1-8-12 - "Old Friend" ~ Sea Wolf

I'd talk about how it's been so long and I plan to post more frequently, but nobody wants to read that.  Here's a pretty chill song I'd heard before; caught it on World Cafe tonight driving home from work and it just hit me tonight.

 

Live-ish video:

Oh, by the way, BAM.  Free download, courtesy of Diffuser.fm.  If nothing else, I Google things for you!

"Stood upon the rooftop on a night so clear
that the lights from the city just disappeared..."

5-19-12 - "Anything Worth Anything" ~ Rachael Johnson

A few weeks ago, my job had me travel to Nashville to work on a prototype system we have set up with a customer.  Same prototype that had my in Tennessee twice last year, but this time I was there all week and had a bit more time to enjoy the city.  Plus, it was spring instead of winter, so the city was coming out of its shell a bit and more lively this time around.


Last year, I stumbled across a girl with some pipes in one of the honky tonk / bar establishments on Broadway (downtown Nashville).  When I found out I'd be back in town, I checked her website, and sure enough, she was playing at a different venue right down the street.  As is the nature of bar entertainment, she and her band were playing a bunch of covers, from Beatles to Bon Jovi.  I put in a request for her original song, "Arizona", which I'd heard her play last year.  Since I already posted that song back then, here's an introspective ballad where Rachael Johnson reflects on the trials of her musical journey and trying to make a living in one of the musical meccas of the world:

And a live performance:

"Anything worth anything don't come easy..."

12-28-11 - "Sprawl II" ~ Arcade Fire

If you've been paying attention, you'll know that I love juxtaposition.  First, the word itself is something special.  Second, the contrast between joyful music and depressing / somber / provocative lyrics or imagery, or maybe satirical commentary on modern civilization, or just plain self-destructive tendencies.  This song is just that - if you listen to the tune without paying attention to the lyrics, it is inconceivable that you won't be dancing, or at least tapping your toes; but if you pay close attention, the song is about the never ending consumerism, drudgery, and mediocrity that is suburbia... not quite as cheerful as the sonic array would lead you to believe.  I choose to view the music as giving a hopeful edge to the lyrical bleakness, and lines like "dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains" do indicate the expanse of the blight, but "mountains beyond mountains" also rings of hope.  The phrase is partially a tribute to a book by the same name, by a doctor who has spent significant time in Haiti working with disaster relief efforts.  To quote the description: "At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb 'Beyond mountains there are mountains' – as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too."  I have yet to read it, but it's high on my list for the new year.


If you want to dig deeper into the lyrics and their meaning, this one's a good one to pull up on songmeanings.net - complete with a plethora of comments discussing things.


Now for some fun.  Arcade Fire recently released an intense and awesome and epic (further superlatives escape me) website / interactive music video.  If you have a webcam, I highly recommend using it - and if you don't have a webcam, you can still experience (some of) the fun by clicking around during the song:

 Sprawl2.com 

(If you are lacking confidence in your dance skills and need inspiration, watch this and this first.  And if you're totally lame, you can watch the "traditional" version of the music video on the site instead of the interactive version...)


And just for you audiophiles or lovers of Arcade Fire, here are some live performances to further sate your appetite:


 (live studio acoustic session)

(New Orleans Jazz Festival 2011, with special guest Cyndi Lauper - yes, that Cyndi Lauper)

(different song, but had to include - the prelude to the above, in which Arcade Fire's encore began with a cover of Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"... featuring the original artist herself.  If you're clever, you'll watch this one *before* the above...)

(plain ol' music video, for you lame folks)

"They heard me singing and they told me to stop

quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock

sometimes I wonder if the world's so small

can we ever get away from the sprawl...?"

12-14-11 - "Cathedrals" ~ Jump, Little Children

Here's a beautiful track from a group who are no longer together.  The subdued string section is woven together with the guitar for a tapestry to backdrop the powerful lyrics. The intensity of the longing to find meaning in life, and find "home", is staggering.  Probably you've had times when you felt that way; I know I have.  There's a lot about the world that is depressing, and even the masterpieces (man-made, like cathedrals, or natural) are prone to decay into entropy.  Yet, the beauty of these things gives us hope, and a desire to preserve the existing wonders of the world, and perhaps to create some new ones.


There are probably ties to human relationships here as well - home doesn't have to be a a physical location; sometimes it's finding the right group of people who make you feel comfortable and loved.


This unofficial fan-made video has some starkly contrasting visuals:

"In the shadows of tall buildings

Of open arches endlessly kneeling

Sonic landscapes echoing vistas

Someone is listening from a safe distance..."