musings on music

One Hundred Percent Fun

| Chris

The 90’s are definitely a favorite era of mine when it comes to music. It was a drastic change in the way the 80’s delivered the goods. The back-to-basics approach was a warm welcome after having reeled from a decade of musical over-the-top excess. I could name a whole bunch of artists that have caught my attention during this time, and I probably will at some point.

having funBut for now, I wanted to mention Matthew Sweet. The first time I heard Sick of Myself on KROQ, I thought, this is the kind of musicianship and songwriting I really want to imitate. The guitar tone, man! And the melodic hooks? Impressive! The vintage gear he’s using brings an old-fashioned warmth to a modern song. You can almost smell the burning-hot and glaring tubes in the back of a tweed amp. And the saturation and compression? Man, it’s like playing those old vinyl records.

Oh, and check out the stomp boxes, too, right here…

Actually, I loved the song so much that I took a stab at doing a cover of it, in my basement. Not as good as the original, but the jam was definitely… 100% fun!

Jesus Wants My Soul Back

| Chris

jackdaw4You can already hear the campiness of the song just in the title itself.

But Jackdaw4 is more than just campy, I think. I’ve been listening to this London-based outfit for a couple of years now after being introduced to their music by die-hard listeners on last.fm. They’re quite a unique bunch in this age of predictable pop. But then again, maybe it’s just me. My biggest influences are Queen and the Beatles, and any artist that succeeds in blending the two genre together wins my approval right off the bat.

Here’s a video of another one of their awesome song, Frobisher’s Last Stand, done live. Check them out as they recreate the studio version’s lush harmonies of this song on stage. Brilliant!

Drum Wonder

| Chris

One day, I was at a Guitar Center in Atlanta, GA just checkin’ out some new gear and passing time. A bunch of us window shoppers, including some staff, couldn’t help but bop our heads in groove to Stevie Wonder’s Living For The City which was pumping out of the speakers in all its glorious funk. Some of us started looking at each other, stopped on our tracks… that’s Stevie on drums, man… did you know?

Yeah, I knew but I guess I’ve forgotten.

stevie on drumsOf course, we do know Stevie Wonder played all the instruments in the studio, back in the day. Yet, he’s well-known more for his singing and songwriting chops than his instrumental mastery. But listening to his classics being aware this dude not only delivered the funk with keyboards and his incredible pipes, but also with the drums, and with just as much flair, is simply mind-blowing. At least, for me it is.

However, listening is one thing. Seeing the proof with your own eyes is another. I’ve been wanting to share this video I discovered awhile back but haven’t had a chance to do so until now. So do yourself a favor and check out this old footage from a TV show. He’s definitely rockin’ it out with the best of them.

Pictures of Lily

| Chris

No need to introduce this classic if you’re a fan. Neither do we need to mention what it’s about either, now do we? It’s one of those songs that seems to have stuck with me forever, though. A good ‘ol sixties melodic hook is, indeed, eternal. In fact, more so for me than the obvious ones (the themes from the CSI shows, for instance). You can feel a carefree kind of attitude in this song. It’s almost like you gotta be on drugs to be able to pull off this kind of songwriting stunt. It’s so genuine and honest. And childish, too. Probably because the music didn’t rely so much on advanced technology. Or some hired songwriting team from Nashville. They didn’t have any, apparently. This is rock and roll in its purest form. You’re suppose to hear the reverb echoing from the garage.

And this style of music, I believe, have constantly been revived (or sustained) throughout the years. There’s a whole mess of current bands right now that are sadly filed under the cabinet of obscurity simply because their taste for music is not quite “flavor of the month” anymore. I know, I listen to a lot of them, often. I might even highlight a few at some point in the future.

But I love the kind of innocence you feel with this kind of songs. My favorite Who tracks are the early ones like this one and Substitute, Happy Jack, I’m a Boy and The Kids are Alright. There’s a sense of timelessness in music born out of sheer youthfulness and passion. Can’t get that out of some bigshot producer with cutting-edge machines to make just about anyone and the neighbor’s dog sound “good enough.”

Please don’t touch the display, little boy

| Chris

steven

1976… it was the year I started collecting records. Vinyl records, that is. I was obsessed! I bought at least one each week depending on how consistently starved I was willing to be during school lunch breaks. Yes, I had to save the money using my allowance. There’s no way I could’ve convinced my parents to buy me all these records from artists I’m just now beginning to discover (… thanks to Creem and Circus!). And with outrageous cover art and titles such as Welcome To My Nightmare, Destroyer, Sabotage and Cat Scratch Fever… uhh, you kiddin’ me? Forget about it!

Alice Cooper’s 1975 release, Welcome To My Nightmare, was one of the very first albums I’ve acquired. Though ironically, it wasn’t because of Alice (of whom I am now a lifelong fan of), rock music or even the cool sleeve that I bought it for. It was because I’ve already heard it at my friend, Buddy’s house (… or he may have loaned me the album, I forget.). And being the huge horror genre aficionado that I was (and still am, in fact), I was tantalized beyond words upon hearing Vincent Price’s unmistakable voice that was used to bridge the songs Devil’s Food and The Black Widow into one macabre epic. As if an angel whispered in my ear telling me how much I needed to get my own copy of the album, like yesterday.

vince

If you’re a horror buff yourself, how can you not be enchanted by Vince’s monologue as a demented curator/host of an arachnid museum? From one display to the next, he educates his unsuspecting guests on the finer attributes of his priced collection. At the climaxing end, when his voice starts to rise to a crescendo, you can almost smell the chilling scent of his coat in the air as he reveals his true sentiments towards his beloved eight-legged pet. Or could it be, his master?

What a classic! Oh by the way, did you know he’s a gourmet cook too? Cool! That actually just increased the creep factor a couple notches, for me!

After all these years, I can’t believe I can still recite the whole thing word for word! Along with the appropriate facial expressions, of course.