Is This Love or Confusion?

I Am a Bird Now by Antony and the Johnsons took me a few minutes before I finally started to get it. Or did I? First, let me give some background. Antony and the Johnsons is a band formed by Antony Hegarty. Hegarty was born in England but grew up in San Francisco. His earliest musical influences were in British synth pop, specifically that of Marc Almond and Boy George. His singing style was also influenced by R&B artists such as Otis Redding and Donny Hathaway.

Hegarty is involved in numerous musical and artistic endeavors. In addition to being a songwriter, he also is a playwright, director and visual artist who has presented in those roles all over the world. His music often reveals things about himself. I Am a Bird Now is a prime example.

#66 – Antony and the Johnsons, I Am a Bird Now (Metascore = 88)

As I mentioned earlier, I needed a few songs into the album before I finally started to understand it. Most of the music is Hegarty on piano backed by various stringed instruments and drums. His vocal style sounded familiar to me, and I realized I had heard it previously with the band Hercules and Love Affair (a separate band that he has contributed lyrics and vocals to). I wasn’t immediately interested in how he was singing, but slowly it grew on me. The first song, “Hope There’s Someone” reflects his fear of death and his hope of having someone to be with in that fateful hour. His plaintive voice really makes the delivery of the song very strong. “My Lady Story” is another beautiful song lyrically; to me, this represents someone that is struggling with the aftermath of having had breast cancer and been treated for it. The character struggles with the loss of beauty.

“For Today I am a Boy” is where I was completely thrown with the lyrics. So I looked them up and then read more about Hegarty. Hegarty considers himself transgender and has mentioned in interviews how he has struggled internally with being male when much about him feels female. He brings these emotions to the heart of “For Today”. Much of the rest of the album also hints at these struggles. “Man Is the Baby” lyrically sounds like he is begging his parents to accept him for who he is.

For me the best song of the set is “You Are My Sister”. Boy George joins Hegarty in singing this heartfelt ballad for the character’s sister and the special bond that they share. The performances of both singers are just heart-rending. There are several other guests on this album that bring great performances to the songs, including Rufus Wainwright (on “What Can I Do?”), Lou Reed (guitars and vocals on “Fistful of Love”), and Devendra Banhart (“Spiralling”). “Fistful of Love”, in particular, is musically a great piece and also one of my favorites from the album. The second half of the record has better grooves and some of the best vocal performances.

A Blue Album (literally)

Until recently I didn’t listen to much metal other than Metallica and the occasional Ozzy song, but that probably doesn’t count a whole lot anymore since both bands have had their periods of musical change. Then my brother mentioned he had just caught a great metal show by the band Mastodon. So I had to check them out, and I liked the complexity of their stuff. It wasn’t overt shredding or ridiculous imagery that I had commonly associated with metal (incorrectly on my part).

Mastodon’s last two albums (Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye) were both critically and commercially successful, and Mastodon was a part of a metal scene from Georgia that has been producing some well-done metal albums. Today’s record is known as the Blue Record from fellow Georgians Baroness. The members of Baroness originally hail from Virginia but moved to Savannah. They have released two studio albums, of which Blue Record was the first to peak on Billboard’s charts.

#73 – Baroness, Blue Record (Metascore = 87)

Blue Record opens with the instrumental “Bullhead’s Psalm”, a beautiful song with reverbed guitars that segues into “The Sweetest Curse”, a melodic song with a harmonic guitar solo between John Baizley and Peter Adams, who also share the lyrics at times. “Sweetest Curse” ends with a swirling acoustic guitar piece. “Jake Leg” is a rocking song again with sweet harmonies between the two guitarists. Interestingly enough (and the lyrics seem to hint to this conclusion), “jake leg” refers to Jamaica ginger, which was used to disguise alcohol during the Prohibition period when bootleggers tried to hide their alcohol from the federal government.

The album is written around this theme of good and evil in a medieval sort of way. In some ways it feels like its angels versus demons, knights versus ogres, heroes versus villains. The songs are lyrically and musically epochal. The middle grouping of songs—“Steel That Sleeps the Eye”, “Swollen and Halo”, “A Horse Called Golgotha”, “O’er Hell and Hide”, and “War, Wisdom and Rhyme”—describe this epic battleground and the characters within it. The musicians—two guitars, a bass guitar and drums—are highly skilled and capable of harmonizing in such a way to bring forth the strength of this record.

The thing about this record I like the most is the change in dynamics. Baroness tastefully melds quiet dynamics with loud dynamics to give a robust sound of an epic. There are acoustic guitars with scant drumming and thumping bass and drums to dueling guitars locked in solos. The guitarists lock in harmony throughout while the bassist and drummer control the rhythm and hold the bottom end of the music. The songs have been carefully written with complex melodies. I don’t feel like there’s any real shredding here; just controlled, melodic playing that gives character to the songs. This album is fun to listen to again and again.

Orphans

Continuing with giants of songwriting we move to Tom Waits. To say Waits is a prolific songwriter would be a gross understatement. His contributions to the library of song are vast. He’s written and released well over 300 songs. He’s collaborated with numerous throughout his long career, even writing songs specifically with that artist in mind. He’s written musicals that have been performed on and off Broadway. He’s acted in numerous films (smaller roles).

But getting back to the music, it’s fascinating, almost disgusting, that he hadn’t been inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame until just recently (he’ll be officially inducted in 2011). He has been recording since 1973 with the album Closing Time, and has released numerous critically-acclaimed albums since. Perhaps it’s the lack of commercial success which has dogged his future induction until now, which is bollocks if you ask me. Why it would take so long for someone of Waits’ stature to make it in is beyond me.

Anyway, Waits’ recent studio release, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards is next on my list.

# 10 – Tom Waits, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (Metascore = 92)

I really should devote a couple of entries to this set since there are three discs overall. However, I will try to keep this down to my normal writings. This collection of 54 songs (56 if you count the hidden tracks) is comprised of originals that weren’t good enough to make it onto albums (hard to believe), covers of other artists’ songs, and miscellaneous tracks that he had recorded over the years. One cannot listen to a song from him without encountering his distinctive voice. When I hear it, I am reminded distinctively of Captain Beefheart himself, Don van Vliet. Waits’ voice is a scratchy, grunting blues voice, which gives his lyrics such raw power. You cannot help but feel like you are listening to the blues the way it was meant to be heard.

Each CD represents a separate incarnation of Waits’ songwriting self. The first record is Brawlers, in which the music sounds like the title: a gritty prizefighter gutting out another fight. Brawlers is distinctively blues and rock based. This disc is also more diverse in themes than the other two. There are songs of failures, war, and love. “Puttin’ on the Dog” has the coolest groove and is one of my favorites of this set. Waits’ voice moves from confessional lows to growling joints to vaudevillian sways. The highlight from this set is “Road to Peace”, which would be right at home as part of Bob Dylan’s political catalog. “Road to Peace” is blatant in its political rappings. The topic: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Unlike Brawlers, Bawlers represents the down-trodden man and love lost. This disc is decidedly low-key. Most of the songs are quiet affairs with few instruments. One of my favorite songs occurs early on in “Long Way Home”. The song has a rocking feel to it and is a great love ballad. I could hear Beck covering this tune to great effect. The highlight for this disc is “Fannin Street”, a sad tale of a love lost in Houston. Many of these songs are beautiful ballads despite his gravelly voice.

Bastards the disc is nuts. These are a collection of his experimental tracks. There are snippets of dialogue from various sources. There are tracks from a couple of the musicals he wrote or co-wrote. This disc pays homage to Captain Beefheart more so than even his voice (see “Two Sisters”). The songs are fascinating, though, and do not lose the vision that he had in releasing this set. My personal favorite from this disc is “Books of Musics”. To me this is avant garde blues music with some cool lyrics and an excellent beat.

This set is an unbelievable! I cannot say enough how creative lyrically and musically Waits is. Having heard this record a couple of times now, the music sounds just as good the second time as it was the first time. Is it the best record to really get acquainted with him? No, and yes. No because this is such an odd assortment of songs that try to be cohesive but were clearly at times written during different periods. However, I also say yes because it does introduce a new listener to his many different styles and his lyrical prowess. Either way, this is a great record and deserving of the high accolades it received.

A Triumphant Return

Leonard Cohen is a songwriting giant in the music industry. Heck, he’s an artistic everyman, having released not only musical recordings but also books of poetry and prose. He’s accomplished much in his long life (he’s currently 76 years old), yet his story over the last decade has been one of his most fascinating.

In 2001 he emerged from five years of seclusion (having spent the time in a Zen monastery in California) nearly broke. His longtime business manager had embezzled most of his lifetime savings, so Cohen was trying to do whatever he could to maintain some sort of livelihood. However, he was also 75 at the time he was asked to do an international concert tour, and this heavily weighed on him not only from a health standpoint but also from an emotional standpoint. Cohen was not sure how his audience would respond to him after having been gone for so long.

Live in London would represent a triumphant return for him. Despite his age and having essentially disappeared for so long (unless his record label was re-releasing his songs in hits packages or issuing previously recorded concerts, you practically only heard him through covers that other artists were doing). This performance was a critical success for Cohen (Live in London received an overall Metascore of 91) as well as a commercial success. The package is a collection of some of his best songs from his lengthy catalog.

I have never been a big fan of Leonard Cohen—at least not his own recordings. I bought the soundtrack to the movie The Wonder Boys years ago, and one of his tunes (“Waiting for the Miracle”) was on this, which I hated. However, I have enjoyed some of the covers other artists have performed of his songs. One of the most gut-wrenching was a cover of “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley, which absolutely floored me.

All of this said, Live in London was a pleasing introduction for me to his music. Live sets can be a hit-or-miss affair, but this one delivers. Sure, Cohen’s voice is not as strong as it used to be (he’s 76, so one must throw him a bone), but the writings on the wall and the supporting singers and musicians really bring this set together. Cohen’s voice, despite being a little craggily at times, is strong enough to give his songs a certain depth that some artists just cannot achieve in a live setting. His audience banter is witty but not overbearing, which is refreshing. In many ways I find his live performances of his songs to be better than the original studio recordings.

Some of my personal favorite songs on the set (there are 25 over this 2-disc set) are “The Future”, “Bird on the Wire”, “Who by Fire”,“Hallelujah”, and “Democracy”. I found this set to be deserving of the evaluations it received. Cohen’s performance, along with that of his band’s, is very strong and brings to life many of his best songs.

True

The next record on my list to review is also an electronic record: Untrue by Burial. Again, I don’t consider myself knowledgeable at all regarding electronic music other than a curiosity, all of which I owe to my brother. My brother is the musician of the family, having played many different instruments in his time, including continued time as a turntablist. He introduced me to the wonderful sounds of …Endtroducing by the awesome DJ Shadow. That record blew my mind in how beautiful it sounded.

…Endtroducing segued to Logical Progressions by LTJ Bukem, another fascinating series. The list of records and songs goes on and on. However, there are many, many, many artists and records out there, as there are different subgenres within electronic music. Until recently, the artist behind the band Burial had remained anonymous. William Bevan in 2008 finally announced that he was the brains behind Burial. He chose to remain anonymous for so long because he wanted to focus on his craft and his goal of bringing drum n’ bass back to the forefront of electronic music.

#25 – Burial, Untrue (Metascore = 90)

Untrue contains many different samples. Unlike Cosmogramma before, there are more lyrical parts to this album. “Archangel” contains a sample from R&B artist Ray J’s “One Wish” backed by a haunting sample from the video game Metal Gear Solid 2. The beat is characteristic of many drum n’ bass records, with the hi-hat hits and snare and low end. “Ghost Hardware” contains a sample from Christina Aguilera’s song “Beautiful”, mixed with more from Metal Gear Solid. Throughout this record there are snippets from movies, television shows, video games, and music.

The overall ambience of this record reminds me somewhat of a few songs off of Journey Inwards, another record by LTJ Bukem that I am fascinated by. The songs are somewhat depressing at times, but then at others there are elements of pop that give the music a bit of positivity that gives the record levity. The samples come in and go out as effortlessly as the wind. This album is not a heavy-hitting house record; the style is more subdued, more focused on combining certain lyrics to certain sounds to create an easier flowing record.

How does this record rate to Cosmogramma? Both are ambient. Both contain many samples. To be honest, you have to treat them differently. Untrue is a different genre of electronic music, leaning heavily on its influences of drum n’ bass and dub, whereas Cosmogramma is more experimental. Both are well styled, with an edge to Untrue. Both are fascinating records to me, and I can only imagine how many records these guys needed to hear in order to synthesize their songs. Whereas Cosmogramma incorporates more live instruments, Untrue is all samples. Both are earthy in their approach.

Cosmogramma

I must confess that while I have a fascination with electronic music, particularly drum n’ bass, I could never consider myself knowledgeable enough to critique it. Someone like my brother could better evaluate the performance of a particular artist. However, I will do my best to give some type of analysis over two records that are on the countdown. The first I will be talking about is Cosmogramma by Flying Lotus.

Here is a little background on Flying Lotus. Flying Lotus is really Steven Ellison, a multi-genre music producer and sampler. His biggest claim to fame is his bumper music transitions for Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” programming. However, he has produced some well-received records to strengthen his name. Cosmogramma is his current high scoring album.

#76 – Flying Lotus, Cosmogramma (Metascore = 87)

Here are a few facts I know that already provide a basis for why this album scored high. First, Ellison carefully crafted transitions through samples and live instruments, so each song is seamlessly linked yet unique in its delivery. Two, the ambience throughout the record is very spacey; you feel as if the music is coming from another dimension. Flying Lotus brought together all of these different elements—orchestral, funk, experimental, rock, jazz, etc—into an exotic mix that is tantalizing to the ear.

Another key to this album is the support from many different personnel. Ellison is the primary driver, fusing samples together, but he also brings together many guests to give the songs more strength. Stephen Bruner (aka Thundercat) brings a thumping bass guitar that provides the foundation for the beat. Thom Yorke provides lyrics and vocals to one of the few songs with words; his vocals make the outlook seem haunting (“I need to know you’re out there”). Ravi Coltrane (John Coltrane’s sun) provides tenor saxophone to “Arkestry” and “Recoiled”.

Ellison used the word “cosmogramma” as the album title after hearing a lecture provided by John Coltrane’s wife (and his aunt), Alice. Having read a little about both John Coltrane and Alice, chances are the lecture were steeped in Eastern mysticism and focused on self-liberation from opening up. The beauty with Cosmogramma is that the music sounds like a beautiful flower that is first blooming, opening up to the sky in a sort of enlightening ceremony.

Having listened to the record a couple of times (not hard to do since the album features 17 relatively short tracks that lasts 45 minutes), I believe this record deserves the accolades it has received. Flying Lotus have transitioned their sound from cable network to radio. This is a beautiful record that transitions very well. The highlights for me on this record are “…And the World Laughs with You”, “Arkestry”, “MmmHmm”, and “Recoiled”, though you really couldn’t go wrong liking the whole record. Extra effort: check out “Table Tennis” and the ping pong sounds swirling around.

Comicopera or Comic Opera?

Who is Robert Wyatt? Robert Wyatt has been a recording artist since the mid-1960’s. He is primarily known for his drumming although he is proficient in several other musical instruments, including the guitar, piano, and bass guitar. His first record was with the band Soft Machine, a band who helped usher in the progressive rock movement through their fusion of jazz and psychedelic rock. I know of Soft Machine through their association with Jimi Hendrix via management team (Soft Machine even toured with the Experience briefly in 1968). Wyatt left Soft Machine in 1971 due to creative differences. In 1973 Wyatt drunkenly fell from a 4^th-story condominium during a party, causing paralysis from his waist down.

Since his accident, he has primarily been recording as a solo artist. He still plays drums but without kick drums or other foot-related percussion. He has released numerous solo efforts, keeping with his jazz background while also delving into other genres such as reggae, experimental, and folk. His album Comicopera was released in 2007 and was critically acclaimed for being ambitious in its stylistic scope and containing some of his best lyrics.

#108 – Robert Wyatt, Comicopera (Metascore = 86)

Comicopera begins with the soft piece “Stay Tuned”, a folksy ballad about Wyatt trying to communicate, trying to tell his love or friend to “stay tuned”, that he’s doing the best he can to reach them. This is the first song of a suite of four songs about love and communication. “Just as You Are” continues this theme with a guest vocalist Monica Vasconcelos and excellent musical support by Paul Weller and Phil Manzanera on guitars. “Just as You Are” is a beautiful song…the music and lyrics are well written. “You You” sounds like early Genesis songs with the instrumentation mix.

The instrumental “Anachronist” shifts the story to a more upbeat pop sensibility while also shifting the subject away from love. “A Beautiful Place” sounds like a walking/talking tune that takes a stab at religion when it says “in the Methodist hall/despite a poster which says/that it’s there for us all/and it’s a beautiful day/for walking away”. “Be Serious” continues the attack; Wyatt begs Christians, Muslims and other religions to “put a lid on it” when discussing self expression and religion. This is where I get lost with this music personally. I acknowledge his craftiness, but at this point I’m ambivalent with him.

“On the Town Square”, another instrumental, segregates the anti-religion songs from the anti-government songs, starting with “Mob Rule”, the first of three songs that question the political process and Britain’s involvement in wars overseas. “Out of the Blue” ends this particular section with a sad description of the atrocities of war. From here Wyatt veers entirely away from the English language into other languages, including Italian and Spanish. This is where the album becomes a bit awkward and disjointed. While I appreciate the effort that he puts into these songs, and musically the songs are very good, but I just feel like they stop his message dead in the album’s tracks. I’m sure there are many of us that wish the songs had been in all English rather than mixed.

How to evaluate this album? Musically, I enjoyed this record quite a bit. I found the mix of instruments to be very thoughtful in supporting the lyrics, especially with the jazzier numbers. Lyrically, I found the music to be interesting but had conflicting feelings about his messages. While I cannot deny that Wyatt is a creative lyricist, some of his words just do not mesh with my own. That said, I can understand some of the critical praise that came with the record.