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July 31, 2010
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Music News and Commentary.
July 31, 2010
I am usually skeptical towards bands I see in advertisements on music web sites. It seems a terrifically inorganic way of discovering new music. This reaction is worse for me if the hook the advertisers are using to push the group involves some sort of award or official recognition. Now there are some awards, like the Gershwin Prize for Popular Music award that was awarded to Paul McCartney, that make sense. But I don't expect anyone to suddenly begin listening to Sir Beatle because of it.
While rediscovering Pandora radio at work yesterday and seeing what the music genome project could do with The Most Serene Republic, I paused and noticed an ad for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, who apparently had been named Best New Band of 2010 by Rolling Stone Magazine. I usually tend to find my new music by trolling the better music blogs and wouldn't have paid Ms. Potter much attention had I not, later that day found a track of hers listed on Largehearted Boy, one of my favorite music blogs. This lent here just enough indie cred to make up for the Rolling Stone recognition and I decided to check her out.
The track on LHB was a live version of Heart of Glass by Blondie. Naturally I was intrigued, since I have a strong affinity for cover songs. It was alright. It wasn't good enough to seal the deal for me but the choice of songs and the light hint of drawl in Potter's voice intrigued me to continue searching further.
So I took to Youtube to track down some live footage. Choosing one at random I stumbled upon a 4 year old track from a Baltimore MD club. The track is called Treat Me Right and the first thing I noticed was that Grace Potter was playing a Hammond B3 organ. A huge fan of organists like Robert Walters, I was impressed. Potter's voice is strong and appropriately twangy, reminding me fondly of both Bobbie Gentry and June Carter...essentially any woman who used to sing with Johnny Cash. But the Nocturnals are a lot less rockabilly and a lot more rock. Bordering on the hipster urban country that is slowly creeping its way into vogue right now, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals have a knack for arranging and have a lot of power onstage. I haven't checked out any of their studio recordings, but have been listening to live vids all day and highly recommend you do the same if you need a break.
I wrote last week about how hard it is to pull off really good cover songs but that if you followed a few simple guidelines you should be alright. Those guidelines were: make the song different, make the song your own, shed a new light on the subject.
Imagine how hard it would be then, to pull off a full length EP of cover songs where each one meets these three criteria. Well that is exactly what Peter Gabriel did. Last February Gabriel released Scratch My Back, his 8th studio album, the first one in as many years, composed of 12 covers, including songs by David Bowie, Paul Simon, Arcade Fire, Regina Spektor and Radiohead. This just makes sense to me, since I have always like Peter Gabriel's voice and almost never liked his songs. (in this regards he is the opposite of Leonard Cohen who writes the best songs but should never be allowed to perform them himself).
The title, Scratch My Back, which is the first condition of the reciprocal idiom, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, seems to be making a clear statement on the nature of covers and the ownership of songs. The idea behind the album was that each of the would-be covered artists could freely cover one of his songs if he could do the same. This is one of the newest concepts to hit indie/rock coverdom since The Flaming Lips decided to record and release Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (more on that soon).
Each track on Scratch My Back follows the first rule of successful cover songs: Make the song different. I'll only site one track as example, since it is the one i was least likely to approve of: The Book of Love by the Magnetic Fields. A long time fan of any and all things related to singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt (The 6ths, The Hyacinths, The Future Bible Heroes, etc), I was skeptical at first. Merritt's version has a single voice singing along to a well reverberated ukelele perfect for capturing the humor of the lyrics. Gabriel sings his version of Book Of Love over a small chamber orchestra. The first two lines of the song are hesitant, almost reluctant as if not sure he wants to sing, but then he jumps an octave, floating over the strings, weather-worn but determined. Rather than humorous Gabriel's version centers on the pathos always present in Merritt's lyrics but obscured by his almost deadpan delivery.
Part of the difference wrought on these songs by Gabriel and arranger John Metcalfe comes ironically from the unity all the songs have. Driving by strings, simple synth pads and powerful arranging, you would never guess these weren't all written by the same person for this album specifically. Give them a listen, all it will take is one of these covers to make it through to you and you will want to buy the whole album.
I have an awkward admission today. I love cover songs. There is something so satisfying about hearing a good song take on a new sound or feeling. It may be that I grew up playing Jazz where 85% of everything I played was a Jazz Standard that had been recorded, performed and reimagined by most of the important cats out there. But unlike Autumn Leaves and All The Things You Are, which are great songs weather performed by Billie Holliday or your local junior high lab band, I hold pop covers to a much higher standard, requiring certain conditions to be met for me to consider it successful.
The funny thing is that while I like covers, I hate cover bands*. This is partly because the role of the cover band is to play top 40 songs more or less how they sound on the radio. In fact, that's more or less it. Cover bands are like live radio that play songs people want to hear while giving the venue 'cred' for having a live band. These are not the covers I'm talking about.
My three rules for a successful cover song are as follows:
These may or may not seem self explanatory. There are plenty of bands who fail at pulling off good covers. In the next week or so I will be going into each one of these rules in detail, providing examples of successful covers that I feel represent each one. Until then, you can check out my favorite cover-song themed podcast, Coverville to start appreciating covers while considering these principles.
*This is only a general rule. There are a handful of cover bands I have seen, Rage Against the Supremes comes to mind, that mingle enough brazen satire and self-aware awkwardness to make it worthwhile.
Not George and Ira from Yo La Tengo, but the Gershwins.
The White House recently announced that Sir Paul McCartney will be honored by Barack Obama June 2nd with the Gershwin Prize for Popular music, a lifetime achievement award that commemorates the contribution to the American songbook of the pop power duo, George and Ira Gershwin, by selecting an honoree each year whose contribution lives up to the great Gershwin name.
In my opinion being a fan of Paul McCartney is a lot like being a Lakers fan, it's almost too easy. The guy was a Beatle, after all! I don't mean this at all disrespectfully, that's just how it is. But as this IS a lifetime achievement award, I guess it's too early to give it to Ben Folds anyway. Sir McCartney is the third musician to be awarded the Gershwin Prize following in the groovy footsteps of Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.
The White House has planned a whole event for the honor, including performances from a wide range of artists including Dave Grohl, Emmylou Harris, Jack White, Faith Hill, Elvis Costello and jazz great Herbie Hancock. PBS will be airing the whole thing on July 28th.
If you can't wait till then to get a fix of Sir Paul live, check out the recently rereleased (yesterday I believe) Good Evening New York City, a live 2 CD, 2 DVD album that came from his 2009 Summer Live concert tour. This was both the inaugural concert at NYC's Citi Field Stadium, but also a celebration marking 45 years since McCartney first played New York with the Beatles. If the trailer for the album is any measure, this would have been a concert not to miss.
Spring is in bloom everywhere around which means I can finally break out the flip flops and shorts, I can start including a little more acoustic and jam music on my mp3 player (yes, my music tastes are seasonal) and most importantly music festivals season has started ramping up. Unfortunately this year, due to work and budget restraints, I won't be able to make my usual festival tour. But I can still dream.
Here is the first installment of my Top 5 Festivals I'd attend if Money & Time Weren't Factors
Sasquatch Music Festival
Sasquatch is a three day music festival that takes place in the Gorge Amphitheater, a 25,000 seat venue built at the bottom of a gigantic hill beside the Columbia River in George, Washington. This year's festival, going on this weekend, has four stages that run from round and about 11:00 am to well after midnight Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Usually at festivals I am able to catch all my favorite acts, but a glance at the full Sasquatch festival schedule reveals an unquestionable great lineup of bands that would make it impossible for me not to miss out on someone.
Here is my personal shortlist of Sasquatch performers I want to see: Nada Surf, The Hold Steady, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Local Natives, The New Pornographers, The Mountain Goats, Fruit Bats, The National, OK GO, Minus the Bear, LCD Soundsystem, Band of Horses, She & Him and many more. Guess it's just as well I can't go.
The one major drawback to Sasquatch is its price. A three-day pass is $170, the cheap-skate camping option is $99, buying into food and drinks would be at the least $100. So that's nearly $370 not including airfare or extra baggage fees for the camping gear or the rental car to get me to the city of George Washington. Although and incredible experience to see some of my favorite bands in a beautiful setting, blowing a grand on one weekend just isn't in my cards right now.
By the by, Sasquatch has one of the best festival iphone apps I've ever seen.
Lincoln Wilder is a professional music writer who has published thousands of articles and reviews for bands, albums, concerts and industry news. Wilder has travelled across the U.S., Canada, South America, Tibet and parts of Europe to familiarize himself with the varying music cultures of numerous regions. With a brief stop at Julliard and amateur symphony experience in his youth, this accomplished journalist brings a rich and well educated musical background to his work.
