Friday Five - January 28, 2011

Lake of Fire – Nirvana, MTV Unplugged in New York

Okay, so just get it out of the way right off the bat, I love this song.  Although (as kindly brought up to me by music all-star, Julie) the song is a Meat Puppets cover, I kind of think the sound epitomizes the overall personality of this album.  In its entirety, the album was a little bit of a game changer for me.  This live set was recorded in 1993 and this was the first album Nirvana released after Kurt’s death, in 1994.  But at the time, it gave the band a completely different personality from what most were used to seeing from them.  This album also started the “Unplugged” craze that is still going today, 16 years later!  Unplugged albums started to become much craved from fans of normally electric musicians.  Such a novelty, hey!

Nice in Nice – The Stranglers, The Hit Men (The Complete Singles)

This is a band Julie introduced me to.  They got their start on the UK punk scene (although not anything like what I would consider a British punk band) in the mid-70’s and are still creating music today, in their 5^th decade together!  For me, listening to this double album, I think about the first time I heard them.  We were at Julie’s cabin in Sooke, B.C. and during a day in the tiny town, looking through the tiny used record store, she came upon this and a couple other little gems.  We took it back out the cabin and played it most of the night, getting drunk of tequila.  Aahhhh….good times.

I Did It – Dave Matthews Band, Live at Folsom Field, Boulder Colorado

I have ten live DMB albums in my collection, and Folsom Field is one of my lesser favorites.  It was done around the tour for Everyday and for some reason, the energy just isn’t there in this one for me.  I will say however, that the overall setlist is a bit eclectic compared with other live releases, so I do respect that part of it.  This song in particular was a bit of a hit from the Everyday album for them, and I like it.  It’s got that dirty little Dave growl to it. 

Driving All Day – Little Mike & The Tornadoes, Hot Shot

This “Chicago Blues” style band, who reside in Florida now, are the spawn of an excellent story.  I know this guys as a friend of a friend, Troy Chandler, who was a fantastic guitar player.  I mean really, really truly gifted.  He was a blues player among other things, able to riff SRV at 14 years old.  But this is not a cranial player…it was all from the heart.  You think John Mayer makes funny guitar faces?  You should see Troy.  As teenagers in junior/ senior high school, we’d never seen anything so weird.  Anyway, at sixteen Troy was busking one night on Whyte Avenue on a night that Little Mike was here on tour in Edmonton.  After stopping and listening to Troy for a bit, he complimented his playing and asked for his number, in case they were ever in need of a guitar player.  Yeah, right.  Three years later, He was true to his word: Troy got a message at his parents house from Little Mike…come on and play with us.  Troy has played with them ever since.  I go to catch them at the Commie every time they’re in town.

Let It Bump – Missy Elliott, This is Not a Test

Missy is a hot potato, baby!  I love the attitude and what she brings to the table.  It’s not like the rest of hip hop at all, I don’t think.  She’s not a big sampler and her time signatures are often out of the 4/4.  She loves Bjork and she loves things being weird.  She’s got so much personality, how do you not love a girl like her?  The album was produced by the ever present Timbaland.  Although this album was a bit of a rush job for her label to capitalize on her popularity from just releasing  a monster hit of an album in “Under Construction”, the Rollingstone review that prompted me to buy the album advised, “Why anyone would choose to spend their life without a copy of this album is a mystery to me.”  And I agree…I call it fun!

40

Today is my 40^th Birthday. 

I meant to sit down here and write something with at least a modicum of interest, but I’m kinda drawing a blank.  I don’t really have anything to say about the actual turning forty part.  All I can really say right now is that my life has been interesting, I’ve done some cool stuff and I have a wonderful group of peers in my friends and family.

I’m a father to the best little 5 year old girl you could ever imagine.  I have an outstanding woman as my lover and partner and we have another little baby on the way. 

I like being 40.

The Friday Five - January 21, 2011

Nude – Radiohead, In Rainbows

Ahh…the album that made the music industry stand up and ask a collective, “HUH??”  When this band, very much in the prime of their career, flipped the record industry off by not only releasing their new 20__ album independently from their own website, but in a digital format preceding the  CD’s physical release in music stores, they were carving new territory.  But they didn’t stop there.  They introduced the pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth concept.  You could download the album for as little as free or pay as much as you wanted.  “HUH??”  I wish hockey executives could find a way to pay their athletes like that.  We’re still working through the new age of music and how to market/ obtain it…but Radiohead has certainly proven to be ahead of the game, not just in this practice of album release, but also in their music.  In Rainbows is a great album….well worth the, uhhmm….money.  It often reminds me of the mini-beat sound from Bjork’s Vespertine, but somehow in analog form.

Soma – The Strokes, Is This It?

One of my favorite albums of the previous decades, so much so that it epitomizes for me what the “L.A. sound” is supposed to be about.  After spinning the hell out of this album for the couple of years I had it, I brought it back out last year for its first listen in a while and found I still love it as much as I used to.  The Strokes were playing at Austin City Limits when Julie and I were there a few months ago and I did get to hear them blasting away on the stage while I stood in line at the ridiculous pee-shack lineup.  Too bad that they were playing at the same time as Phish…I really wanted to stay for their show, but not for the price of missing my fave.  So I kind of feel ripped off…like I’m owed a Strokes show.  My eyes are open!

Faded/ Whole Lotta Love – Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Live From Mars

This was the first Ben Harper album I ever bought and man, what a choice!  When just trying to figure out what this artist was all about, this two-disc show recording gives it all!  From ballads to blues to jazz to covers of Led Zeppelin..are you kidding me?  Exquisite live show and highlight of Ben Harper albums, in my opinion.  Listening to this album so often made me want to see him so badly, which I’ve managed to do a couple of times now.  On this track the heavy guitar sounds from Whole Lotta Love cause quite an imaginary visual as I picture Ben ripping the shit out that “gentle” guitar on his lap.  Perfecto!

There’s a World – Neil Young, Live at Massey Hall 1971

If you can believe it, this is the first Neil Young album I’ve ever had.  Outstanding, too.  1971 is my birth year, so I was somehow drawn to it when seeking to add a little Neil to my collection.  Live is also where it’s at with this cat.  I’ve seen him twice now and loved it all.  What never ceases to amaze me is how hard he shreds on the gee-tar.  Seeing him play in front of you on that Les Paul of his, it’s easy to see why they call him the Grandfather of Grunge.  This song, and album in fact, are not of the shredding sort, however.  Nice acoustic guitar playing coupled with his piano makes for a relaxing listen.



Curtis w/ Tom Murray (courtesy of Fish)

 Shuttlecock Rock – Bebop Cortez, The Romantic Panther….

Here’s a shout out to local band and a buddy, Curtis Ross.  One of Curtis’ projects from before I knew him, Bebop Cortez is downright funky!  On this album, his guitar playing probably is probably getting its best chance to emulate his influences, from what I know.  Curtis likes his music funky and is often citing the best from the Motown/ R&B age as his heroes.  If you can find it, add it!  They got back together a couple of years ago for a gig at Calgary’s Sled Island festival, so there’s always hope we’ll see them soon.

 

Guitars As Children

I could hardly believe when I opened my Christmas gift from brother, Randy, this year.  It was a guitar!  That’s pretty frickin’ rad!  It was a white Fender Squire Stratocaster.  Certainly not one I would have personally hunted down to buy, but that’s exactly what makes it such a great gift; that I normally wouldn’t go out and buy one myself. 

This is now my fifth guitar.  And quite honestly, I dig that.  I appreciate guitar aesthetics like vintage tour posters.  They look nice.  They all have their own personalities, their own sound and forte.  With five in the stable, it looks like I could actually make a go of this collection thing!  Hey, it keeps me out of trouble.  So as a first installment, I thought I would write about my little strung out children and who they are.

Norman 

http://www.normanguitars.com/b15brown.html

This was my first guitar; my oldest child.  I bought it at the age of 30 in the year 2001.  I had always wanted to learn guitar, but never did anything about it.  Then came a time in my life when a changed a lot.  I suppose turning 30 may have had something to do with it.  I had just come out of a 10 year relationship and was single for the first time as a “real” adult.  My pals and I had just started our own business so I was not only newly in charge of my single/ social/ private life, I was also in charge of my work life as well.  In a little bit of a more twisted bent on the story, my great aunt, Ivy, had also just passed and left me a little bit of money in my first ever inheritance.  Looking back on it now, what a culmination of events. 

Anyway, I just gave my head a shake one day and thought, “Why haven’t I learned guitar?”  So, I found a guitar teacher, bought my first guitar and that was that.  The best part was that Aunty Ivy was not only as a school teacher as her profession, but she was also somewhat of a musician, as was her second husband, Bill.  Somehow, spending some money she left me on learning to play guitar was very fitting and stands as a bit of a legacy tribute.  I can tell you right this minute, if it wasn’t for Aunty Ivy, I would have never even ventured to pick it up.

So, there I went down to Long & McQuade to buy my first guitar.  Dude there was very helpful in it.  He didn’t snuff his nose at me some snotty salesman that hates beginners.  He did me well.  He sold me Norman. 

Norman is indeed both the name of the Canadian manufacturer and, by default, this guitar’s name.  It’s a straight up B15 acoustic, burgundy in color with a rosewood fingerboard and a tortoise shell pick guard.  The top and sides are made of laminated wild cherry wood.  It cost me $279.00.  Along with learning my first ever chords, the first song I ever learned to play (on my third guitar lesson) was The Mountains Win Again by Blues Traveler.  That’s still the first song I think of when I see Norman.  One thing that I’ve learned, or rather am still learning, is that different guitars suit different songs.  Now, I don’t mean that in the most obvious of ways, because of course they do.  But for me, personally, I can really attribute different songs for different guitars and continue to try and figure that out every time I play.  You can play any song on any guitar but some of them just…well, fit.  I cannot play Mountains near as well on any other guitar. 

Norman’s role is now one of the utilitarian and, truth be told, doesn’t come out of the case all that often anymore.  But he’s the one I take camping or traveling, out to fire pit parties or when I’m sitting in the backyard during summer.  The one that can fall down without me freaking out.  It’s also my loudest acoustic.  And it’s tough.  And now, I don’t know why, it has become the recipient of stickers.  I try to keep the decals musically compliant, but form time to time they break the mold.  Whenever I go to a show or something, I try to pick up a band sticker to take home and put on Norman.  It’s starting to get a bit better now, having gained a bit of personality over the years.  I’m starting to like the look, but need to “dirty” it up some more.  A little more convoluted would be nice. 

Since I’m usually sitting down while I play, I have rarely had real cause for wearing straps.  It is something I’d like to change, though.  You wouldn’t believe how hard it is, after having been seated on your ass for all of your guitar playing life, to play standing up.  Man…I gotta find some folks to jam with.  Anyway, I did receive a strap for Norman as a Christmas gift that suits him just fine.  Plain brown, roughed-up leather. 

A cheers to Norman, my original gee-tar pal.  We’ve grown a bunch over the years and you’ve been there for all of it.  Well, at least since I was 30.

Norman’s Songs    

·         The Mountains Win Again – Blues Traveler

·         It’s Good To Be King – Tom Petty

·         Misguided Angel – Cowboy Junkies

·         Banana Pancakes – Jack Johnson

·         Everyday – Dave Matthews Band

·         Original Blues Jam

The Friday Five - January 14, 2011

Tomorrow Night – B.B. King, One Kind of Favor

This is a pretty recent album from our everlasting blues hero, released in 2008.  In proving his continued talent and relevance, it won a Grammy award that year for best traditional blues album.  This song is lilting ballad featuring very little of his trademark guitar, save for a few token bars.  It is based, however, around the piano playing of Dr. John, a New Orleans legend on near the same standing as Mr. King.  Damn, listening to this now, I think I’m gonna go put it in my car right now.

Pedestal – Beth Orton, Pass In Time: The Definitive Collection

This is a beautiful song.  I wish I could think of a comparable for her voice to give you an idea on how pretty it can be…but it is wholly hers.  I have heard her music described as “folktronica” to which I will assume you can draw your own conclusions.  I haven’t seen or heard much from her lately (this is a 2003 album), but I may follow up on that.  This is an album that kind of got lost in my collection.  The one thing I remember reading about her is that she is a “carbon neutral” artist, meaning a tree is planted for however so mnay CD units she produces.  The non-hippy Hippy.

Trouble’s Braids – Tom Waits, Swordfishtrombones

This a 1:18 long song, featuring the typically heavy bass and identity-bearing percussion that Tom often employs (is it a garbage can lid?) while he breathes a rhythmic poem for the vocal track.  I love, love, love this album and have since the first time I ever heard it spun.  One of the most artistically free compilations I have ever come across, and even more so riveting because it’s American, typically not a market to embrace this kind of musical liberation. 

Zero – Smashing Pumpkins, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

The opening chords of this song immediately identify this sing, this band and this album…they all defined a certain time in most people I know lives.  And this song takes us there.  I remember going to this show when they came on tour…I managed to get tickets in a luxury suite and took my buddy Jay, who was a way bigger fan then me.  As the evening wore on and the Pumpkins got a little more self indulgent, they went off on this noise creating path for about 15 or 20 minutes.  During this time, we noticed a dude in the row in front of our suite had fallen asleep to the droning sounds.  Jay leaned over and within a half inch of this poor kid’s ear screamed as loud as he could: “WAKE UP!!”

I Don’t Want To Wait – Paula Cole, This Fire

Oohhhh….I don’t like admitting this one popped up on my iPod.  Let’s just write it off the completeness of my collection, shall we?  It’s not that it’s necessarily bad music, but it’s certainly something I have no business having.  Right, fellas?  *blush*  Paula Cole would conjure images more akin to loose clothes and noserings, lesbians and the Lilith Fair tour.  I think this catchy little ditty was made popular after being featured on some kind of TV show like Dawson’s Creek, or something.  ‘Nuff said?  Thanks.

 Catch ya'll next Friday, yo'!

The Friday Five - January 7, 2011

After a couple of weeks of missing my Friday update, I am pleased to be back on the iPod shuffle for the inaugural edition of 2011.

Your Creation – Souljah Fyah, Souljah Fyah

A mainstay on the Edmonton music scene, this locally grown reggae extravaganza are nationally recognized for good reason: they’re fantastic.  I’ve seen them play live in town more than a few times, but the one that sticks out is when I went to see them with my ex-sister-in-law.  It was the first time we had gone out together on our own, but we both had a thing for music more than the rest of the family, so it was a good gig-watching match.  The lead singer of the band, Janaya “Sista J” Ellis, was full blown pregnant at the time…up there on stage singing and jamming away with this huge belly out in front of her.  I remember it was around Christmas time; we had gone up to the merch table to buy CD’s and the band had run out.  So they created a sign up list for those that wanted one sent to them.  We both signed up and plunked down our ten bucks.  The next week, trudging through the quiet snow of the Holiday Season, there was Sista J coming to my house to hand deliver a signed copy of the CD.  Merry Chrsitmas.   

Criminal – Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP

I’ll spare you the history lesson on our white boy rapper.  I gotta be honest…for years I just couldn’t take the guy seriously.  Being an avoider of radio and all things like that, I had never actually heard any of his music until he was about 3 or 4 albums deep.  But while I had friends at the time who were into him, I just could not get over 1. His name (M&M?  Are you kidding me?) 2.his hair (I think dudes that bleach their hair blonde..well, you know) 3. White-boy rapper.  Similar to my stance on the Beastie Boys at the time, we were fresh off fiascos like Vanilla Ice and other jokes.  I thought Mr. Mathers was just another one of “those”.  Not the first time I was wrong.

Love Buzz – Nirvana, Bleach

I guess this could be considered the only single that was released from this album, which is Nirvana’s first.  As the story goes, Cobain felt pressured to write songs that fit into Seattle’s emerging “grunge” scene, which the record label was favoring.  Subsequently, Kurt didn’t really like the songs much and apparently wrote most of the lyrics for the songs the night before recording them.  Listening to them now, it’s pretty evident that he was pissed off while writing them.  It’s kind of a slow and heavy album, but it in the annals of time still a good one.

Jolene – The White Stripes, Under Great White Northern Lights

This is a live cover of the Dolly Parton classic.  Terrific song.  Julie’s best friend is named Jolene, who now lives in Chicago.  Somehow she brings a real elegance to the name and makes it seem as much of a timeless classic as Ruby.  I think under normal circumstances, it might be considered the Billy Bob of female monikers, but not in her case.  When Julie and I were in New Orleans, we were talking to a dude on the street who had a puppy; when Julie heard the puppy’s name was Jolene, she was elated!  During this past summer when our pal was back here visiting, we were all having a great time over some beers at the Empress.  In the half-drunken conversation, Julie and I promised that if we ever had a daughter, we would name her Jolene.  Well, we just found out a few weeks ago that we’re pregnant.  Hhmmm…Jolene, huh?  What middle name goes well with that?

Don’t Explain – Cat Power, Jukebox

This is from the second album of cover songs that Cat Power has released.  It’s originally a Billie Holiday song, but has been much covered in the past by the likes of Nina Simone, Etta James & Diana Ross.  Cat brings her simple and sparse sound to it and does pretty well, especially in the vein of leaving it jazz…for my money, at least.  I’m not a huge fan of hers, but I keep thinking I have to give her more of a shot and listen to a wider breadth of her stuff.  It has, however, given me the affirmation that it’s “okay” to make an album of covers.  Thank God.     

New York, New York! (Part 1 - NYE)

I am still smiling from ear to ear over the combo Christmas/ 4oth Birthday gift Julie presented me with a couple of weeks ago.  We just returned from New York City, where we spent four days and nights over the New Year.  It was unbelievable! 

After arriving in NYC late on Dec. 30^th, we headed to the guesthouse Julie had reserved for us in Grennwich Village.  Gorgeous little place…very quaint and homey.  So much better than a hotel would have been, it was like staying in our own little apartment.  We wandered out into the neighborhood a little bit after getting settled in search of something to eat.  Around the corner from us was the Village Bistro, which was a little pub.  Nice first taste of the city.

On December 31^st we found some brunch and made our way first to Central Park.  Unreal.  Strawberry Fields (and the Dakota, right across the street) was a place I’ve always wanted to visit.  The park is beautiful and it was a nice day, so Julie and I walked around a bit, holding hands and watching families make snowmen. 

We started walking around midtown Manhattan afterwards, just getting more comfortable with the city and finding our way around.  It didn’t take long before we realized we were walking down the middle of Times Square by about 2:30pm in the afternoon.  Preparations were being made for the New Year’s Eve celebration that evening and it was a bit of a surreal sight.  Streets being blocked off and cleared, hundred of cops on each corner listening to their Sergeants bark out the evenings orders.  The deeper we walked into the centre, the more we were getting swallowed up by the now gathering crowd.  We realized if we didn’t duck out soon, we might never get out of there at all.

We walked back to the guesthouse and readied ourselves for the evening, then set out on our way to Madison Square Garden for Phish!  I cannot express the excitement and vibration pulsing through me for this show!  We were there early, just cuz.  Once inside, we quickly made friends with our seat neighbors.  Lots of talk about the setlist and guessing as to what we might hear.  Once the show started, it was obvious that Phish was on fire!

As the third set of the night started around 11:45pm, they played a great version of Meatstick.  As the song progressed, they brought out dancers of different ethincities to see the chorus in their represented native tongues.  One by one…African bushmen, buxom Swedish skiers, a Mountie, Mexican mariachi band…they kept on coming one after the other until the stage was filled with a colorful display of United Nations.  By now we noticed that the band was no longer on the stage…..

….from the corner of MSG everyone saw the spotlight on the smoke rising.  There it was, rising to the ceiling loaded with the band members:  a giant hotdog!!  This is a gimmick the pulled once before and in fact, the hotdog was enshrined at the Rock n’ Roll Hall of fame in Cleveland.  I cannot believe I was seeing the hotdog!  They rode that baby along the ceiling tossing what we thought were bottles of mustard into the crowd.  So awesome!!

With everyone onstage now bringing the song down, the countdown clock appeared and the crowd started in.  10!  9!  8!  7!......An explosion of balloons, screams, raised arms and Phish breaking into Auld Lang Syne.  What a moment.  It was everything I could have hoped for it to be. 

The first song they played after ringing in 2011 was After Midnight, a cover of Eric Clapton’s classic.  I still can’t believe I got to see a Phish New year’s Eve show in Madison Square Garden.  Talk about knocking things off of your bucket list: 

1.       Go to New York City

2.       See Phish play a New Year’s Eve  gig

3.       See Phish play MSG

4.       Visit Strawberry Fields

And that was just the first two nights……..how am I ever going to pay Julie back for this experience?  What could she possibly desire to experience in life as much as what she gave me?  How can I ever say enough Thank You’s?  Thank you, Julie.  What you gave me goes so far beyond gift.  It was a life experience that most people will never come close to experiencing.  I love you!