Crazy Talk!

Paul Potts, An Unlikely Idol

  It’s a gorgeous Sunday morning, and I’m reading the New York Times Magazine online, on my back porch.  Today’s main article is about Rick Rubin, the man whom Columbia Records, and the recording industry as a whole, are hoping will be their saving grace.  Apparently, Rick Rubin’s first disciple will come in the form of 36 year old Welshman Paul Potts, a slightly dumpy-looking cell phone salesman with bad teeth who sings opera.  Potts is huge in the UK thanks to “Britiain’s Got Talent”, the show which gave birth to American Idol.  Rubin’s A&R guy showed him the video of Paul’s audition, and Rubin started to cry (no, it wasn’t because BGT’s music supervisor thought it would be ok to play Aerosmith’s “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” as Paul’s exit music).

  Yes, Paul Potts’ voice does everything it should.  He hits the notes. He feels them.  He knows them.  But that’s not entirely what drew me, and thousands of others, into his world.  It was the vulnerability that he chose to expose.
  There’s one point in the video when the judges ask what Paul is going to do for them, and he says, “I’m going to sing Opera”.  The looks on the judges faces, as you can imagine, are those of dubiousness, suspicion, and flat out derision.  At about 30 seconds into the clip, you can see Paul’s reaction to the judges’ faces; his expression is that of a 7 year old who has just been told that his best, and only, canine friend has to be put to sleep.  It’s just a tiny moment, but it is the moment in which he endears himself to anyone who is close enough to read his eyes.
  Vulnerable, hurting, and human, Potts somehow manages to make everything around him disappear except the music.  He opens his mouth.  He is a triumph.  He admits his lack of confidence.  His admission is real.  But what he doesn’t fully understand is that he threw himself into the Lion’s Den and came out unscathed.  He put himself in an impossible situation, one where nobody wants him or is truly willing to give him a chance.  He was reliving his troubled childhood, being teased for being the poor kid, never really given the proper shot.  But he forces them to listen, not by threats, not by anger, but by the pure desire and ability that comes from within him.
  I’m not a fan of opera, but I’m becoming a fan of Paul Potts.  I imagine that there are many others who hold the same opinion.  But I wonder...would I buy his CD when it comes out?  I’d like to think that I would if for no other reason than to support the underdog.  But I'm not sure.  Part of Pott’s appeal is his nonverbal communication.  You see it in his eyes.  In his face.  In his carriage.  And yes, you hear it in his voice.  But will his appeal withstand if I, and others, rely on the auditory alone?  Judge for yourself.

I'm in Love with the bird and the bee

One of the best parts about traveling up the east coast visiting my friends and family is getting the chance to swap music with them. We're all audiophiles.  We ask each other, "What have you been listening to?" before we ask "How are you?"  One band was mentioned twice on my journey.  The first instance was in D.C. with my pal Jason, who has an open-minded ear and a penchant for most things indie and punk.  The second instance was in NJ with my Uncle Mark, who has been a classic rock bassist for many years, and is one of the pickier music listeners I know.  The fact that two people with such disparate tastes were telling me about the bird and the bee (no, they don't capitalize their name) piqued my interest.

the bird and the bee’s self-titled debut is a pop gem that is multi-layered, yet clean.  Inara George (daughter of Little Feat's Lowell George) and Greg Kurstin (who played keys for Beck and Robert Moog, and produced tracks by Lily Allen, Peaches, and the Flaming Lips) met through a mutual friend in L.A.  They recorded over a period of three years at Kurstin's home studio in L.A. with little outside influence.  If you like Brian Wilson, Bjork, Everything But the Girl, Feist, or Zero 7, this is going to be right up your alley.

Apparently, their track "Again and Again" has been in fairly heavy rotation at WFUV in NYC.  It’s a “hooking up with the ex too many times” song:

Say my name say my name say my stupid name
It’s so stupid how we always seem to do it again, ohoh

It's so stupid and perfect and stupid and perfect
I hate you I want you I hate you I hate you ohoh
Again again again again.

You know you should stop, but you don’t.  It’s indicative of what this album does to me.  I know I should stop listening, but my musical OCD kicks in, and I just...can't...STOP.  M-U-S-I-C-A-L-Q-U-A-R-A-N-T-I-N-E!

"F*cking Boyfriend" is an unexpectedly hooky track that will have men and women alike singing it to themselves while using public transportation; it’s so good it will force you to do things against your better judgment.  “Would you ever be my, would you be my fucking boyfriend, ah ah ah ah, ah ah ah...ah.”

In "I Hate Camera", I suspect that George is rejecting the hullabaloo artists have to go through with the media in order to bring their art to the masses; a process that has nothing to do with the actual art.  But, I could be wrong.  Maybe she just doesn't like her picture being taken.

The track starts out with Brian Wilson- type vocal orchestration. Then it mixes in the poppiest, most upbeat, danceable chorus you could imagine:

Cool babies and soft operations
Holding my hand throwing coins in my cup
Dusty numbers and public relations
Tell me to sit there and just shut up
Don’t take my picture...

This release leaves me with one question for the bird and the bee:
Will you marry me?

Avril's Boi Is Footin' the Bill

P2P Downloading. It's "complicated". I happen to be of the mind that for independent artists, the positives of filesharing outweigh the negatives. But again, as we all know, it's not that simple. I would delve further, but I'm not the crazytalkin' attorney. I'm just a plain ole crazytalker.

And somewhere, I have a point...I swear.

Recently, the RIAA sued David Gruebel and his family for downloading music to the family computer. Because they downloaded Nettwerk artists (yes, they ripped Avril...give 'em a break...the daughter's 15), Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group has offered to pay any legal fees and fines incurred by the Greubels. Read more about it here:

Save the Music Fan

Granted, it could be a Nettwerk marketing ploy, but ya gotta hand it to McBride--he's stickin' up for the little guy.

The Days Are Here

Sometimes you meet certain folks and your first impression is, "yeah, he's pretty cool" or "yeah, she's alright". Then you find out this person just raised 1.2 milllion dollars for charity by reciting Shakespeare's entire canon while walking barefoot from New York City to San Francisco, or just had a picture of the condominium she constructed out of junk mail and pipe cleaners on the cover of Architectural Digest. Then you start to suspect that everyone in the room who's just "alright" has some staggering hidden talent and is immeasurably cooler than you. I had one of these moments about 10 years ago when I was studying in London. The person who elicited this reaction was Alex Donohoe. Her secret weapon was her voice. It left listeners wide-eyed. Do you remember when people could surprise you like that? Those were The Days.

Correction.
The Days are here. Now.

The Days is a new band that Alex has formed with Brian Rose, a producer/songwriter who also happens to possess an unfair share of talent. They added Ben Sargeant on bass, Rich Spaven on drums, and Ian (who must be doing the one-name thing) on cello. I found them on MySpace a couple of weeks ago.

I had been wondering if Alex was still singing. As we all know, the music business has a penchant for crushing talented, worthy people, and I was hoping against hope that she wasn't one of them; making music is what she was meant to do. Needless to say, I was happy to hear that she was still writing and recording.

The Days describe themselves as a "mascara-stained, female-fronted Coldplay", or "Morning Runner in a tight pink dress". I prefer to think of them as Curve with a little Portishead thrown in for good measure, or maybe Catherine Wheel with an actual Catherine. I'm sure there's a better comparison, but I'm feeling a bit limited in my band vocabulary at the moment. Forgive me.

I don't want to compare Alex to other vocalists. Instead, I'll describe her voice as a cuban style espresso--espresso with a little sugar run through the shot. The sugar cuts the harshness while the intense flavor of the coffee still comes through. Mmmm, mmmm, bittersweet goodness.

The Days' cover of Blondie's "Call Me" is hot. Their song "Faith" is a winner as well. The bridge in "Faith" is what does it for me--I'm a sucker for well-constructed sonic layering. "Loveletter" is a throwback to 70s AM radio; it's just plain fun without being saccharin. Every one of the 5 songs I've heard so far has the potential to be unleashed into the fringe-y mainstream ala Death Cab for Cutie or My Morning Jacket. The potential for film and TV licensing is a no-brainer. It's too bad _Six Feet Under_ has been laid to rest (sorry, I couldn't resist). The Days would have fit perfectly into that soundtrack lineup (Interpol, Arcade Fire, Jem, Sia, Imogen Heap, etc.).

All of this is to say the following: please support this band. They are not yet touring--not even in the UK. They will be, though. If and when they hit the States, I will be there. You will be there, too, if you know what's good for you. At a time when we all fall prey to listening to "the next big thing", the fact that I'm still interested in what Alex is doing after 10 years should indicate something of her talent.

Yeah, she's alright.

10 Reasons Why I Fell in Love with Daniel Lanois on Valentine’s Day

Nevermind the fact that he produced U2, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, and Willy Nelson.

1) he chose to play a hole-in-the-wall club in a B-list city (let's hear it for the ATL)
2) he thanked the venue staff for making him feel like he matters
3) he respected his band as much as they respect him (he referred to them as “my band mates”, not “my band”)
4) he took requests
5) he brought video to accompany the audio
6) he made fun of himself (he couldn’t figure out which of his two wires to plug into his amp when he switched from pedal steel to electric guitar and said “this from a guy who’s produced a lot of hit records”),
7) he cares about harmony (“harmony makes you automatically have a connection”)
8) he can play the hell out of a guitar, and doesn’t care what he looks like while doing it
9)he is socially and politically conscious/responsible (he encourages his audience to sponsor a child with World Vision, and he poked fun at Dick Cheney)
10) he reestablished my faith in music and what it can do

Even though I do not own one of his albums (that will change), I’m encouraging you to go pick one up.  Yeah, he probably doesn’t need the support...but you do.

*photo credit: jennifer tipoulow

The Jealous Girlfriends

Hey. My first post. And your first assignment. Check out The Jealous Girlfriends.

I haven't been this excited about an unsigned band in years, and I am somewhat shocked that the record weasels (lemmings?) have not snagged these guys yet. Their first CD, Comfortably Uncomfortable, hit me immediately. Then I got their newer tracks. I play both just about every day, and they have managed to maintain my interest.

Holly Miranda takes on writing duties and lead vocals. There are aspects of her voice that are reminiscent of a number of people, but they all mesh into her own unique style--and I don't say that lightly. If you must have comparisons, take a cross between Edie Brickell and Hope Sandoval with the phrasing of Rickie Lee Jones, and you would get a general idea--but not the whole idea. At 23 years old, Miranda wrote all but one of the tracks on CU. And they're good. She drifts towards the darker side lyrically, but never gets so bleak that you want to throw yourself off a cliff after listening. Regardless of how dark the lyrics may get, there's something about her voice that soothes you.

Currently, Josh Abbott and Alex Lipsen hold down the low end. You can tell that Lipsen is the producer of the trio as he adds keyboard and bass layers where appropriate and backs off when a song calls for a simpler arrangement. Abbott, who appears only on the newer tracks, is a solid drummer who keeps things interesting rhythmically. These new songs are a bit different than what's on CU mainly due to the fact that Abbott has some lead and co-lead vocals. These songs have a harder edge, but they are a reasonable departure from the earlier recordings. Each voice is distinct, and could clash in another context, but here, they add texture and color.

Comfortably Uncomfortable has a lot more players (one of whom was Yuval Gabay from Soul Coughing--a personal favorite) than the current line-up does, but I can tell that the songs would not be compromised when pared down to just the trio. They have an obvious chemistry in the studio, and while I have yet to see them live, I imagine that their live show would be something to experience. I'll let you know. Or you let me know if you're in the NYC area and get a chance to see them before I do. They're playing at Pianos, Maxwell's, and The Knitting Factory in January and February.

xoxo,
T