You Were Right - Badly Drawn Boy (2002)
Is it a sound idea to move to England simply because of the country's love, respect and quality of pop music? I think so. At a time (October 2002) when Kelly Clarkson's treacly "forced by a TV show" American idol ballad was number one on the American charts, Damon Gaugh was entering the British top 10 with a song about turning down advances from Madonna and regretting his inability to do anything when Buckley, Sinatra, Lennon and Cobain passed away. That's quite a difference. It would be Badly Drawn Boy's highest chart appearance, but his quality of work continues to stand at the heights he achieved back in '02. America, take note. If music of this level can be pop hits in the Mother Country, isn't it time we placed our ears outside the box. Badly Drawn Boy on the Hot 100? What a day that would be!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
JDIZZY's 365 # 174: Year Of The Cat
Year Of The Cat - Al Stewart (1976)
Al had released six previous albums before Year Of The Cat broke all over the world. It's easy to see why. It was the story songs of the seventies meeting head-on with the studio perfection of groups like Steely Dan and The Alan Parsons Project (Alan Parsons coincidentally produced the album!). Stewart had always had the songwriting goods, but with this and his previous album, he came into his own in the studio as well. He would continue this streak through to his next album, the minor classic Time Passages. Today, he's still at it hard, releasing two great albums in the last few years. Funny though, even those who don't continue to follow his career seem to always come back to this tale of love on tour. Maybe we all long for exotic holidays involving trysts with mystery lovers. Maybe we just know a quality song when we hear one.
Al had released six previous albums before Year Of The Cat broke all over the world. It's easy to see why. It was the story songs of the seventies meeting head-on with the studio perfection of groups like Steely Dan and The Alan Parsons Project (Alan Parsons coincidentally produced the album!). Stewart had always had the songwriting goods, but with this and his previous album, he came into his own in the studio as well. He would continue this streak through to his next album, the minor classic Time Passages. Today, he's still at it hard, releasing two great albums in the last few years. Funny though, even those who don't continue to follow his career seem to always come back to this tale of love on tour. Maybe we all long for exotic holidays involving trysts with mystery lovers. Maybe we just know a quality song when we hear one.
JDIZZY's 365 # 173: Oh what A Circus
Oh What A Circus - Colm Wilkinson (1976), David Essex (1978), Mandy Patinkin (1979) and Antonio Banderas (1996)
Four men have owned this song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's last perfect musical. Here they are in order of release, not quality. I simply cannot pick which is best.
Four men have owned this song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's last perfect musical. Here they are in order of release, not quality. I simply cannot pick which is best.
JDIZZY's 365 # 173: Diamond Day
Diamond Day - Vashti Bunyan (1970)
When you record an album featuring members of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span with Joe Boyd helming the production chair in 1970, you know before hearing it that you are dealing with a classic. Oddly enough, it took until the turn of the millennium and a cd re-release before the world- at- large knew anything about this marvelous work. Vashti Bunyan was less than a footnote in music history, having popped up on Andrew Loog Oldham's radar as well as Mr. Boyd's for the briefest of seconds. The album was forgotten, but it had staying power. It became a sought after collector's item, regarded as one of the archetypes of the psych folk movement that began to flourish with Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom and Vetiver. It is clear to see why. Every song on this disc sweeps you away to the countryside of the UK, with rivers, grub worms and various sundry characters that calm, inspire and confound. This is thought provoking music of the airiest variety. Vashti has since come out of hiding in the wake of the reissue's success, releasing her first new album in over 30 years, as well as an acclaimed EP with Animal Collective. Let us hope she never disappears again. Sometimes soothing music is all you need, and you will find none more worthy of that description than Ms. Bunyan's.
When you record an album featuring members of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span with Joe Boyd helming the production chair in 1970, you know before hearing it that you are dealing with a classic. Oddly enough, it took until the turn of the millennium and a cd re-release before the world- at- large knew anything about this marvelous work. Vashti Bunyan was less than a footnote in music history, having popped up on Andrew Loog Oldham's radar as well as Mr. Boyd's for the briefest of seconds. The album was forgotten, but it had staying power. It became a sought after collector's item, regarded as one of the archetypes of the psych folk movement that began to flourish with Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom and Vetiver. It is clear to see why. Every song on this disc sweeps you away to the countryside of the UK, with rivers, grub worms and various sundry characters that calm, inspire and confound. This is thought provoking music of the airiest variety. Vashti has since come out of hiding in the wake of the reissue's success, releasing her first new album in over 30 years, as well as an acclaimed EP with Animal Collective. Let us hope she never disappears again. Sometimes soothing music is all you need, and you will find none more worthy of that description than Ms. Bunyan's.
JDIZZY's 365 # 172: Gimme The Loot
Gimme The Loot - The Notorious B.I.G. (1994)
We all knew he was the greatest MC of our generation, but going back to his best album sixteen years after its release, it becomes clear that Biggie would have been a fine actor as well. One of the most cinematic hip-hop albums ever released, Ready To Die tells a clear story of disenchantment brought on by a life of crime. Today's song, along with "Me and My Bitch", have always been my personal favorites on the platter. I've often wondered if the two robbers on "Gimme The Loot" were actually two people, or Biggie battling with voices in his head. They are both voiced by him, giving Biggie a Method Acting performance only three tracks into the record. The rest continues in this vein, until Biggie kills himself on the last track. Like John Lennon, there is no clear idea what Biggie would be doing today if he hadn't been murdered, but it would be something extraordinary, no doubt in my mind. One needs only listen to the two albums he released in his lifetime to know that.
We all knew he was the greatest MC of our generation, but going back to his best album sixteen years after its release, it becomes clear that Biggie would have been a fine actor as well. One of the most cinematic hip-hop albums ever released, Ready To Die tells a clear story of disenchantment brought on by a life of crime. Today's song, along with "Me and My Bitch", have always been my personal favorites on the platter. I've often wondered if the two robbers on "Gimme The Loot" were actually two people, or Biggie battling with voices in his head. They are both voiced by him, giving Biggie a Method Acting performance only three tracks into the record. The rest continues in this vein, until Biggie kills himself on the last track. Like John Lennon, there is no clear idea what Biggie would be doing today if he hadn't been murdered, but it would be something extraordinary, no doubt in my mind. One needs only listen to the two albums he released in his lifetime to know that.
Monday, October 25, 2010
JDIZZY's 365 # 171: Visions Of Paradise
Visions Of Paradise - Mick Jagger (2001)
This should not be this good. Mick sounds better going all turn of the century pop than we had any right to expect. Like most of Mick's solo outings, it turns out to be an underrated classic that will be remembered long after Rob Thomas' other high profile collaboration is reserved for late 90's oldies stations. Hell, it might even become a hit one day. You cannot deny these hooks for much longer!!!
This should not be this good. Mick sounds better going all turn of the century pop than we had any right to expect. Like most of Mick's solo outings, it turns out to be an underrated classic that will be remembered long after Rob Thomas' other high profile collaboration is reserved for late 90's oldies stations. Hell, it might even become a hit one day. You cannot deny these hooks for much longer!!!
JDIZZY's 365 # 170: Maple Leaf Rag
Maple Leaf Rag - Scott Joplin (1899)
We are going back today, aren't we friends and neighbors? Not only is this song one of my perennial favorites, but it is also probably the most important piece on the 365. Without "Maple Leaf Rag", there is no dixieland, no jazz, no popular music as we know it. It still digs a hole in your ear after all these years, making you go around humming it for the rest of the day. It is the joy of melody, the joy of abandonment, and the joy of its composer, who thankfully "recorded" piano rolls so that we can hear it as he played it. He makes it sound easy, which any piano player will tell you it is not. Neither was his life. Scott Joplin died of dementia brought on by syphilis in a mental institution in 1917, and was buried in an unmarked grave that didn't receive a marker until 1974. In his 49 short years, he became the king of ragtime, wrote a magnificent opera and left us with multiple pieces of music that puts him on par with any modern composer of the 20th century. Let us never forget that without Mr. Joplin, the world would be a very square place.
Keith, bring it back to prog for me!!!
We are going back today, aren't we friends and neighbors? Not only is this song one of my perennial favorites, but it is also probably the most important piece on the 365. Without "Maple Leaf Rag", there is no dixieland, no jazz, no popular music as we know it. It still digs a hole in your ear after all these years, making you go around humming it for the rest of the day. It is the joy of melody, the joy of abandonment, and the joy of its composer, who thankfully "recorded" piano rolls so that we can hear it as he played it. He makes it sound easy, which any piano player will tell you it is not. Neither was his life. Scott Joplin died of dementia brought on by syphilis in a mental institution in 1917, and was buried in an unmarked grave that didn't receive a marker until 1974. In his 49 short years, he became the king of ragtime, wrote a magnificent opera and left us with multiple pieces of music that puts him on par with any modern composer of the 20th century. Let us never forget that without Mr. Joplin, the world would be a very square place.
Keith, bring it back to prog for me!!!
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