Over drinks last night I asked David Singer what song I should post for Labor Day. He immediately responded- Billy Bragg- There is Power in a Union. So here it is-Happy Labor
Day-meet me here again Tuesday morning.

THERE IS POWER IN A UNION

Music to Sell Your House By

David Berthy Posts:

I am attempting to sell my house in anticipation of my upcoming move to San Francisco. Marketing your home is much more complicated than it was a few years ago, and it is now a requisite to create an online virtual tour for potential buyers. I watched a few of these tours to get the idea. They're pretty much what you expect: successive shots of mirthlessly clean rooms suspiciously free of clutter. What stands out as odd is the music that accompanies them. I was trying to describe it to Mike over drinks the other night, who immediately asked if it was like something on Windam Hill, the new-age superlabel that, from 1980 to 1987 or so, made George Winston's piano the soundtrack of choice for leaf-peeping excursions in Swedish automobiles. The music accompanying the virtual tours isn't quite like that. It's got more of a Vangelis feel, like the soundtrack to a sex scene in a seventies science fiction movie.

You can listen to the yourself here:

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/homes-for-sale-chicago-il-janet-crabb/273800085.

The discussion naturally moved to what type of music would be appropriate accompaniment. My choice would be John Fahey's, "Requiem for John Hurt," the first track from his 1967 album Requia. It kind of sounds like something on Windam Hill.


REQUIEM FOR JOHN HURT

In 2005, Petra Haden released an all acapella home recorded version of The Who Sell Out (My favorite Who album by miles and miles). Haden is the daughter of Jazz bassist Charlie Haden, and singer violinist for The Decemberists, and member of The Rentals. Its a truly impressive feat, as in addition to the instruments and vocals, she renders all of the album's fake commercials, jingles, and tape loop effects with just her voice and a multitrack cassette recorder.

ARMENIA CITY IN THE SKY:

Petra's Version


The Who's Version (original)

The Finest Parody

Excerpted from Salon.com:

April 13, 2007 | Kevin Ryan doesn't want to talk about his recent fling with Web stardom. He's a bit rueful and more than a little nervous about it, in fact, and wishes the whole thing would just go away.

If you missed his star turn, here's what happened: Ryan, a 33-year-old Houston music producer and author, went into his home studio and engineered a sort of retro mash-up of two of his favorite artists, Bob Dylan and Dr. Seuss.

Ryan took the text from seven Seuss classics, including "The Cat in the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham," and set them to original tunes that sounded like they were right off Dylan's mid-'60s releases. He played all the instruments and sang all the songs in Dylan's breathy, nasal twang. He registered a domain name, dylanhearsawho.com, and in February posted his seven tracks online, accompanied by suitably Photoshopped album artwork, under the title "Dylan Hears a Who."

"Green Eggs and Ham" was set to a tune and arrangement somewhere between "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues," complete with Dylan's rushed, occasionally sneering phrasing.

All this accompanied by an up-tempo electric band, complete with the jaunty skirling of a Hammond organ.

It was clever and delightful. Ryan had immersed himself so fully in Seuss' words and Dylan's style that he managed to merge two quite different creative intelligences. Many who have heard the tracks come away convinced they're really listening to Bob Dylan.

Reached in Houston, Ryan confirmed the work was his but declined to speak about it on the record except to say he never expected it to attract any attention. Instead, "Dylan Hears a Who" was quickly picked up by bloggers and the popular Web site BoingBoing and went viral, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Then Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the La Jolla, Calif., firm that publishes the works of the late Theodor Geisel, heard "Dylan Hears a Who." Only two weeks after word of the site began spreading, Ryan got a cease-and-desist demand from the Seuss lawyers, who said the site and songs infringed the company's copyrights and trademarks. Ryan complied quickly and quietly. Instead of the Dylan/Seuss tracks, visitors to dylanhearsawho.com find a brief message saying the site has been "retired" at the request of Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

If you were caught up in the momentary wonder of how someone could execute such an ingeniously perfect blending of period musical style, '60s attitude and loopy storytelling, it was tempting to see all of this as just another case of a heavy-handed corporate copyright holder -- a master of copyright war, to call on the old Dylan oeuvre -- sticking it to the little guy.

Ryan -- best known as the coauthor of "Recording the Beatles," a meticulous investigation of every track, take and song the group committed to vinyl -- was face-to-face with a company that zealously guards its intellectual property. Losing a copyright-infringement case can be extremely expensive. In addition to the federal law's $150,000 maximum in statutory damages, defendants can find themselves on the hook for the plaintiff's legal fees. (Dr. Seuss Enterprises declined comment on "Dylan Hears a Who," questioning why it was even a subject of interest. Dylan's attorney did not return a call for comment on Ryan's work.)

DOWNLOAD GREEN EGGS AND HAM

Desert Rock

Thanks to Vince for Today's Post

Stoner Rock emerged from California's Deserts in the mid-nineties with bands like Kyuss and Sleep. The genre is marked by bass heavy, slow to mid-temp rockers that combine elements of Heavy psychedelic rock bands like Cream, Blue Cheer and Hawkwind with early 90's Grunge and doom metal influences. The band Kyuss gradually built a local following in Palm Desert, California and frequently performed at parties in and around the isolated towns of Southern California's desert areas. These impromptu shows, referred to as "generator parties", consisted of small crowds of people, beer drinking, and the use of gasoline-powered generators to provide electricity for the equipment. Homme commented that playing in the desert "was the shaping factor for the band" noting that "there's no clubs here, so you can only play for free. If people don't like you, they'll tell you. You can't suck.

Since then, members of Kyuss went on to form or feature in several notable bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Fu Manchu, Unida, Brant Bjork, Mondo Generator, Hermano and Slo Burn.

Todays Track is from the band CHE, founded by Kyuss drummer Brant Bjork.


The Knife

Chicago's Own-Red Red Meat

Happy Birthday to Seattle's Sub Pop Records who turn 20 this year. One Chicago band on the label is Red Red Meat, whose 1994 record Jimmywine Majestic was all the indie hipster rage right when I moved to Chicago. To my ears, The band was finding its direction on this album, still torn between skronked out Stones rockers and the sort of low key damaged blues that RRM singer and songwriter Tim Rutilli would perfect on in years to come as Califone. Today's track is of the latter variety, and my favorite Red Red Meat song.

BRAINDEAD

David Berthy Posts

"Soul Sister" was a group favorite on my recent vacation, and it's easy to see why. The song is from the 1972 album Life, Love, and Faith, but it harkens back to the sixties New Orleans R&B sound that the legendary Toussaint largely created in his roles as A&R man, producer, and composer. There's plenty to love here--the backup vocals, the lyrics, the sheer infectiousness--but ultimately, for me, it's the song's unabashed confidence in its own celebration that wins out. We did a lot of driving on the trip, and every time this song would come on, everyone got noticeably happier.

Allen Toussaint, "Soul Sister"

I just got back from vacation with my brother and his family on Martha's Vineyard, one of my favorite places on this green earth. All weekend long we had the dial set to 92.7 WMVY, a distinctive radio station playing a strange mix of adult contemporary with an islander vibe. They may play artists you know but they rarely go with the obvious song selections, opting instead for recent releases or album cuts rather than singles. Its here you can check out late career cuts from the likes of Ry Cooder, Dr. John, Rickie Lee Jones, Van Morrison, Suzanne Vega etc.

One of the tracks we heard was this curiosity from Robbie Robertson's (The Band)1986 debut solo album. When asked about the inspiration for "Somewhere Down the Crazy River", producer Daniel Lanois commented: "Robbie Robertson was describing what it was like to hang out in Arkansas with Levon Helm in his old neighbourhood. He was telling me about the hot nights and fishing with dynamite, and was asking someone for directions for someplace somewhere down the crazy river. ... I had presented him with this toy instrument that Eno introduced me to called the Suzuki Omnichord, like an electric autoharp. He found a little chord sequence with it that was sweet and wonderful. As he was developing his chord sequence I recorded him and superimposed his storytelling, which I was secretly recording, on top. That was the birth of 'Somewhere Down The Crazy River.

SOMEWHERE DOWN THE CRAZY RIVER

FI will return on Wednesday, August 20

David Berthy Posts

Formed in 1978 in Dunedin, New Zealand, the Clean perfected a post-punk mixture of Velvet Underground drone and low-fi distortion that sounds as fresh today as it did thirty years ago. In 2003, Merge released Anthology, a two-disk set filled with b-sides and rarities in addition to a comprehensive collection of singles. Among them is Slug Song, which has always stood out as one of my favorites. The entire collection, solid from end to end, is well worth purchasing.

SLUG SONG

David Singer Posts

The Walkmen are a terrific five-piece band from Brooklyn, New York. Their music is sometimes loud and cathartic ("The Rat", from the sublime Bows & Arrows LP), and sometimes it's spacey and ethereal ("We've Been Had", from Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone and a ubiquitous car commercial), but I like them best when they sound like a ramshackle wedding band floating down the Mississippi on a barge at midnight ("Louisiana" from last year's A Hundred Miles Off). Singer Hamilton Leithauser (dig that crazy richboy name!) has one of my favorite voices in indie rock. Get this: they even covered Harry Nilsson's weirdo Pussy Cats LP in its entirety. And released it. Is that cool or what?

They have a new record coming out in September, but you can get it now for only FIVE BUCKS from AmieStreet.com, and the band will donate all proceeds to charity. Furthermore, the album is magnificent; rickety pianos chiming through deep fields of dark reverb, guitars that sound like strummed spider webs, distant horns cribbed from a gypsy funeral. The songs are absolutely beautiful, but I would recommend this record for the sound of the tambourine alone. Go get it.

Canadian Girl

The Rat

We've Been Had

Louisiana

Links:

The Walkmen - "You & Me" LP for five bucks:

New music today from Conor Oberst the force behind Bright Eyes. Why its not billed as Bright Eyes is beyond me, as it sounds pretty much exactly like a Bright Eyes record. Like the last one of those, this one is hit or miss. I do like the first track, Cape Canaveral. The album was recorded in Tepoztlán, Morales, Mexico in a temporary studio in a mountain villa for a one-month period this past winter.

Cape Canaveral

The Worst Song of All Time

I've given it a lot of thought over the years, and I've come to a decision about my vote for the worst song of all time. For several years the honor went to LA Woman by the Doors, for that "Mister Mojo Risin" nonsense. Alvy's always voted for the live version of Katmandoo by Bob Seger. Abracadabra by the Steve Miller Band was a strong contender.

In my book, though, the honor goes to "Go For It" by Joe Jackson, off his 1986 album Body and Soul. This cutesy upbeat ode to positive thinking misses the mark in every way. Just consider the lyrics:

When you think of Ray Charles
You think of sunglasses at night
but if he can play piano so can you
and you can tell black from white
are you telling me I'm not right?

yes Joe....so very very not right

Any of you FI folks have a nomination for worst song of all time? Post it in the comments


GO FOR IT

Here's a smoking cut from Les McCann & Eddie Harris' classic 1969 album Swiss Movement. Recorded live at The Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland the band played at a the top of their game, despite being unrehearsed for the gig. "I didn't know any of the tunes, and there was no rehearsal. They had to call out the changes for me." said Benny Bailey. Eddie Harris was also unprepared and said this: "I told Les just to play his normal stuff with the Trio, and I would look over his shoulder to check the chords- because I used to be a piano player." This track, "Compared to What" spoke out against the Vietnam War, and became an anthem of sorts among young black college students.


COMPARED TO WHAT

David Berthy Posts

Hortense Ellis was just out of her teens when “Cry Together” was recorded. The song, composed by Hortense’s legendary brother Alton and the producer Coxsone Dodd, pairs Hortense’s young voice with a gospel organ and a choral backup to produce a scorching, deep soul effect with a Jamaican twist. The song reminds me of another Jamaican classic, the 1966 song “It Hurts to Be Alone,” which was penned by a young Bob Marley. Junior Braithwaite sung lead on this track, his last recording session with the group then known as the Wailing Wailers, with Bob Marley, Beverly Kelso, and Peter Tosh providing backup vocals. As far as I can tell, Braithwaite was in his early-to-mid teens at the time. Both these songs slay me. I think it’s because, while there are a lot of songs that deal with shattered innocence, there aren’t too many that make you re-live it.


Cry Together

It Hurts to be Alone

New music today from one of my favorite live bands-The Hold Steady-from their latest album Stay Positive. Though they're pretty much a one trick pony, I dig that one trick. Its their obvious joy in what they do that keeps me listening. I've given the new record a fair number of spins and Magazines is my favorite track.

Magazines

Back in 1973, my folks went to see Jim Croce in Concert. A young comedian was the opening act. He looked terribly disheveled- Dressed in an untucked and wrinkled button down shirt and tripping over his microphone cord. His name was Woody Allen and he kept them breathlesslessly laughing from the moment he started stammering. One week after the show, Jim Croce died in a plane crash. We had his best-of on 8-track and I loved it as a little kid, especially Bad, Bad Leroy Brown and this song, with its references to the Lone Ranger and Superman

YOU DON"T MESS AROUND WITH JIM

Great Debuts-XTC

Solucien put this track on at Jimmy's Birthday Party this weekend, and I was reminded of what a terrific band XTC was from the word go. Here's Statue of Liberty from their 1977 debut album White Noise.

STATUE OF LIBERTY

Solucien mentioned this live clip from the Old Grey Whistle Test, remarking how incredibly tight and confident the band was for their age. Just a couple of years down the road, though, Andy Partridge was struck with stage fright and the band stopped playing live. They have not returned to the stage since.

Quickdraw's been studying up for the GRE, so I came up with a musical analogy:


Peter Gabriel era Genesis is to Art Rock as

_______ is to Jam Band Hippie Rock

The answer, of course, is Traffic, one of my favorite bands in college and a high ranked guilty pleasure today. One of those bands where a real hodgepodge of styles (jazz, rock, folk) creates a totally distinctive sound. Traffic's secret weapon is the voice of Steve Winwood, one of the greatest in music. When you think about, Steve Winwood has had quite a career:The Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, Traffic, and massive success as a solo artist. Here's one of my favorites from the 1970 album John Barleycorn Must Die.





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