Andrew Bird - Useless Creatures

Wow. I can't believe it's been just shy of 4 months since I last updated this blog! I think it's time to revive it. I don't really even have an excuse for why I haven't posted in so long. I mean, it was summer and I had a lot of free time... I guess I was just being really lazy. That's what summer is for, right? Well now it's October so summer has been over for a bit now and it's time to get back to posting updates.

I suppose one reason I didn't post in so long was because I hadn't heard much of anything that really inspired me to tell people about it. That changed about 30 minutes ago when I got home from the record store with, among other things, 'Useless Creatures' by Andrew Bird.

This album is considered a "sister-album" to Bird's 2009 release Noble Beast. In fact, if you pre-ordered the limited edition of Noble Beast you received Useless Creatures as a special companion disc of instrumental music. This was only offered for the very first run and was subsequently discontinued. I guess it was later reissued as a stand-alone album, or else I don't know how I could have bought it.

Useless Creatures was recorded in the Wilco loft and features percussionist Glenn Kotche of Wilco and jazz musician Todd Sickafoose on double bass. Here's a couple pics of the famed Wilco loft...

(that's not Andrew Bird)

(You can see more of the Wilco loft in the rockumentary 'I Am Trying To Break Your Heart' filmed during the production of their album 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'. I would highly recommend it, and it's on Netflix!)

But back to the matter at hand. Useless Creatures is unlike any other Andrew Bird album I've heard for a couple of reasons. For one, it's completely instrumental. No lyrics. No vocals (aside from some head singing on 'Master Sigh'). Bird even holds back on his trademark whistling. Another reason I find this so different from Bird's other musical ventures is because of the inclusion of sounds from other parts of the world. 'Nyatiti' is based on a traditional Kenyan folk melody and 'Hot Math' is based on a West African polyrhythmic groove. Bird described 'Carrion Suite' as "a collection of all the ideas that come out of me when I’m warming up at sound check. A little Dvorak mixed with gypsy-Nuyorican jazz and Afro-Cuban Bach". If that quote doesn't make you want to listen to this album, I don't know what will. Nuyorcian, by the way, is a portmanteau for New York and Puerto Rican referring to the Puerto Rican population in New York. 

The track on the album that Bird was most excited about making is 'The Barn Tapes'. To make this track he and an engineer friend set up in a barn in Illinois and opened all the doors and windows. They hooked up Bird's violin to 6 amps and placed microphones all over, inside and out. Then Bird commenced to record four hours of loops on a quarter-inch tape machine because he wanted to have that sound of the tape machine slowing down and speeding up. He made a loop for every note in the 12-tone scale, major and minor. Bird describes the track as "static in the sense that almost every note in the scale is in each loop and there is almost no forward motion, just this swirling mass of sound."

Well, I suppose this post is long enough. So I'm going to post a link to a video (sorry, I couldn't embed it) and another link where you can listen to the whole album. You should all check out Andrew Bird's other albums as well. I would especially recommend Noble Beast, Armchair Apocrypha, and Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs. I might also recommend Oh! The Grandeur by Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire if you wanted to hear some swinging gypsy-jazz stuff.

Here's that video:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/01/06/opinion/1194837333591/home-movie.html

And the music:

http://www.myspace.com/andrewbird/music/albums/useless-creatures-16914679

Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Sphere Monk (yeah, that's really his middle name) is my favorite jazz musician of all time, and has been since I really started listening to jazz back in high school. A lot of that is because my dad is a Monk fan but doesn't really listen to much jazz in general, so we had a few Monk albums laying around but not much else in the way of jazz.

There are a number of reasons I like Monk, not the least of which is his unique style of playing. If you listen to any Monk recording you'll hear some pretty unusual stuff, like how he plays the piano very percussively and how he uses silence and hesitation to add character to the music. He was also known for using a lot of dissonance and angular melodies. Another of the things about Thelonious Monk that made him so great was his attitude and personality. He seems to me to be the epitome of the crazy, cool musician. He was an unusual dude... weird even. While somebody else would be soloing, it wasn't unusual for Monk to just stand up and spin clockwise instead of comping. Or if you watch his feet while he's playing he is usually going nuts and just totally getting into the music. He also looked pretty unusual. He would almost always wear some strange hat and sometimes sunglasses as well. Later in life he had a pretty wicked beard, too.

At least some of his strangeness could probably be attributed to mental illness. His son, T.S. Monk (short for Thelonious Sphere Monk III) said that sometimes his father wouldn't even recognize him later in his life. There are a number of theories as to how and why Monk was mentally ill. Some people suggest that he probably had schizophrenia or manic depression. One physician stated that Monk was probably misdiagnosed and prescribed drugs that caused brain damage. Sometimes he would become very excited for a few days followed by long periods of pacing, and finally go into a stage where he wouldn't speak for days. Bassist Al McKibbon, who had known Monk for over twenty years and played on his final tour in 1971, said: "On that tour Monk said about two words. I mean literally maybe two words. He didn't say 'Good morning', 'Goodnight', 'What time?' Nothing. Why, I don't know. He sent word back after the tour was over that the reason he couldn't communicate or play was that Art Blakey and I were so ugly."

Thelonious Monk began playing piano at the age of six. He had some formal training, and he would eavesdrop on his sister's piano lessons, but he was mostly self-taught. He dropped out of high school and started playing the organ for an evangelist preacher. In his late teens he started finding work playing jazz. He got involved in the jazz scene at Minton's Playhouse, a nightclub in Manhattan. While playing there Monk got to know some of the other leading jazz musicians of the time including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and later Miles Davis among others. It was also during this time that Monk and some of the others began to originate what is now known as bebop. Monk is quoted as saying, "Bebop wasn't developed in any deliberate way."

During his life Monk became one of the most respected and remarkable jazz musicians ever. He is the second most recorded jazz composer with about 70 songs (Duke Ellington who is #1 in that respect has over 1000). Monk is also one of only five jazz musicians to have appeared on the cover of Time (the other four being Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis, and Dave Brubeck).

Okay, enough with the music lesson. Here are a few clips of Monk playing. Enjoy!

Blue Monk (Oslo, April 1966)

Evidence (includes bits of rehearsal, song starts around 2:45)

Round About Midnight

Bemsha Swing (taken from 1957s "Brilliant Corners")

It Don't Mean a Thing (Duke Ellington)

I Love You Sweetheart of All My Dreams

Long time, no post!

Sorry it's been such a long time since I posted last... over two months actually. I stopped around the time finals were coming up and things were getting too busy for me to be able to post very much and I just kinda grew out of the habit. Since graduation I've had tons of time to post, but I've been very lazy... my bad! But I figured it was about time to post again before I got out of the habit completely. So, anyway, here are some videos of some songs that I've been digging lately!

Los Campesinos - You! Me! Dancing!

Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks

Volcano Choir - Still

(I know this sounds like "Woods" by Bon Iver, because it basically is. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver is also in Volcano Choir... and this is basically a remix of "Woods" that was renamed for whatever reason)

Josephine Foster - Who Will Feel Bitter at the Days End?

Wilco - I'm the Man Who Loves You

My Brightest Diamond - To Pluto's Moon (Son Lux Remix)

(This track is awesome, but I was really looking for "Inside a Boy" from the same album of Son Lux remixes of My Brightest Diamond Songs. If you go to this link, http://sonlux.blogspot.com/, you will find both songs among others... including a cover of Radiohead's "Nude")

Okay, well that's all for now. Hopefully I'll be posting more regularly than every two months from now on. Thanks for being patient, and don't forget to check back every now and again for when I do update! 'Til next time.

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear is one of those bands that I've known about for a while and have liked what I've heard, but never really pursued looking into them further. Recently though, I saw a music video for the song "Ready, Able" from their 2009 album, Veckatimest and decided I was interested in checking out more of their stuff. They remind me in a lot of ways of Fleet Foxes, which isn't bad at all. They play mostly acoustic instruments and use a lot of vocal harmonies. Parts of "Ready, Able" remind me of The Beach Boys, too (check out 1:40 in the video).

Here's the video for "Ready, Able" from Veckatimest

This is their music video for "Knife" from Yellow House

...by the way, if you thought that music video was weird, read this quote from one of the band members, Daniel Rossen...

"I was very skeptical of them when they first came around. The ideas that they had before that one were so much more insane. You have no idea. Fucking absurd. It was all this weird symbolism and a lot of really sexual stuff. Initially it was like Ed with a replica of himself on his back and out of the replica of himself is birthed this weird phantom beast that is some kind of monster version of himself. And he like makes out with the monster on the beach and the rest of us were like water nymphs screaming and swimming in circles. It was totally crazy."

And finally, this is a recording of "Deep Blue Sea" from their Friend EP

That's all for today, but I'll keep you guys updated with more music soon!

Finally... more music!

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted, but I've been really busy (and maybe a bit lazy as well). There's definitely not a lack of ideas for stuff to put on my blog, so I guess I'll share a bit with you now.

Not long ago Radiohead released their eighth studio album, The King of Limbs. I haven't had a chance to listen to all of it yet, but from what I have heard, it should be amazing. The mood of this album is very eerie, even haunting. I went on YouTube briefly and found a couple videos that I think should give you guys an idea of what the album is about.

For starters, a live performance by Thom Yorke doing "Give Up the Ghost" back in February of 2010...

...followed by a nice serving of "Codex" (my favorite song on the album)...

...and finally, the music video for "Lotus Flower".

(Thom Yorke sort of looks like a Droog in this video)

Well, that's all I'm going to post today. Hopefully I'll be better at getting regular posts on here. Make sure to check out the rest of The King of Limbs and maybe even buy it when it hits stores on Monday (03/28). If you just can't wait that long, you can already buy it from Radiohead's website as an MP3 or WAV file. 

Some Great Female Singer/Songwriters

If you read this blog you are probably aware that I like folksy singer/songwriter type stuff a lot. I especially like female singer/songwriters, because I usually prefer their voices over guys' voices. I don't know why really. Why do some people prefer the sound of a violin to a cello? Interestingly enough, I prefer cellos to violin... but that is kind of irrelevant. Anyway, here are a few female singer/songwriters who I like and maybe you will too.

Joanna Newsom

One of my favorite singers of all time. It used to be that her voice was described as "ragged", "shrill", or even "child-like", although those words are perhaps too harsh. Her voice was definitely distinctive and had a unique character to it, but it wasn't bad sounding. However, her vocal style has dramatically changed since 2009 when she had some health problems. She couldn't talk, sing, or even cry for two months. Then, in 2010 she released "Have One On Me" and her voice had completely changed. Although her voice won't ever sound the same, she is still one of my favorite singer/songwriters (actually, singer/composer would be more accurate).

Cosmia - Ys

'81 - Have One On Me

Josephine Foster

Josephine Foster is a relatively new discovery for me, but she is quickly becoming one of my favorite singers. She was classically trained from a young age to be an opera singer, but eventually decided to write and perform her own songs instead. Her music often includes instruments like guitar, harp, ukulele, and often some winds... and of course voice. Being that she was trained as an opera singer, her voice is absolutely beautiful, but can be very haunting at times. I couldn't find any videos on YouTube, but Foster also put out an album of "Lieder" or "art songs" by Schumann, Schubert, and Brahms which is also amazing!

Hazel Eyes I Will Lead You - Hazel Eyes I Will Lead You

Karen Dalton

Karen Dalton was involved in the Greenwich Village scene in the '60s. Bob Dylan said of her, "My favorite singer in the place was Karen Dalton. Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday and played guitar like Jimmy Reed... I sang with her a couple of times." She played banjo and guitar and had a bluesy, gritty sound. 

Katie Cruel - In My Own Time

Meg Baird

Meg Baird is the lead singer for Espers as well as having a solo career. She also provides background vocals on other people's albums a lot, including on Bonnie "Prince" Billy's "Ask Forgiveness". Her uncle was a famous folk singer I.G. Greer, so she was exposed to folk music from a very early age. Baird took piano lessons from a young age and taught herself to play guitar.

There Was A Boy - Loving Takes This Course

Byss & Abyss - Espers

Mariee Sioux

Mariee Sioux (pronouced Mary Sue) is a folk singer from California. Her dad is of Hungarian and Polish descent and her mom is Spanish, Mexican, and Paiute (Native American). Sioux's songs tend to have a very Native American vibe. Many of her songs include the traditional Native American flute. Even the themes of her music tend to focus on nature and Native American culture. Her beautiful voice and unique style really set her apart from other folk singers. 

Wild Eyes - Faces in the Rocks

Orion Rigel Dommisse

Creepy. That's the best way I can think of to describe Orion Rigel Dommisse... that, and "coolest name ever". She tends to use piano, synthesizer, harmonium, and cello. Her songs sound like a musical version of an old fairy tale. And I don't mean the Disney-fied versions where everyone lives happily ever after. No, I'm talking about the kind where the evil step-sisters cut off parts of their feet so they can fit into the glass slipper, and then birds pluck out their eyes. Seriously, that's how the story goes. Look it up.

Drink Yourself (To Death) - What I Want From You Is Sweet

Well, that's all I'm going to write today. I could probably add a few more... Kath Bloom, Laura Veirs, Scout Niblett, Vashti Bunyan... but I'm tired and this post is long enough. Maybe I'll add a Pt. 2 later.

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

Fleet Foxes recently announced that they are going to release their second full length album called "Helplessness Blues". The album is due out May 3rd. The band also released the title track as a single available for download at http://soundcloud.com/subpop/fleet-foxes-helplessness-blues. If you haven't listened to Fleet Foxes before, they are kind of like a CSNY meets Beach Boys meets Appalachian folk-tunes. They are probably on the list of my top-five favorite bands of all time. They are generally considered "Freak Folk" or "Baroque Pop".