"Walking Far From Home"

In a follow up to a previous post, give a listen to "Walking Far From Home" the first song off of the upcoming Iron and Wine album Kiss Each Other Clean which is currently streaming on the bands Myspace page. 

Iron and Wine has a couple U.S. dates in L.A and N.Y. around the album release date, before heading across the pond for dates across Europe.  Check out their website for all upcoming tour dates.

Post About a Future Post (or What Does this Mean to You?)

Songmeanings.net is a lyrics site with a bit of a value add; instead of only providing the lyrics to your favorite song, they also provide a forum for users to give their thoughts on what they think the song means and to comment on what the song means to them.  As an idea, its basically the conversation you might have with your friends about that song you love but don't always completely understand.  As with any Internet forum, the conversation is as good as the participants, but there's some interesting comments out there if you're willing to disregard the stray negative poster. 

I tell you all this because we (and by we I mean I) are going to give this a try in an upcoming post.  I'll break down a song with some hypotheses about it's meaning, add some annotations and see if we (and by we I mean you and I) can get some comments going.  Unwarranted negativity please stay home on this day.

Beards of Neon

Earlier this week, Iron and Wine revealed the cover art to "Kiss Each Other Clean", their new album currently scheduled for release on Jan 25th of next year.  Read more about the album, including the tracklisting over on Pitchfork.

So what can we expect musically from this album based on the art?  

The first thing that jumps out to me about this cover is the range of color contrasted against the black background.  Could be suggestive of dark undertones over laid with a range of brighter harmonies.  Sam Beam looks like he's knee deep in a river of neon tubes, yet he's dressed in a suit jacket and pants.  Maybe this has some lyrical reference on the new album, like a flood, where a subject finds themselves in an unexpected situation.  His eyes are illuminated like flashlights, the brightest focal point in the picture, possibly to imply a vision into or beyond what is normally seen.  The barn behind him looks to be on fire, streaming hair-like strands of wavy smoke while peacocks (I think?) peacefully graze along the river bank. Fire has lots of connotations that could connect to themes Iron and Wine reference, such as the devil, sin, or hell.  The blasé attitude of a bird which represents beauty might be a metaphorical clue to a deeper critique.  

Overall, to me, the fluidity of the lines and vibrant palette suggests a linear connection between the songs and a continued progression towards the expansive sounds and enhanced production of 2007's "The Shepard's Dog".  That cover, which featured a wild-eyed dog and stark hues of gold, pink and black signaled a shift away from the the lo-fi acoustic sound and bedroom production and was decidedly more bold than the serene "These Endless Numbered Days" cover and the muted "The Creek Drank the Cradle".  

Luckily, we don't have to judge an album by its cover alone.  Check out the promo clip featuring about thirty seconds from the new album, and see if you think "Kiss Each Other Clean" sounds anything like its looks.  

Favorite Record Review: The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America

"There are times when I think that Sal Paradise was right / Boys and girls in America, they have such a sad time together."

With that opening line, Craig Finn sets the stage for everything that is to follow on The Hold Steady's 2006 release Boys and Girls in America.   The Brooklyn-by-way-of-Minneapolis Finn plays narrator on the band's third release, backed by Bobby Drake on drums, Tad Kubler on lead guitar, Galen Polivka on bass, and Franz Nicolay on piano and keys.  Finn's stories follow a series of characters as they stumble out of the bars and around the streets, through blackouts and break-ups, before the buzz and after the come down,  drugged out, strung out and high; dealing, coping and moving on.  It's the coolest diary you wish you could write, but are glad you can't. 

Over 11 songs and 41 minutes of music, Finn provides counsel from behind the mic like over-educated bartender, pharmaceutical college school drop out, under-employed lawyer, and community college English professor all rolled into one.  Professor Finn references Jack Kerouac's alter-ego and poet John Berryman's suicide in "Stuck Between Stations", while sardonically remarking "'You're pretty good with words / But words won't save your life'" / And they didn't so he died."  "Chips Ahoy!" questions the intimacy of a relationship built around drug use and an uncanny gambling skill.  On "Hot Soft Light" Dr. Finn quips "it started recreational / and ended kind of medical", admitting that there are times "when it all comes on a little bit too bright".  "Same Kooks" cranks up the speed with Kubler's skills on full display, nicely slowing down to an almost Gospel like keyboard phrase, making us think there might actually be a baptismal cleansing of sorts in the much referenced Mississippi River. 

Lament over the inability to replicate the newness of first love builds and swells in "First Night" and an inner monologue during a kiss in "Citrus" slows things down to a contemplative change of pace.  "You Can Make Him Like You" gives consent to a girl to acknowledge her own self -worth and the ability to define an identity independent from a man.  Advice like "You don't have to deal with the dealers / Let your boyfriend deal with the dealers / It only gets inconvenient / When you wanna get high alone" typifies the depth of Finn's ability to craft sharp witted tales that capture a perspective not often as thoughtfully represented.  The brash and reckless qualities of adolescence are presented alongside the vulnerability and the insecurity that defines the mixture of contradictions that we all, as teens, live through.

Above all, the biting, literate insight elevates the songs on "Boys and Girls in America" beyond any type of stereotypical DIY punk anthems.  The playing is dirty without ever being sloppy.   Finn's speak-sing delivery is a talking blues for a post-punk age.  The morning after wisdom becomes an overarching morality through Craig Finn's blend of street corner psychiatry and light-handed religiosity.  In the end the ethos imparted is more than a blessing of a drugged blurred existence.  It is a recognition that the drugs and the drinking, the "massive nights" and the "crushing lows", all come to be transcended by time, distance, and self realization.  We grow, we learn, and we come to grips with ourselves and the life we've been dealt.   After all other attempts to obscure yourself fail, sober up, and let yourself come into focus - words alone won't save you.

The Only Poem I Ever Wrote About Music

          six string handgun
          weapon of choice
          using everyone else's words
          to find my voice.

          knee deep, ink well
          words caress the page
          well dressed rebel's
          quietly veiled rage.

          face first, free fall
          last dollar's bet
          musicians at the mic
          beg for one more set.

First Brew - Batch No. 1

Photo by L. Coolidge

Photo by L. Coolidge

Photo by L. Coolidge

Fistful of Mercy

The rock supergroup has been tried a few times before, think The Traveling Wilburys or more recently Monsters of Folk, and as in sports it's always uncertain whether a team of all-stars will succeed over a more organic mix of talent.

Fistful of Mercy is a new group of greats featuring Ben Harper, Dhani Harrison (son of George), and Joseph Arthur which formed in February after Harper and Harrison guested with Arthur in the studio.  The three decided to write some originals together and the resulting group of songs became "As I Call You Down", which came out in early October.  The group is on tour behind the album and last night were the musical guest on the newly revived Conan, performing "Father's Son" with a super guest of their own, former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello.

Check out the performance below.

"Lie to Me, Like I Lie to You..."

Aside from the metal album and Weezer collaboration, Ryan Adams has been apparently happily married and relatively quiet lately, until recently when he performed at a Los Angeles benefit - even letting wife Mandy Moore sit in during rehearsal on "Oh My Sweet Carolina".

Now with a relaunched website revealing the track listing and upcoming pre-order of the much hyped archival release of a double LP from the days of The Cardinals, it'll be interesting to see what a new batch of songs and touring line-up might look like. 

Check out this version of "Magnolia Mountain" which is currently at the top of my rotation from The Cardinals era.

"Got a Letter this Morning...."

Music continually reveals to me the unpredictable and beautiful connections that we share between each other and the world around us.

In reading "Martin Scorsese presents...The Blues", the companion book to the Scorsese produced 2003 documentary of the same name, I learned that Delta blues legend Son House was rediscovered in my newly adopted hometown of Rochester, NY in 1964 after almost 20 years of anonymity working for the New York Central Railroad.  After giving up on a musical career that started in Mississippi and went on to influence the entire genre along with its best players, House emerged from the shadows in the folk and blues revival of the 1960's and went on successfully re-recording and touring until his re-retirement in 1974.  House died of cancer in 1988.

That got me thinking about one of my favorite Son House tunes "Death Letter" and how great both the original and the 1998 cover by a then eighteen year old Derek Trucks (with Warren Haynes on vocals) are.  

Listen to the Derek Trucks version here.

Also, check out the White Stripe's live take on "Death Letter" which intersperses lyrics from another Son House classic "Grinnin' in Your Face" toward the end of the cut.

AUD-acity

Wednesday October 20th's performance by Phish at Utica, NY's AUD felt like a two year old simmer finally reaching full boil.  In a single night, the proverbial watched pot at last shifted phases in the humid halls of the "Handshake City's" Memorial Auditorium from back burner bubble to overflowing sonic elixir.

Since regrouping in 2009 after a self imposed five year hiatus, Phish have since dusted off their bag of jams with a mix of mostly successes, but had to date, fallen short of completely reascending the mountain of delicious grooves and seamless interplay which built their devoted following in the 1990's.  A headlining set at Bonnaroo, the first ever west coast festival, dubbed Festival 8, and a breezy New Year's Eve blowout in Miami left the audible evidence of a band building self-confidence and re-discovering the joy of playing music for its own sake once again.  Promising moments wafted among the amphitheaters and arenas of two summer's and fall's worth of shows like the pot smell through the parking lots, but the high of top-form playing has seemed to remain elusive.

A hesitancy to trust in their own, and one another's, improvisational ability left the band sounding contained and at times predictable.  Full band exploration and a willingness to leave song structure for the adventure of the journey, of which built Phish's legend,  has been largely reserved and relegated to the second set, with "Light", "Piper, and "Ghost" becoming go to destinations.  Unbounded jamming outside of this formula has been kept mostly in check, and while the band has become increasing tight in their playing, the spontaneous energy which unites band and audience in pioneering spirit has felt, at times, adrift.  Lead tour guide to the ether, Trey Anastasio, has struggled to contain his tone and capture his distinctive technique.

And just when fans have come to accept that this mixed bag of flickering quality might be the norm for the 3.0 era, Phish showed why they still deserve the mantle as this era's arbiter of genre shifting psychedelic revelry.

Phish Utica Event Poster - by Crosshair
Copyright Phish 

The Utica show opened with the bluesy smoothness of "My Soul", which quickly melded into crunchy licks and immediately charged the approximately 5,000 Phans in attendance with a palpable excitement.  Well executed versions of "Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan" and "Vultures" followed, but it wasn't until the funk stew of "Wolfman's Brother" that the potential of the night started to take shape.   A solid start promptly liquefies into a breakdown vocal jam, with Trey mimicking his guitar bends and twists with his voice to carbonating effect, joined by Page and Mike bouncing spontaneous sounds off Trey, and one another, with buoyant airiness.  Fishman flutters below but not behind, and lets the jam expand and contract while keeping the structure in tact.  The swamp funk eventually gives way to the rhythmic strumming of the Talking Head's "Cities",  where Trey asserts the "Genesee Facorty" is "a nice place to get some thinking done".  Before coming up for air, the band moves effortlessly through the composed structure of "Guyute", accelerating to a fuse blowing pace, culminating in an explosion of triumphant yelps and squeals, and ending with an eerie muffling of the closing lyrics.

"Guyute" teases continue to plink and plunk over the opening frame of "David Bowie" before the band attacks in full.  "Guyute" teases continue throughout "Bowie", joined by several "Wilson" teases.  At one point the crowd is chanting "Wilson!" under Trey reiterating the line "He's bouncing like a newborn elf" (from "Guyete"), before Trey steers the ship back into "David Bowie".

After scorching the end to "David Bowie" like they they haven't done too often, if at all in this era, "Wilson" gets a full but short treatment (and some more "Guyete" teases).  "McGrupp and the Watchful Horsemasters" and "Saw it Again" follow, adding to the from-a-previous-era feel of the show.  And just when it seems like that might close the first set Trey strides into "Run Like an Antelope", again dropping "Guyete" teases against the bouncing bass lines of Mike Gordon.

Even without the second set, which did contain its own share of highlights, including "Sand", "Birds of a Feather", and "Split Open and Melt" bracketing "Have Mercy" and "Piper", the first set offering was enough to acknowledge as the long awaited greeting from an old friend.  Within roughly 80 minutes of music, we find that the band we thought we knew, really is the band that's there.  The set list trickery and song blending combined with virtuosic playing and instigator hijinks's hasn't eluded themselves yet. 

The sweaty brows and smiling faces of those in attendance was the visual evidence that reaffirms the connection which brings this community together.  And maybe it's fitting that "The Handshake City" was the meeting place for this reintroduction to occur.  The outstretched hands of each and all reach out and once again clasp in unison with Trey, Mike, Page and Fish. 

"Hey, Phish - good to see you again."