Entries Tagged 'Music' ↓

Based almost entirely on the recommendation of Brett McCracken, I picked up the new Coldplay disc on Friday night. I’d been wavering about it, because I really enjoyed Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head, but never even bought X&Y. I’m glad I gave Viva la Vida a chance, because it’s quite good. Coldplay took an unexpected turn with this album and there are a few songs that are stuck in my head.

One of the cool things that Brett pointed out in his blog post about the album is Coldplay’s take on “the single” — in particular, their merging of two very different pieces of music into one track. A perfect example of this approach also happens to be my favorite track right now: “Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love.” This could have easily been two songs, and two very good songs at that. I’m still trying to wrap my head around why they were put together as one track. The styles are obviously different. Is “Lovers” a study in contrast, or compliment? Is it purely random?

I came up with two other good examples of this songwriting approach. The first is the excellent “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand. The differences between the two sections (movements?) aren’t as stark as the Coldplay track, but there’s a very distinct moment when the song goes into a completely different direction. The second example is Arcade Fire’s “Black Wave / Bad Vibrations” which is more similar to “Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love.” “Black Wave” feels more like two “complete” pieces of music that were joined together, albeit with more related lyrics. I remember reading an interview with Win Butler where he said that the song is basically two sides of one story, or two approaches to the same problem.

Who has another good example of a sonic double feature?

Oil & Heaven
Originally uploaded by JHawbaker1800

Graffiti artist, I honor the place where your craziness and my amusement become one.

In honor of the first night of Riverbend
Originally uploaded by JHawbaker1800

For those of you outside of the Chattanooga region, Riverbend is our annual music fest dedicated primarily to country bands and has-been classic rockers. So, in honor of the mulleted masses who make downtown uninhabitable for ten days each summer, I am proudly wearing this badge of indie rock snobbery.

Shouldn’t I have posted this about four months ago? Sure. But posting about my first experience with Muxtape made me want to throw this out there as well. So, in no particular order, here they are:

• Arcade Fire Neon Bible
• Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
• Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha
• Over the Rhine The Trumpet Child
• BRMC Baby 81

I suppose if I had to pick one album that I couldn’t live without, it would be Neon Bible.

Muxtape has been all the buzz for several weeks now, and I finally got around to putting together my first mix. It’s actually a condensed version of my annual mix cd, which I typically spend weeks compiling and then run out of steam before mailing out. So, thanks to the magic of the internets, you can still enjoy the fruits of my labors. These are mostly a few of my favorite tunes from 2007, with the notable exception of a new tune by Jon Foreman, which I just discovered about two weeks ago and hasn’t left my inner soundtrack since. It’s called A Flask Filled With Hope, and featured artists include: Arcade Fire, Spoon, Andrew Bird, Over the Rhine and BRMC, among others. Check it out at: http://jehawbaker.muxtape.com

The Killers just performed on Austin City Limits. It was a good set, and they even brought out a Gospel choir for the closing number, “All These Things That I’ve Done.”

It got me thinking about the fairly common but seemingly incongruous mix of a rock band and a Gospel choir. Who started this trend? More interestingly, who do you think has done it best?

My vote goes to U2 and the New Voices of Freedom for the Rattle and Hum version of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

This might be the most exciting sentence I’ve read in recent memory:

“In about a week I will load up my car with amplifiers and guitars and drive to Nashville to begin recording my next record.”

This is from a recent NYT blog post by none other than Andrew Bird, who created one of my favorite albums of 2007. Armchair Apocrypha was astoundingly good, and it sounds like he’s got some interesting songs lined up for this next project.

If you ever get a chance to see Andrew Bird live, do not miss it. A friend and I caught him at 3rd & Lindsley a couple years back, playing a Lightning 100 radio show with Over the Rhine, and I was truly impressed. It was really interesting to watch this obvious introvert who somehow managed to have an almost frantic energy and stage presence. It might have had a bit to do with his unique ability to play the violin and guitar in the same song…

Rascal Flatts on a Milk Carton
Originally uploaded by JHawbaker1800

Rascal Flatts on a milk carton? If only.

And they could take the rest of CMT with them. Well, Carrie Underwood can probably stay.

For the curious…

I was telling a friend at work this morning that I thought Barack Obama was in command of a Reality Distortion Field similar to that of Steve Jobs. Everywhere he goes people are mesmerized, and his followers every bit as fanatical as those of Apple. Well, just this afternoon, (Fake) Steve confirmed my suspicions:

“It’s just a kind of energy that some people are able to channel. Goes with the charisma and the ability to persuade people with your speeches. It’s just a more extreme version of that same energy. I’ve never asked Barry about this but I kind of knew when I met him that he had it. Bono has it too.”

Is this some kind of secret society? Sign me up.