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.”
happy
Modernism Monday: “The Late Great Cassiopeia,” The Essex Green
StandardCertain songs make you want to dance. The smallest subset of those songs make you want to learn how to actually dance. Then there’s the rest of the set of songs that make you just want to jump up and down and flail your arms around like a spaz in a bouncy castle. This is such a song. (And I am such a dancer, no matter what’s playing, so I appreciate this song all the more.)
The Essex Green is a zippy little indie band from Brooklyn (from whence hail many other indie bands, and much of the “indie” scene in general, although according to most hipsters I know, Brooklyn is “over”) that I discovered back in 2005. They’ve been pretty consistently awesome since then, but this song always cheers me up. Note, however, that it’s really hard to not want to clap along with the song so you might not want to listen to it while taking public transit. Or, hey, do listen to it while taking public transit. The Tune-Up is a judgment-free zone.
Lyrics below:
I was born today, a northern constellation
A minor where a major wants to be
I stacked my words, manufactured legend
And walked along the water in my sleep
Till the news spun circles and there I saw you
Wrapped up in a New York magazine
Was that the page that tells how I was fallen?
Well maybe that part is not worth mentioning
Now…what will they say?
Now…what can they do anyway, anyway?
So let me down slow, let me down real easy
Even giants have to watch how they decline
I’d wheelie in the sky or anything else, I promise
I will until the day that I die
I will until the day that I die
What will they say?
What’s the world, gonna do anyway, anyway?
Salubrious Saturday: “Flowers In Your Hair,” The Lumineers
StandardYou probably know the Lumineers from their “Ho-Hey” song used in a commercial a few years ago. That’s a great song. This one is better. The lyrics are excellent (“It’s a long road to wisdom, but it’s a short one to being ignored”). The energy is so happy. And it’s short! Incredible! The shortest things always take the longest to perfect and a lot of modern music is appallingly self-indulgent. (Actually I might extend that critique to movies but I’d rather not start a comment war.) This is just a little amuse-bouche of a song, and I just love it. I highly recommend going out and grabbing everything else they’ve ever done.
Funk Friday: “Down In The Valley,” Otis Redding
StandardI 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
StandardClearly 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.
—
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 !
Modernism Monday: “April Rain,” Harvey Reid
StandardI’m feeling homesick for New England today, and whenever I’m homesick, I usually turn to one guy: Harvey Reid. Harvey Reid is an American folk artist and incredibly talented musician. I grew up on his album “Of Wind and Water” and play it whenever I want to remember what home feels like. This beautiful track especially conjures up memories of where I’m from. Once on the train home to visit my family, I made a list of the things that define what that means:
- Iron rail track nails
- Hot weeds
- Frozen mud
- Sail cloth
- Tiny fish bones
- Sweet corn
- Rambling stone walls
- Chickadees
- Pavement undulating with tree roots
- Low tide seaweed
- Splinters
- Bare white churches
- Bare white birch trees
I’m also from cold April rain.
Funk Friday: “Joyful Noise,” Breakestra
StandardFunk 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.
REMIX WEEK! Salubrious Saturday: “Ain’t That Good News,” Sam Cooke meets Les Paul and Jeff Beck
StandardI 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.
REMIX WEEK! Termagant Tuesday: “Suit and Tie,” Justin Timberlake meets The Stepkids
StandardI won’t lie – I’m not the biggest Justin Timberlake fan anyway. I think he’s a great vocalist and a great dancer, but his songs…meh. I am a big fan of barbershop-style harmonizations and jazz covers of pop songs. The Stepkids bring some Tony Bennett and Rat Pack-era Sinatra to an otherwise bland pop song; the guitarist even throws in a “Sweet Georgia Brown” lick at 2:56. They also look like accountants having a blast. And – it honestly sounds like this is the original song, and Timberlake covered it. Dig it.
Original Timberlake song:
REMIX WEEK! Modernism Monday: “Call Me A Hole,” Nine Inch Nails vs. Carly Rae Jepsen
StandardThis week on the Tune-Up will be devoted to mash-ups, remixes, and covers of other songs. A good cover or mash-up can elevate the song to a whole other level – it’s a real bit of genius. One of the best mash-ups I have ever heard is today’s offering. The DJ pomDeter took the music of that ear worm “Call Me Maybe” and layered the lyrics of Nine Inch Nails’s “Head Like A Hole” on top. The result is just brilliant. The lyrics are all about the corrupting influence of money on society. What better backing than that utterly fake, lab-created song? I’ve listened to this a hundred times at least and it still thrills me.
Original “Head Like A Hole” here:
Original “Call Me Maybe” here:
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