Music in the unconscious state

Song of the Occasional Day

2007-03-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

"You Know I'm No Good"
Amy Winehouse
"Back to Black

amazing. article on the winehouse versus lily allen soon to come.

Song of the Occasional Day

2007-03-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

“Table for One”
Liz Phair
From the album “Somebody’s Miracle”

Of all the songs on this album this one sounds the most like old school liz. She goes deep into the lower reaches of her voice that she can’t really reach, in that wonderful way she always used to do. Love this song.

Song of the Occasional Day

2007-03-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

"Devil Will Ride”
Gomez
“Liquid Skin”

I’ve gotta buy the new album—I’m way behind, but playing this song as usual in order to motivate me for a good day. This song is amazing to listen to when walking somewhere—makes you feel happy and in control. Maybe that’s just me.

Song of the Occasional Day

2007-03-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

"Go Leave"
Kate & Anna McGarrigle
from self titled album

Kate McCarrigle = Martha and Rufus Wainwright's mom
She's singing about their father Loudon Wainwright III.
Listen for the tear drop that hits the guitar strings at the end of the song. No joke.
Martha talks about this song in an interview I posted a way long time ago.
I listen to this song when I'm feeling melancholic/feeling wronged by selfish people. So like, atleast once a day. No not really (because almost every time i listen to this damn song I want to cry).

For a twisted response to this song, listen to:

"I'd Rather Be Lonely"
Loudon Wainwright III
from the album "History"

COACHELLA 2007 --i couldnt have picked better myself--

2007-01-23T12:32:00.000-08:00

my favorites of the list:

Friday April 27
Bjork
Interpol (okay whatever)
Brazilian Girls
Peaches (“I don’t give a fuuuuuuuuck!!!!”)
Felix Da Housecat (I peed a little when I saw that‡ No.1 priority all day)
Rufus Wainwright (I’d rather it be Martha, but I’m down)
Gillian Welch (soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou, anyone?)

Saturday April 28
Red Hot Chili Peppers (okay whatever)
The Arcade Fire (they were so in the morning on a small stage 2 years ago, )
LCD Soundsystem
Blonde Redhead (depressing and delicious at the same time!!)
!!! (must hear Dear Can)
Regina Spektor (ummm YES. No.1 priority all day)
Ghostface Killah

Sunday April 29
Rage Against the Machine (okay whatever)
Manu Chao (*yay* No.1 priority all day)
Willie Nelson (if he can get to the festival without getting caught with a pound of weed…)
The Roots (must hear Star/Pointro)
Damien Rice
Lupe Fiasco (***which one of these is not like the oth-ers??***…seriously I
don’t really know what he does outside of rapping for KanYe West)
The Avett Brothers (they’re in the morning—small crowd methinks?)

April 27th is Kevin’s birthday---sounds like the best birthday weekend ever!!! If the spring musical conflicts with Coachella, I ain’t doin’ it. Ps. I am not going to flirt with death by being at the front without food or water for 12 hours/ being crushed by a 100,000 ppl like I did 2 years ago. The back sounds juuuust fine.

Things I learned from Coachella 2005:
1. If you are deprived of water in 100 degree heat, don’t worry about bathrooms, you won’t need them!
2. If you are right in front of the stage at a huge concert, you don’t really get to decide whether or not you want to mosh.
3. Bauhaus fans are insane and should be jailed.
4. Indio locals are not exactly, ahem, “sophisticated”.
5. Don’t set up your tent in the dark, because in the morning you might find that you are in the middle of a major walkway…
6. Memorize where your tent is, because they ALL LOOK THE SAME.
7. Greyhound is NOT the best way to travel.
8. Rivers Cuomo is a weird asshole.
9. Making choices about who to see at which stage can be extremely upsetting.
10. Atleast one of the nobodies scheduled for the small stages will be headlining in 2 years.
11. Bottled water is like eight bucks.
12. Nicole Richie or someone equally worthless will probably be high on vicodin sitting near you.
13. Try to look happy when one of the million of photographers at the front of the stage takes pictures of the crowd, because apparently its not cool to have a giant picture of you frowning in the UCSB newspaper.

The picture I took of Scott of Weezer at Coachella 2005 (yah we were freakin close!)

2007-01-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

Mercedes Sosa - Gracias a La Vida

2007-01-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

The glorious Violeta Parra

Mercedes Sosa

Joan Baez--March on Washington

Violeta Parra & the concept of cultural discourse

2007-01-20T16:36:00.000-08:00

Violeta Parra, composer of the profound “Gracias a la Vida” and innovator of the “New Song” movement in Chile (La Nueva Canciòn chilena), had a life of work that has effected generations of musicians and profound thinkers alike. Her music is famous for beautiful melodies, but the heart of her music is her poetry. The poem “Gracias a La Vida” inspires much more than a love song, and is extraordinary writing in and of itself, separate from the music.
The song is a certifiable anthem among Chileans and many South Americans, and has been covered countless times, most notably by Joan Baez on her 1974 Spanish language album of the same title, and by the Argentinean folk singer Mercedes Sosa. The latter version is undoubtedly the most beautiful—Sosa’s rich contralto accompanied by simple guitar is astounding in it’s elegance and interpretation (although the importance of hearing Violeta’s own voice on her song is of the utmost, the beauty of Sosa’s version is undeniable). Sosa and her husband, Manuel Oscar Martines, were prominent figures in the mid-60s nueva cancion movement in Argentina, the parallel movement to that of Parra’s that was occurring in Chile at the same time. Sosa recorded a tribute to Parra after her death.
One of Violeta Parra's major concerns was using her music to, number one, keep Chilean folk music alive, and number two, to have a forum for cultural and political discourse. Joan Baez of course composed and performed under the same ideals, hoping to enact change through music and art. It may seem random for me to post on a Chilean song from the ‘60s, but it seems like such a relevant and important concept, one that is more or less missing from our current musical culture. I feel that there is nothing worse than apathy, and I feel that among young people of my generation apathy is epidemic. There are no “movements” –no group inspiration to change the world around us. There are the occasional artists like Martha Wainwright and Talib Kweli, but on the whole, we have the Jessica Simpsons, who are neither talented nor articulate nor impassioned. Not every artist is inspired to be profound with their music, which is fine--music can certainly be great without being profound. But I feel that there is a gap in our generation's culture--there is no thirst for the profound. “Gracias a la vida” is but one example of the power of a beautiful and profound piece of music, and I wish there were more examples of that combination in today's popular music.

"Mercedes Sosa." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 15 Jan 2007, 02:15 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 Jan 2007 .

Preferred version: Mercedes Sosa, Album: “Exitos Eternos”

Gracias a la vida
Poem by Violeta Parra
English translation by William Morín

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me dió dos luceros, que cuando los abro.
Perfecto distingo lo negro del blanco
Y en el alto cielo su fondo estrellado,
Y en las multitudes
El hombre que yo amo.

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el oìdo que en todo su ancho
Graba noche y dìa grillos y canarios
Martillos, turbinas, ladrillos, chubascos
Y la voz tan tierna de mi bien amado.

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado el sonido y el abecedario.
Con él las palabras que pienso y declaro,
“Madre,” “amigo,” “hermano,” y luz alumbrando
La ruta del alma del que estoy amando.

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la marcha de mis pies cansados.
Con ellos anduve ciudades y charcos,
Valles y desiertos, montañas y llanos,
Y la casa tuya, tu calle y tu patio.

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me diò el corazòn que agita su marco.
Cuando miro el fruto del cerebro humano,
Cuando miro al bueno tan lejos del malo.
Cuando miro el fondo de tus ojos claros.

Gracias a la vida, que me ha dado tanto.
Me ha dado la risa, me ha dado el llanto.
Asì yo distingo dicha de quebranto,
Los dos materiales que forman mi canto,
Y el canto de ustedes que es el mismo canto
Y el canto de todos que es mi propio canto.

Thank you to life

Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me two beams of light, that when opened,
Can perfectly distinguish black from white
And in the sky above, her starry backdrop,
And from within the multitude
The one that I love.

Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me an ear that, in all of its width
Records—night and day—crickets and canaries,
Hammers and turbines and bricks and storms,
And the tender voice of my beloved.

Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me sounds and the alphabet.
With them the words that I think and declare:
“Mother,” “Friend,” “Brother” and the light shining.
The route of the soul from which comes love.

Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me the ability to walk with my tired feet.
With them I have traversed cities and puddles
Valleys and deserts, mountains and plains
And your house, your street and your patio.

Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me a heart, that causes my frame to shudder.
When I see the fruit of the human brain,
When I see good so far from bad,
When I see within the clarity of your eyes…

Thank you to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me laughter and it gave me longing.
With them I distinguish happiness and pain—
The two materials from which my songs are formed,
And your song, as well, which is the same song.
And everyone’s song, which is my very song.

2006-12-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

Maria Callas - Carmen - Seguidille

2006-12-06T18:03:00.000-08:00

"Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" Verret & Domingo video clip

My favorite mezzo-soprano ever singing my favorite aria EVer.

2006-12-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

Post-It

rar so cool!

Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole mp3

2006-03-14T22:43:00.000-08:00

Behind the curve on the glory that is Martha Wainwright

2006-03-13T18:14:00.000-08:00

She sounds like the musical love child of Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan--with more father issues, of course.
Shes been touring with Snow Patrol lately--heard a rumor that she was in the crowd at Coachella last year watching her Irish buddies play for the sunburned, stoned crowd that had never heard of them...

Martha in the UK Guardian

old but good interview with martha from the UK’s "The Guardian"—these lyrics are even more interesting when you have the back story

"Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole"
Martha Wainwright

Poetry is no place for a heart that's a whore
And I'm young & I'm strong
But I feel old & tired
Overfired

And I've been poked & stoked
It's all smoke, there's no more fire
Only desire
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are

You say my time here has been some sort of joke
That I've been messing around
Some sort of incubating period
For when I really come around
I'm cracking up
And you have no idea

No idea how it feels to be on your own
In your own home
with the fucking phone
And the mother of gloom
In your bedroom
Standing over your head
With her hand in your head
With her hand in your head

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
When all I wanted was to be good
To do everything in truth
To do everything in truth

Oh I wish I wish I wish I was born a man
So I could learn how to stand up for myself
Like those guys with guitars
I've been watching in bars
Who've been stamping their feet to a different beat
To a different beat
To a different beat

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
When all I wanted was to be good
To do everything in truth
To do everything in truth

You bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody...

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are

Liz Phair, unconcerned

2006-03-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

Any hipster who denounced Liz Phair when she came out with her 2003 album Liz Phair, should not buy her itunes originals recording, as they will be forced to at least rethink their disdain. In many ways, Liz Phair addresses her intra-song musings on the itunes album to those hipsters, who embraced her previous albums Exile in Guyville (1993) and whitechocolatespaceegg (1998), and yet scorned her efforts on the decidedly more pop-ey 2003 album. I myself was one of the many to cater to feelings of dismay upon hearing the single from Liz Phair, “Why Can’t I?”. The fact is that several of the tracks from the 2003 album were produced by the production team known as The Matrix, a group of three who also produced “hits” for the likes of Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Nick Lachey, and Hillary Duff. Regardless of your thoughts on the aforementioned singers, one would not generally expect a singer who wrote and sang a song about feeling sexually exploited since the age of 12 to use the same production team as a singer who “wrote” and sang a song titled “Sk8er Boi”. Granted, Britney has taken some sexually explicit risks throughout her career, but I doubt that anyone would argue that “Hit Me Baby” is at the same level of depth or expression as “Fuck and Run” or “Flower”. Now I’m not saying that these or any producer’s reputations would be completely tarnished just by working with a commercially successful yet intellectually devoid artist (Pharrell would be ruined), but it is plain to see that working with The Matrix definitely brought a final sound to Liz Phair’s work that was difficult for many of her fans to understand.
What Phair strives to explain in the itunes album is the difference in style that the 2003 album brought. She avoids a discussion on her choice of producers, which is really what it comes down to, but she does direct her fans to pay attention to her “musical beginnings”, with the politically minded “Girlysound Tapes” that she started with fresh out of Oberlin College. She talks about how the inspiration for Girlysound was her political theory that the high-pitched, vibrato-less little girl voice was the least authoritative in all society, and when paired with the shocking, obscene lyrics that Phair is so well known for, could become really effective and empowering. So she discusses not only the actual style of the Girlysound Tapes as her musical beginning, but the fact that those tapes featured her lashing out against the pretentious “music heads”, as she calls them, that surrounded her. Phair's first writings were a product of the frustration of always listening to music because it is hip, underground, and anti-mainstream.
Phair herself was abandoned by all those fans because she had become too mainstream. Hence, the irony.
Regardless, Phair is above all, likeable. Her musings on this album stay true to that, as she convinces the listener how unconcerned she is with whether or not her music sounds pop-ey, whether her lyrics are deep enough. She has stayed consistent, in the manner that she has never been pretentious, she has never taken herself very seriously. She’s had plenty of different heavy emotions, and has taken us on a tour of them, but she doesn’t even seem to think about what style she should stay true to.
Last August my sister and I went to see Phair perform at a tiny venue in Alexandria, Virginia, as she promoted her upcoming album Somebody's Miracle. The tickets were something like 20 bucks each, and it was at an absolute hole in the wall place called the Birchmere--a weird name that only got worse when I saw it in cursive neon on the side of what looked to be a barn. We get inside and its literally a big room full of picnic tables, complete with gingham table cloths, and a little stage right up front. Bizarre to say the least, like dinner theatre with a hillbilly twist. But Liz Phair got up there on a little stool with her guitar, and her boyfriend to play and sing back up, and was as charming as ever. She didnt come across like any other artist with ties to The Matrix ever would, I'm sure of that, giving me full confidence that she just does whatever the hell comes into her head. One of her tank top straps kept falling while she was playing, so she had her boyfriend duct tape them together in the back during the performance. She was unexpectedly quirky, like a modern day version of June Carter who happens to sing about her cunt getting wet.
It's refreshing to listen to an artist who writes songs as they come, in a fairly un-self-conscious way. Good music can be difficult, simple, deep, shallow, provocative---any one of those can be a characteristic of a profound or effective song, just as long as it does not condescend. Pretention is the death of expressive music.