Henry Jamison's "Real Peach"

613. Is it too early to start thinking about Song of the Summer contenders?

614. Can a song released during the prior calendar year contend for the SotS title?

Two weeks ago I discovered Real Peach, by Henry Jamison. I cannot stop listening to it; I absolutely love this song. Even though the song is not sad (or I don't think so, at any rate), Jamison's voice is haunting. I am fascinated by the way he modulates it, particularly on the lines "If all is fair, in love and war." The instrumentation is beautiful, and the lyrics are mysterious enough to keep me coming back.

I've sampled the rest of the album ("The Wilds") and have not yet latched onto another song. Jamison's talent is so evident, though, that I anticipate I will find more, as I continue to listen. For now, I am just going to continue to bask in the musical glory of Peach.

On that erstwhile May morning 

I took the Six downtown to Spring 

And I was writing something elegiac 

That I never learned to sing 

But I think that it was this song 

Just four years premature 

And I remember crossing out the line 

All is fair in love and war

The peonies popped this year on May 12

Song of the Summer 2015: Early Contenders

The Tallest Man on Earth (Kristian Matsson) has an absolutely brilliant new album, Dark Bird is Home. It's a mix of slow and fast, up and down. Poetry throughout.

The primary focus is Matsson's voice and guitar. I love this music - it reminds me of some of Van Morrison's best albums. My favorite song (for now, anyway) is Slow Dance, which is completely original in tone and beat.

There's a funny moment in the middle of the song where Matsson clears his throat; I can't figure out if if was just such a good take that he decided to leave in the throat-clear, or if it's the musical equivalent of the rare spelling mistake that gets past the copy editors (I recently discovered one in David Brooks's new book).

Meanwhile, Nate Ruess has a new album coming out next week. The first single, Great Big Storm, is uplifting, anthemic, and fantastic. I discovered the song listening to All Songs Considered while gardening the other night, and I couldn't stop repeating it.

Because we're holding on in a great big storm, it's a great big storm but we're holding on

And though we're cutting it close, we won't let go

Broken hearts broken homes and broken bones
Secret love let me go

You know I got to find my own way

Through mistakes that I can't change

Because there's beauty in every win

Every single black eye has some blue like the moon just before the sun shines

Pink's "Just Give Me a Reason"

The big song this winter was Macklemore's catchy and clever Thrift Shop. If it had been released in May, Thrift Shop would clearly have been a Song of the Summer contender. But there's a freeze-warning in Charlottesville this evening, so there'll be no SoS nominations just yet.

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Tonight, I discovered Pink and Nate Ruess's Just Give Me a Reason. 

It was released at the end of February but I'd missed it until this evening (I came across it while reading Buzz Bissinger's unique examination of addiction through the lens of his uncontrollable purchases of Gucci leather).

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Just Give Me a Reason is the closest I've heard to a late 80's/early 90's anthem in a long time.

It's got the solo piano at the beginning (a la Home Sweet Home), then Pink singing the first verse solo, and then building to the infectious (and uplifting) chorus. 

This is probably a stretch, but it vaguely reminds me of Sister Christian.  Great stuff.

Just give me a reason

Just a little bit's enough

Just a second we're not broken just bent

And we can learn to love again

It's in the stars

It's been written in the scars on our hearts

That we're not broken just bent

And we can learn to love again

Lo Siento, Spanishburg West Virginia

This picture was the first image returned when I Googled "Spanishburg West Virginia". 
I love the craggy old tree on the left, the grey sky, and the barn (or are those church windows?) on the right.  Spanishburg appears to be about 30-40 miles north of Roanoke, fairly close to the state line. 

Each year David Horgan puts together a collection of his favorite music released during the year.

Horgan's Hits 2012 was an especially good compilation: lots of catchy melodies and a fair amount of twang and clappability.

I love the two songs by the Carolina Chocolate Drops (Mahalla and Riro's House).

Birmingham makes me think of our trips there, and Hush Little Baby (as adapted by David and Miriam) is a hit with my little (big) guy.

Best of all is Lo Siento, Spanishburg West Virginia by Scott Miller. This is a very fun song. I think there's some depth of meaning too, but the quick lyrics and infectious refrain distract me from thinking too deeply.

First Discovery of 2013: Phosphorescent's "Song for Zula"

Some say love is a burning thing
That it makes a fiery ring

Oh but I know love as a fading thing
Just as fickle as a feather in a stream

See, honey, I saw love. You see, it came to me
It put its face up to my face so I could see

Yeah then I saw love disfigure me
Into something I am not recognizing

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What a great song. I love the humming instrumental, the drumbeat, and the singer's gravelly mystical voice.

Songs of 2012

My favorite songs of 2012:

Wind and Walls and 1904 - The Tallest Man on Earth

The Chieftains Reunion ("Whole Band") and The Chieftains in Orbit and Peggy Gordon - The Chieftains

Soul Companion - Mary Chapin Carpenter and James Taylor

Home - Phillip Phillips (I think this song's instrumental refrain will be 2012's most memorable musical motif)

Ho Hey - The Lumineers (thank you Tuck and Lizee for putting me onto this band)
 

Goodbye in Her Eyes - Zac Brown Band
 

Death to My Hometown - Bruce Springsteen

Hard Way Home - Brandi Carlile

Guardian - Alanis Morissette

The Age of Worry - John Mayer

Animal Life - Shearwater

 

I Will Wait - Mumford and Sons

Among the Leaves - Sun Kil Moon

Go On Ahead and Go Home - Iris DeMent

And, my favorite song of 2012...

Some Nights - fun.

I just love this song.  Ten years from now, it will remind me of 2012, and it will still get me singing and dancing.

 

Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck

Some nights I call it a draw

Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle

Some nights I wish they'd just fall off

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost

Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for oh

What do I stand for? What do I stand for?

Most nights, I don't know anymore...

Bruce Springsteen Comes to Charlottesville

Last night I went with Chap to see Bruce Springsteen at the JPJ Arena.

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I first saw Bruce during The Rising tour in 2002-03, first in Richmond and later in London. 

Watching and listening to him is inspirational. It's a cliche to say, but it is difficult to believe how much energy he brings to his music. He is a storyteller and a preacher. In the same song, he can be both melancholy and uplifting, forlorn and fired-up.

He is absolutely one-of-a-kind.

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Last night during the concert, I found myself reminiscing on the passage of time:

• During middle school, I discovered Bruce when Mom and Dad gave me his 1975-1985 Live album as a Christmas present. I spent endless hours listening to Thunder Road and imagining that I was playing the piano on Backstreets. Bruce did not play Thunder Road last night, but a highlight of the evening was Jungleland, which I had almost completely forgotten about. I used to love the speedy piano part and the mythology of the Magic Rat.
• During law school, I listened a lot to The Rising (in particular Into the Fire, You're Missing, and City of Ruins). For me those songs became an outlet for the sadness about September 11. Another highlight of last night was City of Ruins, which just about brought me to tears. I had forgotten the powerful "Come on rise up" chorus towards the end of the song.

The show ended with Tenth Avenue Freezeout and a tribute to Clarence Clemons.

560. Twenty years from now, is there any musician or band who will have the emotional resonance (then) for as large a group of people as Bruce does (now)?  I cannot think of anyone off the top of my head.

561. Does Bruce write his own lyrics? Thinking back on the 1975-1985 Live album, I think that it was my introduction to thinking about lyrics as art. Kind of makes me want to try to write a song.

Photography

On this week's Political Gabfest, John Dickerson chatted about the photograph above, which was taken in 1838.  The scene is a street in Paris, and it took approximately 10 minutes to expose/take the picture.

The shoe shine and his customer in the left-hand corner are believed to be the first people ever photographed.

Questions about photos:

552. What is the most iconic photograph of the past 5 years?  If you stretch the timeline to 2001, then several photos from September 11 are the most famous, but what about in the more immediate past?

553.  I used to have an extremely strong emotion associated with picking up a package of photographs after they were processed: anticipation, curiosity, excitement. I love digital cameras but kind of miss this emotion (although there was also the disappointment associated with unfocused or otherwise awful pictures).  Are there similar anticipation/curiosity experiences that I have nowadays?

554. Did people remember each other differently before photography?  In other words, has the ability to capture a person's face and image changed the way that our brains think about other humans?

555. What percentage of magazine covers are photo-shopped currently? 

556. Do more or fewer people make a living as photographers with the advent of digital photography?

Song of the Summer 2012, Continued: Mary Chapin Carpenter and Mumford & Sons

Labor Day is approaching quickly, and I am looking forward to the change of seasons even more than usual.

I think my anticipation is a result of the incredibly hot weather this summer. I cannot wait for some cool evenings (and without mosquitoes!).

Mary Chapin Carpenter has a new album, and her duet with James Taylor, Soul Companion, is outstanding. It's a straightforward song (in terms of the lyrics) with a simple melody, but their two voices together are mesmerizingly beautiful.

I was a big James Taylor fan in late-high school / early college (somehow I largely missed Nirvana and Pearl Jam while listening to "Frozen Man").

Nowadays, when I hear his music it can seem way too saccharine; some of his classics from the 1970's have become almost unlistenable. On certain songs, though, he remains one-of-a-kind soothing.  Soul Companion is such a song. Also, I've always been a sucker for duets. This song goes straight to the top 3 of my favorites for the summer.

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Mumford and Sons' album Sigh No More came out in 2010, and it had big-time crossover appeal. The Cave is one of the most fun songs of the past several years, and I think that it will hold-up over time. Mumford's next album comes out this September, and they have pre-released I Will Wait.

The first time I heard it, my reaction was disappoinment: I Will Wait didn't sound nearly as clever as The Cave or Little Lion Man.

Lo and behold, once I'd listened to I Will Wait multiple times I started to get into it. The quick guitar riff grew on me, and I started to admire the singer's passionate insistence that he would, indeed, wait. Like their other songs, this one has an understandable structure, and I like learning its lyrical and musical rhythms and then singing and dancing along when I hear it again.

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It's been a very good summer for music.  I had my moments of doubt in June, but as the summer's gone along it has played out quite well.

M.C.C. and Mumford are helping it to end on a high note.

Well I came home

Like a stone

And I fell heavy into your arms

These days of dust

Which we have known

Will blow away with this new sun

But I'll kneel down

Wait for now

And I'll kneel down

Know my ground

And I will wait, I will wait for you

Song of the Summer 2012, Continued: Zac Brown, John Mayer, and Brandi Carlile

More thoughts about summertime music...

The Age of Worry, by John Mayer - Tucker pointed me towards John Mayer's new album, in particular the current hit Queen of California.

California - and the album in general - are grudgingly good, but I particularly enjoy The Age of Worry.

I saw John Mayer open for The Dixie Chicks at a concert at Nissan Pavilion in 2001; I was there with Sarah and Andrea (and Tuck, I think?).  I never became a big Mayer fan; his voice can be annoying and he seems like a bit of a tool.  That said, he's had a nice run and I did enjoy the songs on this new album.

547. Assuming that California is the state most frequently referenced in song titles (it's got to be, right?), what state is #2?

Goodbye in Her Eyes, Zac Brown Band - I read a terrific review, written by Steven Hyden on Grantland, of Zac Brown's album Uncaged.

Recently, I've started to look at the pop culture articles on Grantland, and it's becoming a good additional music-discovery resource, to add to All Songs and Slate.

Hyden's summary of Uncaged is well-written and funny:

What makes Brown tolerable (and, at his best, engaging) is his lack of pretentiousness. He sings in an endearing, every-guy tenor that can slip out of a stars-and-stripes-emboldened Southern drawl and into a half-baked Jamaican patois with relative ease. He's not a gifted vocalist, but he has the ingratiating enthusiasm of a road-tested entertainer ... 

Uncaged is "really about making people dance," Brown has said, and there are all kinds of songs for all kinds of dancers. "Jump Right In" is the one with the Caribbean accents on loan from a cruise ship commercial. "Island Song" is the one destined to be slotted between "Son of a Son of a Sailor" and "Cheeseburger in Paradise" in the happy-hour playlist at your local Margaritaville. The title track is the boogie-woogie jam-band song for Widespread Panic fans high on whiskey-scented whippets. "Goodbye in Her Eyes" and "Lance's Song" are the easygoing '70s country rock ballads, informed by the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits: 1971-75, the album legally reissued to Americans over the age of 45 every time they buy a new SUV.

I went through an Eagles phase around 10th-11th grade (this is when that's supposed to happen, right?), and I loved the reference to them. Take it Easy was great for driving, and Hotel California was a late-night sing along classic with Olav and others.

Sure enough, Goodbye in Her Eyes had me at the first listen. It has a total Eagles-easy-listening feel to it, with harmonizing on the last words of lines and beautiful strumming guitar.

548. What's going on with Uncaged's cover art?  I assume the lady is some kind of religious figure. How does she relate to the album's theme or the individual songs?

Hard Way Home, by Brandi Carlile - I had heard of Brandi Carlile before this summer, but I was never clear -- and didn't take the time to find out -- if she was the same person as Belinda Carlisle. For fans of Brandi, this attitude is probably annoying in the same way that confusion about Ryan Adams / Bryan Adams ticks off the Ryan fans. 

At any rate, I've listened to some Brandi Carlile recently, and I absolutely love Hard Way Home.

It's catchy in a causes-me-to-move-my-feet kind of way. Her voice is distinctive, and the instrumentation is simple but interesting. Plus, the lyrics are highly singable:

I sometimes lose my faith in luck
I don't know what I want to be when I grow up
I just count the rain
Wearing the floor through the boards again

Song of the Summer 2012: New Contenders on the Fourth of July

We had a great 4^th of July, at the Scottsville Parade and then on the bank of the James for a picnic.

And this afternoon it finally rained (a bit), bringing some much-needed relief.  The sun is back out now, and I’m sitting on the back porch after delicious cheddar onion burgers.

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For the consensus Song of the Summer 2012, it’s hard to imagine anything overtaking Call Me Maybe, which has reached a level of pop culture ubiquity greater than any song the past few years.

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Notwithstanding Carly Rae’s considerable lead, I’ve recently discovered some great (self-proclaimed!) contenders:

Where Have You Been, by Rihanna – The beat on this song is completely infectious!! I haven’t had such flashbacks to strutting into a club in New York City, circa fall 1998, since Taio Cruz’s Dynamite. I assume that this song will be a legitimate contender for second-place SOTS 2012.

Wind and Walls and 1904, by The Tallest Man on Earth – The Tallest Man has put out another fantastic album, and these are my two early favorites.  The combination of his melodies, distinctive voice, and mysterious lyrics is tops.

Springsteen, by Eric Church – I don’t quite understand the connection to The Boss, but Eric Church does a great job creating a non-depressing melancholy (is that called wistfulness?).

Guardian, by Alanis Morissette – Martin: If you haven’t listened to this yet, do it! Alanis re-captures her late 90’s power-angst, and her voice is as good as ever. I’m curious to see if she’s got an entire album in her.

Back in Time, by Pitbull – I continue to love Pitbull. His attitude shines right through in his fun music.

Even the Losers, by Pat Green – Tucker: Pat Green’s got a new album out! I haven’t listened to the entire thing, so I don’t know if anything rises to the level of Wave on Wave, but I am happy to hear his distinctive voice again – takes me right back to shooting caps with you and Dan at RDC.

No One Will Know, by Fort Atlantic – This is not SOTS material (it’s not catchy enough), but it’s got a background bell-line and soft drumbeat that is just right for this crazy heat.

The Chieftains' Voice of Ages and Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball

Sometimes when I'm working downstairs I listen to my old CD's. While doing so recently, I had a strong feeling of nostalgia for the days of complete albums.

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I rarely purchase entire albums nowadays. This saves me a significant amount of money, and it also lets me listen to a broader range of artists. One of my favorite things to do is download five or ten songs, each by a different musician, and try out their various rhythms and styles.

What I've lost, though, is experiencing the range of songs within an individual musician or band. The oeuvre, I guess you call it? 

Albums, especially my favorites, had a way of becoming more than the individual songs.  Listening to an album -- getting wrapped up in the familiar progression of songs -- is somewhat analogous to losing myself in a book (as opposed to reading an individual article in a magazine).

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In light of my album-nostalgia, it's been fun this winter and early spring to listen repeatedly to two new albums: The Chieftains' Voice of Ages and Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball.

Both albums have a ton of good songs, and it's a treat to listen repeatedly and develop different favorites on different days.

Voice of Ages is The Chieftains' celebration of 50 years together.  They've got a few pieces with just each other, plus a bunch with indie-music stars including Bon Iver, the Decemberists, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. "Peggy Gordon" is my favorite for now.

The uilleann pipes, flutes, fiddle, and drums are fantastic (I love when the musicians rotate through their solos on the different instruments).  The melodies are contagious. And the melancholic mixes with the joyful.

Wrecking Ball is the most Springsteen that I've listened to since The Rising -- and it's almost (ultimately not quite) as good. The shortfall here is the slower songs, which do not have the heft or feeling of "My City of Ruins" or "You're Missing".

The more upbeat songs, on the other hand, are terrific. "Death to My Hometown" (which put me in mind of  the Dropkick Murphys) and "American Land" stand out: I love the power of the drums and of Bruce's voice.

Jody Rosen at Slate has a good piece about Wrecking Ball here, in which he praises Bruce's music but pans the economic critique. Here's an excerpt:

Springsteen has always been a social realist—often, a brilliant one, with songs that captured the fine-grain texture of everyday lives. Here, though, he sounds like a socialist realist. The songs veer into proletarian kitsch: “Freedom, son, is a dirty shirt/ The sun on my face and my shovel in the dirt.” On his best records, Springsteen was simply a storyteller: He wrote about the white working class because that’s what interested him, that’s the world he knew best. In recent years, self-consciousness has taken hold; he’s never sounded so dutiful about his role as bard of the masses ...

When Springsteen isn’t painting WPA murals, he tries out biblical scenes. The Wrecking Ball lyric sheet is full of abstract nouns and gospel inflections: Dreams and Faith and Hope and Promises, with an occasional Calvary Hill or Canaan tossed in for good measure.

At any rate, I am enjoying the music -- and it's a nice change-up (making me feel 10 or 20 years younger, perhaps?!) to be listening to a couple of albums.

Songs of 2011

My favorite songs of 2011:

The Honest Truth - Typhoon

Give Me Everything - Pitbull (also my choice for Song of the Summer 2011)

Helplessness Blues and Grown Ocean - Fleet Foxes

God is God - Steve Earle

Ciao Monday - Emm Gryner

Honey Bee - Blake Shelton (a contender for video of the year)

Barefoot Blue Jean Night - Jake Owen

Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO (FUN listening to it immediately after the ball dropped on New Year's Eve, to ring in 2012!)

Best Thing I Never Had - Beyonce

Hosanna - Andrew Lipke

Wash. - Bon Iver

Mean - Taylor Swift

I Need a Doctor - Dr. Dre and Eminem (duets remain a favorite genre for me, and I love the back and forth on this one)

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Although there's no single favorite for 2011 (a la Domani (2009) and Freyda's trio of lullabies (2010)), if I were forced to choose I'd put The Honest Truth and Give Me Everything at the top of the list.

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My preferences aside, Adele was clearly the musician of the year: her album transcended taste/genre in a way that I cannot recall happening for a number of years. Rolling in the Deep, in particular, will be a classic for years to come, and I do love those shaking water glasses in the video.

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I continued to listen to lots of All Songs Considered this past year, and I maintained my love-hate relationship with Bob Boilen et als. I love the way they talk so passionately and enthusiastically about music. They also introduce me to new artists and have definitely expanded my music horizons. 

That said, they frustrate me with their single-minded focus on "indie" music and their (implicit, sometimes explicit) refusal to acknowledge good music in country, hip-hop, pop, etc.  That's why I was particuarly amused at the writer this fall who said that indie is the new adult contemporary -- and I found it hilarious that just as I've actually gotten into certain Boilen-esque music (Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver), it's being described as bland and middlebrow.

I also got a kick out of the predictability of the most-popular "indie" releases of 2011, when it came time for All Songs' year-end review: the top 5 included Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, The Decembrists, and Radiohead (with Adele as the only outside-the-box selection).

For me, Pitbull is the entertainer of the year: I love his charisma and the way that he appears to be a genuinely nice guy -- the Jerricho Cotchery of pop music. And I will always get up and wave my hands when I hear Give Me Everything!

Songs of 2010

My favorite songs that came out this year:

The Cave - Mumford & Sons

Open Road - Matthew Mayfield

River City Lights - Griffin House

Only Girl in the World - Rihanna (listening at the start of the Marine Corps Marathon
was a musical and athletic highlight of the year)

Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz and Ludacris

Gimme That Girl - Joe Nichols

A World Cup 2010 Threesome: Game On / Ke Nako / Waka Waka - Pitbull / J Pre / Shakira

Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National

California Girls - Katy Perry

Christmas Lights - Coldplay

Rambling Man - Laura Marling

AND, my favorite songs of 2010 (although they didn't actually come out this year) ...

Hajej / Shaker Medley / A La Puerta Del Cielo - Freyda Epstein

2010 in Review: The Best Video and Best Lyrics of the Year

My favorite video of 2010 is the one for K'Naan's "Waving Flag," which was the official song of the 2010 World Cup.

I have always loved sports montages, and Waving Flag is the best I have seen since "One Shining Moment" in its early/mid 90's heyday.

I love the combination of the fan and athlete shots, and I love the way they actually stayed with plays for several seconds (most sports montages these days are so fast-paced that you get no sense of the plays). I also loved the global aspect of the video: there were images of teams and fans from all over the world.

My favorite lyrics of the year:

The National:

"I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees." (Bloodbuzz Ohio)

Taio Cruz and Ludacris:

"See I'm not trying to lead you on

No I'm only trying to keep it real

You might say this is Ludacris

But Taio Cruz tell her how you feel." (Break Your Heart)

 

Mumford & Sons:

 

"It's empty in the valley of your heart

The sun it rises slowly as you walk

Away from all the fears

And all the faults you've left behind." (The Cave)

Coldplay:

"I took my feet to Oxford Street." (Christmas Lights)

AND THE BEST LYRIC OF THE YEAR...

Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg:

Bikinis, tankinis, martinis

No weenies

Just to get

In betweeny

Katy my lady

You looking here baby

I'm all up on you

Cause you representing California." (California Girls)

Christmas Music for 2010: Coldplay, Annie Lennox, and the Puppini Sisters

It's another good year for new Christmas music!!  Is it just me or are more and more artists putting out holiday songs and albums? 

Coldplay's "Christmas Lights" is an instant classic.  The line "I took my feet // to Oxford Street" may be my single favorite line of the year, between the simplicity, the way that Chris Martin sings it, and the memories it brings back of my time in London. I love the piano in "Lights," and the rhythm-switch in the middle of the song is great.

Annie Lennox's album Christmas Cornucopia is solid throughout; she has a voice that is a mesmerizing combination of happy and melancholy. My favorite song on Cornucopia is "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem."

I think "Oh Little Town" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" are the two Christmas carols that most lend themselves to great re-interpretations by various artists. 

489.  How old a song is "Oh Little Town"?  Was it written by a Brit?

490. Are more musicians actually producing Christmas records these days, or am I just more aware of them because of the accessibility through iTunes?

491.  Mark Zuckerberg was announced as Time's Person of the Year yesterday.  How many votes did Julian Assange get?  I think Assange was actually the correct choice (in terms of global influence for 2010 in particular), but Zuckerberg is a defensible pick.

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Another fun new song is the Puppini Sisters' "Last Christmas." Their jazzy voices are quite fun, and the strange instrument at the beginning (is that a ukelele?) is a nice change-up from the standard strings and piano.

Griffin House's "The Learner"

I met her down in Tennessee

Went by the name of Amily

She was a character anyone could see

She had eyes just for me.

From "River City Lights"

I've been looking for the next Marc Cohn / Bruce Hornsby for many years. Simple melody that stays with you, awesome voice, themes that cross lots of lives.

A find along those lines: Griffin House. 

I'd never heard of him before tonight. He's from Ohio and now lives in Nashville; evidently he's been around since about 2004 and has gradually gained a bigger following.

I guess I could stick around, I could waste another day

I could grow old in this town, just dreaming my life away

But there's a road out there I know, and there's something at the end

I can feel it in my soul, it's just around the bend

And I'm on my own coming down the road

The above is from "Coming Down the Road."

471. Is songwriting learned or already inside you?  Similarly, writing fiction: is this more of a skill that can be practiced or is it something you either have or don't?

472. How much music do musicians (people who make their living from music) listen to?  Who listens to the most?  Do they listen with headphones or speakers?  Do they talk a lot about other musicians?

473. Which musicians did Mozart admire?  Beethoven?  How about John Lennon? 

474.  Will music change now that there's so much more access to it?  Why does music make you feel good in your brain?  Are their psychological and/or biological explanations?

475.  Robert Byrd played the banjo (this came out after his death this year).  Which current political leaders are musically inclined?

476. What are the similarities and differences between learning a language and learning music?

477.  Will there be any song in the remainder of 2010 that's as popular as "California Girls"?

I love the album name "The Learner" - this might be my favorite album or book name of the year.

Mumford & Sons, Gorillaz, and Broken Bells (Plus NPR's Refusal to Acknowledge Popular Music)

I listened this morning to part of Bob Boilen's podcast about the twenty top albums of 2010 so far -- as voted by NPR listeners.

The "as voted by NPR listeners" qualification is very important, because NPR listeners evidently do not listen to any pop, rock, or country. 

Instead, all of the music is what I would classify as either alternative, indie, or (possibly) singer/songwriter (the one arguable exception is The National at #2 - I think they're considered pretty mainstream).  The choices vary from really good to really bad.

457. I may have asked this in connection with last December's end-of-year and end-of-decade lists, but do any NPR listeners vote for pop or country songs?  Or is the NPR Music site kind of like Fox (for conservatives) or MSNBC (for liberals), in that it only attracts a very particular segment of music listeners?  I would think there'd be at least some people like me who would like some indie music but would also like the more widespread songs.

I shouldn't be too critical, because I actually really enjoy listening to Boilen's analyses of the music and I discover some music that I otherwise never would. It does, though, play into the caricature of NPR as a bit on the elitist side.

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My favorite of the pieces I've heard so far on Boilen's podcast is Mumford & Sons's The Cave, from the album Sigh No More.  The song is interesting but accessible: it's actually got a recognizable melody and a catchy beat.  I don't understand what the lyrics mean and I like that.  I also like the change in pace at different parts of the song.

Illustrative of the non-accessible choices are LCD Soundsystem and Gorillaz. I read about Gorillaz on Wikipedia and it sounds like their idea is to be quite conceptual (the band members are not real people), which is fine as far as it goes but the music is lacking.

Somewhere in the middle is Broken Bells's The High Road: I like the chorus ("it's too late to change your mind, you let loss be your guide") and the two singers' voices together, but it's more of an alternatively-pretty style than a song I'd listen to once a day for three straight weeks while shaving.

Songs of the Summer 2010: Taio Cruz, Brandon Flowers, Macy Gray, and Joe Nichols

I'm continuing to enjoy the music of the summer and search for the song that most captures the spirit and beat of the times.  Waka Waka remains atop my personal list at the moment, but here are some other great contenders:

Taio Cruz is a Brit with two catchy-pop 80's-style dancefests: Break Your Heart (with Ludacris) and Dynamite. 

Break Your Heart builds to a peak until Ludacris reprises, towards the end of the song, this riff:

Now I may not be the worst or the best but you gotta respect my honesty.

And I may break your heart, but I don't really think there's anybody's as bomb as me.

So you can take this chance, in the end everybody's gonna be wondering how ya deal.

You might say this is Ludacris, but Taio Cruz tell em' how ya feel!

Brandon Flowers used to be with The Killers. I am completely unfamiliar with their music, though I've heard the group's name in the cultural background for about five years. 

Anyway, Flowers has now gone solo. Crossfire is a gem with a sort of quasi-anthemic melody and drumbeat, plus great lyrics.

Crossfire is a definite keeper; something about it reminds me of Viva la Vida, and then I'm also taken way back to 6th and 7th grade and Kansas's late-career rockers.

Macy Gray's got a fun one with Beauty in the World. This song is a spunky mix of the sublime (the aforesaid beauty) and the summer-shakin'-ridiculous ("shake your booty boys and girls").

I'm having a hard time finding good new country songs, which is a bit of a surprise.  The early summer releases from the major stars seem to be repeating the standard themes with nothing as original/fun as I'd hope.  The one exception, though, is Joe Nichols's Gimme That Girl, which riffs on an old country saw but with especially good singing and stylings.

Gimmie that girl with the hair in a mess

sleepy little smile with her head on my chest,

thats the you that i like best,

gimmie that girl.

Gimmie that girl lovin up on me,

old t-shirt and a pair of jeans,

thats the you i wanna see,

gimmie that girl...

Songs of the Summer 2010: Katy Perry, Shakira, and The National

Memorial Day was my official kick-off for the search for the Song of the Summer 2010: Personal Edition.

I've found some great early contenders; if these are any sign it is going to be an awesome musical summer:

Katy Perry's California Gurls (and with Snoop Dogg!) - This song is an instant classic. The beat is incredible and the tone is just right for summertime sunshine and fun. Snoop's rap towards the end caps off what is already a fantastic song.

The National's Bloodbuzz Ohio - This one will certainly not make the standard S.o.t.S. lists, but I'd been looking forward to The National's new album, and this song is a somber, melancholic, borderline-completely-depressing treat!

Shakira's Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) - Yesterday I downloaded a bunch of music on iTunes and am so glad that, just before finishing, I came across the official album for the World Cup (which begins on Friday).  I remember listening to the 1984 Olympics album endlessly and imagining myself as a sports superstar, and this album captures just the same dynamic.  The songs are all about soccer/sports/world-togetherness, and they are incredibly uplifting.  Waka Waka is super, as is...

Dario G's Game On - I was literally dancing down the street while listening to this and walking the dogs last night -- so uplifting and fun.

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Shakira is from Colombia - I had not realized this.  Her first language is Spanish and she also speaks English and Portuguese fluently.  Here's an excerpt from Waka Waka:

When you fall get up, oh oh...

And if you fall get up, oh oh...

Tsamina mina

Zangalewa

Cause this is Africa

Tsamina mina eh eh

Waka Waka eh eh