Chordly love

Listen to that strumming and finger picking. And the chords. A-mazing. I have such an itch of late to get up on stage, any stage, and sing or strum or stamp.  This song ("Little Lion Man" by Mumford & Sons), and my spirited sing-along in the kitchen, scratches that itch just a bit. No drummer, just the lead singer pounding away on that bass drum pedal, plus various shakers and tambourines in the hand of the keyboardist.

Foggy conditions

Here's the email I just dashed off to a friend I thought would like this tune, "Everyday" by oh minnows, then I realized that everyone should AND could like this tune:

"I am in love with the chord progressions of this song - "Everyday". Don't you love the guitar stuff?Super vibe-y, sweet, but foggy too. The singers has created a hazy distance. He seems intentionally far away. The lyric is a bit ominous - "this day will be the last" - but the mood is peaceful. I think this might be a zen love song."

Take a listen, won't you?  http://soundcloud.com/tim_chester/oh-minnows-everyday
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Here are a few of the lyrics (and there are only a few lyrics) that grabbed me:

Now what am I going to do?
I am nothing without you.

What am I good for?
Who am I good for?

Everyday I want to see you and this will be the last.
Everyday I want to reach you and this day will be the last, will be the last.

Wanting to coast

Calling all Pacific Northwest lumberjacks: come and join the wonderful Band of Horses. They will put your facial hair to good use. This song - "Islands on the Coast" - is simultaneously sweet and sad to my ears. The introduction is unexpected. Eight quarter notes then an explosion of guitar. Then Ben Bridwell's gentle yet piercing voice.

Here's the band playing it live. I like the lead singer's smile. The second clip is the same song but the album version, just a bit cleaner.

Lyrics

Here's a copy, the rest that you know,
and put the kind words to bed.

For man don't say why, or even know how,
it's only awful as the hell that you know.

When islands want to coast, islands want to coast,
they'll know how, yeah, they'll know how.

And only hours before the house had burned down,
he shut the other door.

But if i don't see now, or even know why,
it's only awful as the hell that you know.

When islands want to coast, islands want to coast,
they'll know how, yeah, they'll know how.

Home (x4)

He was riding in the next thing you know,
let's take the other door.

Now if i don't think right, or even know how,
it's only awful as the hell that you know.

When islands want to coast, islands want to coast,
they'll know how, yeah, they'll know how.

Home (x4)

In the bleak midwinter

It's not actually bleak here. The temperature is ping ponging between 80 and 50, so ambivalent midwinter is probably  more appropriate. Still, I have a little time on my hands, time I am SUPPOSED TO BE USING PRODUCTIVELY, and mostly I am (repainted daughter's bed, cleaned closets, worked on novel, worked out, ate "extra" bag of chocolate with pumpkin caramel filling), but there are moments when the nights feel long. I am a skittish sleeper, and, no joke, often sleep with the lights ON when I'm alone in my house. Last night, I let Chris Martin sing me to sleep with "Everything's Not Lost".

Advent

This tenor aria from Handel's Messiah is just about the prettiest thing I've ever heard, and it is one of my favorite Christmas season songs. Or anytime songs. "Comfort Ye" comes right after the orchestral overture, so the first line of this aria is the first vocal line of the entire oratorio. I especially love the way the second "comfort" just floats in the air like a leaf borne on the wind.

The text comes from Isaiah, and although I had always interpreted this text to be about John the Baptist, I recently learned that its meaning also applies to the exiles in Babylon who had been carried off when Jerusalem was destroyed. The text in Isaiah that follows the "Comfort Ye" lines, the text of the next tenor aria "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted", can definitely be interpreted as a hope for homecoming on the part of the exiles, a dream of a clear path back to their city, temple and homeland.

My favorite voice for "Comfort Ye" is Paul Esswood, the soloist on the 1995 Mormon Tabernacle Choir recording. The choir's recording is phenomenal, truly stunning. But alas ... youtube yielded many other tenors, but not Mr. Esswood. However, this soloist will have to do.

Health and wealth

Youtube is like a treasure chest. Sure, there are plenty of videos made by dreadful bands playing unoriginal music. There are who knows how many clips of people covering someone else's music, usually in cramped bedroom with inadequate lighting. And no amount of apology will atone for the introduction of Fred Figglehorn. But the site yields hidden gems as well. Like this one.

Hymn

With a name like Sufjan, being conventional was likely never an option. Sufjan Stevens is a performer unto himself, his stage shows unusual, his songwriting unique and amazing.

Speaking of amazing, here's his version of "Amazing Grace."

A cappella

I like "Glee".
I like a cappella singing.
I like Dead Poets Society-style boarding school duds.
I like Darren Criss's hopping sideways choreography/moves.

Yes, sure, some people might say the Dalton Warblers are "effeminate" (so?), "wimpy" (wha?), "cheeseball" (yum!), or "corny" (I prefer "wholesome"). Whatever the label, they took this top 40 hit with its weird, nonsensical lyrics and impossibly high tenor lead line and turned it into a sweet ensemble piece.

Animals

These guys are so much fun. And I'd love to meet their choreographer! They made a big splash with their treadmill-dance video from a couple of years ago, and the charm keeps coming. I can't not smile while watching this great dog/furniture choreography + the song is cool too. Here is OK Go's "White Knuckles".

p.s. It even features cup stacking, a Hill family favorite activity!

My baby

Annie and I finished our Thanksgiving feast day with a little dance lesson in my room. I couldn't stop yawning, but I did my best to teach her the Roger Rabbit. It took a little coaxing to remind my muscles just how that move used to go, but it came back, and along with it, memories of assorted church dances.

Yeah, I agree re: Justin Bieber. The hair, for starters. It's terrible. Scary moment last week when I walked into Graham's room and saw him tossing his hair in front of the mirror. He was trying to get the swept forward look. I just smiled and bit my tongue. Then there's the voice. No, not the singing voice - I think his singing voice is sweet. (Graham asked me, while we were listening, "So he hasn't come to puberty yet?") No, it's his speaking voice. The kid has this weird urban/southern thing going on, a really off-putting accent, and I just don't buy it from a white kid who grew up in Canada. But Annie wanted us to dance to this tune, and so we did.

Yeah, this IS it

Here's "The Modern Age" from The Strokes' 2001 album, Is This It?  They look like little babies up there! I love the occasional 60s feel of this band + the 90s hint o'grunge + the 21st century dissonance. Even the outfits in this video run the gamut of decades. Here's the thing for me about this song - I want to be able to play it. It's very simple, but effective.

Rock the Republic

Very cool festival in downtown Bryan. This is year 2. It has been supremely well organized. Tons of security, vendors, shows and venues. Marketing seems to have fallen short though. I found out about it the day before, thanks to Corinna & Wayne. Bless you, dear friends! They are the kind of couple who don't mind having me as a third wheel. How cool is that? I loved walking from venue to venue, cracking jokes, eating funnel cakes (too sticky!) together. These nights I've been glad to be me, here. That's something to hold onto.

Crowds have been thin however, and while I don't mind having front row spots for every show, I worry that they won't have the bucks to put it on again next year. It was $25 for all 3 nights & that includes as many shows as you can take in. The beautiful weather, light breezes and temps in the low 70s came for free.

Note: Being able to attend two shows like this, back to back, is the silver lining in the cloud of being single. I expressed gratitude to the universe for this perk. Yes, many, many days I feel overwhelmed and bereft of my Prince Charming-ish (tongue in cheek!), but being able to enjoy these two nights of music with two great people was a treat. For the last night, tonight!, shows start after bedtime & the kids have been invited to sleepover with their friends, so that we can all hit that last night while our children slumber peacefully. Triple cool.

Our batting average @ this local festival has been impressive, even better than at SXSW, honestly, in terms of the ratio of bands seen to sheer awesomeness. Both nights (tonight finishes up the festival) have yielded stunning bands, like jaw-dropping, hand-clapping good. These are the keepers I've heard thusfar. Even the other shows were enjoyable. These were just the standouts, the groups I WILL see again. I wish all of you could have been there with us!

Thursday night -
Loved three groups outta Austin.
1) Bright Light Social Hour. Thought I had happened upon a Stillwater show (the fictitious 70s rock band in "Almost Famous"). They had a bluesy Led Zeppelin meets the Black Crowes vibe. Lots and lots of long hair. ("Hairography," said Corinna.) Lots and lots of enormous mustaches. I heard a little Drive-by Truckers in them. I also saw some truck driver styles on stage. This was my first moment of, "Wow, they have some serious performers at this festival. I'm gonna listen hard."

2) Wiretree. An indie ensemble reminiscent of the Shins. Lead singer had a lovely plaintive voice and a geeky chic vibe (flat front pants, thick glasses, etc.). Liked them a bunch. They would be great to listen to in a coffee shop, just super easy on the ears. Theirs is the kind of music I like to sing myself. ("Hey, mind if I join you on stage? Oh, you do? A problem? Sorry, my bad. I'll just ... sit back down.")

3) Quiet Company. A big band with a brass section, everybody wearing three piece suits and ties. Very polished and cool. I thought they sounded a bit like Okkervil River, as in, the lead singer could yell really effectively. He had a great voice and a passionate energy. Up and down from his keyboard to the guitar. The trombonist was going crazy on his moves. Very fun to watch. I would drive to see them again for sure. I hope they come here or I hope I catch them in Austin.

plus 4) The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. One of my fav former students is in this band, and I was impressed with the show. I was probably the oldest person at the show ... and the most tired (couldn't stop yawning), but I liked their songs and hooks. They call themselves a Death Cab for Cutie kinda band. And I love DCFC.

Friday night -
1) The Orbans. A band out of Fort Worth but the lead singer is from Bryan. His aunt and uncle were cheering in the front section. And his voice was stellar. High and clear, great emoting. I wondered if the name of the group is a tip to Roy Orbison. Hard to tell. They had an Eagles kind of sound with layered male harmonies that impressed me. Everybody in the band - the keyboardist, bassist, lead guitarist and lead singer all sang harmonies. The sound was alt country in places, but rockabilly in other places. We got to talk to the drummer and lead singer after the show too. Super fun! I just wanted to apologize for there only being 20 people in the audience. That was a little awkward, to look behind us and see ... an open downtown plaza. Oh well, their loss (their meaning Blinn & TAMU students). But wait, OUR loss too if the Rock the Republic promoters can't get funds to secure next year's acts. Grumble, grumble. Corinna might volunteer her services to consult on marketing. She had some good ideas!

2) Band of Heathens. Also out of Austin, this band has something very unique about it - three lead singers/lead guitarists. They also have a great drummer and bassist, but the three guys in front EACH has an amazing memorable voice, a cool look (one was a young Tim McGraw, another looked SoCal skater cool, and the third, my fav, looked like Luke Wilson's fraternal twin with long dark wavy hair, black mustache and Padres jersey). Each guy took turn singing lead & they all provided harmonies. One of the guys played a lap steel, another played a Hammond organ, plus guitar guitar guitar. The lap steel lead guy also had a robin's egg blue Epiphone round body guitar that I would have liked to have "borrowed" for aesthetic reasons. It was the prettiest guitar I've seen in a long time.

This kind of live music - loud, local, lovely - really lifts my spirits. The bass was so loud on Friday night that it lifted my heart rate as well. "Arrhythmia anyone?" asked Wayne. Yes, we could literally FEEL the music. But especially in an outdoor venue watched over by a gorgeous October Texas moon, it wasn't too much at all. (Echoes of Neil Young's "Harvest". Actually, the Orbans had a Neil Young undertone, especially in the soulful guitar.) Bring on the volume!

Here's one of my favs from the Orbans, "Like a Liar":

Gallows humor

More Season 4 fun ... I watched the third DVD in my 30 Rock boxset and really enjoyed the following moment(s) from one of the episodes included. A recurring plotline on the show is that Tracy Jordan (played by Tracy Morgan) is trying to earn an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony). Toward that end, his entourage has encouraged him to make a hard-hitting movie over his summer hiatus about growing up in the South Bronx, instead of playing the title role in "Garfield III: Feline Groovy" ("The title is a pun," says Tracy, "Since cats have grooves in their paws." LOL!) However, Tracy is not willing, initially, to revisit his memories of growing up neglected in foster care in the South Bronx.

The series has already touched on Tracy's troubled past. In Season 1, Tracy takes Liz to his old neighborhood, for example, and earlier in Season 4, a joke is made about not being able to locate Tracy's mom for a special Mother's Day episode.  ("But I told you what I remembered about her," says Tracy. "Yes, you told us 'She was wearing a red shirt in 1984'," replies the show's producer Pete, with an eye roll.)

After his entourage (Kenneth and Dot Com, no Grizz in sight) finally drags him up to the South Bronx, Tracy sees a familiar stairwell and experiences a kind of breakthrough ... his repressed childhood memories come flooding back and he is overcome with emotion, sharing the various horrors he lived through.


p.s. I know it's not especially funny to joke about terrible childhoods, but I think the show does a good job of keeping it funny. My favorite line just might be the one about a pack of wild dogs taking over and successfully running a Wendy's. Or the one about finding a child's shoe in his burrito.

30 giggles

The 30 Rock season 4 I ordered last summer for myself with birthday money arrived yesterday. I literally laughed for hours. One of the episodes focused on Jack Donaghy's attempt to reach "real" America. As part of that outreach, Jenna Maroney sings a new country-fied version of the NBC tennis coverage theme song. Can we say "pandering"? What's so funny is how pitch perfect the song remake is ... and of course, the part with the names of the tennis participants is red, white and hilarious!



Same episode, Jack is introducing a new food product called a Cheesy Blaster. Liz pipes in with the theme song. Is this not spot on too? And Meat Cat? Yeah! How American can ya get?

"You take a hot dog, stuff it with some jack cheese, fold it in a pizza ... you've got cheesy blasters!"

Prefab rock-n-roll

Okay, crazy confession here.

Well, in a minute.

First, the back story. Annie has a cool funky Hannah Montana-esque style all her own. (Well, all her own after being heavily influenced by everything in Justice, a popular girls' clothing store.) She loves peace signs, slouchy boots, big scarves, torn jeans, and the color black. Along with this look comes a certain musical style ... let's call it Radio Disney (LOL!).

I bought her a Radio Disney compilation as a back-to-school "sussy" & she loves it. Do I feel guilty about supporting this conglomerate monster? Well ...

It makes me happy to see her enjoying a little slice of popular culture that resonates with her. Music and clothes are a big part of my personal expression and enjoyment, so I get that, even if I wouldn't necessarily choose the Radio Disney tunes on my own.

So here's where we get to the confession part.

On the drive to the Mother Daughter retreat, we listened to that Radio Disney CD several times, and by golly, my toes just tapped like crazy during this song. I wanted to shout it out! (It's called "Shout It"!)

Note: it's sung by Mitchel Musso a/k/a Oliver on "Hannah Montana". Yep, the goofy sidekick has a recording career too. That's the way they grow them over at Disney. And I don't mind it at all when the CD hits this track!

How deep

Annie and I attended a mother daughter retreat this weekend. This is our second year to go. It's an amazing experience - we challenged ourselves on a ropes course, played games together, laughed, chased, and bonded. The retreat is hosted by a lovely evangelical Christian group. As always, I really enjoy observing the way other people worship, the way the rhetoric of worship changes, the kinds of experiences that are valued and all that.

One of the fun things about this weekend was our worship singing. It is much more contemporary than the kind of singing we do in my church. I enjoyed the breath of fresh air. It is also more sincere and less ironic than the kind of music I listen to in my free time. That also was a breath of innocent air.

The song leader had an amplified acoustic guitar in the front, and those of us in the congregation followed the lyrics shining on a large projector screen above her. The music genre for pretty much all of the songs included is very singer-songwriter-y, with mellow and sweet melodies, lots of "yeahs", repetitive song structures (so that I could usually pick it up after once through the first verse), fairly simple lyrics with common motifs ("glory", "waves", "love", "power", etc.) It's extremely user friendly. A person doesn't need to be a skilled musician to be able to jump right in and sing along!

I point all of that out just because I genuinely enjoyed watching the way these believers celebrated. Our song leader was a terrific woman who just brimmed with kindness and charisma. Singing along with her -albeit in a more contemporary way than I would ever find at my church - was really inspirational. And I'll admit, this long lead-in to the song is partly an explanation (excuse?) for my liking of this song.

Because it's not hip.
Or edgy.
Or intellectual.

But it sure is pretty.  As soon as I got back from the retreat, I found the chords so that I could play it too.

"Solsbury Hill"

This was Peter Gabriel's first single, post Genesis. I heard it while driving home from the gym today and remembered how much I like the time signature - it's in 7/4, which is pretty unusual in any kind of music.

Not related to the Oliver North debacle

Sad day ... the horsehead background on this bloghas somehow disappeared.

?

As soon as we got back from vacation, my kids requested that I put in "Contra" by Vampire Weekend. I've already shared the first track, "Horchata." This is the last track, a beautiful winsome song called "I Think Ur A Contra." I love the sweetness of Ezra Koenig's voice, especially when he sings "I just wanted you, I just wanted you."

As my friend Becca has pointed out, Vampire Weekend does happy and upbeat with a dash of Paul Simon on the top incredibly well. But this song shows that they can do poignant just as well.

From the vault: Barry!

Is there a prettier melody line than this one? "Mandy", thy name is loveliness. I LOVE that modulation 3/4 of the way in.  And wow - his voice sounds caramel-ly smooth in this live performance! I like the song so much I pasted it twice (cause crazy as it might sound, sometimes I play songs from this blog while I wash dishes or mop in the kitchen. I like having my favorites in one place!) And that bit about Manilow writing this song for his dog is, according to songfacts.com, an "urban myth." I think I like it better as a human to human love song anyway.

From the vault: jumping for joy

Speaking of playing air guitar on tennis rackets ... at our 6th grade talent show, back in 1984, the winning group performed a rousing lip-synced rendition of this Van Halen hit! I can still remember sitting in the cheering crowd, totally impressed by the energy on stage.