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2008 releases artists music politics

Will.i.am and Jesse Dylan – Yes We Can

It’s no secret that I am absolutely intrigued by the US election race at the moment. For the first time in years, I’ve seen truly charismatic, presidential speeches from several candidates – particularly John McCain and Barack Obama.

Being a South African, currently living in Australia, I’m somewhat removed from having a self-serving partisan view to the elections, so I think that puts me in a unique position when it comes to discussing today’s post: Will.i.am and Jesse Dylan‘s song, “Yes We Can“, which was inspired by Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech in New Hampshire.

Hope

In short, I find the song (and speech, of course), nothing short of inspirational. Considering that Barack is already a Grammy winner, it should come as no surprise that I’ve always thought the man has a certain timbre to his voice that just strikes home with me. There’s something honest, something credible there… and all that is simply conveyed by voice.

At the Huffington Post, Will.i.am posted his reasons for recording the song. Here’s a short excerpt:

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today…
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above…
It’s all scary…

Martin Luther King didn’t have experience to lead…
Kennedy didn’t have experience to lead…
Susan B. Anthony…
Nelson Mandela…
Rosa Parks…
Gandhi…
Anne Frank…
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today…

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today…

they just need “desire, strength, courage ability, and passion” to change…
and to stand for something even when people say it’s not possible…

The song’s video is a veritable ratpack of celebrities; just some of the names featured in the video include:
Jesse Dylan, Will.i.am, Common, Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger and Nick Cannon.


Enough about the backstory. What about the song? It’s inspiring. It’s what people need to hear. And it does what all good music should do: Inspires change. Of course, they had some pretty good material to work with.

Here’s the video:

The transcript is included in the video information.
When you hear those opening lines “It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation/Yes we can/It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom/Yes we can“, tell me it doesn’t inspire hope with a straight face. Go on. I dare ya.

Hope.

***Update***
I see that a lot of people are coming through to this entry, looking explicitly for the transcript of this video. So, to save you looking in the youtube entry for it, here it is below…

 

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics…they will only grow louder and more dissonant ……….. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea —

Yes. We. Can.

 

Categories
2008 releases artists digital downloads guitar live songs music rock gods

Counting Crows live on WXPN – Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings

Thank god for WXPN – as usual they’ve brought the goods with NPR’s latest World Cafe show, featuring Counting Crows live, previewing eight (yes, I said eight) songs from their forthcoming album, Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings.

Counting Crows - Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings
(Counting Crows previewed Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings on WXPN World Cafe)

We’ve already previewed some of the new songs here before, so I won’t be posting the whole set (but if you’re really desperate, then drop a comment here and let me know; perhaps we can work something out). That said, this show exemplifies one of the reasons I feel Counting Crows is one of the greatest live acts around: Adam goes into great detail to give you the backstory of each song, and really makes you feel part of a greater experience; as if we’re all sharing the same journey, the same ride.

As mentioned in our previous post about the album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings is really a double album: The “Saturday Nights” half is ostensibly the more “rock” half, and the “Sunday Mornings” the more acoustic. On this World Cafe show (which was aired on February 8th), Counting Crows performed four songs from each side. I’ll be posting one song from each half for now; the first is “Cowboys” from the “Saturday Nights” section, and the second is “Washington Square“, from the “Sunday Mornings” section.

I could try and write up an analysis of each song. But really, who can do it better than Adam himself? So I’ll leave the smart words to him, in his introduction to each song. I will say this though; I’ve been hesitant to get excited about this album. This set might just have changed that.

Again, if you’d like me to post the whole set, then drop a comment and let me know.

Listen. Love. Support.

Listen: Counting Crows – Cowboys (live on WXPN/World Cafe)
Listen: Counting Crows – Washington Square (live on WXPN/World Cafe)

Categories
2007 Releases 2008 releases artists artists to watch for in 2008 guitar music

Friday Music Round-up – The Dodos, Patrick Park and Jason Schwartzman

I’m off down the coast for the weekend, with a lot of things to be sorted out before leaving; so this Friday’s post will be a round-up post. Lazy? Perhaps. Awesome tunes? Definitely.

Here’s a round-up of what’s been heating up our speakers this week:

Patrick Park – Here We Are

Patrick Park - Here We Are

Rapidly becoming a firm favourite of ours, Patrick Park has once again been treating our ears this week. With this song, “Here We Are“, Patrick Park opens a new door in his songwriting talents; there’s something about this tune that seems more… sophisticated than his past releases.
It recalls something akin to the Cary Brothers view of pop aesthetics, and combines that with the warmth of a Matt Costa tune. And something about that opening riff just makes me thing about dusty, country roads. And when that coral chorus comes in? Man…

It’s a cracking tune, and is securing Patrick Park’s position as one of the premier songwriters in contemporary music.

Listen: Patrick Park – Here We Are
(From the 2007 release, Everyone’s in Everyone)

Coconut Records (Jason Schwartzman) – West Coast

Jason Schwartzman - West Coast

Jason Schwartzman is a constant as one of my favourite artists, and whenever he releases some solo material it’s cause for excitement. Better known as indie actor (Rushmore, Spin et al), and one-time drummer for “Phantom Planet”, Jason seems to be this never-ending fountain of creativity.

His most recent project is “Coconut Music“; the moniker under which he has released a solo-album, entitled “Nighttiming”. As always with Schwartzman, Coconut Music certainly won’t be for everyone. I hope you give this offering, “West Coast“, a try however, and check out his other tunes on the Coconut Music myspace page.

Listen: Coconut Music – West Coast
(Orders available from http://www.youngbabyrecords.com/)

The Dodos – Fools

The Dodos - Fools

Again, I’m not sure this song will be to everyone’s tastes; The Dodos occupy that uncomfortable ground between acoustic troubadours and freak-folk – much like Animal Collective. That said, this tune, “Fools“, has me interested. The frantic strumming of guitarist and lead singer Meric Long’s guitar, coupled with the steady clicking of drummer Logan Kroeber’s beat makes for a steamroller of a song, unrelenting right up to the very last 30 seconds or so.
Take a listen, and let me know what you think.

Oh; and I happen to think the video is pretty sweet as well, so here it is:

And, in mp3 format…

Listen: The Dodos – Fools
(From the “Visiter” album, due out 18 Mar, 2008)

Categories
artists digital downloads guitar music sad news

The Format break up. Sadness ensues.

The Format Break Up

So the music blogosphere is abuzz with the latest sad news: The Format, indie-pop darlings, have called it quits. A post made on their myspace blog reads:

“We have just put out word that we will not be making a new Format album. Please understand this was a tough decision and we’re both upset about it. While we accept there will be false speculation as to why, understand that Sam and I remain extremely close and in fact are still passing the twin peaks box set back and forth in an attempt to figure out who REALLY killed laura palmer.

We also want to thank everyone with and within the Format, particularly Mike, Don, and Marko, whom without, none of this would have ever even been fully realized. We both suggest you support their musical talents and whatever they decide to do. And lastly we want to thank the fans who made this the best 5 years of our lives.

– nate”

I can imagine quite more than a few scenesters shedding a tear after reading that post; but seriously, this really does suck. The Format always played to a slightly different tune, and that was needed in the seriously (and ironically) homogenised indie-pop scene.

The Format were the poster-child for fighting on against major record labels. After all, Sam Means and Nate Ruess, otherwise known as The Format, were dropped by their music label, not once, but twice. An interview with Nate after the event read:

“It sort of mockingly turned the whole major-label side of the music business into a dance,” explains Ruess about one of Dog Problems’ most telling songs, “The Compromise.” “There’s a line, ‘I can feel your feet touching mine,’ which pretty much explains it all in the sense of ‘if you’re not willing to play the game, we’ll just find someone else.’ And that’s quite alright with me.” Although the band was inundated with major-label offers after their split with Atlantic, they decided to release under their own Vanity Label imprint, distributed by Sony/BMGa move that allowed them to make the album they wanted to make.

It’s sad now to think that survivors like that are now calling it quits. I know that I, for one, will miss them.

So what song is appropriate to play, after all this, to commemorate this sad news? Well, if you know anything at all about The Format, there’s only one song it really could be, when you get right down to it.

Listen: The Format – On Your Porch

“whats left to lose,
you’ve done enough
and if you fail well then you fail,
but not to us
cause these last three years,
i know they’ve been hard
but now it’s time to get out of the desert and into the sun
even if it’s alone”

With lyrics like that, it’s certainly appropriate.

We’ll miss you boys.


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artists covers digital downloads guitar music

Cat Power – Silver Stallion (Live)

As promised, here is the video clip of Cat Power performing “Silver Stallion” live on “Later… with Jools Holland”:

Categories
artists digital downloads guitar music

Radiohead – House of Cards (Live)

As promised, Radiohead’s performance of “House of Cards” live on “Later… With Jools Holland”:

Categories
2008 releases artists covers digital downloads guitar music

Later with Jools Holland celebrates in style…

One of my favourite music shows, “Later… with Jools Holland“, has just reached a milestone this month, broadcasting it’s 200th episode.
Times Online has a great article about the night in question, and also a bit of background information on the show:

The cake has been sitting all day in the middle of Studio 1 at BBC Television Centre. But only ten minutes before the 200th episode of Later with Jools Holland is due to be recorded does someone realise that lighting 200 candles – and keeping them lit while the studio audience sings Happy Birthday – is easier said than done. The urbane ringmaster of terrestrial music television doesn’t fancy his chances of blowing them out either, at least not without singeing his trademark dapper suit.

Fire extinguishers are mentioned before someone authorised to pronounce on these things decides that “it would be too dangerous”. Top rock combo Radiohead confer in a manner that suggests they didn’t get to where they are today without learning a thing or two about health and safety. Soul diva Mary J. Blige, obviously nonplussed by the drama, walks over to Holland – with whom she appears to be very friendly – and engages him in intense conversation. Meanwhile, in the far corner, two poster girls of alternative America – Cat Power and Leslie Feist – guffaw long and hard at something on Feist’s phone.

And what a cracking guest list they put together for the big occasion. Performances were given by Radiohead, Mary J Blige, Robyn Hitchcock, Cat Power and Feist. The good news is, we’ve managed to snag some of the performances. The bad news? Due to the embedding nature of the BBC videos, if causing some problems with my post. As such, I’ll have to release the videos is separate posts each.

First up will be Radiohead‘s performance of “House of Cards” (from their In Rainbows album) – which only actually happened after the recording of the show had wrapped – is absolutely scintillating.

Radiohead - House of Cards
Radiohead performed “House of Cards” live.

Secondly, Cat Power‘s cover version of “Silver Stallion” is another clip that didn’t actually feature on the main show. Instead, this clip was filmed during a break in rehearsals. Every time I hear her voice, I fall in love with Chan Marshall all over again.

Cat Power - Silver Stallions
Cat Power performed “Silver Stallion” live.

While I would love to include an mp3 of Cat Power’s “Silver Stallion” (which appears on her Jukebox album), her record label is fully against this, which is unfortunate as it’s a cracking tune.
However, I have managed to locate an mp3 version of Radiohead’s live video, “House of Cards”, and you can get this below.

Listen: Radiohead – House of Cards (Live, “Later… with Jools Holland, 1/2/08)

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And don’t forget… the videos will be following as two separate posts!!

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