dance

Salubrious Saturday: “The Final Countdown,” Europe

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This seemed to be an appropriate (if a bit delightfully sacrilegious) song for the day before Easter.  Holy Week itself has always had a bit of a “final countdown” feel to it, but it wasn’t until last year while I was getting vested to sing the Palm Sunday service that a friend of mine commented that the run up to Easter always put her in the mind of “that Europe song – you know the one?”  And I, being a total goober who can recall obscure Monteverdi motets on command but not, like, I don’t know, anything more recent and normal, was like, “the what song?”  Upon hearing her sing the synth riff, the lyrics of the song came back to me, and I have to admit that I laughed so hard I started crying.  This, mind you, comes from a baptized, confirmed, tithing, choir-singing Episcopalian.  Never mind that the words really don’t make any sense in any sort of context, nor, for that matter, does the video (marshland?  a church spire?  trains?  what?)

So, while you’re decorating the Easter eggs, glazing the ham, breaking out all of your festive pastels, and relishing the thought of diving back into whatever it was you gave up for Lent*, I encourage you to share the day with the bouffant boys of Europe.

*I gave up cursing.  It has been excruciatingly difficult.  And, yes, while it was meaningful and now I am more aware of cursing, which is great, oh man – I’m going to be cursing like a happy little sailor while I cook Easter dinner Sunday afternoon.

Funk Friday: “! (The Song Formerly Known As),” Regurgitator

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So, like everyone, I have a number of circles of friends.  Some of them overlap, some of them don’t.  Within each circle is a person or set of people that know me really well.  And these people form their own special little subgroup – the sanctum sanctorum, if you will (or even if you won’t.  This is my blog.  Get you own, you crank).  These are people I tell everything to, who let me be crass and laugh at my dumb jokes, and don’t wig out when it’s a Friday night and I all want to do is hang out with them in our PJ’s and enjoy some microwavable chicken pot stickers and crap $3 wine from Trader Joe’s and ask questions like, “how weird would it be if humans evolved to not need noses anymore?”  People who would be down to join me if I said “I’d rather dance in ugly pants in the comfort of a lounge room in suburbia.”  Parties are where your people are.  So thank you, sanctum sanctorum.  You know who you are, and man, “things don’t get no better – better like you and me.”

Funk Friday: “Down In The Valley,” Otis Redding

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I have been saving this song for a very special day.  Today is such a day.  It doesn’t matter why today is special – who really cares – but let’s dig into the song.

This is one of those songs that I would consider to be absolutely perfectly constructed.  What is a song composed of?  I would posit (because I love to posit) three things: tempo, melody, and rhythm.  First of all: the tempo.  The tempo is absolutely right on the money.  It’s slow enough to give it a real sultry groove, but it’s fast enough that you want to get out of your chair and dance to it.  Secondly: melody.  This song has a simple enough melody that you can remember it after you hear it once, and then sing along with it the next time it comes on.  It’s also just intoxicatingly bluesy.  And third: rhythm.  The rhythm of this song is straight up four-square, meat-and-two-vegetables, staple-diet stuff.  It musical bedrock.

So why in the world is such a song, with such simple bones, so extraordinary?  Obviously part of it is Redding’s voice, that manages to be so gritty and on pitch at the same time.  Another part is the strategic use of – yeah, you guessed it – horns.  But for me, it’s how everything drops away before the next verse.  What do I mean?  I mean that the song starts with Redding singing alone.  He sings a verse.  Before he asks us whether we’ve ever been lonely (lo-oh-oh-oh-ohnly), it’s just him and the drums – and then the horns come it.  And god help me when Redding can’t help himself at 1:03 (“ooh yeah”) – he knows it’s cooking.  It just keeps building until we can’t take it.  And then what happens?  The guitar lick at 1:58, straight out of a Temptations song – and then song slips into minor.

It’s just…man.  I just can’t even.  This is like the Hope Diamond of songs for me.

 

Worldly Wednesday: “Csiki, Csiki,” BraAgas

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Clearly my soul is wandering around the planet without permission because, while I started the week being homesick for New England, now I find myself longing to be back in Prague.  Fortunately, the wonderful female group BraAgas has me covered.  This saucy little minx of a song is from their 2009 album, “Tapas,” which won the Anděl Award, the Czech version of a Grammy.  In addition to world music, BraAgas is also proficient in medieval music – one of their members plays the shawm, which, I mean, if there is a more direct way to my heart, I haven’t found it yet.

Lyrics (which I’m pretty sure are in Romani) below.

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Adjatok egy szalmaszálat,
Égessem el a világot!
Adjatok egy szalmaszálat,
Hadd fújjam fel ezt a házat!
Lábam termett a táncra,
Szemem a kacsintásra.
Ha táncolok, szikrát szórok,
A világra fittyet hányok!

Aj Csiki-Csiki, aj ke te merav,
Aj Csiki-Csiki, aj ke te merav,
Aj Csiki-Csiki, aj ke te merav,
Me zhanav me ka zhivav

Vesz ő nékem selyemruhát,
Gyöngyöt, láncot, piros szoknyát,
Reám költi a vagyonát,
Lopja-lopja édesanyját,
Bolondítom, hevítem,
Kiáltozza a nevem,
Csiki-Csiki, így hív engem.
Megöllek én, szép szerelmem!

Aj Csiki-Csiki, aj ke te merav,
Aj Csiki-Csiki, aj ke te merav,
Aj Csiki-Csiki, aj ke te merav,
Me zhanav me ka zhivav

Lábam termett a táncra,
Szemem a kacsintásra.
Ha táncolok, szikrát szórok,
A világra fittyet hányok!
Bolondítom, hevítem,
Kiáltozza a nevem,
Csiki-Csiki, így hív engem,
Megöllek én szép szerelmem!

Aj Chiki-Chiki, aj ke te merav,
Aj Chiki-Chiki-Chiki, aj ke te merav,
Aj Chiki-Chiki, aj ke te merav,
Me zhanav me ka zhivav

Give me a piece of straw to set the world on fire
give me a piece of straw to blow up this house

My feet were made for dancing
my eyes were made for winking
when i dance I spread sparkles all around
and don’t give a damn about the world

Ai,Tchiki-Tchiki, i should die
Ai,Tchiki-Tchiki, i should die
Ai,Tchiki-Tchiki, i should die
I know I’m going to live

Ai,Tchiki-Tchiki, he dies for me
Ai,Tchiki-Tchiki, this is how he calls me
Ai,Tchiki-Tchiki, this is how he calls me,
With me, he go where I want

He will buy me a dress of silk, necklace of pearls, red skirt,
he’ll spend his fortune on me
he will steal his mother again and again
and I make him crazy, I set him on fire

He only shouts my name
tchiki tchiki – that’s what he calls me
I will kill you my beautiful love !

Funk Friday: “Joyful Noise,” Breakestra

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Funk Friday in spring?  With the funkiest band this side of California?  Yes please.

I’m sending this groove-tastic track to all of you Tune-Up fans from around the world.  Did you know you represent five continents?  You all tune in from 18 different countries – from Brazil to Germany to Singapore and back again.  That’s amazing.  I am so happy, grateful, and excited to share music with you all.  So crank it up!  Let’s have ourselves an international dance party!  Make a joyful noise and groove on, Tune-Up fans.  Groove on.

Worldly Wednesday: “Sounds Like Gun (Kepei),” Bobby

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This awesome song, by an artist named Bobby, is from Sierra Leone, where hails another incredible human being: 15-year-old Kelvin Doe.  Kelvin is an inventor, a total autodidact, whose mental agility and curiosity are jaw-dropping.  Thanks to the work of a man named David Sengeh, a PhD student at MIT, kids like Kelvin in Sierra Leone, Kenya, and South Africa are getting mentored to develop their skills – all with an eye towards helping young minds around the world find solutions to their country’s problems.  People, Tune-Up fans – people are our biggest resource.

Kelvin’s story is here.  It’s ten minutes.  It’s worth it.  And if you want to know more about Sengeh’s campaign, go here.

 

REMIX WEEK! Salubrious Saturday: “Ain’t That Good News,” Sam Cooke meets Les Paul and Jeff Beck

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5EnFG1-R-s

I absolutely like the original better than this version, but I have to testify to Paul’s and Beck’s smokin’ guitar work.  (And as my baby is in fact coming home tomorrow, I really had no choice but to post this song).  It gives an already rocking song a spicy southern, bluesy, rockabilly twang.  It also has a nice build-up.  But tinkering with Sam Cooke is the textbook example of gilding the lily.  The original is pure uncomplicated happiness – probably because the instrumentation doesn’t rely on so many dominant seventh chords (not sure what that means?  It’s the horn’s chord at 1:01 and 1:50, among other places.  More on this here) but allows Sam to go there with his own voice.  And those horns.  I mean, come on.  Without further ado, here is the man himself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYn22F9I2p8

Salubrious Saturday: “Roadrunner,” Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers

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A Daily Tune-Up Haiku: “It’s 65 Degrees and Sunny So I’m Going For A Really Long Run”

The Modern Lovers

Wrote this song.  …Ok, good talk. 

It’sniceoutsidebye!

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PS: To all my friends running the Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon today, including the inimitable K-Smash: crush some pavement!

Termagant Tuesday: “Bistro Fada,” Stephane Wrembel

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPN7J369RNI

The weather is warming up, the days are getting longer, the breeze smells like new growth instead of mud and road salt – ah, je me languis d’être à Paris!  (Not like that’s anything new, of course.  Hi there, Sidney Bechet!)  Here is a delightful gypsy jazz track from Stephane Wrembel used in the movie “Midnight in Paris.”  Wrembel is a modern French jazz guitarist for whom Django Reinhardt has clearly been a strong influence.

Worldly Wednesday: “Decent Days and Nights,” The Futureheads

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfJMqUN0FCE

Oh man this song is such a trip.  The Futureheads are a great punk-oriented group from Sunderland, England, and so far, this is my favorite song of everything they’ve put out.  I am a complete sucker for weird changes in time signatures, and the lyrics are interesting and funny.  It’s a happy, lively song for the middle of the week, and the driving rhythm has earned it a top spot in my running playlist.