Commentary - Strange collaborations

Recently, I heard Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne talk about recording (and almost tripping) with Ke$ha and I started thinking about strange collaborations.

Photo credit: QThomas Bower

This tickles the same neurons for me as odd covers (like Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme covering Black Hole Sun) or funky mashups. Taking two extremes and tying them together can lead to interesting new ideas. Whether an artist stretches into new territory or drags something back into their home base, the novelty can spark creativity.

Artistic collaborations add egos to the balance. Which artist will dominate? Or will they find a new common ground? When David Byrne and Brian Eno partnered for My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Eno's experimentalism meshed with Byrne's rhythmic focus. Robert Plant and Alison Krause's Raising Sand pushed each performer to expand their styles.

On the other hand, Metallica's work with Lou Reed, Lulu, proved less successful. Collaboration doesn't always create good art, but it's still interesting.

This just whets my appetite. There are plenty of undiscovered collaborative opportunities. Imagine producer and musician Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) working with a guitarist like Richard Thompson. Thompson is an exceptional folk and jazz guitarist, but he has chaotic darkness that occasionally slips out (e.g. Easy There, Steady Now or Psycho Street). His work with experimental guitarist Henry Kaiser suggests that his voice could find a place in a post rock soundscape. Harness Thompson's playing to Steven Wilson's sense of tone and psychological texture and it could be incredible.

Reaching further out, ex-Pavement leader Stephen Malkmus could pair up with the Glitch Mob for an electronically infused indie rock. In my wildest dreams, I can imagine Animal Collective working with Kanye West. With a guest appearance by Roky Erickson.

I think I'm getting overheated. I'll throw it out for your comments - what musical partnership has the potential to be amazing?

Recording review - Cadence Weapon, Hope in Dirt City (2012)

Poet laureate's lyrical density features strong musical change ups

Cadence Weapon is a rapper with serious literary cred. Known as Rollie Pemberton in his native Edmonton, Alberta, he served two years as Poet Laureate of the town. His poetry is rooted in hip hop and his raps have a weighty lyrical density.

Words may be his strong suit, but his delivery demands some investment. Sometimes his flow is so casual, he's barely awake. Other times, his voice has a robotic affect. It's as if he wants his words to survive on their own merits, without relying on a strong vocal personality to sell them.

Despite the vocal idiosyncrasies, Hope in Dirt City is a strong album with several intriguing surprises. In Conditioning, the first single, a disjointed sample loop sets an interesting beat. The rhythm is steady, but with discordant undertones. After this intro, Cadence Weapon's rap starts over sparser backing.

I black out on a hundred miscues
Daddy issues
Around the corner from this
No, I'm not tryin' to diss you
But I look so strange, cause I weight train...

Initially, his vocal tone is completely disengaged, but he wakes up coming out of the chorus. The sudden energy hits hard as his vocals build into a raw soul proclamation.

I also keep coming back to Crash Course For the Ravers, which takes its title and chorus from David Bowie's Drive In Saturday. The electro-pop, disco bass beat drives the tune. A touch of new wave guitar ornaments the chorus. The relentless disco drive reeks of desperation and burnout mornings. Cadence Weapon uses that darkness to set the mood for his rundown of the club scene. Meshing his rap with David Bowie's lyrics produces an odd juxtaposition. Other than savoring Bowie's line as the title, I'm not sure about the connection but it works.

The songs on Hope in Dirt City visit a range of sounds, giving the album a rich feel. Small Deaths' jazzy ska backing contrasts with the heavy bass new wave behind Jukebox. Then Chevel falls back into a slow soul groove. But it all comes back to Cadence Weapon's tight lyrics:

All black, it's a lugubrious scene
Talk shit, it's all hubris to me
It's all humorous to me
The way they want to talk the rumors to me
But I had to see it get around, like a loop with the beat
You know I kick it to a roof, it's agreed
I'm just too raw

It's a solid mix. "Drinkin' Canadian Club in Canadian clubs"? I'll raise a glass.

Front Range - Recommended shows, 5/28

Some good choices this week, whether your tastes run to pop or something a little harder.

29 May (Ogden Theatre, Denver CO)
Santigold

Santigold just released a new album, Master of My Make Believe. Her modern pop sound incorporates electronic elements and solid beats. Whether she's mixing in electro-pop bounce or heavier dub step grinds, she's a performance oriented singer.

1 June (Moe's Bar B Que, Denver CO)
Convalescents

I recently reviewed Armageddon, the new album by Convalescents. Their punk pop energy and tight arrangements were great. If they can nail half of that on stage, this will be a great night full of thrashy fun.

3 June (Hodi's Half Note, Ft. Collins CO)
Bad Weather California

I caught Bad Weather California last year and enjoyed their pyscho-garage energy and frontman Chris Adolf's stage presence. This should liven up a Sunday night to kick start the next week.

Recording review - Ramona Falls, Prophet (2012)

Smooth pop and darker electro-prog on a knife edge

Ramona Falls' new album, Prophet, presents a contrasting study of light and shadow. The brighter pop elements strongly evoke Death Cab For Cutie's directness, but with a stronger electro pop bent. In this spirit, ex-Menomena member Brent Knopf offers his lyrics unadorned by emotional baggage, despite their emotional content. As he sings on Bodies of Water, "I have to, have to, have to let go of total control." Maybe that surrender drops the stakes a little. Knopf's detachment also gives the poppier moments a bit of retro synth pop feel.

Balancing the smoother pop surfaces, Ramona Falls brings in an electronically enhanced post rock worthy of Muse. This perspective is more like Knopf's earlier work and it underlies the stronger moments on Prophet.

Brevony provides a shining example. The opening piano fades in, its orderly repetition asserting a calm surface. At the same time, though, a tense bass line sabotages the sense of comfort. The no nonsense vocals come in to maintain order: "So, saddle up, we've got miles to go..." But frayed tatters of guitar show how tenuous the hold is. The break hits with a sucker punch beat and harsh bass grind, but the vocals assert their control again. The pressure builds until the discordant shards of guitars finally rip loose and strip away the facade to reveal the inner tension and turmoil.

The moment fades and the surface returns. The opening piano line drops the energy to cross cut into the soft beginning of Proof, the next track:

Are we friends?
Are we more?
There's no proof

Pensive tracks like Divide By Zero and Sqworm add more depth to balance the pop tunes with great dynamics, layers of subtle sonic elements, and electro-prog aesthetics. But which sound is figure and which is ground? Even the pop oriented tracks are full of shiny detail and lush additions. It will be interesting to see where Knopf takes Ramona Falls beyond Prophet and which way he'll lean.