Variations on a Theme: Better of on the Outside.

One of my favorite lyrical themes is the concept of being an outsider, even in your own scene. I don't remember ever not feeling a little out of place. Not someone who wholly doesn't belong, just someone who doesn't quite fully fit in in any group.

Artificial Peace: Outside Looking In

This is my go-to song on this topic. Minor Threat's Out Of Step is the obvious DC hardcore choice, but for me Artificial Peace hit much closer to home with Outside Looking In. This song defines for me what it's like to be a punk when so many look at punk only in terms of the particular style of punk they identify with. Too spiky, not spiky enough, not drunk enough, not sober, et cetera. Always halfway in, halfway out, and caught in between.

Saint Vitus: Born Too Late

The title track to their 1986 full length. This time the concept is aimed more at society as a whole, rather than a particular subculture. If I don't fit in with the punks, then why would I think I'd fit in with straight society. I've never had an interest in conforming to their planned out lifestyle. No workplace pot lucks, no pta meetings, no high school football games. You laugh and point, stare at me, but I don't want to be like you.

Die Antwoord: Alien

Die Antwoord's Yolandi Visser takes the concept back to childhood, to school, where most of us learned that we didn't want to fit it. This one does a good job of capturing both the feeling of just wanting to belong and the defiant realization that you're better off on the outside. I don't want to fit in anyway, I was born a misfit. Fuck a normal life.

Death Grips + SRD: Exexmilitary. A remix album.

This is the first of hopefully many remix albums under the moniker of SRD. The original album is the 2011 debut mixtape from Death Grips, Exmilitary. This was made using stems of the album released by the band as "Black Google".

download

Christmas Music, Year Three

This is the third yearly Christmas music post. I've decided to do a theme this year, Christmas songs that were unknown to me before today.

I'm starting off with non-Django gypsy jazz. While I would normally use a Django Reinhardt song on any list I could get one to fit on, Django's "Christmas Swing" has never felt very Christmasy to me. Dutch Djangophiles The Basily Boys, however, do a very gypsy jazz version of Jingle Bells.

The Basily Boys: Jingle Bells

When I entered "John Zorn Christmas" into Google, I wasn't honestly expecting to find anything. What I found was the 2011 album "John Zorn's A Dreamer's Christmas". Seven classic Christmas songs and two Zorn originals. This became my favorite Christmas album over the course of the last few minutes.

John Zorn: Santa's Workshop


I've been a fan of Judy and Mary for a long time now, but I hadn't heard this song until today. This is from their 1994 album "Orange Sunshine".

Judy and Mary: Christmas



I may be cheating. I might have heard this one before. I know I've heard Judge Dread's Jingle Bells, and I think I've heard his Christmas in Dreadland. This does sound new to me, but I can't say for sure. Fuck it, I'm putting it on this years list anyway.

Judge Dread: Merry Christmas Mr. Dread

Stray Bullets: Slings and Arrows.

Stray Bullets are a ska/punk band from Boston. They just released their second album, Ghost City Rockers, on Dying Scene Records. Slings and Arrows is their first album, originally released back in 2004, the band re-relased the album digitally through Bandcamp in 2012.
The ska/punk genre is one I absolutely love when it's done right, and Stray Bullets certainly do it right. Fifteen tracks, high energy, good production, great songwriting, and only seven bucks digitally. You really can't miss this if this kind of music is your thing.
The type of drinking discussed in Bender reminds me of how I used to drink. "Stopping by the bar for one ... now I'm blackout drunk on a Monday night." I can't tell you how many times I decided to have one drink, then woke up hungover and apologizing.

Bender:

Gone:   

Frank Sinatra: Watertown

Watertown was recorded in 1969 and is arguably Sinatra's least successful album. Written entirely by Jake Holmes and Bob Gaudio, Watertown plays more like one long cohesive piece rather than a collection of songs. Technically, it would be a concept album, but I think it goes beyond the normal range of a concept album.



 I stumbled upon this album in a thrift shop and picked it up knowing only that it was a Sinatra album. I loved it as soon as I started listening though, and it didn't take me long to realize this was something different. It has quickly become one of my favorite albums. 

American Pop Standards Week. Day Seven: All of Me

I've really enjoyed doing my first "theme week". I don't think I'll do them all that often, but I will revisit this idea with a new theme sometime in the near future. I've hardly begun to explore the world of the American popular standard this week. Seven great songs, lots of different genres and eras represented in the versions I chose, but there still a lot left to explore.
I'm ending the week with my all time favorite song, All of Me. It was written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons in 1931. Ruth Etting was the first to record it, and it has been recorded by a who's who of standards singers. It has received the usual instrumental treatment as well.

Like many standards I love, I came to love this one from hearing Willie Nelson play it. It was a hit single from his 1978 album Stardust. It has also been a staple of his live set:

Californian punk band NOFX recorded All of Me for a seven inch in 1996:

Jackie Lynton did a rather raw early rock and roll rendition in 1962:

There have been a few ska versions as well, including this one from French instrumental ska band Western Special:

American Pop Standards Week. Day Six: Summertime

Composed by the Gershwin brothers for the stage version of Porgy and Bess, with Porgy novelist DuBose Heyward. The song debuted in the 1935 opera, and soon afterward became a standard. While most pop standards fit multiple styles, they usually sound most at home in a more traditional setting. Summertime, on the other hand, sounds like it was meant to be a soulful blues vocal.
Recorded by a wide range of singers, including Janis Joplin, Doc Watson, Norah Jones, Nick Drake, Billie Holiday, Pete Seeger and Fantasia. There have also been numerous instrumental versions recorded, by Booker T. and the MGs, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, The Ventures, and many more.

Janis Joplin in 1969, not too long after she left Big Brother and the Holding Company:


Ska/rocksteady singer Lloyd Clark recorded several versions:


Of course Sam Cooke sang one of the definitive versions:


Miles Davis:

American Pop Standards Week. Day Five: Blue Skies

Blue Skies is another one of my favorite songs. Written by Irving Berlin in 1926 for Betsy, a short running musical by Rogers and Hart. It became a #1 hit for Ben Selvin in 1927. It was recorded many times over until it became a #1 hit for Willie Nelson in 1978. It continues to be recorded fairly often
Like many of the standards I love, it was Willie's version that made me fall in love with this song. It's lyrically kinda simple, in a good way, and accompanied by a great melody. It just sounds good.

Maxine Sullivan sang Blue Skies in 1937:

Art Tatum recorded this piano version in 1949:

Willie Nelson still plays Blue Skies live:

American Pop Standards Week. Day Four: I Can't Give You Anything But Love

In 1928, I Can't Give You Anything But Love debuted in the Broadway success Blackbirds of 1928, which was originally called Blackbird Revue. Jimmy McHugh wrote the music and Dorothy Fields wrote the lyrics. This song, and the rest of the material they wrote for Blackbirds, was their first success as a songwriting duo.
Like most pop standards, this song has many recorded many times and is successful both as a vocal song and as jazz song. It is somewhat brief and straight forward, but very catchy. It lends itself well to slower ballads, faster swing, and instrumental jams. Recently, in 2013, Willie Nelson recorded a version for his "Let's Face The Music and Dance" album.

George Barnes recorded this guitar based instrumental version in 1946:

The song found Western Swing with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys:

Recorded shortly after it's Broadway review in 1928 by Annette Hanshaw:

American Pop Standards Week. Day Three: Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone

First published in 1930, Please Don't Talk About Me was written by Sam Stept and Sidney Clare. Like most pop standards, it has been recorded many times over both vocally and instrumentally. Of course Frank did it. Of course Willie did it, too. Ella, Dean, and Ray Price. Bob Wills did the song with his Western Swing outfit, The Texas Playboys. Bill Haley did it with his Comets. And on and on.
I really like this song. As far as standards go, the music is pretty simple. My personal favorite version is probably Willie Nelson's version from his 1994 album, Moonlight Becomes You.

Bill Haley and the Comets recorded this version in 1957 for an album of standards:

An instrumental version from Pete Daily and His Chicagoans:

Willie Nelson performing the song live:

American Pop Standards Week. Day Two: Night and Day

Night and Day was written by Cole Porter in 1932. It been recorded by both vocalists and instrumentalists many times in the eighty-plus years since Fred Astaire first sung it in The Gay Divorce on Broadway, soon followed by a film version, The Gay Divorcee. The 1946 biopic of Porter's life was named after the song. Willie Nelson named his instrumental album after the song. It has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Tony Bennett, Stan Getz, Sergio Mendez, and on and on.
The song has a very interesting feel. Lyrically, it has a kinda rolling flow to it. The verses start "Night and day" and end "Day and night", just to go right back to "Night and day". The chords, key changes and vocal melody are all a little south of normal, in a good way.

Frank Sinatra recorded Night and day many times during his long career, including a disco version in 1977. Here is his upbeat 1957 version:

Billie Holiday, in 1939:

Django Rienhardt recorded multiple instrumental versions. This one was recorded in Rome in 1949 with his longtime partner Stephen Grappelli on violin:

American Pop Standards Week. Day One: Stardust

American popular standards are songs written in the first half of the twentieth century that have become important and influential. Typically written between 1920 and 1950, give or take, pop standards are generally recorded and performed by a wide range of musicians. Usually this includes both male and female vocal versions as well as instrumental jazz versions. Also known as the Great American Songbook, these songs truly stand the test of time and are still often recorded and performed today.

I'm going to start this week off with Stardust, written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1927 with lyrics added in 1929 by Mitchell Parish. It was first recorded by Hoagy Carmichael himself in late '27. It has since been recorded well over 1000 times. Stardust has in an interesting melody and flow, and a fairly complicated chord structure. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite standards.
Stardust has been recorded by so many great artists, including John Coltrane, Bob Wills, Django Reinhardt, and Les Paul. Like many standards, it works great both as a vocal and as an instrumental. Many of my favorite musicians have recorded this song. My personal favorite version is Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis together for their Live from the Lincoln Jazz Center DVD and accompanying album.

The first recorded version, Hoagy Carmichael and His Pals:


Louis Armstrong recorded a great vocal version in 1931:


 Ella Fitzgerald, from here 1954 album Songs in a Mellow Mood:

Willie Nelson recorded an album of standards in 1978 entitled Stardust. The album, which featured the Carmichael/Parish composition, was a huge cross-genre success:

Quicksilver Messenger Service: Happy Trails

Happy Trails is the second album Quicksilver Messenger Service put out. Recorded in 1968, the album is essential two live performances. Side one, the "Who Do You Love Suite", is a 25 minute jam based on bo Diddley's Who Do You Love. The song is divided into six tracks and retitled to allow the band a better take of the royalties. Side two is a live performance that starts with Bo Diddley's Mona and seques into a few originals. The album ends with a quick take on the Roy Rodgers "Happy Trails" theme. Happy Trails is a lighthearted way to end a otherwise heavy psychedelic album.
Of the two distinct acts on the album, I favor side one's improvisation on Who Do You Love. The band manage to venture far from original but they still find their way back. The album as a whole is great, though, and the second side shouldn't be overlooked.

Music Documentaries.

I would like to consider myself a music historian. I don't know that I am at a point yet where that label would apply, but I am constantly learning about bands, performers, genres, and music history in general. There are a ton of great books out there, and I plan another post about music books soon. What follows here is a few of my favorite music documentaries.

Heartworn Highways
Filmed in 1975 and 1976, Heartworn Highways documents country music, focusing on outlaw country and country folk music. Featuring performances and interviews with Guy Clark, Steve Earl, Townes Van Zandt, David Allan Coe, and more. This movie has such a good feel and flow to it. Lots of insights into the songwriters and the industry at the time.I cannot recommend this highly enough, especially to fellow songwriters.



J'ai Ete Au Bal (I Went To The Dance)
I think of this as the Cajun music version of Heartworn Highways. It flows as good if not better than Heartworn Highways. This film goes a little more into the history and roots of Cajun and zydeco music. It is filled with great interviews and performances. If you are a fan or merely curious, I wold recommend this film.



Until the Light Takes Us
This is a newer one, released in 2009. A document on the original Norwegian black metal scene. A lot of time in this film is spent with Varg Vikernes when he was still in prison. Hearing the stories directly from him is great. There is also interviews with and about members of Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal and others. This film covers the creation of the scene, the recording of some of the albums, the church burnings, and the murder of Euronymous



What are some of your favorite music docs? Let me know in the comments!

Today's Lesson: Emo

Emo is one of those genres that is so often misunderstood. While some of what is considered emo today has roots in real emo music, a lot isn't of the genre at all. Emo, short for emotive hardcore, started in D.C. in 1985 during what is called "Revolution Summer". Sometimes also referred to as post-hardcore, emo started when people from the hardcore punk scene were getting disillusioned with where the scene was going. There was a lot of violence, and a lot of uniformity in the sounds. The same rebellion that led these kids to start and to join the punk movement led them to start emo music. These people started playing slower, more introspective songs, intentionally making a scene apart from where punk was at the time.
Out of this scene and this summer came Rites of Spring featuring future Fugazi Guy Picciotto, and Ian MacKaye's Embrace. The D.C. area would host the first wave of this new sound, but it would soon spread. Bands would build on the D.C. town, and the classic Dischord ethic. Your typical emo band was short lived, anti-commercial, and somewhat mysterious.
What followed the D.C. scene in the years and decades to come would build on the foundations of emo in different ways. Some would play a more refined version of the traditional D.C. sound, while others would go heavier, louder. Some would play with the loud/quiet dynamic. Some would take the anti-commercial ethic to new extremes. Some would develop popularity and sign with big labels.

What follows isn't a definitive list, but rather a beginners sampler of sorts. These tracks come from important records in the genre, and all are highly recommended.

Embrace are considered one of the originators, alongside Rites of Spring.


Moss Icon were from nearby Maryland. A very clear D.C. influence, but still a sound all their own.

Native Nod were part of 90's emo, from the east coast. They released a total of 9 songs.

Julia were another 90's emo band, this time from the west coast.

Saetia is a perfect example of "screamo", a term often applied to the louder, screamy emo bands.


I Hate Myself were from Gainsville, Florida. One of many bands from the brothers Jim and Jon Marburger, I Hate Myself were at the same time a quintessential later emo band and satire on the genre.

Christmas Music, Volume Two

Again I am going to revisit Christmas songs, and again I am going to focus on songs, not albums.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Willie Nelson. He is my favorite songwriter and one of my favorite guitarists. He has put our several Christmas albums, including Pretty Paper in 1979. This song was written about a legless man who sold pencils and wrapping paper on the sidewalk.
Willie Nelson: Pretty Paper


Like Fairytale of New York, another Christmas favorite of mine, Jim Croce's It Doesn't Have To Be That Way is more of a story that takes place during Christmas time, rather than a Christmas carol. The holidays are traditionally the hardest time to be alone, and this song captures that perfectly, adding a little hope in the character's story.
Jim Croce: It Doesn't Have To Be That Way



In 1969, Jimi Hendrix recorded this Christmas jam session with Band Of Gypsys. The song has been release as a single a few times throughout the years, and is currently available on three track CD, that includes and extended version of this jam and Three Little Bears. Neither an essential Jimi Hendrix tune nor an essential Christmas tune, it is nonetheless a good listen. Jimi plays the medely with his usual abandon.
Jimi Hendrix: Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night/Auld Lang Syne


Kurtis Blow was not only one of the first rappers, building on the groundwork laid by such pioneers as The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron, he was the first rapper to sign with a major label, releasing Christmas Rappin on Mercury records in 1979. I really love the sound of early hip-hop. It was all so fresh and new.
Kurtis Blow: Christmas Rappin

Quest For Quintana Roo: Things To Remember

Released in 2002, Things To Remember was the last release for California's Quest For Quintana Roo. This three song seven inch is my favorite release form this band. Call it emo, screamo, or emotional hardcore, this is a band that defines the hard to define genre. They have all the call signs of a real emo band. Short lived, few scattered releases, and not a lot of information to be had. Dynamic music that ebbs and flows, but is usually pretty loud. Emotionally screamed vocals. A tight, three piece sound.

It all starts with a track called Apnea. Lots of distorted stop and start guitar riffs over drums that rise and fall as necessary. A nice little instrumental interlude in the middle adds to the overall flow of the song. Next up is They Spoke In Greek. This one starts out fast and driving, then continues on in the style of Apnea before slowing to a stop at the end. Things To Forget is an altogether different one. Half the length of the other two, Things To Forget is a short, bass led instrumental. With a steady drum beat out front and some playful guitars on the edges, this song serves as a goodbye.

David Allan Coe: Requiem For A Harlequin

David Allan Coe's second album, the followup to his wonderful blues album "Penitentiary Blues", is "Requiem for a Harlequin". A unique album, and the last album before he would start making country albums, Requiem was released without song titles. On side one there is "The Beginning" and side two is "The End". Only available on vinyl and long out of print, it is a very expensive record if you can find it. Luckily for us, it is readily available on MP3 and Youtube.

Requiem for a Harlequin is essentially one long conceptual album, without individual tracks. A gritty and bleak tale of urban life, growing up in what he calls "the asphalt jungle". More music backed poetry than songs, the music changes from mellow finger-picked guitar, to rollicking honky-tonk, to more abstract experiments. This album reminds me a little of a alternate reality Gil-Scott Heron's Small Talk. Almost a country-proto-rap. It's too bad that Coe never returned to this sort of experimentation. A sequel to Requiem recorded near the end of a career would be an excellent bookend to this album written near the beginning.

Better than further describe the album, I recommend to just listen to it. It's under a half hour, and it's worth every minute.

Flex Your Head, a Dischord Hardcore Compilation

Flex Your Head, released in 1982 on Dischord Records, is an essential document of early punk rock. Every band is from the D.C. scene, and most were short lived. This record, along with The Year In Seven Inches, represents the hardcore punk scene in our nation's capitol circa 1980. Thirty-two tracks from eleven bands, with each band represented well on the insert.

Starting off the record we have three tracks from The Teen Idles, featuring Jeff Nelson and Ian MacKaye who would go on to form Minor Threat with Nathan Strejcek (Washing D.C. Youth Brigade) on vocals. The three tracks go by fast, ending with a Stooges cover.
Next up is three tracks from The Untouchables, lead by the younger brother of Ian MacKaye, Alec MacKaye. "Rat Patrol", "Nic Fit", and "I Hate You". With the exception of one other track these are the only songs ever released by the band. Sonic Youth would cover "Nic Fit" on 1992's Dirty. Alec would go on to play in Faith, Ignition, and The Warmers.
Next up we have State of Alert or S.O.A., Henry Rollins' first band. I am a huge S.O.A. fan. Their No Policy EP is my favorite seven inch from The Year In Seven Inches comp. One original and two covers, including "Stepping Stone", which was also covered by Minor Threat and The Untouchables.
Minor Threat comes in with two tracks, including the Wire cover "12XU", which is where the album got it's name.
One of the only bands from this compilation to last more than three years, Government Issue shows up with two quick numbers, "Hey, Ronnie" and "Lie, Cheat, and Steal". The songs are over so quick they are easy to miss.
Washington D.C.'s Youth Brigade. There was a more famous and long lasting Youth Brigade from L.A., but Washington's Youth Brigade are great in their own right. They provide some of the best tracks on the compilation. Although I am a bigger fan of The Teen Idles or S.O.A., those two bands put out better material on their seven inches than they did on this comp.
The Youth Brigade songs end side one of the vinyl version, a side that really represents the "classic" D.C. sound. Side two gets a little more hardcore and little more experimental, kicking off with an instrumental from Red C.
Red C takes a different approach to their music, giving them the most unique sound on this compilation, but not so much that they sound out of place.
Continuing the experimental vein is Void's feedback drenched noisy punk. Void is another band that really takes their own approach to music. They also released a great split LP with Alec MacKaye's Faith.
The last three bands are heavier hardcore punk, and fit together well to round out the album.
Starting with Iron Cross, one of the first American Oi bands. They would go on to write "Crucified", a skinhead anthem, covered by many streetpunk and oi bands including Agnostic Front.
Artificial Peace offer three songs, "Artificial Peace", "Outside Looking In" and "Wasteland". Raw and heavy, the songs sound like a slightly more advanced version of the original DC sound.
Finally, we have Deadline, with future Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty. Deadline ends the album with "Aftermath" one of the only songs on the album to break the two minute mark.

Jimmy Cliff: Sacred Fire ep

Jimmy Cliff got his start at the age of 14 recording with legendary Jamaican producer Leslie Kong. He has had a long career that has seen him not only a recording and touring star, but also a great songwriter, musician and actor.

A five song EP, Sacred Fire is produced by Rancid’s Tim Armstrong and backed by the Engine Room, Sacred Fire is a way too short for how good it is. The EP features songs originally by the Clash, Rancid, and Bob Dylan, as well as an original by Jimmy Cliff.
The Engine Room band consists of Tim Armstrong on guitar with J Bonner and Scott Abels from the Aggrolites on Bass and Drums, respectively. Kevin Bivona, who adds additional guitar and piano, worked with Armstrong in the Transplants. Dan Boer, organist in The Upbeat, rounds out the band with additional instrumentation from Jimmy Cliff himself.
The album kicks off with a cover of The Clash’s Guns of Brixton. Cliff and company make the song their own right from the start. This song should have been a Jimmy Cliff standard from the start.
Next up is cover from Tim Armstrong’s ska influenced Rancid. Ruby Soho is a great song originally, and Jimmy Cliff’s version does the original justice. Like Guns of Brixton, the Engine Room add a fresh instrumentation that really make the song feel like it could be a Jimmy Cliff original.
Ship is Sailing is the only song on the EP penned by Jimmy Cliff, not counting the vinyl only bonus track, World Upside Down, on which he shares writing credit with Joe Higgs. Ship is Sailing follows the feeling of the rest of the album, and is an instant classic.
Next up is a Bob Dylan cover, A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall. Jimmy Cliff takes this 1960‘s folk classic and again makes it his own. Tim Armstrong and the Engine Room keep this song going strong with a great rocksteady backbeat.
Last up is Brixton Version, a dub version of the first track. This doesn’t keep with the flow of the EP as well, but is good in it’s own right. Taken as a bonus track after the main program, this is track is a great addition to the set.
Many of the tracks on this ep are included on Jimmy Cliff's followup full length, Rebirth.