Sunday Open Mike: Songs and Songs (Music Notes)

Musical taste is subjective, of course, and what I've been in a mood for recently is popular music (my usual staple being jazz), but of a particular variety: wistful, slow-drag, plaintive, romantic folkie songs with a certain gentleness.

Rats. This is the spot for a great quote I ran across recently about the difference between  tradition and nostalgia. But I've lost the link. (I think I ran across it in a book, so the link should be in my brain. Not there. Typical.) Anyway a few of these songs are backward-looking in style.

Off we go: if you like psychedelic rock, which enjoyed a brief brief sunburst of popularity in the late '60s (I kinda had a thing for Tommy James and the Shondells at one point when I was a kid, and I prefer post-LSD John Lennon to pre-*), you might like the song "Lavender" by Ray LaMontagne, which makes use of certain cues from psychedelia to fine effect.

If your taste runs more to neo-R&B (if you favor the Black Keys, for instance, or the late Amy Winehouse), see if you like the Nick Waterhouse album Holly. He apparently doesn't want anyone to know about it, if the album cover is any indication. It looks like something you'd flip past in the LP bins at Goodwill. But it's a fascinating, tight, tense album, featuring sax and organ no less. I don't own it, but have heard it.

I'm a total sucker for banjo as an accent instrument—just love it. Old example, "Seaweed" by the Fruit Bats. When the banjo comes in it's heartrending—gets to me every time. Unfortunately, that song belongs on the "coulda been a classic" list—beautiful melody, beautiful arrangement, but a woefully wrong turn with those awful lyrics. It's a product of that short-lived fad of putting trivial lyrics with grand music, the pinnacle of which was the so-called sweater song by Weezer. Oh well. Anyway, a nice new song with banjo in it: Beck's "Say Goodbye" from the album Morning Phase. (Another album I don't own—I have to say I don't entirely get Beck, and I'm not sure he does either.)

Local boy plays good: Peter Mulvey

For those who like acoustic guitar, check out Milwaukee's own Peter Mulvey playing "Black Rabbit." The iTunes download features better (and very fine) sound.

Easy segue from there: I've unofficially become kind of an aficionado of covers since our big post about them a few years back. Recent favorite: "Seven Nation Army" covered by Zella Day as a single (iTunes is the best source). Sounds pretty great for leaving out the famous bass riff altogether. Don't know a thing about Zella.

I'm not very good at writing about music, because I don't know the vocabulary and I don't have any technical background. But there seems to be a strain in hip-hop that is slow and mournful and full of drones and refrains. A song I discovered that's been on replay in my head is "Eve's Perspective" by Lorine Chia of Cleveland, Ohio. Other bits and snippets from the album I've heard sound interesting so I'll probably investigate further. (She covers "Strange Fruit," which is either a good sign or a bad one.)

All the above are from albums I don't own and generally by artists I don't know anything about. It's harder to find whole albums you like. My major personal discoveries are unfortunately few and far between, coming along at the rate of maybe one a year. Slint's classic Spiderland has been on heavy rotation at sprawling TOP World Headquarters lately, in case anyone is interested in '90s post-rock masterpieces. I think the latest Mikey fave (I can never quite tell until some time has passed and I find out if it has legs) is "The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas" (note that it's also available on vinyl) by an Australian youngster named Courtney Barnett. I liked it the first time I heard it, and, as rarely happens with me, I seem to be liking it more with every hearing.

In photography one of the qualities I value is an offhand, casual feeling-tone, which you sometimes have to work very hard to achieve. I used to say I aspired to make photographs that look like you just picked up the camera and made a single shot (even if it took you all morning and five rolls of film to get to it). Courtney Barnett's languid singing and interior-oriented compostions achieve the musical equivalent. (I miss the days when musicians smoked lots of marijuana. It's very beneficial for them. Nothing worse than a bunch of musicians trying too hard to please, which you see all the time now. Calm down, kids.) Anyway, I think I'm in love again.

All you fans of Sri-Lankan-American Pete Seegers doubtless already know about Bhi Bhiman, but those of you who don't should check out his extraordinary paeon to 1930s hobos, "Guttersnipe." An anthem, I think you'll agree. For what, I don't quite know.

Happy music gets no respect, but people like it anyway. No matter how isolated you are from pop culture, you're probably aware of Pharrell Williams, he of the exaggeratedly big hat and constant mentions on the Ellen show. His song "Happy," which he performed at the Oscars, is one of those, well, happy hits that everybody needs to dance along to (remember "Walkin' on the Sun" by Smashmouth?). It overstays its welcome by the third time you hear it, true, but let's not be grumpy. Anyway, Pharrell used to be part of an act called "N.E.R.D" (which stands for "No one Ever Really Dies"—okay, the less said) that once received a description I prize: "a hip-hop duo consisting of Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Shay Haley." Ya gotta love a duo with three people in it. It's a duo with more. Anyway what I'm getting to with painful slowness is that a N.E.R.D song I like, "Run to the Sun," has been resurrected due to Pharrell's recent newfound stardom, and you could listen to that too.

We could get into Jake Bugg, but that's enough for now I guess. In recent weeks I've already been feeling the gravitational pull of jazz gathering me home again (Tord Gustavsen Trio, a trio with only three people in it, is playing as I type), although I do enjoy my occasional toe-dippings into the vast ocean of pop.

And for those who would like a little gear-porn to leaven all this content talk, here are some neat snaps of a turntable I sold yesterday. A sweet one, but I'm into vintage direct-drive Japanese 'tables now.

Enjoy the last day of the U.S. Open. (I think we should get some country without its own golf stars to adopt Martin Kaymer, since Germany is preoccupied with soccer.) Or have a nice Sunday relaxing with tunes. I'll depart with another delightfully loopy quote I heard that somehow gets it right despite getting it wrong: "Music is the music of the soul."

Mike

*Are you only sleeping? Are you looking into a glass onion? Does tomorrow ever know? If you were a large flippered marine mammal, which one would you be, goo-goo-goo-joob?

"Open Mike" is the editorial page of TOP, when we let Mike off his leash to write about his various wayward enthusiasms.

Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

HT: "Some of my favorite banjo moments: The opening of 'I Believe' by R.E.M.—which I believe falls under the definition of pastiche. The bridge of 'To Sheila' by Smashing Pumpkins (starts at 2:23)—which marks the first and only time banjo appeared in their music. This isn't the most traditional use of banjo but I love how it sounds like raindrops."

Mike replies: Beautiful. Thanks.

John Camp: "Since you like both banjo accents and good covers, you'd probably enjoy Town Mountain's cover of Springsteen's 'I'm on Fire.' And you being you, I suspect you'd also like Gillian Welch's 'Elvis Presley Blues.' For all the criticism of YouTube that you hear from time to time, I love following musical threads across the different genre landscapes. I mean, you could start out with something delicate by Gillian Welch and wind up at this."

Mike replies: Isn't it interesting how YouTube is evolving as a way to listen to music? I never would have guessed. My son and his friends prefer it to iTunes samples because you can listen to whole songs.

Judith Wallerius: "It looks like Youtube is about to significantly change in how useful it is to discover new music. Apparently they have a new music service coming and will simply remove the videos of all record labels and artists that don't sign up to license for it. That hits mainly smaller independent labels (a.k.a. music you might not know and have to find by chance) that would get significantly worse deals than the big labels, so are reluctant to sign on. Let's hope there's enough protest to make them reconsider."

Comments

[Tony Roberts]

Re: Kaymer, you might enjoy Bill Pennington's well-crafted piece in today's Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/sports/golf/despite-five-bogeys-kaymer-calmly-holds-on-to-a-five-shot-lead.html?ref=todayspaper

[Manuel]

Mike, after reading the text about the Rega P3-24 you've linked to, I can establish, with the highest degree of certainty possible, that you suffer from 'audiophilia acuta'. Its symptoms are easily identifiable: an obsessive attention for accessories, an unfightable impulse to constantly modify audio components under the ominous excuse of 'improving sound quality', and a rather unhealthy willingness to spend considerable amounts of money on what amounts to gadgetry. You should take care :)
Seriously now, I have an antediluvian Rega Planar 3 with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge and can endorse every word you wrote about Rega turntables' sound quality.
It is curious that I came across this text a few seconds after having listened to the debut album of a british psychedelic pop band I find to be quite interesting: the Temples. Their album 'Sun Structures' can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZSmqSveboY

[I don't mean to alarm you, but I'm a piker when it comes to audiophilia nervosa, as Jeffrey Goggin could attest--I'm sure he can tell lots of worse stories. This was the only turntable I've ever tried to tweak, and most of my TT's have been decidedly mid-fi. I only tried to "optimize" this one because there are so many aftermarket accessories (as with the Miata) and it looked too fun to resist. But I actually quit before I crossed the finish line, as I mentioned. --Mike]

[Herman]

I have a tin ear. Perhaps that's why all waterfalls sound (and look) alike to me.

[Andrew]

Don't know if you're a Dinosaur Jr fan but J Mascis' most recent solo album fits the bill of "wistful, slow-drag, plaintive, romantic folkie songs with a certain gentleness." It's called Several Shades of Why.

[Timprov]

"wistful, slow-drag, plaintive, romantic folkie songs with a certain gentleness" makes me think of Meg Hutchinson's love song about her parents' divorce, "True North." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuypgtjEl9Q

[jim]

Townes Van Zandt said it simply- "Theres the blues and then theres zippy-de-do-da"

[Gerry]

Mike, would you mind sharing with us what are a couple of your favourite vintage direct-drive Japanese turntables, and which arm/cartridge combinations you like to use with them?

[Hi Gerry, Unfortunately, I don't know enough about them to write about them even semi-coherently. Not an expert. Sorry I can't help. --Mike]

[Patrick Dodds]

You know Mike, it is posts like this that elevate your blog to the daily internet highlight it is. Thank you.

[Peter Williams]

Great to see Courtney Barnett get a mention :-)
There's a slight chance you might like Dick Diver, The Twerps, and Boomgates, more Aussie stuff with a bit of a similar feel to it.

[Jim in Denver]

I don't know who to attribute the quote, but "Writing about music makes as much sense as dancing about architecture".

If it moves you and you like it, awesome! Suggest your favorite and I'll happily give a listen. Maybe I'll like it also. :)

Try "Pink Martini" - my new most favorite band.

[Jeremy Daalder]

Other good banjo bits:

Instant Street form The Ideal Crash by dEUS (rock)

There's some good work on The Theatre Fire's Everybody Has a Dark Side (alt. country I guess?) - These Tears Could Rust a Train is a near perfect short alt pop country song...

Modest Mouse have done a lot of good work with the Banjo too.

Really, with the rise of alt.country/pop, it's actually kinda hard to avoid the banjo now!

[Mus]

Mike, what vintage dd japanese table are you using now? Denon? Technic? I sold my Michell Gyrodec with SME IV + Sumiko Bluepoint cartridge a few years back. Still missing the combo. Huhu...

[Terry Moore]

So you like jazz and banjo--have you listened to to Béla Fleck & The Flecktones? Try Flight of the Cosmic Hippo to whet your appetite ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z_wKsJBuR0 ). Although their music defies categorization I hear jazz in most of it. One of Béla's primary influences was Chick Corea. Admittedly some of their songs can be described as country ( Big Country and Hoe Down are the first two to come to mind). With their incredible diversity ( listen to the Little Worlds CD) it's fun not knowing what's next from them.

[hugh crawford]

"wistful, slow-drag, plaintive, romantic folkie songs with a certain gentleness."

I think this might be what you are looking for.

http://smallwonder.bandcamp.com/album/wendy-2

[JD]

Three's not the limit for me on "Happy." It's a guilty pleasure. It's one of those songs that gets under the skin and I just can't get enough. My first choice is Jazz too, but OK, so I'm a Philistine. So be it. But whether it's "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, or John Lennon singing the ballad of John and Yoko, or Happy, there's certain songs you just can't get out of your mind.

[You don't like music if you can't have guilty pleasures! I have plenty.... --Mike]

[Ken James]

Oh Mike, Thank You. I have found my theme song in Bhi Bhiman's "Take What I'm Given" I love the lyric-"live life like a loose ball of yarn" . . .

[JG]

Mike:

You are correct: Not only can I tell lots of worse stories based upon my time working for The Absolute Sound (and later, Sounds Like...) magazines, I'm afraid that a good many of those stories involve me!

Unlike you, I often didn't know when to stop and in fact, I did sometimes take things too far and occasionally ruin whatever product I was modifying in the process. I still have a box in my garage with various parts from three Linn-Sondek turntables I modified and a dead Koetsu Rosewood Signature phono cartridge that came to an untimely end after its rosewood body was removed and it was used "naked" ... for a while, anyway.

As the joke goes, it's better to be addicted to drugs than to high-end audio, because with drugs, there's at least a chance you can be cured. (ba-da-boom!)

[Robert]

John Lennon was more pre-Yoko and post-Yoko.
He was my teenage hero
A great northern Bloko
Until captured by a Nono

[Struan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX_2NLrF484

Lovely voice - check
folky tone - check
whistful - check
banjo - check

[Sergio Bartelsman]

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones for the banjo lovers.

[Mike Plews]

I have been listening to the Elaine Elias Chet Baker tribute album on my commute lately. This is my second album by her the first being Bossa Nova Stories which is also highly recommended.
When I get a little more flush I'm going to pick up her Bill Evans cover set.
On an obscure banjo note. Did you know that the original score of Rhapsody in Blue has a banjo part? I have an old Musical Heritage Society LP of it from the 1980's and there's a banjo on it. It's rather sweet.
Talking LPs has a part of me that would like to find an old Dynaco tube amp and some refurbished AR3a speakers and take a trip down memory lane.
I wonder how they would sound after all the itchy, overwrought sound tracks I've been subjected to over the last decade.

[GRJ]

If you like the banjo background and enjoy a good tongue-in-cheek cover, go to YouTube for a listen to Jonathan Coulton's rendition of "Baby Got Back." You will not regret it.

[Simon Griffee]

I love the banjo in Sufjan Steven's [The Upper Peninsula][1] in the album Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9n5o26hPCc

[Craig]

I always found the banjo in Tegan and Sara's Living Room to be quite enjoyable - it's from one of their older albums and a far cry from their modern dance friendly hits. Be curious to know what you make of it.

[Chris Kurmann]

Simple but happy nirvana cover version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dfoRHGFSZs

What I like about this is the mood difference to the original could hardly be greater but still it's immediately recognizable.

[Michael]

Slint and Courtney Barnett - and I thought I just came here for the photography discussion, pool stories and hi-fi equipment recommendations.

Seconding Peter Williams, Dick Diver is another Melbourne band with a laid-back, ramshackle quality which is growing on me.

But given you like both Slint and Courtney Barnett you really should give another Melbourne band, The Drones, a listen. The guitarist, Dan Luscombe, plays with Barnett and mixed her EP. And, like Barnett, Gareth Liddiard's lyrics are always interesting and he makes no attempt to mask his Australian accent. And his guitar is often just this side of slapdash. But we're definitely in rock territory now. Here's a live cover of an indigenous Australian, Kev Carmody's, song 'River of Tears' which makes the hairs on my back stand up whenever I hear it live. But choosing one song is hard. They're nearly all great. My favourite band of the last decade.

[Art Gross]

I second that endorsement on Courtney Barnett, a great catchy album. I'm one of those folks that's always looking for something new.

I've tried to find a few resources on the web that review music and share my musical point of view, then I check their reviews regularly. Pitchfork is my site of choice these days since most of my interests are in the Indie Rock side of things (they were pretty keen on Courtney Barnett, for instance). Then any review that sounds interesting I'll add it to my play lists and try to give it at least a listen or two.

If you like that country/folk/roots rock genre, bands like Woods, Real Estate, Cass McCombs, Phosphorescent have all had outstanding releases in the last few months. If you want to find the good stuff you have to kinda be your own curator (like photography these days, I guess!), but there's so much good stuff out there it's a shame not to enjoy some of it.

[Gingerbaker]

Here you go, Mike, my nomination for the most beautiful song with banjo, plus it qualifies for " wistful, slow-drag, plaintive, romantic folkie songs with a certain gentleness":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K56E-1bR4R4

[Andrew Kirk]

At YouTube you can even listen to, and see, this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4JQZb83oCc&list=RDF4JQZb83oCc

[David Bennett]

I thought someone might mention John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. Looks like it's going to be me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqjUWJtH88c and many more

[nwman]

for banjo playing (and covers) so beautiful it will make you weep, you might try "red on blonde" (tim o'brien).

[David Kieltyka]

A folk-based musician I'm very fond of who sometimes plays banjo on her songs is Laura Veirs. She's primarily a guitarist but at least until recently still gave banjo lessons (in Portland, OR). She's also a terrific songwriter. Here's a link to a live performance of "Where Are You Driving?", a song on Laura's 2010 album July Flame, featuring simple banjo accompaniment.

http://youtu.be/XgGOSJTkZOU

-Dave-