Preview - Har Mar Superstar

Har Mar Superstar (Sean Tillmann) might be a little more well known in the UK than stateside. He's starting his North American tour this week and I'll be catching him next Tuesday at the Hi Dive in Denver. He's touring behind a new CD, Dark Touches. By all accounts, his stage shows are over the top, so I'm looking forward to checking it out. His tour schedule will be taking him across North America (and beyond come late November).

Underlying the dance club aesthetic of his music is a wicked sense of humor. The story behind the first single, Tall Boy, is that he wrote it for Britney Spears, who gave it a pass. What might have been a coquettish come-on from Britney has a different sense when Har Mar Superstar sings it. The video accentuates this.

The juxtaposition of straight pop dance music, double entendres, and Har Mar's somewhat nebbish appearance is crazy enough to be quite fun. Har Mar Superstar also created the Crappy Holiday video series. These vids push the bounds of good taste (right out the window and into traffic), but they're really funny.

Catch Har Mar Superstar if you get the chance -- I'll post my review after the show next week.

CD review - Elvis Costello, My Aim is True (1977)

Elvis Costello is one of my strongest writing and singing influences. I didn't really hear him until his third album, Armed Forces, but I immediately became a fan. He was a nerdy looking guy who was constrained by a throttled, nasal voice. Still, he rose out of the nascent punk/new wave scene and crafted flawless pop gems that spanned those styles, as well as ska, country rock, and jazz. His first album, My Aim is True is a masterpiece. Over time, he would reinvent himself several times, but even on this first album his musical versatility was clear. His pop songs sounded simple, but on closer examination, they'd reveal some satisfying complexity.

Costello's musical fluency is impressive, but what really captured me was his lyrics and singing style. Sarcastic, dark humor one moment, biting social commentary the next. But he could still pull out some deeply emotional, sentimental moments, too. His delivery was unique, with odd phrasing. Uneven lines that drew out at first, then a staccato rush of syllables to finish it out. This approach gave me room to move beyond simplistic couplets in my own writing.

Listen to Alison, a sentimental sounding pop song that owes a lot to Hal David and Burt Bacharach. A complex little intro with some silky smooth guitar. Once the lyrics start, the guitar throws in some fills to accent the holes. The first line is stretched out a little, the syncopation at the start of the second line ("And with the way you look, I understand") propels the song forward. His phrasing provides these subtle jerks that make the song so compelling. Linda Ronstadt had a big hit with it, but her version is a lot less interesting even though her voice is much better. The song sounds sentimental and longing, but the lyrics are more bitter than their delivery.

Contrast this with the bouncy Welcome to the Working Week. Off the cuff sarcasm and Costello's voice has the perfect bit of sneer. It's less than a minute and half long, but it satisfies.

Elvis shifts into a more serious mood on Less Than Zero, providing social commentary about the British fascist, Oswald Mosley. Audiences in America assumed that the Oswald mentioned was Lee Harvey Oswald and later, Elvis would record the "Dallas version" of the song pushing the JFK theme in a fairly rank parody. But in the original, he captures the nihilistic mindset that he's dissecting: everything means less than zero.

For another great example of phrasing, listen to the moody "song noir" of Watching the Detectives. A stark ska beat drives the song with a jagged guitar riff. The tightest lyrical delivery comes in the bridge (at 2:12 on the live version I've linked):

You think you're alone until you realize you're in it
Fear is here to stay, love is here for a visit
They call it instant justice when it's past the legal limit
Someone's scratching at the window, I wonder who is it
The detectives come to check if you belong to the parents
Who are ready to hear the worst about their daughter's disappearance
Though it nearly took a miracle to get you to stay
It only took my little fingers to blow you away.

The rhythm of "call it instant justice" or "ready to hear the worst" are perfect.

Scotch and splash of soda are a perfect companion...

Further listening:
Linda Ronstadt, Alison, Living in the USA (1978)
Intersection, Man On Fire, Meet Me At The Corner (1999)

Concert review - Melissa Etheridge

15 August 2009 (Bohemian Nights, Fort Collins CO)
Every year, the people running New West Fest in Ft. Collins bring in some big name artists for a free show on the street downtown. Past shows have included the Cowboy Junkies, Los Lobos, and Little Feat. This year, the headliner was Melissa Etheridge, performing a solo set. As you'd expect with a free outdoor show like this, the street was packed with serious fans and casual listeners.

Melissa Etheridge came out strong, playing a funky arrangement of Brave and Crazy on 12 string guitar. It's been years since I've seen her, but her voice hasn't weakened a bit. She still has that Janis Joplin/Bonnie Bramlett vibe, where she can lay out that hoarse, sultry sound or some soulful blues. She has deepened as a performer, too. She's really learned how to own the stage and invite the crowd into her "home", both through her singing and between songs. Her banter about coming to Ft. Collins and joking about her dated use of the term "super cool" was comfortable and unforced.

She played the 12 string for most of the set, but occasionally switched to a semi-acoustic electric. Chrome Plated Heart was the first song she played electric and it kicked. She changed stage position to get up on the riser that made up the back half of the stage. Stomping her feet along with the playing, she accompanied her self on percussion. It was a great way to build more of a rock energy and drive the crowd. This dynamic shift was typical of the set - she'd build the energy, then push that into a more intense emotional space, and then back.

Aside from playing through many of her well known songs, Etheridge also played piano on a cover of Joan Armatrading's The Weakness In Me. This is one of my favorite Armatrading songs. I think it's a hard song to pull off, because it's a deeply conflicted song and lends itself to overwrought interpretation. Etheridge did a decent job, but didn't quite nail it. Still, it's good to see Joan Armatrading's music get some recognition.

Enough of Me was a high point in the show, starting with the levels down to a desperate whisper, then building up to a defiant intensity. This energy propelled the second half of the set, leading into I Run For Life and other familiar tunes. The encore of Piece of my Heart was a perfect closer. It started out fairly similar to the original, including some of the vocal tics, but where Janis stripped it down into a deep, hurt place, Melissa raised it up as a defiant anthem. It was a great mood to take home after a night of great music. The only thing missing was a smooth single malt, like Dalwhinnie. That had to wait until I got home.

More photos at my Flickr.

CD review - Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)

This is another older disc that heavy in my rotation. On the surface, it's another one of my "snotty boys with guitars" bands, but Arctic Monkeys don't quite fit that mold. This is a band that burst on the scene back in 2005/2006, carried on word of mouth and internet hype. They got so much attention that I ignored them in knee-jerk fashion. That lasted until I accidentally heard one of their songs and was sucked in. Not being a fanboy, I was oblivious to all of the controversy over their award show appearances and anti-Industry attitude. I just enjoyed the music.

Whatever People Say I Am... is full of danceable thrash, a polished punk/new wave sound with slick vocal production (but a hell of an accent). Running through the songs is a Morissey/Smiths' style crossed with Adam Ant (and a dusting of Duran Duran). The vocals and melodies evoke the Morissey vibe, but the Adam Ant thing is all coming from the heavy drum and bass sound coupled with shards of guitar accents. Thematically, these are observational songs about the club scene and low life in Sheffield England. Taken as a whole, this disk is full of self-similar songs that form a continuity, but it stays sufficiently interesting that I keep coming back to it. One thing that makes it work is that the songs often have multiple sections that change up the music rhythmically and dynamically. Additionally, the chord changes aren't relying on a standard rock progression. They also throw in small elements of ska and other styles to break things up a bit.

The smash single was I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, which starts out with a chunky guitar sound like the Clash, but quickly drives into a reworking of Middle of the Road by the Pretenders. Arctic Monkeys share a love of '60s style like the Kinks with Chrissie Hynde, which explains the sound. The club song drives hard with catchy lyrics and foot tapping rhythm:

I bet that you look good on the dancefloor
I don't know if you're looking for romance or
I don't know what you're looking for

Lots of pop culture references from Romeo and Juliet to Duran Duran. The vocal delivery is a little detached with an undercurrent of desperation. Pure ear candy.

Riot Van hits the other side of Arctic Monkeys. It's a slower, thoughtful observational song. The lyrics have the ring of personal experience in hassling the police for sport. Jaded lyrics and a tired delivery suggests Morissey. It's a mellow, spare arrangement that ends unexpectedly. This feel is echoed again later in the start of When the Sun Goes Down, which runs down a street life with prostitutes and Johns with the same world weary mood.

Adam Ant comes through in songs like Dancing Shoes, Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured, and A Certain Romance. The throbbing bass and drums and muted guitar strums sound like Adam Ant's Stand and Deliver. Of these, A Certain Romance stands out because of the juxtaposition of stylistic bits: the club beat at the start, the thrashy follow through that breaks into a music box guitar riff, and the cool ska sound of the verses melding into the straight beat of the chorus. All with evocative lyrics that flesh out the whole club scene they were immersed in.

Slam a pint or two of lager and prepare to hit the clubs. When you get home, Whatever People Say I Am... will be the soundtrack for your memory of the evening.

CD Review - Prince, LOtUSFLOW3R/MPLSound and Bria Valente, Elixer

Prince is making a big play to gain ear-share again. He had achieved a big boost after his Superbowl Halftime performance in 2007. At the end of 2008, he started performing new material promoting a new Lotus Flow3r project which has been released as a triple CD set, available at Target for $11.98. Sure, you can pay more to join his site and get some additional stuff but this move has pulled some press and gotten a lot of people to buy a big chunk of Prince all at once. It will be interesting to see if this was a good investment for pulling in new fans.

Of course, getting three discs means that he has plenty of room to indulge his various musical interests with abandon. In a nutshell, Lotusflow3r is his rock/guitar god side, MPLSound is his dance music side, and the Bria Valente disc shows off his R&B side and his role as mentor yet again. Anyone who's a Prince fan will find something to enjoy (and something to ignore).

LOtUSLOW3r

Many people are not used to thinking of Prince as a big rocker. They've focused on his persona as a hedonistic singer buried in funky little grooves. But throughout his career, Prince has demonstrated his ability to shred a guitar. Lotusflow3r spends a fair amount of time making that point. His guitar tones are reminiscent of Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix, with licks branching out into Clapton and Zappa. Personally, this is my favorite of the three discs.

The opener, From the Lotus starts out a lot like Riders on the Storm by the Doors but kicks into a nice Jeff Beck groove (shades of Freeway Jam), maybe with a touch of Robin Trower. The keys and bass carry the rhythm, driving a jazzy blues jam. This melts down directly into Boom, a psychedelic song with a sweet Jimi Hendrix style chord melody behind the verses. The chorus more of a power rock sound with a lead a little like Steve Vai era Frank Zappa.

This leads into his cover of Tommy James' Crimson and Clover. Like the original, the guitar is drenched in tremolo. To make it his own, he throws in the bridge from Wild Thing. This is not a medley I would have predicted, but it works very well. Picking a song like Crimson and Clover to cover is an interesting choice. Throughout this disc, Prince is looking back. He pulls out that Jeff Beck tone several more times (Love Like Jazz, Wall of Berlin). Colonized Mind is built on a Robert Cray influenced sound, much like Clapton's Old Love. Aside from referencing his influences, he also pulls out some of his own sound from the Sign o the Times and Lovesexy sessions (4ever, Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful). Despite being rooted in the past, the music is lively and fun.

My favorite song of them all is Dreamer. With a heavy retro hard rock sound, this could have easily appeared on a Cream album or maybe Bad Company. This is some of the same ground that Lenny Kravitz has mined but he can't sell it like Prince. Nice wah wah work and wailing distortion. This is a great foot tapper.

MPLSound

Minneapolis Sound. This is more of Prince's dance/party music persona. Lots more keyboard, falsetto singing, funky beats, and low key rap. This brings up a lot of his Diamonds and Pearls period crossed with Batdance or Housequake. While Lotusflow3r was pushing the guitar, MPLSound works the keyboards and drum machine. There's still some guitar but it generally fades back.

Prince tries for a more modern sound on Chocolate Box, one of the stronger tracks. Taking a page from T-Pain (who's standing on Cher's shoulders), he throws some Auto-Tune on his vocals and gets a more electronic sound. A funky piano groove pumps energy in.

Valentina brings in some guitar, with a Santana influenced lead. This kicks off with an '80s keyboard rock sound and then lurches into a funk groove. The lyrics are typical Prince ego/erotica.

On the softer side, U'r Gonna C Me and Here each stir up memories of When 2 R in Love and Wendy and Lisa, respectively. So, despite having some updated touches, MPSound plays on the retro side, too. I don't mind that it's familiar ground, though. Prince does a good job at this sort of thing.

Bria Valente - Elixer

Prince has had many proteges over the years: Vanity, Apollonia, Wendy and Lisa, Cat Glover, Rosie Gaines, and others. Like all of those, Bria has good singing voice. She's sultry and reminds me a bit of Brie Darling from Boxing Gandhis or Wendy Melvoin from Wendy and Lisa. On the downside, her voice is fairly tied down, which comes across as detached and impersonal. On the other hand, her job here is to sing some Prince songs the way Prince wants her to.

Most of the songs are smooth jazz/R&B with a taste of Simply Red's Forever. Again, it's more of a retro sound, bringing '70s easy listening to mind, albeit in a sexier mood. Both Here Eye Come or Something U Already Know hit this target, with steamy vocals that slip the slightest hint of moan at the end of the lines. But these songs also have some very slick playing and arrangements. Prince is a perfectionist when he sits in the producer's chair and these tight arrangements show it.

The sweetest moment of this disk comes on Everytime. The voice, the arrangement, even the lyrics and melody -- this is perfect Karen Carpenter moment. It actually reminded me of some of the good things about the Carpenters, besides the schmaltz and bad anorexia jokes. It starts with strings and a Brazilian beat. The reverb adds a distance to the vocals and the acoustic guitar provides a scaffold for the tight collection of parts.

He takes my breath, cause he takes his time
He takes my soul, body and mind
He takes what he wants, and that's okay
He takes my breath...everytime

For some, this might be overstepping into camp but I really think it's the standout song. Unfortunately, it jumps from there to the busy faux-disco of 2nite, which kills the mood.

Immersion is the other high water mark, with a surging moodiness. There are a lot of little pieces that fit together behind the simple piano focus. This song is crafted like most of the others but you can't see the seams from here. The lyrics have a sweet flow, with some well turned phrases. If more of the album were like this, I'd be listening a lot more.

Summary

As I said, something for almost everyone. This shotgun approach might garner him some newer fans or they might be put off by the parts they didn't like. Since I don't recommend a single sitting for these disks, I'll suggest vodka shots, vodka and Red Bull, and a Vodka Collins. Choose your poison.

CD Review - Blitzen Trapper, Furr

This album has been severely hyped. Everybody's raving about Blitzen Trapper in general and this album in particular. That effectively sets up the review: either I'm supposed to buy the hype and jump on the bandwagon or I should cop a superior attitude and shred it as something lame being pushed out to the masses. Given that choice, I'll take the middle path. My bottom line is that I like this disc but I don't think that I like it for the same reasons as the other reviewers.

The biggest love/hate aspect for this for me is that it's incredibly derivative. They have a set of influences that stand out almost in tribute. The Kinks are the most obvious, but there are plenty of Wilco, the Band, and Bowie kind of moments. Even the occasional bits of Oasis, T. Rex, and XTC. I'm not just talking about voices or snatches of familiar tunes; it really is a matter of harmonies, arrangements, writing style, and production values. This all works because this odd set of artists is kind of interesting to mix together. Despite the derivation, they've created something artistic and original. Now, with so many disparate influences, the album jumps around a lot stylistically. They're billed as an experimental folk-rock band but this album is roughly split between pop, folk, and some rock.

Furr has a seriously retro sound that goes way beyond the influences but it still has a foot in the modern age. They've intentionally made the whole album a little bit compressed and lo-fi, giving it some of that 70's kind of overall sound. Not so far off from what Beck has done in the past, for example. On most of the tracks, they've built up relatively dense, thick mixes without a lot of separation between the various parts, which you'll either love or hate. The downside is that it can be hard to pick out individual instruments but it also makes it stand up to repeated listenings a little better as you pick up on different details with each listen. They also mix up a lot of odd instrumentation for pop music, with banjos and melodica. On the whole, their arrangements are fairly solid.

The two songs that get the most raves are the title track, Furr, and Black River Killer. I'll split the difference here, too. I hate Furr. I don't mind the folky main section of the song that reminds me of the Band or the lyrical theme of drifting into animal nature and back. The problem is the production decision to throw in the sound effects and Wilco-like noise on the bridge. This makes no sense to me and it detracts from the feel of the song. In contrast, the noise stuff in Echo/Always On/EZ Con totally work for me because it fits the feel of what they're doing.

Black River Killer, which also gets props, is one of my favorite tracks. It's a heavy dark folk blues, with moody, pointless, amoral lyrics that clearly paint the title character. This time, the main influences are Tom Petty playing with the Band, but the reedy synth they add is a perfect touch. Creepy feel -- perfect. My other favorite track, War on Machines, digs into the Wilco style and sound, with a hint of 70's rock. I love the retro guitar sound. Jeff Tweedy wishes he wrote this song.

More notes about some of the influences, Sleepytime in the Western World, Fire and Fast Bullets, and the Echo section of Echo/Always On/EZ Con have that Ray Davies/Kinks feel. God and Suicide sounds a lot like Michael Penn (Freetime) with a hint of XTC or Matthew Sweet. Not Your Lover ressurects some Harvest-era Neil Young. Love U, a grindy trainwreck, has a Black Crowes vocal sound. They're not trying to deliberately copy those artists, it's just the nature of what they've absorbed. In any case, you should give this disc a listen and make up your own mind.

A good American brown ale, like Brooklyn Brown, would go perfectly with this disk. Then turn the lights down and shift to Sheaf Stout during Black River Killer.