke and the King is that they get tarred and feathered, obviously, at the end. So, for me, when it came time for us to say, ‘Hey, what are we going to call ourselves,’ [I said], ‘Man, if we call ourselves the duke and the king, then it’ll remind us that we need to be honest and to never roll down that road to getting tarred and feathered.’” Hometown: Catskill Mountains, New York Age: 32 An early musical influence: My mom had the Joni Mitchell record Blue and she played it everyday.

DRUG RUG > Paint the Fence Invisible

Dustin Allen — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:30:15 +0000

Paint the Fence Invisible" src="http://www.americansongwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/paint-the-fence-cover-282x300.jpg" alt="DRUG RUG > Paint the Fence Invisible" width="188" height="200" />
This album is hardly the tossed-off valentine their reputation might suggest. DRUG RUG Paint the Fence Invisible (BLACK & GREENE) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Berated unfairly as little more than a cutesy duo harmonizing to death glassy-eyed pop songs about young love on their ‘07 debut, Drug Rug nevertheless seem undaunted on their follow-up Paint the Fence Invisible. Offering much of the same trad-rock touchstones with a psych twist as tour mates Dr. Dog, this Cambridge, Massachusetts, couple may be sweet and drenched in sunshine, but this album is hardly the tossed-off valentine their reputation might suggest.

THE FEATURES: On the Horizon

William Hooker — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:17:08 +0000

Songs are not always what they seem; never confidently infer meanings of a lyric from a band's bio. . . .

Songs are not always what they seem; never confidently infer meanings of a lyric from a band's bio. For instance, on the sensitively swinging boogie "Off Track," the 12th song on Nashville band The Features' Some Kind of Salvation, vocalist and primary songwriter Matt Pelham sings "we've been told/that we've been close/that all is won/but mostly lost." Salvation is the first release since their abrupt separation with Atlantic Records, and Pelham's words seem mindful of being off-label, but also hopeful, when he sings: "We gotta get back in line/We're off-track again." Explaining the song's significance, Pelham tells us, "It's definitely not about the record label at all... it's more of a relationship thing." Whether or not being with a label can resemble the wavy, peak-trough pattern commonly marked by a romantic relationship, Pelham admits, "I suppose...with any type of relationship, one with a label can be as trying as one with a girlfriend." Pelham validates my question politely and I understand clearly that Some Kind of Salvation is no poison dart aimed at label chiefs. Not that there's no danger in his songs, the menace is just not in one precise direction; "Foundation's Cracked," "G.M.F," and "Temporary Blues" rock diffusely, power pop that neither exploits nor hides their Southern, rural roots. Asked whether or not the band might venture into darker, more experimental directions in the future, Pelham informs me that "most of these songs are five- to six- years old and when making the record we just wanted the songs to fit together... ultimately it comes down to being cohesive."

Another six-year-old track, "Temporary Blues," recalls Pelham's soul-crushing experience as a Pillsbury factory worker; on it he sings, "An occupation... they say it should be something you like/But hard times don't allow a poor boy to choose how he provides." Asked whether or not ex-co-workers might be listening to the new record now, Pelham suspects not: "I highly doubt any of them have ever heard it; when I left I kind of never looked back... although I imagine the feelings on the song were mutual for lots of the workers."

Pelham's focus on how he provides stems from his family. Despite living near Nashville, seeing local shows is not a priority. "I've always kind of wanted to get out more and see a lot of local bands and support the scene but I'm always extremely busy with work [as a printmaker], our band, my wife and two kids. It's always a juggling act to go out and see bands or even a movie for that matter; it's not easy."

Despite the hard work evident on Salvation, it's often light-hearted and summer-appropriate due in part to Pelham's falsetto-prone voice. This style, evident on the sunny chorus of "Lions," Pelham "developed over the years from what I enjoyed listening to; when I was really young I liked John Lennon vocals so much... and he was imitating Little Richard so when I was younger I would overdo it, and do it all the time. Hopefully now I keep control of it."

Another song on Salvation, "Baby's Hammer" is a soft ditty that compares a destructive tool to "a significant other's displeasure... trying to please someone and never quite doing that; the hammer is her temper for not making it to church or not making enough money." Could this hammer possibly contain providence? "I definitely think it's good to have someone to keep you in line, it's not a bad thing."

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

Matthew Pelham Age 34 Favorite songwriter albums: John Prine, Sweet Revenge, Bob Dylan, Desire

Rollum Haas, Age 29 Enjoys Randy Newman's songs, particularly "Sail Away" & "Good Old Boys"

Mark Bond, Age 28 Favorite Songwriters: Elvis Costello and Brian Wilson

Roger Dabbs, Age 34 His Favorite Songwriting Duos: Rod Argent/Chris White of The Zombies and Dave Clark/Mike Smith of the Dave Clark 5

Sonic Youth @ The War Memorial – Nashville, TN – 7/11/09

Drew Litowitz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:32:56 +0000

Thurston Moore cares, he’d just like you to think he doesn’t. At the wise age of 50, he retains the stage presence of a teenage slacker. Though he’s been crafting dissonant post-punk with Sonic Youth for nearly 30 years, the guy could seriously pass for a college student. As he effortlessly throws himself around the stage, frequently collapsing to the floor, guitar in hand, he perfectly balances enthusiasm and nonchalance. But if he wasn’t passionate about what he does, he wouldn’t attack his guitar so feverishly. He cares a lot more than he lets on, even as he dryly apologizes for the falsely started “Poison Arrow,” pointing to the amp head: “I’m so tall that I couldn’t read my tuner. I was tuning to a D, but I tuned to a D sharp,” and again stating the song’s title to start his second attempt “ . . . ‘Poison Arrow’.” Though he stands opposite stage from guitarist Lee Ranaldo, the two intertwine their coarse tones to make paradoxically melodic art like they are looking into each other’s eyes. When you are a member of Sonic Youth, you don’t just play your guitar, you use it as a means of getting from point A to point B, whether that entails scratching the strings with a metal rod, sliding a broken drum stick across the bridge, or turning knobs and pushing numerous pedals to get it done. Sonic Youth have a wide range of song styles. Watching them perform live is almost like witnessing multiple bands take the stage, only the five players never change. After a more than impressive showing from openers the Entrance Band—a California three-piece that displayed their own blend of tight, progressive sludge rock (think Dinosaur Jr. meets the Allman Bothers), the noisy flourish of Sonic Youth filled the War Memorial Auditorium. The sheer fury of songs like Sister’s “White Cross” juxtaposed with the mellow, acoustic wanderings of “Massage the History” created a perfect equilibrium of noise and open space. Playing 2009's The Eternal almost in its entirety, the show was certainly not a hit parade. But, should we expect that from a group so notoriously inaccessible? I think not. The songs on the Eternal, however, draw from the Youth’s entire discography, pulling splinters and shards from the massive array of noises once used, and combining them to craft new material. If you missed one of your favorites Saturday night, there was probably a hint of it found in one of the newer tracks. But that's not to say that they didn’t please die-hards with some back catalog gems, either. The beautiful “Shadow of a Doubt” had Kim Gordon whispering into the microphone over Moore’s pleasantly stinging harmonics, and “Silver Rocket” brought punk drums, thrashed chords, and Thurston’s snarl to the table. The set, however, did seem pretty heavy on Kim lead vocal spots. Ranaldo, Gordon, and Moore all shared the role throughout the 17 songs, but it seemed that the missus was holding the night’s golden mic. Most of the older tunes were Kim-lead ones, which contributed to a lack of some decades-old favorites such as “Teenage Riot,” “Tom Violence,” or “Catholic Block,” songs which have been played previously on the tour. But the spectacle of seeing any Sonic Youth song performed live never really disappoints. Watching a catchy tune cave in on itself into a sea of haze and distortion, unsure of exactly what it will become, is pretty spine tingling. Ranaldo, equipped with pedals and knobs galore, more than aptly lent his sonic visions to these dark explorations. If he wasn’t holding one of his custom boxes, he was banging unorthodoxly on his strings. Ranaldo even roped in some classic rock radio waves with his “Antennabox” to open Eternal’s gorgeous “Antenna” (Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady” played at the song’s start before cutting out). Former Pavement bassist Mark Ibold chugged along as drummer Steve Shelley rotated between soft mallets and hard sticks, and Gordon switched between bass and guitar per usual. Though a show abundant in noises, I will say that it wasn’t as loud as one would expect from Sonic Youth. All the distortion and fuzz was there, but it didn’t leave any ears bleeding. I guess this could be considered a plus, but sometimes a little ringing in your ears is just what you’re looking for. Nevertheless, after almost thirty years of flooding tape with fuzz, the band stays pretty truthful to their name. Gordon, at 56, looks no older than 40, and the rest of the guys retain a youthful charm. As for the Sonic, well, you’d have to be deaf not to hear why that’s a good descriptor. Ending the second and final encore with the ancient thrash of “Death Valley ’69,” they graciously left the stage reminding us all that they’re not growing up any time soon. -Drew Litowitz Set List: 1. Sacred Trickster 2. No Way 3. Calming the Snake 4. Silver Rocket 5. Antenna 6. Leaky Lifeboat 7. Malibu Gas Station 8. The Sprawl 9. Anti-Orgasm 10. Walkin Blue 11. Poison Arrow 12. Massage the History 13. White Cross Encore: 14. Shadow Of A Doubt 15. Pacific Coast Highway Encore 2: 16. What We Know 17. Death Valley '69

JOHN VANDERSLICE: On Track

Matt Fink — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:04:41 +0000

Though it had a good run-from the whimsy of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to the harsh isolation of Pink Floyd's The Wall and the rock opera reprisal of Green Day's American Idiot-the concept album has largely faded out of usage, left as a punch line to be hung around moribund musicians who are too pretentious to realize that they've run out of ideas. But while few songwriters are eager to join the list of artists who have tried and failed to carry out a project with such weighty ambitions, the concept album lives on in the less grandiose visions of indie rock auteurs Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), John Darnielle (Mountain Goats) and John Vanderslice. The last of those, the restlessly imaginative and analog-equipment obsessed Vanderslice, has written no fewer than five conceptually-themed narrative albums, proving his mastery at sustained album-length drama by stranding his imaginary brother on an icebound observation station on 2002's Time Travel is Lonely and crafting post-911 vignettes on 2005's Pixel Revolt. But on Romanian Names, Vanderslice's latest and most inward-looking release, he has narrowed his focus considerably. "I set out wanting to write songs that were definitely not connected and definitely not in any way narrative or with an arched storyline," he explains, having just finished ordering parts for his vintage Neve console. "I love telling stories, and I love third and first person narratives, but I wanted to write a different album. Every song that I did, with only a couple of exceptions, was much faster than what I'd usually default to, and it actually made me write different lyrics," he says excitedly. "So in some ways, I think it allowed me to write shorter verses and write less lyrics. I think that it led to more impressionistic content, because I didn't have these really long verse forms to fill up with a story, and it ended up making the record more abstract. In some ways, there is a refreshing lack of specific information, which is against my judgment," he laughs. "I like to be really specific." That's not to say that Vanderslice paints only in broad strokes. There's a track about being stalked by a snow leopard ("Tremble and Tear"), and another about an Eastern Bloc gymnast escaping the control of her minders and falling in love at the Olympics ("Romanian Names"). There's a story about cross-dressing at summer camp ("Summer Stock"), and one about a self-absorbed man who only cares about how his lover's selflessly altruistic deeds reflect on him ("C&O Canal"). Long influenced by the storytelling methods of his favorite filmmakers, Vanderslice remains the director behind the actors in his songs, even if he's increasingly comfortable letting the listener imagine the scenes. "If you're going to be a songwriter, you have to believe that every minuscule slight has importance," he says. "You have to believe that every little loss that you've had is meaningful and can, therefore, be broadcast out in the world and be exaggerated and amplified into a song. There's a trick there at work, and once you recognize it, you can either use it or it can also end your writing career. I've seen people lose their ego. They've become much more mature and developed as humans and are unable to write from a first-person perspective. For me, I've long realized that any individual is about as important as an ant colony on a hill in West Texas," he laughs. "I didn't have a problem with my ego dissolving over time, as it naturally should," he says with a comic pause, "unless you're a sociopath or a megalomaniac." HOMETOWN: San Francisco, California AGE: 42 HIS FAVORITE FILM OF THE MOMENT: Synecdoche, New York, It really helped me to see it over and over. I think I saw it four times in about a week, so I really got to dig into it. I'm getting into the same kind of movies, what I call "puzzle movies." I don't think they work if you casually watch them. I think you have to believe in them and believe that it's important to dig into them. I think that in all art, there has to be a level of sympathy, no matter what it is.

25 Of Our Favorite Songs From 1984-2009

americansongwriter — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:34:55 +0000

The older one gets, the more one looks back at those years now gone. American Songwriter's reached the ripe age of 25 and the best years are ahead. But as happy as turning 25 makes us, we decided to look back at all the songs we've found and loved since 1984, the year the magazine started.25 OF OUR FAVORITE SONGS FROM 1984-2009 Selected by the American Songwriter Staff
The older one gets, the more one looks back at those years now gone. American Songwriter's reached the ripe age of 25 and the best years are ahead. But as happy as turning 25 makes us, we decided to look back at all the songs we've found and loved since 1984, the year the magazine started. Coming up with a list of favorite songs spanning a 25-year spectrum is far from easy, but it's also a lot of fun. Thinking about songs we listened to on the radio (when we turned 16, before CD players were standard and before satellite radio), songs we danced to (sometimes with someone special, sometimes completely solo), learned how to play on guitar (not deftly by any means) and songs we sang along to (words memorized and belted way out of tune) ushered in countless memories. The process brought us together as a staff, just sitting around talking about the songs we love, while at the same time it affirmed the amazing songwriting that's taken place between 1984 and the present. 25 "The Dance" Garth Brooks Garth Brooks (1989) Written by Tony Arata Brooks' delicate vocals match the tone of the poignant lyrics. The song's got love, dreams, loss, pain, hope and life in one tight package; it can leave you crying for all the right reasons.

24 "Fast Car" Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (1988) Written by Tracy Chapman The song that put Ms. Chapman on the map blends the hard-knocks realities of poverty in America with a timeless sense of urgency and hope.

23 "Sweet Child O' Mine" Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction (1987) Written by W. Axl Rose, Michael McKagan, Steven Adler, Saul Hudson and Jeffrey Isbell What started as a joke, with Slash noodling on his guitar, turned out to be ‘80s rock songwriting gold. Axl's ear-splitting vocals put "Sweet Child" over the top.

22 "When Doves Cry" Prince Purple Rain (1984) Written by Prince A dance-pop masterpiece that's spurred a generation of awkward white kids to attempt to dance and sing falsetto-don't go off to college without it.

21 "Wagon Wheel" Old Crow Medicine Show O.C.M.S. (2004) Written by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor The best way to co-write with Dylan: find the scrap of an unreleased song and turn it into something wholly your own...well, Dylan still owns 50 percent, but you get the picture. Secor and Old Crow created a classic song that never gathers dust in our office.

20 "Sticks that Made Thunder" The SteelDrivers The SteelDrivers (2008) Written by Mike Henderson and Chris Stapleton A somber, chilling bluegrass number about...well...a tree. To be specific, a tree observing a Civil War battle-not many folks can pull a song like this off.

19 "Loser" Beck Mellow Gold (1994) Written by Beck Michael Hanson and Carl F. Stephenson Remember trying to memorize the words to this? Remember trying to figure out the chorus when the song first came out? If Beck is a loser, we don't want to win.

18 "First Day of My Life" Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (2005) Written by Conor Oberst Oberst's song is a wonderful, plain-spoken poetic statement on modern love. It's simple, delicate and feels new every time you play it for that special someone.

17 "Karma Police" Radiohead OK Computer (1997) Written by Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway and Thom Yorke Radiohead bring the paranoia and chaos in this creepy classic. But the song's life-affirming coda ("for a minute there, I lost myself") is like a shot of adrenaline.

16 "Mr. Jones" Counting Crows August and Everything After (1993) Written by Steve Bowman, David Bryson, Adam Duritz, Charlie Gillingham, Matt Malley We all wanted to be big stars, and who among us doesn't want to be Bob Dylan? An inescapable hook and chorus just never lets this song grow stale. Sha-la-la-la-la indeed.

15 "Flume" Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago (2007) Written by Justin Vernon An eerie, lyrically vague number that swept us off our feet and dropped us in the Wisconsin wilderness. Vernon's DIY recordings from his cabin in the woods resonate and inspire.
14 "Independence Day" Martina McBride The Way That I Am (1993) Written by Gretchen Peters Our kind of patriotic song! It gets you all fired up about standing up for yourself in the face of something wrong-behind closed doors or in the streets. It's a must for any jukebox.

13 "Armchairs" Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha (2007) Written by Andrew Bird Not only does he whistle and play the violin like a mofo-Bird writes beautiful, endlessly unfolding tunes that make your soul ache with their loveliness.

12 "Mississippi" Bob Dylan Love and Theft (2001) Written by Bob Dylan Leave it to Bob Dylan to stay in Mississippi a day too long, write a song about it, and have said song be as deep and as powerful as the river it shares a name with.

11 "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Nirvana Nevermind (1991) Written by Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic Whether it's a lightning rod anthem for apathetic youth or one the best frickin' rock songs ever (or both), this tune will forever be one of our faves. Cobain ushered in the Grunge era with these contradictory lyrics, howling screams and potent guitar fuzz.

10 "Free Fallin'" Tom Petty Full Moon Fever (1989) Written by Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty The early dreams of westward expansion meet the not-so-happy reality of the present in Petty's tune, which namedrops L.A. streets and landmarks while echoing an urgency to flee. Doubt and heartbreak chased with a new dream of escape.

9 "Chattahoochee" Alan Jackson A Lot About Livin' (and a Little ‘Bout Love) (1992) Written by Alan Jackson and Jim McBride This devilishly straightforward song preaches the gospel of learnin', lovin' and livin' in the South. It's one of those songs in which lines unsaid are as important as those sung. It remains one of our favorites to crank up on a summer Friday afternoon.

8 "Forever and Ever, Amen" Randy Travis Always and Forever (1987) Written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz Travis' singing can't be beat, while the songwriting team of Overstreet and Schlitz nail the earnest down-home sentimentality of a country boy on this one.

7 "Golden" My Morning Jacket It Still Moves (2003) Written by Jim James The guitar rambles and trots while James' vocals softly glide over. The lyrics about bars, concerts, and rock stars, delivered by James' alpine falsetto carry you off to a better place like a folk-rock lullaby.

6 "It's a Great Day to be Alive" Travis Tritt Down the Road I Go (2000) Written by Darrell Scott An American anthem about taking things day by day and enjoying the simple, offbeat things in life. The optimism lifts us up, gets us thinking about going to get new tattoos, and growing facial hair.

5 "Copperhead Road" Steve Earle Copperhead Road (1988) Written by Steve Earle Earle's song is a country-rock storytelling gem that'll always shine through. His musing on a descendant of bootleggers turned dope-grower in the Tennessee hills after two tours in Vietnam is bittersweet and blood-boiling-and butt-kickin' good.

4 "Revelator" Gillian Welch Time (The Revelator) (2002) Written by Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch Sparse and elegant, "Revelator" has been hailed by some as one of greatest folk songs written in this century-we cannot disagree. The desperation, the wandering, and the abandonment found within are reminiscent of the mood and setting of a William Gay or Cormac McCarthy novel. Rawlings' picking on his archtop adds to the stumbling visions of moving westward, leaving the world behind. And here, especially, Gil and Dave's subtle vocal harmonies never fail to shiver spines and lift neck hairs.

3 "Ashes of American Flags" Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) Written by Jay Bennett and Jeff Tweedy Wilco are like an ATM machine of good songs. This one is filled with hundreds and twenties. For a small service fee, you too will come back new.

2 "Born in the U.S.A." Bruce Springsteen Born in the U.S.A. (1984) Written by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen's career reached critical mass with the Born in the U.S.A. album. The title song, deceptively simple yet decidedly complex, lodged him into our national consciousness for good, and helped turn the man from New Jersey into an American folk hero and protector of the people. Ronald Reagan famously misunderstood the intentions behind the Boss's lyrics. But just because the chorus wasn't meant to be patriotic doesn't mean you can't sing it with pride. As an electric rave-up or an acoustic blues, "Born in the U.S.A." resonates almost as deeply as the American Dream.

1 "Graceland' Paul Simon Graceland (1986) Written by Paul Simon Paul Simon considers this the greatest song he's ever written, and he's written a lot of great songs. Dealing in divorce, the holy road trip, and the ghost of Elvis, "Graceland" is based on a real journey Simon took with his young son, Harper. The song's sad center anchors its optimistic exterior, and the music blends different cultures (South African, American) into a joyous cappuccino of sound. "There is a girl in New York City, who calls herself the human trampoline. And sometimes when I am bouncing, falling, and tumbling in turmoil, I say oh, so this is what she means. She means we are bouncing into Graceland."

MOBY: Carry On

Paul Zollo — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:44:03 +0000

It’s an early Monday morning, and Moby, in Clark Kent glasses, is drinking green tea at the Sunset Towers, former home to much Hollywood royalty. It’s an early Monday morning, and Moby, in Clark Kent glasses, is drinking green tea at the Sunset Towers, former home to much Hollywood royalty. He’s here to hype his newest album, Wait For Me, a return to what he does best—haunting hip-hop-inspired rhythmic soundscapes of found and sung voices, vintage guitars and old synths revolving around crystalline melodic lines. Perhaps better than any of his peers, he’s mastered an enthralling fusion of warmth and cold in his work, of techno-mechanical layers wrapped around real human voices. That he ever left behind this kind of music is surprising, since hardly anyone does it better. But after the immense success of Play (1999) with the haunting “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” he became disenchanted with the prevalent presumption about him—that he was a techno DJ guy, and not a real musician—an impression partially created because he doesn’t sing. And though establishing himself publically as a musician didn’t matter much back then, it does now. “In my concerts I play guitar, drums, piano,” he said. “And people come up to me after shows and say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know you could play an instrument.’ Call me crazy, but I always thought playing an instrument was a prerequisite for being a musician.” And so Moby veered from his signature style to do other things—and left the home-made lo-fi sounds of his first work behind to work in a state-of-the-art studio. And he didn’t like it: “Big studios are great for making good sounding music, but they’re not good places to experiment.” So this time around he returned to the home studio in his Manhattan apartment, and had fun again making the kind of lo-fi music he’s made since the start. The album is highlighted by “Pale Horses,” an elegiac journey through the ruins of the past punctuated by a lone female voice nakedly singing about “all the places where my family died,” and percussion like boots shuffling through dry leaves. As with all his work, its power derives from the compelling amalgam of elements he unites—chord pads on a “crummy sounding old Korg,” real drums with sampled loops, and a lyric inspired by a train ride from Belgium to France in which he reflected on his heritage, the plight of his ancestral Huguenots, who were slaughtered en masse here in the 16th century. This marriage of history with modernity epitomizes the variance of threads he weaves in his work, as does his reliance on old machines to make new music. His friend, the burlesque star Lady Rizo, sings the vocal, and he captured her wounded, broken vocal by recording her first take, before she knew the song, or even knew he was recording. A few weeks later, having learned the tune, she recorded it again, but he used the unsure one, the first take, primarily because he’s not out for slick perfection as much as emotion. “No one ever says, after hearing a song, how perfectly it’s recorded. They talk about how it makes them feel. My ability to embrace imperfection is one of my strengths.” His friend Melody sings the lead on “JLTF,” and to compensate for the “perfect bell-tone” quality of her voice, he used old effects and a cheesy delay to degrade the sound. “I love to take things that are recorded well and make them sound old and crummy,” he said with a sly smile. Although he’s famous as a techno-pioneer, he doesn’t consider himself an innovator. “The most interesting innovation comes from not trying to be innovative. If I ever did anything that was innovative, it was just by accident. I think innovation comes more from love and open-mindedness more than anything. If you love what you’re doing and are open to experiments, you can create really interesting music. And that’s what I do.”

BOMBADIL > Tarpits and Canyonlands

Matt Fink — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:19:56 +0000

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Tarpits and Canyonlands still defies easy categorization, setting up camp at the confluence of Paul Simon, Ben Folds, and The Decemberists with a series of bounding piano-pop ditties, humble acoustic guitar ballads, and rollicking folk-pop anthems that make the occasional Bolivian folk sing-along seem like an outlier. Label: RAMSEUR Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Having generated a healthy buzz with their spirited blurring of Bolivian folk, Piedmont blues and quirky Americana (as well as their penchant for dressing in the style of Bolivian octogenarians), North Carolina's Bombadil seem eager to shake off the novelty tag with their sophomore album. Tamping down their previous emphasis on ethnic folk instruments, Tarpits and Canyonlands still defies easy categorization, setting up camp at the confluence of Paul Simon, Ben Folds, and The Decemberists with a series of bounding piano-pop ditties, humble acoustic guitar ballads, and rollicking folk-pop anthems that make the occasional Bolivian folk sing-along seem like an outlier.

PATTERSON HOOD > Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs)

Jay Steele — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:11:11 +0000

Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs)" src="http://www.americansongwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/patterson.jpg" alt="PATTERSON HOOD > Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs)" width="200" height="200" />

With the help of friends such as David Barbe, Centro-Matic's Will Johnson, his father, David Hood, Don Chambers and members of Drive-By Truckers, Hood has created a dynamic record that features the rich songwriting we've come to expect from him.

Label: Ruth St.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs) is an album that's been in the works for 15 years. The wait has been worthwhile. With the help of friends such as David Barbe, Centro-Matic's Will Johnson, his father, David Hood, Don Chambers and members of Drive-By Truckers, Hood has created a dynamic record that features the rich songwriting we've come to expect from him. Oscar is highlighted by some of his finest numbers, such as the piano-driven worldview, "Pride of the Yankees," the barroom shuffle, "She's A Little Randy," and the heartbreaking lament, "Back of A Bible." Don't sleep on this solo effort.

CHARLIE MARS > Like A Bird, Like A Plane

Evan Schlansky — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:07:40 +0000

Like A Bird, Like A Plane" src="http://www.americansongwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/charlie-mars.jpg" alt="CHARLIE MARS > Like A Bird, Like A Plane" width="200" height="200" />
For his fifth album, Mars was less interested in traditional rock structures, and more interested in the holy groove; many parts were captured in one take.

Label: ROCKINGHAM Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Charlie Mars is a songwriter from El Dorado, Arkansas, who's been climbing the long ladder of success since 1996 (he toured with R.E.M. in 2004). For his fifth album, Mars was less interested in traditional rock structures, and more interested in the holy groove; many parts were captured in one take. But despite the emphasis on texture and layers, each song contains a satisfying pop music center underneath. Insistent percussion and ephemeral acoustic guitar help the title track sound like an outtake from Paul Simon's Rhythm of the Saints. "Gather The Horses" builds and then climaxes like Achtung Baby-era U2. Mars' voice is plaintive and warm, and he applies it to songs about love that's on the verge of either soaring or sinking. The prettiest melody might be "Listen to the Darkside," where he tries to get a girl to forget her troubles, come over to his house and get high and listen to Dark Side of the Moon.