Therapist: Yep. (fast, almost sounds like the same voice saying, “Hiyep”)
Client: How’re ya doin’?
Therapist: Fine, what’s up. (curt and quick, telegraphic)
Not much. I’m feelin’ pretty good.
Why is that? (in a monotone, followed by an impatient sigh)
I dunno, I had a really good week…
Mm hm, what happened?
Um. Well not too much, um. Just work, like, as usual…
Mm hm.
…and, everyone seems to like me at work, you know I’m in that new job, and everyone’s really nice to me. And it’s different than my last job where they’re, you know, they’re giving me positives. My last job, they just, you know, sort of let me work and told me every once in a while that I was doing okay, but here I’m feeling a lot of warm fuzzies all the time, so it’s really…
Warm whats?
Warm fuzzies?
Oh, okay. Good feelings, huh?
Right. (therapist chuckles) I was just, I was just really looking forward to coming, just wanted to let you know that I was doing okay.
Fantastic. (pause, chairs squeak) Good.
Yeah, I feel good.
So, how do you think that makes your future look?
It’s looking pretty bright. I’m really excited about it.
Yeah?
Yeah, it’s only been a, you know, one real good week, but, um, I’m sort of looking ahead positively.
What is it besides all these “warm fuzzies?” Is there something that really stands out in the week that really was, ah, made it so “super?”
I don’t know, I think it started, the whole week started, um, toward the end of our last session last week.
Mm hm.
Um. Just some things that we went through, um, you know, some things you told me, made me feel really good about myself.
Mm hm.
And, uh, you know, things that…I’d just been sort of down on myself, and you sort of brought me up and, um, made me feel like I was an okay person. And, um, I don’t know, I’ve just been thinking about that session all week, and thinking about, um, what you said, and it was, it was just really nice.
List time! Here are my favored music releases for the year so far, with a proviso: though these records have been introduced to me during the first half of 2009, they were not necessarily released in 2009. As always, please share your lists and thoughts in the comments below, as I (and other readers here) am always on the lookout for something new and good to tickle my eardrums.
Great Lake Swimmers Lost Channels
This is the strongest contender for my favorite album of the year. I never tire from listening to it. Here is what I said about Lost Channels in my post of 7 April 2009:
Every Great Lake Swimmers album - and there are four of them now - has seemed to show growth, despite the fact that they still sound just like the same band from Album #1. The signs of a sonic break-out from the lo-fi, acoustic, dreamy somnolence of Great Lake Swimmers and Bodies and Minds were apparent on 2007’s Ongiara, where the lo-fi was turned down and the drums and bass were turned up (ever so slightly). Lost Channels begins with “Palmistry,” sounding like a cousin to REM’s “Losing My Religion” with its chimy guitars and gentle backbeat. The album flows gracefully from these pop-flavored moments to the more familiar quiet ones, such as “Stealing Tomorrow” and “Concrete Heart,” in which vocalist Tony Dekker sings a chorus of conversational poetry:
This is the place where I felt
Like the world’s tallest self-supporting tower
Or maybe number two
At least for a little while, anyway.
It is a joy to listen to a band grow steadily while they keep a firm hold onto their musical identity; I’ve been doing so in my truck for almost an entire week now.
“Palmistry” by Great Lake Swimmers, from Lost Channels (2009)
“Concrete Heart” by Great Lake Swimmers, from Lost Channels (2009)
Blitzen Trapper Furr
This was recommended to me via the Amazon robot and, after listening to the online samples, I was in complete agreement (as much as one can be in agreement with a computer program). Furr reminds me of an earthier version of Supergrass: some hippie twirling, some balladry, some psychedelic touches, and a great pop sensibility.
“Sleepytime in the Western World” by Blitzen Trapper, from Furr (2008)
The Damnwells One Last Century
While the rough edges have worn off the Damnwells’ sound somewhat over the last few years, their later recordings have only gotten better, more polished, and infinitely more rewarding with every listen. Frontman and songwriter Alex Dezen has put his soul into these lyrics, which approach Dylanesque at their best moments. While there is not likely to ever be a contender to “I will feed you fries with steak sauce” (from 2004’s “I Will Keep the Bad Things From You”), this album’s phrases and images are resonant and its melodies infectious.
Some samples from the lyrics of One Last Century: • “You crawl to me and I crawl to you / And in the middle we meet / You drink from me and I swallow you / Cause in my heart the rent is cheap” from “Come to Me” • “You’re so high-strung, baby, you could wind up the world” from “Jesus Could Be Right” • “Destination’s never known but I’m always there on time / Money’s on the heartbreak / My hands are on the wheel” from “Dandelion”
The last time I checked, this album was only available as a download through the band’s website. And it was free.
“Bastard of Midnight” by The Damnwells, from One Last Century (2009)
Pat Metheny & Anna Maria Jopek Upojenie
This is a fascinating collaboration between jazz guitarist Metheny (known to most) and Polish singer-songwriter Jopek (known to few, at least in these parts). They cover his songs, they cover her songs. As Metheny is an instrumentalist, and has written no lyrics that I am aware of, Jopek used his melodies and song titles to pen words in her native language. Those are sung here in what I can most easily describe as a modern-day Getz/Gilberto style collaboration without the bossa nova. The music is airy and seamless, and floats above the ground, often above the clouds.
“Zupelnie Inna Ja (Always and Forever)” by Pat Metheny & Anna Maria Jopek, from Upojenie (2008)
Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
A terrifically fun record, great in the car and perfect for a party. With its electronics and jerky rhythms, Phoenix seems to have embraced the 1980s spirit of Devo, and imbued it with 21st Century production values.
“Lasso” by Phoenix, from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)
Jeffrey Foucault Shoot the Moon Right Between the Eyes
The mission of this album is summed up simply by its subtitle, “Jeffrey Foucault Sings the Songs of John Prine.” Foucault’s rustic Wisconsin soul is perfectly suited to the folksy portraits penned by Prine. The interpretations are different from Prine’s in that Foucault rarely delivers the stories with the wry humor that is one of Prine’s trademarks; instead, his musical vignettes are sung with a soberness that tends to emphasize the poignancy of the characters’ situations. The album is available on CD or as a download at the website of Signature Sounds, a fierce independent label if there ever was one (and the career launching pad for one Mr. Josh Ritter).
“One Red Rose” by Jeffrey Foucault, from Shoot the Moon Right Between the Eyes (2009)
Neal Casal Leaving Traces 1994-2004
I found this CD almost by mistake. It was inside of a paper sleeve in the bottom of a box of paperwork. I almost threw it away. Thankfully, it sparked a memory of one of my best former customers, who raved insistently that Neal Casal had written some of the best songs he’d recently heard. And, believe me, this guy’s several-hundred-dollar-a-week music buying habit indicated that he’d heard far more than I could ever fit into my schedule. So, years later, I listened to it. And I found that his assessment had great merit.
I know little about Casal, aside from his involvement in Ryan Adams’ band since about 2005. Listening to this collection, I am reminded of Ken Stringfellow’s voice, and the 1970s California country-pop stylings that have captivated me since my youth.
“Just Getting By” (2000) by Neal Casal, from Leaving Traces: Songs 1994-2004
Bob Dylan New Morning The re-issue arm of the music business sometimes seems that it practices toward needless excess but, in this case, I am glad to have one of my favorite Dylan albums (and, hence, one of my favorite albums, period) sounding better than ever. I scribbled these notes about New Morning on 31 March 2009:
Several years back, Columbia Records remixed and re-issued 15 essential Bob Dylan albums, or what they felt were the 15 essential Dylan albums. Sadly, they left untouched a few that are true classics, including The Basement Tapes and this, my personal “second favorite” Dylan record. It has languished on barely-listenable compact discs for decades, but this new incarnation - released this week - will truly open your ears. The sound improvements are subtle until the fourth song, “Went to See the Gypsy,” kicks into gear with a shuffling boogie spotlighting Al Kooper’s organ, David Bromberg’s electric guitar, some inspired syncopated comping on the piano by Dylan, and a rough-but-honeyed vocal that is one of this album’s sonic trademarks. New Morning’s lyrics seem to be bathed in a mulled brew of American myth that is steeped in simple living and simple values, typified by these closing lines from “Sign on the Window:”
Build me a cabin in Utah,
Marry me a wife,
Catch rainbow trout,
Have a bunch of kids who call me Pa -
That must be what it’s all about.
“Went to See the Gypsy” by Bob Dylan, from New Morning (1970)
“Sign on the Window” by Bob Dylan, from New Morning (1970)
I am also looking forward to hearing, upon their release:
Wilco Wilco (the album) This was released yesterday, and I am expecting great things.
Hem Twelfth Night
Band member Dan Messé has been tossing out occasional tweets (@hemmusic) about Hem’s score for the current production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in Central Park. Then, earlier this week, the New York Times gave a rave review to the production, calling it the best Shakespeare-in-the-Park in a decade, and giving special mention to the music. The band proceeded into the studio and recorded the whole thing, with cast members Audra McDonald, Raul Esparza, Anne Hathaway (and others, I presume) reprising their parts. Apparently, a healthy batch of compositions that didn’t make the cut for the play have made the cut for the album, which is due in late July or early August.
Yim Yames Tribute To
An EP in which Jim James of My Morning Jacket pays tribute to George Harrison by playing acoustic versions of six of his songs, four of them from the classic album All Things Must Pass.
Gil Shaham plays Sarasate
Some of the material for this recording was premiered on public television last Fall in an intimate chamber-style setting and was lively and engaging.
The Beatles remasters
I have mixed feelings about this project at the moment, as I am made keenly aware by every media outlet that part of the purchase price of every Beatles recording goes directly to the Michael Jackson estate. On the other hand, the entire Beatles catalog has languished with the same sub-standard sound quality on CD since the 1980s. This roll-out of remastered versions of every single Beatles album can only be a revelation. The real question is: how much of a revelation will it be?
Have you seen the Ally Bank commercials? They kill me. Take special notice of the faces on these kids during the long takes. There are four of these spots - so far.
- Warren Miller’s Higher Ground (2005)
The skiing footage in this sports documentary was terrific, as was the soundtrack. The frequent Grand Marnier and Jeep product placement shills were somewhat annoying, however. I had recently watched Surfing Hollow Days by Bruce Brown, and was struck by how similar in format this Warren Miller film was to Brown’s film(s)…and wonder if Miller has ever stated how Brown’s movies have influenced him.
- In Search of Peace: Part 1: 1948-1967 (2001)
This documentary about the formation and struggles of Israel contains some stunning archival footage which, alone, makes it worthwhile viewing. I did feel that the narration could have been fleshed out more coherently, particularly in the earliest segments.
- Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (2008)
I have long been interested in the work and life of Arthur Russell, the avant-garde musical artist, but know little about him. Though this short film was lovingly made, it did little to fill in the missing details of this artist’s life. He remains an enigma to me. The special feature showing current artists interpreting Russell’s music was fascinating.
- Company (2007)
A very enjoyable interpretation of the classic Sondheim musical, updated only slightly (there’s still that line about the Seagrams building) and with an intimate and elegantly simple set. Raul Esparza was on stage, front and center, for the duration of the play. The performance seems to have been filmed in High Definition: I watched the Blu-ray disc (my first Blu-ray experience) and the picture detail and sound were astonishing!
- The Innocents (1961) The Innocents maintains the languorous pace of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, its source material. Deborah Kerr carries the film, as she is in every scene. The black and white cinematography is lush and gothic - appropriate for what “may be” a ghost story. Be sure to watch the widescreen version instead of the standard 1.33:1 version - Director of Photography Freddie Francis makes full use of every inch of the frame.
In 1988, A&M Records released an album entitled Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films. Popular musical artists of the day - the majority of them ”independent” - covered songs from the early animated and live-action features of the Disney Studios, under the producer’s wand held by Hal Willner. One of the tracks was “Castle in Spain,” performed by Buster Poindexter, and sandwiched in a medley that also contained Sleeping Beauty’s “I Wonder,” sung by the legendary Yma Sumac.
“Castle in Spain” (1988) by Buster Poindexter & The Banshees of Blue
Poindexter (an alter ego of punk band New York Dolls member David Johansen) introduces his version of the song by muttering “Ava Gardner, blah blah blah blah blah blah…,” giving some indication of his campy rendition to come, and the equally theatrical roots of the number.
“Castle in Spain” was featured in the Disney live-action film Babes in Toyland, released in 1961. The film was based on an operetta of the same name by Victor Herbert, originally produced in the early 1900s. There was also an earlier film version of Babes, produced in 1934 and featuring Laurel & Hardy. In the Disney film version, Ray Bolger (who, in 1939, had played the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz) plays the scheming and miserly Barnaby, who has designs on Mary Contrary. “Castle in Spain” is his attempt to woo Mary (played in the film by Annette Funicello), even though he has forced her into a situation from which she cannot refuse him.
Mary, looking quite contrary, while Barnaby overcompensates.
In our castle in Spain, you’ll be living rent-free
Every capital gain you’ll share with me
From this village below, every cent we will drain
And your fortune will grow in our castle in Spain
Every mortgage and lease I will re-valuate
And for you I’ll increase their interest rate
You’ll eat nothing but cake, you’ll drink naught but champagne
You’ll be in on the take in our castle in Spain
Surely, you must agree that it makes your head whirl
To be marrying me, you lucky girl
You have caught me today in a generous way
Come now, what do you say to our castle in Spain?
“You’ll eat nothing but cake…”
“Come now, what do you say to our castle in Spain?”
Three things that are making my world a better place:
The Golden Age of American Popular Music: The Jazz Hits from the Hot 100 1958-1966 (CD)
It is a sad fact that during my lifetime, the act of listening to music on the radio has become archaic, if not impractical and unenjoyable. I used to carry a little transistor radio around with me as a kid, and still recall the wide range of music that I was exposed to in those days. The really fun radio stations had an air of unpredictability about them; you never knew when a Beatles song might be followed by the theme to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or when you might hear the perky sounds of Hot Butter’s “Popcorn,” or “Love is Blue,” or something by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. The common denominator between all of these songs (with the exception of the Beatles) is that they were all instrumentals. The new Ace release, The Golden Age of American Popular Music: The Jazz Hits from the Hot 100 1958-1966, brings back memories of a time when jazz hits were played on popular radio stations and, for the most part, they were instrumentals. It’s a fun listen, especially during these hot summer days, and an escape from the stench of homogeneity that is all current radio formats seem to be offering today.
“Yeh, Yeh!” (1963) by Mongo Santamaria, from The Golden Age of American Popular Music: The Jazz Hits from the Hot 100 1958-1966
Whale Rider (DVD)
The performance by young Keisha Castle-Hughes, the music score by Lisa Gerrard, the cinematography, the lush New Zealand landscapes, the affecting story about legacy and destiny and family. This 2002 film is outstanding in every way, and is written with sensitivity to all of the characters, even those to whom one might not care to feel sympathies. The story is the thing in Whale Rider, and its themes seem universal while being very specific to the Maori culture.
readthewords.com (website)
I received a tweet from “maddow” (that’s Rachel Maddow’s Twitter account) that read: “Whiling away the night having the Read The Words avatar read me the transcript of Sanford’s presser: http://www.readthewords.com/.” Last night, on MSNBC, Keith Olbermann read - with dramatic flourish - some of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford’s intimate e-mails to his Argentinian mistress with the accompaniment of pan flutes. During Rachel Maddow’s hour, she could not bring herself to read them aloud, instead just putting them on the TV screen for viewers to read for themselves. I imagine that the readthewords.com synthesized voice adds a cold, ironic twist to those letters. I haven’t tried it, but did visit the site and inserted some Bob Dylan lyrics into the “reader.” The resulting reading had the unnatural cadences and emphases that I have come to know and love in a Bob Dylan recording.
The pool wasn’t very crowded this afternoon - there were no more than six people - despite temperatures in the 90s and 1,000% humidity (of course, that’s impossible, but YOU try to live in it!). One of the pool’s occupants was a young black boy, about ten years old. I could see him jumping up and down in the four-foot free-swim zone as I was swimming my laps. His feet would leave the pool floor, then come back down - his knees would immediately bend and he would jump back up again. Over and over and over. There was also a good deal of unorganized arm splashing going on.
At some point, I tagged the wall in the shallow end of the pool and, just as I was turning my head back into the water in preparation for a push off, I heard a voice say, “How come you…?” Then I was gone. When I returned from that lap, the boy was bobbing in the lane next to me. I stopped to see what was going on.
“Hey, fish.” I say that to all of the kids at the pool. They probably think it’s stupid. I probably should have called this boy “frog,” in tribute to his talent for jumping.
He dangled on the lane line. “Where’d you get those glasses?” he asked, referring to my swim goggles.
“I bought them at the store.”
“Can I use them?”
“Well, I need them to swim, buddy.”
“How come you swim so fast?” This kid was just full of questions.
“Oh, I wasn’t swimming that fast.” I really wasn’t.
“How come that guy is swimming so fast?” He pointed to the fellow in the adjacent lane, who was sputtering and swimming a modified dog paddle. Then the questions started coming in an uncontrolled torrent.
“Why do use two kickboards? How come you only breath on that one side? Why don’t you just use your right arm? Did you use a guest pass to swim in here? Why don’t you use those orange glasses?” A pair of abandoned, and very orange, kid’s swim goggles had been hanging near the poolside water fountain for weeks.
“Why don’t you use them?” I answered. “They probably work all right.”
“Yuck.” He wasn’t having any of that - who knows whose face those goggles had been on. “Wanna race?”
“Okay. I’ll give you a head start, and I’ll use the kickboard.” He was off and splashing before I could finish my sentence. I let him get about halfway across the pool before I pushed off the side - me and my two kickboards. By the time I reached him he was hanging on the lane line, watching me, and laughing his face off. I kept going and got a few more rounds in before he showed up again in the shallow end. I stopped to answer more questions.
“Where did you learn how to swim? Do you teach swim lessons here? Do you know that lifeguard?” He pointed toward the guard stand. “My sister doesn’t know how to swim. I like to swim. Can I have those glasses? Are you finished swimming? This water tastes salty.”
I told him I wasn’t quite done. He asked me a few more questions. When he paused to take a breath, I resumed my swimming. He grabbed a noodle float and bounced back over to the free swim area.
When I finished, I glided under the lane lines into the open area. My interrogator was doing the swimming pool pogo at the foot of the lifeguard stand, pummeling the guard with queries. I took off my goggles and looked at them, yellowing and cloudy. What the heck, I thought, I buy them in bulk. I handed the boy my goggles.
He let out a banshee yell and gave me a huge grin. Goggles on, he disappeared under the water. He popped his head above the surface to catch a breath and splash his arms excitedly. Then he was gone again. I left and went upstairs to change into my street clothes.
As I was walking out of the building, I looked through the windows into the pool area. The pool bobber was still going at it, diving, splashing, looking like an aquatic aviator, viewing the briny indoor underwater world with no more time for questions.
Who says you need to be able to carry a tune in order to get a song across to an audience? It certainly wasn’t a necessary prerequisite for 93-year-old Eileen Hall, who delivered The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” in the film Young @ Heart. In fact, her British-accented rendition of the lyrics leans more toward the “spoken” than toward the “sung.”
“Should I Stay Or Should I Go” by the Young @ Heart Chorus, from Mostly Live (2006)
Her performance made me think immediately of actor Rex Harrison who, in the stage musical My Fair Lady, had to struggle to speak in key when his character was ideally meant to sing. Here was another Brit, and he admittedly was not a singer. Nonetheless, his declamatory delivery style was perfectly in keeping with his character’s priggish attitudes about the loftiness of the English language.
“I’m An Ordinary Man” by Rex Harrison, from the cast recording of My Fair Lady (1956)
I remember seeing a TV show when I was a kid - it was most likely either The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour or Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In - where a very proper English gentleman, in tuxedo and bowtie, strode to the podium and recited the lyrics to Johnnie Taylor’s ”Disco Lady,” a popular radio hit at the time:
Shake it up, shake it down
Move it in, move it around
Disco Lady
Move it in, move it around
Move it in, around about
Disco Lady
Shake it up, shake it down
Move it in, move it around
Disco Lady
Hey sexy Lady
Said I like the way you move your thing
Lord have mercy girl
You dance so fine and you’re right on time
Girl you ought to be on TV on Soul Train
When you get the groove, it ain’t no stopping
Just can’t help it, I’m finger popping
Shake it up,
shake it down, etc.
The results were hilarious, poking fun at hyper-proper British mannerisms and Disco-era inanity, both at the same time.
Not long after that, the Punk and New Wave music movements trampled Disco into the ground. One of the oddest New Wave bands was Ian Dury and the Blockheads, and they created a blip on the radio playlist radar with “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.” Frontman Dury brought his own brand of Sprechstimme straight down to earth, by inserting his working class Cockney accent into the songs. It was entirely appropriate, as it matched the suggestive double entendres in many of the band’s lyrics, and didn’t seem concerned with sounding “proper.”
“Razzle In My Pocket” (1977) by Ian Dury & The Blockheads
In the three intervening decades since, declamatory singing has taken a backseat to non-singing, exemplified best in what is arguably today’s dominant musical form: rap. I can think of only one hip-hop artist today who comes close at all to the spirit of Rex Harrison and Ian Dury, spewing all variety of social observations into the mic with a Cockney accent. Mike Skinner of The Streets can be, by turn, angry and polemical or tender and questioning, but he is most often very, very funny, and he’s got the deadpan down cold. Can you imagine what might have transpired if he and Ms. Eileen Hall (who, sadly, passed away in 2007) had had the chance to duet?
“I Love You More (Than You Like Me)” by The Streets, from Everything Is Borrowed (2008)
Shutter Island, the new Martin Scorsese picture, is currently scheduled for an October 2009 release. The gothic horror tale boasts a criminally insane cast that includes Leonardo Di Caprio, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, Max von Sydow, Jackie Earle Haley, Michelle Williams, Sir Ben Kingsley.
