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 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.
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.
“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.
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 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 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.
Those who have read this blog for a while might have noticed subtle hints of my slightobsession with the band, “The Damnwells“. And when lead singer Alex Dezen dropped a new song on their myspace page, it became clear to me that yet another post was needed. But before we get to the new tune (yes, it’s down at the bottom, along with some others), some background.
It’s hard to describe how much the music of The Damnwells excites me. It’s much like the first time I heard Dispatch, or Ryan Adams, or Ben Harper… and that’s no small compliment from me. There’s a strong alt.country vibe to their stuff (not surprising, considering drummer Steven Terry was a member of the oh-so-missed Whiskeytown), but it also hearkens back – for me, at least – to the times of the Gin Blossoms. And there’s just something about Alex Dezen’s voice and lyrics; it’s like he knows where you’re coming from, and meets up with you on the journey.
The Damnwells (2006) Photo by Heather Conley
I’ve previously pointed you towards the “Golden Days” trailer, but I’m including it here again. It’s a documentary that chronicles the band’s rise to the brink of stardom, and then how it was all taken away from them… after all, The Damnwells have played with The Fray many times, but while The Fray have been catapaulted into the public eye, The Damnwells still remain largely unknown (in terms of mainstream acceptance, anyway). As the film release says:
“In 2001, a photo assistant named Alex Dezen asked a couple friends to record a few songs with him. Shortly thereafter they would form the Brooklyn based rock band THE DAMNWELLS. Two years later they had toured the country, opened for rock legends, and had a song featured in a major motion picture. By 2004, they had signed a major record deal with EPIC Records (Sony/BMG).
In March of 2005, THE DAMNWELLS went into the studio to record their first professional album. For six months, THE DAMNWELLS immersed themselves in preproduction, recording, and mixing. But as months passed, their release date was moved further and further away. In January of 2006, lead singer Alex Dezen received a call they never expected. The band was being released from their contract and the fate of the album was unknown. For the moment, it would sit on a shelf at EPIC Records and collect dust.”
Watch the trailer, and tell me it doesn’t excite you.
Word from Chris (Suchorsky, the film’s director), is that the DVD should be made available in the US by Spring. And I’m freaking out. Up until now, I’ve only seen segments of the film, but not the whole thing.
More reason to freak out, is that Alex has written on the band’s blog that they should back in studio to record a follow up to the 2006 release, “Air Stereo“, in February. As he’s said:
“Really, when you consider all the pressure and nonsense—both existential and metaphoric—we always had to deal with every time we went into the studio, this will be the first Damnwells record we will ever be able to just make. ‘No pressure,’ Paul, our A&R guy at Rounder says. ‘Make the record you want to make.’ What a crazy idea! Not like we were ever making anyone else’s records, but there was always compromise.
Where art and commerce meet, there has to be. Your mixed-medium, six foot canvas doesn’t fit in the six by three inch display case at Wal-Mart, and no amount of dieting or exercise is ever gonna fit your square peg in that round hole. Compromise is a part of life—at least the kind that includes a roof over your head and food on the table. So now that we’re supposed to make this record, the one we want to make, without the pressure and nonsense, I think I may be feeling a little Stockholm syndrome coming on. How the hell am I supposed to do that?
Guess we’ll find out.”
The guy just has this amazing way with words, and if there was one person I could sit down and have a beer with, Alex Dezen would definitely be one of my frontrunners.
Anyway, on to the tunes below.
Alex Dezen before forming The Damnwells (2000) Photo by Heather Conley
The first track is the new release on their myspace page, entitled “Down With The Ship“. Dezen has this talent of crafting these incredibly powerful songs, accompanied simply by his acoustic guitar and pure heart (as anyone who has heard his “Live Performance at the Hotel Cafe 10/14/07” can attest to. It’s floating around the net, so take a look for it. If you’re really struggling, drop me a line, as I have the whole show in a zip file).
This song is no different. The guy’s voice absolutely wrecks me.
The Damnwells on tour (2006) Photo by Heather Conley
I’ve included some of their other singles below, simply because you should be listening to this. The first is a cracker of a tune (and the first of theirs I heard actually), from their 2003 release, “Bastards of the Beat“, called “Kiss Catastrophe“. It’s undeniably catchy. Try not to get into it. I dare ya.
The next track is their tune, “I Am A Leaver“. This is off their last album, “Air Stereo”, and is probably the song that has garnered The Damnwells the most mainstream attention. Again… if you don’t find yourself singing along with the chorus, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.
The final track is the theme song for the “Golden Days” trailer, Golden Days. It’s a comforting tune, with wonderful backing vocals and lyrics like: “I can’t hear much but the melody coming from you / Baby please don’t rush, keep the tempo slow and blue, let me hear the words you say / Let’s go and get tangled in chains of golden days.”
(Aside: 3 posts in 1 day? I know, it’s a regular explosion over here!)
Ah. Scott Adams. The dude is simply amazing.
For those out of the loop, Scott Adams is the creator of the famous “Dilbert” cartoon strips. But unless you subscribe to his blog, you probably aren’t aware of just how damn hip this cat is. Subscribe now, seriously. Politics, sex, humour… anything is fair game there.
And it was with interest that I read this post recently, where Scott invited his readers to make up a song by all contributing lyrics. As he said:
Recently I discovered I am a talented lyricist. This came as a big surprise to me. It all came together when I realized most songs I enjoy are gibberish. I can TOTALLY write gibberish!
For decades I believed my favorite songs revolved around deep thoughts artistically embedded in metaphors and allusions. It turns out they were gibberish.
My first hint came after reading an interview with Paul McCartney. He admitted that most, if not all, Beatles songs were random words and thoughts strung together. I refused to believe it. So I checked online and read some of the Beatles songs. Holy crap! Gibberish!
The rules were simple.
1. Write no more than two lines.
2. Your lines should be grammatically correct.
3. It should sound like it might have deep meaning to someone else.
4. Avoid klunky sounding words. Velvet is good. Cholesterol is bad.
5. Specify whether your lines are a hook or just part of the regular lyrics.
6. It should seem to be part of a story about life or love but not too specific, so they can all be strung together later.
Knowing the Dilbert blog readers, I knew this would be something special. So, it was with no surprise that when I read the follow up post, “The Hit Song You Wrote” – with the strung together lyrics – it turned out that the exercise had worked. The lyrics were nonsensical to the max, but if you thought hard enough about it, you could convince yourself that there was some hidden, deeper meaning behind them.
And then German band Rivo Drei came along. They have two things going for them. 1) They read the Scott Adams blog. 2) They are obviously very sharp marketers, because they were the first to record the song and submit it to Scott for publicizing on his blog.
Rivo Drei – She Amazed Me (The Dilbert Sessions)
It may be a nonsense song, but it’s ridiculously catchy. And I think that this song is going to expose Rivo Drei to an amazingly large audience. Nice one guys.
I’ve taken a look around their site, and there’s some seriously cool stuff there. Unfortunately all their lyrics are in German, so it’s a bit hard to understand, but there are still some kickass tunes. And these guys have some seriously cool music videos too. I’m quite a fan of this one below.
So, following on from yesterday’s post, there are two more quasi-hip-hop songs that I think you should hear. The first of those was here, and now the second (pushing the bounds of the term “quasi-hip-hop songs”), is:
Ray Lamontage – Crazy (Gnarls Barkley Cover)
Ok ok… it may not be a strictly hip-hop song, but I had to include this here. Ray Lamontagne is a ridiculously talented artist, yet one that still seems to be criminally underrated outside of the “music critic” scene.
He has a soft, raspy voice, but one that still cuts like a razor. And, backed just by an acoustic guitar here, that voice is able to shine.
As with any great cover, it’s not simply a remake; it’s a retelling, with different ingredients.
album) – which only actually happened after the recording of the show had wrapped – is absolutely scintillating.
album), her record label is fully against this, which is unfortunate as it’s a cracking tune.
