Album of the Week - February 22, 2010 ~ The First Days of Spring ~ Noah and the Whale

This album starts off slowly, is spacious and introspective and is not as immediately catchy as Give a Little Love off their 2008 album Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down.  Having said that, the layers of instruments, unique voice and lyrics of lead singer Charlie Fink make for a good listen.  Particularly delicious is Stranger wherein Fink opines, "oh and I'm waiting for the tires to spin over me, for everything I love has gone away."  Blue Skies too stands out as particularly beautiful and starts out as "This is a song for anyone with a broken heart, this is a song for anyone who can't get out of bed, I'll do anything to be happy, oh cuz Blue Skies are coming, but I know that it is hard..."

I first heard Noah and the Whale as a suggestion on my Bill Callahan Pandora station and found their new album in the library stacks.  Give 'em a listen!  (And here's the link to the Pandora station just mentioned on which they appear: http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh158206022308141898


From CDNow:


The London-based pop group Noah and the Whale -- originally comprised of Charlie Fink (vocals, guitar, harmonica, ukulele), Tom Hobden (fiddle), Urby (harmonium, bass), Laura Marling (backing vocals), and Doug Fink (drums) -- released their first single, "Five Years Time," on the Young and Lost Club label in September 2007. With momentum going strong from that release and a positive response to the band's live show, Noah and the Whale released single number two, "2 Bodies, 1 Heart," in January 2008. The bandmates were soon signed to a major-label deal and began working on their debut album. The summery, pastoral Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down was released in September 2008, followed one year later by The First Days of Spring. The latter album dealt heavily with Charlie Fink's failed relationship with Marling, who did not appear on any of the tracks, and garnered praise for its cinematic sound. ~ Chris True, All Music Guide

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Album of the Week - February 15, 2010 ~ Forget the Night Ahead by The Twilight Sad

Driving Scottish rockers, The Twilight Sad, offer up the album of the week.  The band strikes me as musically similar to Interpol and the Psychedelic Furs (though heavier), yet thankfully their Scottish accents come through.  For some reason, it seems some Celtic rockers loose their accent or brogue when singing, and delightfully, these gents do not.

From Wikipedia:

The Twilight Sad is an indie rock band fromKilsyth, Scotland, comprising James Graham (vocals), Andy MacFarlane (guitar) and Mark Devine (drums). The band have released two full-length albums. Their 2007 debut, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, drew widespread critical acclaim^[1], while their second album,Forget the Night Ahead, was released in 2009.


This album features Seven Years of Letters and Reflection of the Television which are getting deserved airtime.  I Became a Prostitute reminds me the most of Interpol, though The Twilight Sad definitely has their own sound.  If you like any of these other bands, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Keane or U2, I think you have to check these guys out.


~Conan

From Punk to Present: the pitchfork 500

I recently picked up the picthfork 500, which catalogs the 500 best songs of the past thirty years.  Pitchfork is said to "reflect the way listeners are increasingly processing music- by song rather than by album.  These 500 tracks condense thirty years of essential music into the ultimate playlist, each song advancing the narrative and, by extension, the music itself."

The subtitle of the book is "Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present" and is edited by Scott Plagenhoef and Ryan Schreiber.    The editors contend that the book and songs within serve as a chronicle as to the evolution of music itself during this period.  I find it curious that I seem to have experienced a delay with many of the songs showing up on my radar well after their release date. For instance, Talking Heads Psycho Killer dates from 1977 yet I associate it with the mid 1980's.  The Cure's Boy's Don't Cry was released in 1979, but again I associate this song with the mid to late 1980's.  Some bands altogether didn't come into my awareness until years after their 500 song placeholders like Aphex Twin with Xtal in 1992, Boards of Canada with Happy Cycling in 1998, both of  whom I didn't first hear until about 2005.

Some recent discoveries for me like Bill Calahan (formerly Smog), Silver Jews and Bonnie "Prince" Billy have songs from 1998 and 1999 in the 500, but just entered my musical world in 2009.  It makes me wonder what other great music is out there waiting for me to discover and this is the impetus of CornucopiaMusic - to share life through music.      

I think this delay I experienced is due in large part to the music industry's collusion with corporate radio to create play lists based upon their own list of marketing priorities.  Countering this practice now is of course the internet which makes a much greater spectrum of music and artists available to the listener.  Pandora internet radio is one such tool that lets the listener co-DJ to explore music, and Pandora has been aggressively attacked by the music industry through a series of expensive litigation which has resulted in over 70% of Pandora profits going to the music industry.

the pitchfork 500 is new to me as is the pitchfork site, but you may want to check it out.

http://pitchfork.com/

Happy listening, Conan Malone

Album of the Week ~ January 11, 2010 Teatro by Willie Nelson

My stumble into Country…


I officially came out of the country closet and admitted my like for the genre after sipping a vanilla soy latte in a small coffee shop in Jamestown, CO. Yes, I know country wouldn't have me with my vanilla soy chaps, but like Jesse JamesI was born in Missouri, sorry I digress...

The downtown of Jamestown consists of the coffee shop and a post office and is situated some 20 minutes or so above Boulder. As I sat and read and small talked with the mountain man barista about Denver executives who pay hunters to corner mountain lions in trees until they can arrive by Range Rover to shoot the magnificent beast, a familiar voice twanged away to the some of the most delightful music I’d ever heard.

Now, maybe it was the caffeine and sinus headache finding balance within my brain and skin, maybe it was the manly story of the treed mountain lion who was freed by the barista, 45 in hand (the lion and tree were on his land and he wasn't having it), maybe it was the delicious latte syrup of a day of aimless wandering before kids, maybe it was the pure talent of Willie Nelson singing with Emmylou Harris on Teatro, that made it ok for me to like country. But whatever it was country according to the Reverends Nelson and Harris was anesthesia on that day.

Looking back, I had already flirted with country with my long standing favorite band R.E.M. who twang with the best of them on 1984’s Reckoning, Steve Earl’s Copperhead Road and of course Celtic music which permeates American country and folk. But this wonderful afternoon suspended in my mountain memory opened up country for me. I drove down the mountain to the library and checked out Patsy Cline, Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Red Foley and others.

Now, I still don’t two step, unless it’s disguised as Indonesian Patu Patu, I shutter a little when I hear gratuitous pickup truck references and I don’t do Garth, but I do do country. I think there is something comforting in the stories told within these songs, something familiar, something comfortingly square, though not inane, unless life itself is just that.

If you haven’t been hooked by country, and are looking for a good entry point, try almost anything Willie Nelson, but in particular try Teatro.

Album of the Week ~ January 15, 2010 ~ Want Two by Rufus Wainwright

My first introduction to Rufus Wainwright and this week's album of the week, Want Two, was a CD loan from a colleague in Boulder, CO back in 2005.  Soon thereafter I found myself home from work, sick but as much sick with dis ease of life, and my old five changer was loaded with Rufus, Ray Lamontagne and some mellow mixes I had made over the years.

Rufus is the son of folk singers Louden Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle who by coincidence died today 1/20/2010 of cancer.  The first song on this album reflects Rufus' study of opera and undoubtedly will ease his mother's transition into the beyond.  I'm putting this song on my own funeral mix.  This haunting song (Agnus Dei) sets the tone for an album that is both otherworldly and very much of this human existence.  Rufus' unique voice floats in and out your perception, the lyrics sometimes pulling you into the song, the music sometimes lulling you into journey within.

If ever you need a mellow, but dynamic musical accompaniment for a day of respite, sanctuary or a drive through a gray winter day, try Want Two and see if it doesn't get a little better.

From Wikipedia:

 Early life (1973–1994)


Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York, to folk singers Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III.[2][3]. His parents divorced when he was three years old, and he lived with his mother in Montreal, Canada for most of his youth. Wainwright is both a U.S and Canadian citizen.[4] He attended high school at the Millbrook School in upstate New York (which would later inspire his song "Millbrook"), and later briefly studied piano at Concordia and McGill Universities in Montréal. He began playing the piano at age six, and started touring at thirteen with "The McGarrigle Sisters and Family", a folk group featuring Rufus, his sister Martha, his mother Kate, and aunt Anna. His song "I'm a-Runnin'", which he performed in the film Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller at the age of fourteen, earned him a nomination for a 1989 Genie Award for Best Original Song.[5] He was nominated for a 1990 Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year.[6]

Wainwright came out as gay while a teenager.[7] In 1999, he told Rolling Stone that his father recognized his homosexuality early on. "We'd drive around in the car, he'd play 'Heart of Glass' and I'd sort of mouth the words, pretend to be Blondie. Just a sign of many other things to come as well."[8] Wainwright later said in another interview that his "mother and father could not even handle me being gay. We never talked about it really."[9]

Wainwright became interested in opera during his adolescent years, and the genre strongly influences his music. (For instance, the song "Barcelona" features lyrics from the libretto of Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Macbeth.) During this time, he became interested in Édith Piaf, Al Jolson, and Judy Garland.

Rise to fame, debut album (1995–1999)

Through weekly shows at Cafe Sarajevo, Wainwright was on the Montréal club circuit and eventually cut a series of demo tapes produced by Pierre Marchand, who produced Wainwright's album Poses. The resulting tapes impressed his father Loudon, who passed them on to his friend Van Dyke Parks. Parks sent the recordings to Lenny Waronker, the DreamWorks executive who eventually signed Wainwright to his label.[12] Waronker stated the following of Wainwright: "When I was about to listen to his tape, I remember clearly I was thinking, 'Gee, if he has the mom's musicality and smarts, and the dad's smarts and voice, that'd be nice.' Then I put it on and I said, 'Oh, my God, this is stunning.'"[12]

The singer moved to New York City in 1996, performing regularly at Club Fez. He relocated to Los Angeles that year and began his first studio album, 1998's Rufus Wainwright. Waronker paired Wainwright with producer Jon Brion, and the two spent most of 1996 and 1997 making the record. Wainwright recorded 56 songs in total, on 62 rolls of tape. The sessions cost $700,000.[12]

Wainwright's self-titled debut received critical acclaim; Rolling Stone recognized it as one of the best albums of the year, and named the singer "Best New Artist" of the year. Wainwright was nominated for four awards by the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards, including Album of the Year, Pop Recording of the Year and Video of the Year, and won for Best New Artist.[13][14] Rufus Wainwright won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Album and a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album.[15][6] However, commercial success of the album was limited; the debut failed to chart in any country, though he ranked #24 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart.[16]

Wainwright toured with Sean Lennon in 1998 and began his first headline tour later that year. In December 1998, he appeared in a Gap commercial directed by Phil Harder, performing Frank Loesser's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?". In March 1999, Wainwright began a headlining tour at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Classical Music: The Final Frontier

Over the years I’ve gone through enthusiastic phases of interest for virtually all types of music including blues, jazz, new age, down tempo and even country.  At a given time, my CD collection would grow disproportionately in that given genre as the discovery of one artist led to another, the cadence of the music or my mood attracting musically similar creations.

However, despite finding classical music extremely rich, it has also largely remained inaccessible to me.  Able to recognize a short list of the major composers and able to pronounce the names of an even shorter list with any confidence and certainty, I’ve enjoyed the spaciousness of classical music without developing much familiarity.

Rather than pondering the reasons why – lack of vocals, lack of the pull of a persona of a living composer, the natural subordination of artist below or in support of the music, the lack of marketing, the need for a sophisticated understanding of music, catchy piece names like Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33: I. Alegro Non Troppo and Sonata For Cello & Piano No. 2 In G Minor, Op. 117: II. Andante – whatever the reason – I’d like to briefly plug baroque music on a snowy day.

I’ve oft noted that snow suspends reality as the snow seems to absorb sound and quiet even a busy city scene.  The snow, the crisp winter air transporting me even if only briefly to another place or perhaps more precisely connecting me to the current time and place more directly.  During an unexpected snow storm in which I shoveled the driveway three times in one day, I chose to bring Pandora with me on my Blackberry earbuds, selecting their canned Chamber, Baroque Period station.

Pandora originally stayed away from classical music as the genome project didn’t lend itself to grouping classical music into musically similar stations.  It appears that Pandora has chosen to handle classical music within period sub stations under the genre umbrella of Classical.  I’m not yet certain that the sorting is strictly following the substation channel categories, but it’s a start, a potential access point for me.

If you find yourself wanting to explore classical music, Pandora’s canned genre stations may be a good place to start.  I know for one snowy day, the final frontier was brought nearer as exquisite wintery music filled my ears as my back got sore performing the most mundane of tasks, briefly finding magic in the mundane.

Check out this genre station on Pandora at: http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh120666393262603901

Remember Pandora also has genre stations for many categories of rock, folk, children’s, dance, etc., etc.  And Pandora is available for your mobile devices and "soon" in your car.

Happy listening!

~ Album of the Week ~ December 21, 2009 ~ Ash Wednesday by Elvis Perkins

Happy Winter Solstice! When the night is longest, when the day shortest, I always tend to like Depeche Mode more than ever, though a number of other folk inspired, singer songwriters are dominating my earphones this 'bleak midwinter.'

This week's album of the week comes from a Luck of the Draw pick from the library cd stacks and is Ash Wednesday by Elvis Perkins. This is one of those album covers that caught my eye and demanded a listen, not for its flashyness, but something that seemed to say the tasty tunes inside.

This artist is brand new to me and I'm finding myself hitting repeat to hear the music and lyrics on each song on the album. I strongly suggest you check this chap out. It is always interesting to see what other artists people buying this album bought. While musically not identical, you could put these other bands on your playlist and be quite happy - Andrew Bird, the Decemberists, Iron & Wine and Mason Jennings.

Here is more on Elvis Perkins from CDNow:

While Elvis Perkins' folk music has earned comparisons to the likes of Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, he is also known as the son of actor Anthony Perkins and photographer Berry Berenson. Raised in Los Angeles and New York, he started playing guitar in high school and took lessons from Prescott Niles of the Knack. Perkins played in rock bands and learned classical guitar, but his forte became folk, and the unexpected deaths of his parents (his father died of AIDS in 1992, and his mother perished in the 9/11 attacks nine years later) lent a weary, melancholic tone to his first album. Ash Wednesday was released in early 2007 via XL Recordings. To tour behind the album, Perkins assembled a full band and billed his shows as "Elvis Perkins in Dearland," with bassist Brigham Brough, keyboardist/guitarist Wyndham Boylan-Garnett, and drummer Nicholas Kinsey rounding out the lineup. An album of the same name was released in 2009, and the Doomsday EP appeared before the year was up. ~ Kenyon Hopkin, All Music Guide

Content provided by All Music Guide Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC