Track 15: a triple shot of Neko Case

So I am slightly bucking a trend here and giving you a triple-shot of Neko Case. I'm on the tail end of about a month-long Neko-binge...and am loving these three songs a ton.

I'd heard about Neko for a while, but only just started listening to her a month or so ago. On her older stuff she seems to be putting on a bit of fake Nashville twang, probably at the suggestion of some record exec. to move more units to a target market, but "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" and "Middle Cyclone" are both fantastic records.

She's added to a relatively small, but growing list, of female artists I dig--Aretha Franklin, Joni Mitchell, The Supremes, Norah Jones, Natalie Merchant (give it up for 10,000 Maniacs "Unplugged"), Karen Carpenter, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Cat Power, Jenny Lewis/Rilo Kiley, The "She and Him" record, Allison Krauss and Abigail Washburn.

I think Neko's voice is unbelievably good--great range and it just sounds so sexy. I love the music, and think her backing band does really cool things in the alt-country vein--albeit minimal--that add up to a lot. And I love how she uses back-up singers in such a cool way. And it doesn't hurt that she's a gorgeous redhead--something I've long had a weakness for.

John Saw that Number
Read the Revelations, you'll find him there
Third chapter, fourth verse where he said unto me
"There's a beast that rose out of the sea"
Ten crowns, ten crowns

This song is just plain awesome. Love the Gospel feel and how she just belts it out. Love the instrumentation, laid back, but they just nail the right notes.



This Tornado Loves You
I have waited with a glacier's patience
smashed every transformer with every trailer
till nothing was standing
sixty-five miles wide

This song is just amazing and I like it for all the reasons I wrote at first about why I like Neko Case. I don't delve much into the deeper meanings of songs (the same reason I disliked college English classes), but I saw an interview she did about this song and there's something kind of awesome about thinking about a tornado searching for a lost love and never finding it.



The Needle has Landed
So that's why I never come back here
That's why they spit out my name
Your exes have clawed up The Bible trying to keep me away

Another great one off of "Middle Cyclone." There's such an awesome groove behind this song and the lyrics give it a sort of dark, somber and sexy feel. The Spanaway reference is apparently for a town in Washington state that is right by an Air Force Base--lots of low flying planes.



Honorable mention songs: "Magpie to the Morning," "Maybe Sparrow," "Deep Red Bells," "I'm an Animal," "Lady Pilot," and "Star Witness."

Track 14: "Gumboots" by Paul Simon

Believing I had supernatural powers I slammed into a brick wall...

Thank God for Paul Simon and the album "Graceland."

This is definitely one of my favorite albums of all time, and one that can potentially make any crappy day much less so. Picking "Gumboots" as one of all time favorite songs is pretty arbitrary here as just about any song on "Graceland" could deservedly make my list.

"Graceland" has sold over 14 million copies, it's 5x Platinum, won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 1986, and appears of just about every sane publication's list of best albums of all time.

There really isn't a bad song on this record--just one of those extremely rare albums that you can listen to front to back. I love Simon's lyrics, the South African influence on the album, all of the backing vocals Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and of course the horns!

Seriously, "You Ca Call Me Al," "Diamonds on the Soles of Her shoes," "That was Your Mother," "Under African Skies," "Graceland," "I Know what I Know".....there are so many great songs on this album. And listening to any of these without cracking a smile is virtually impossible. All that's missing is "Me and Julio Down by the School Yard," which is another of Simon's gems.

Paul Simon's "Concert in the Park" is another all time favorite album of mine. It's a double-live album of him in Central Park with his full African band doing most of the "Graceland" and "Rhythm of the Saints" albums with tons of other Simon and Garfunkel songs.

"Graceland" and "Concert in the Park" are 'go to' albums for me. And to be only Wednesday, I'm having a pretty rotten week. On Monday I drove away from a gas pump with the nozzle still in my tank and did some slight damage to my car. Today I dropped my lap top (thank god for Best Buy's Black Tie protection. Seems to be working fine, though, aside from the cd drive making noises every time I open it. But it's fully covered.)

So needless to say my knack for doing stupid shit with expensive stuff of mine had me feeling a little down. But "Gumboots" happened to pop on my shuffle while driving to get some lunch. And sure enough, when the horns kicked, I felt myself smile.

Break downs come and break downs go,
what are you gonna do it about
that's what I'd like to know

Track 13: "Holland 1945" by Neutral Milk Hotel

The only girl I've ever loved/
was born with roses in her eyes/
but then they buried her alive/
one evening 1945

I feel like I could do a separate blog entry for just about every song on the hugely awesome "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" album by Neutral Milk Hotel.

I first heard the record during my senior year of college and initially didn't like it. But it quickly grew on me. It was just so different than most of the stuff I was listening to at the time. It's noisy as hell, sounds very raw, Jeff Mangum's voice is nasally and a little grating, and it just wasn't what I was used to music sounding like. But it's one of those albums that gets better everytime you hear it, until eventually you know every note on the record. The internet is rife with all sorts of information about the deeper meanings and stories behind the album/band/Mangum in general--and some of it is worth looking into. There's an interesting back story to the record and after hearing in its entirety you'll understand why it's probably the best album you've never heard of and why it's on so many "best albums of all time" lists.

Without delving too deep into the album itself--for me it all plays out as sort of a musical play/maybe even a rock opera of sorts. (there's an extensive amount of articles and stuff written about the record all over the internet). There's lots of Anne Frank and World War II references, some incredibly graphic and harsh lyrics to echo that 'war' feeling. There's songs on the album that are gorgeous (the title track and "Communist Daughter" and King of Carrot Flowers pt. 1" especially), a bit scary, some that could nearly bring you to tears and others that rock so much ("Ghost") you feel like you could put your fist through a brick wall. It's chock full of incredible instrumentation, unique sounds

And "Holland 1945" is one of those. The lyrics are incredibly morbid, like the opening line or "And here's where your mother sleeps/
and here is the room where your brothers were born/
indentions in sheets where their bodies once moved but don't move anymore"

The pace of the song and Mangum's delivery/lyrics make it pretty intense to listen to. But I love when the horns come in--it's just so well done. Like I said if you haven't heard this song or album before, it's way different than what you're accustomed to, but it's really an incredible, incredible record--one I'll generally bust out a few times a year and listen to it front to back just to remind myself how awesome it is.

I have a very vivid memory in college of listening to the whole thing with a handful of friends late at night after many cold beers--with us just singing along to the entire album. And more recently, while hanging out with my buddy Scott Haselden, I took over the IPod. I told him there would be no Phish, Dead or Bob Dylan (his holy triumvirate--deservedly so) at least for the 44 minutes or so it would take to listen to this album. And it blew his mind.

Track 12: "The General Specific" by Band of Horses

And runnin' the blender in a lightening storm,
disguised as a blessing I'm sure

Not only is track 12 on my ultimate playlist a fantastic song, it also helps me somewhat make up for an immense lack of 'cool.'

I actually know two guys in Band of Horses!

To get the name dropping out of the way, I've known Ben Bridwell and Ryan Monroe since middle school back in Irmo, SC. I wouldn't say we're bff or anything, we don't text message or email, but I know them--they know me--if I saw them on the street we'd say hi, possibly hug, and catch up. But the point is that real life rock stars actually know my name! In your face, whoever!

Regardless of me trying to seem cool, Band of Horses is great and have quickly become a big fat hairy deal on the Indie rock scene. And, for Ben and Ryan, the huge success the group is having couldn't be happening to nicer, more genuine guys. I first saw them open for Iron and Wine in 2005, and since they've literally skyrocketed ever since. They've toured the world, played Bonnaroo and Lolapalooza, been on Letterman, played Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit and have put out two stellar records. It's always a great thing to see a band you like grow and get better, but means a little more when there's a deeper tie to the music and band.

According to my IPod, I have listened to "The General Specific" 53 times, which seems to be a low-ball number in my opinion. It's just one of those songs I don't get tired of listening to. Great sing along lyrics, hand clapping, the cool honky tonk vibe, and the trinkling piano all add up to a really great tune. I'm sure I'd love the song even if I didn't know the guys in the band.

Here's a link to an article I did on Band of Horses back in 2006--which was right before Ryan Monroe joined the group and before the "Cease to Begin" album came out. Just on the band's verge of moving back to Charleston, SC and blowing up. I've also interviewed Ryan several times for stories about the late, great Captain Easy out of Columbia, SC.

http://archives.postandcourier.com/archive/arch06/0906/arc09143419652.shtml

I hope you dig the song as much as I do. And if nothing else it is proof that South Carolina is capable of producing greatness, despite all the stupid bullshit my beloved birth state keeps getting national press for.

Track 11: "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin

You need coolin', baby, I'm not foolin',
I'm gonna send you back to schoolin',

I could probably do an entire blog of its own on nothing but my favorite Led Zeppelin songs.

For me, Zeppelin was THE first band that got me. In sixth grade I had one of those colorful Memorex cassette tapes with Led Zeppelin IV dubbed one side and Rob Bass/DJ EZ Rock (remember "it takes two"? ha ha) on the other.

When I got my first CD player/boom box in 7th grade for Christmas, Led Zeppelin II was the first CD I owned (after I'd nearly wore out the cassette version of the album I had). It's still one of my all time favorite albums and definitely the first record I listened to ad nauseam until I'd learned every nuance and lyric.

The layperson generally thinks of Zeppelin as this dark group obsessed with black magic--and they're pretty right. But they have some gorgeous songs--"Rain Song," "Thank You," "Tangerine" and "That's the Way," that really made them such a complete band--the best ever in my opinion.

But back to Zeppelin II--so many awesome songs. "What is and What Should Never Be" still remains one of the best songs to listen to on headphones of all time. "Ramble On" and "Bring it on Home" are other standouts on the album for me.

But "Whole Lotta Love" is everything a rock and roll song should be and a great representation of what Zeppelin did best. It's overtly sexual, a little scary, and completely and utterly bad ass.

And Jimmy Page's solo coming out of the madness at about 3 minutes in is arguably the hottest shit ever in rock!

Track 10: "The Outdoor Type" by The Lemonheads

I can't go away with you on a rock climbing weekend,
what if something's on TV and it's never shown again.

I think we all, every single person on the planet, have a 'theme' song. Something that would play during the opening scenes or trailer in the sit-com or movie about your life. And for me "Outdoor Type" by The Lemonheads is that song.

It's not that I'm anti-outdoors, not at all. I appreciate a good view or breathtaking sunrise or sunset as much as the next guy, but when it comes to camping and 'roughing it'--I'd rather not. I'm happiest in a comfortable chair on the beach, with good friends, and some cold beers--which is, after all, outdoors.

But I've never been hunting. Never shot anything bigger than a BB gun. I dislike fishing (I can stay inside and hold a pole all day), though I have had fun deep sea fishing before. I've been camping--car camping--at music festivals and generally had a good time. But when it comes to hiking out in the middle of nowhere with enough equipment to basically set up a makeshift living room outside--I'd rather not. Hiking is just walking while you wear something made by The North Face, Patagonia, or Columbia.

And I love The Lemonheads. I referenced them in the last post, and "It's a Shame About Ray," for me, is just one of those albums you can listen to front to back--where every song is a great one. The same goes for "Come on Feel."

"Outdoor Type" is off of "Car Button Cloth," which came out during my freshman year of college. And granted my musical tastes have shifted somewhat over the years, but it's still tough to beat, in my book, a well-written, catchy simple tune.

The lyrics to this song are just hilarious, and I identified with them immediately upon hearing this song. And there's a message here about knowing who you are and staying true to yourself, but simply put--this is a great song.

Sorry for the poor quality of the recording here, but it was the best I could find on You Tube without putting forth any effort to upload it myself.

I especially like the closing line which hits pretty close to home for me:

..."can't grow a beard or even fight, I lied about being the outdoor type"

Track 9: "Hunger Strike" by Temple of the Dog

I don't mind stealing bread
from the mouths of decadence

This song came on my IPod on my way to Columbia this weekend for my buddy Tim Wendling's wedding. Despite having some sort of reason for having each of the some 14,000 songs on my IPod, rarely does shuffle ever play what I feel like listening to.

It sort of hit me last night, having beers and chatting with some old pals from high school, that favorite songs are much more than just a 'song.' They have the ability to cement a moment in time and can instantly take us back there whenever we hear them.

Everyone seems to bitch about high school for whatever reason--and everybody's got a pretty good reason generally to do so. And despite missing a few months of my senior year due to a snow skiing accident, I look back pretty fondly on high school.

Sure, there was plenty of awkwardness and the feeling that you're invisible to women (two things I don't think I've quite outgrown), but I enjoyed my time at Irmo and pretty much all my 'best' friends are folks I grew up with. And so every time I hear a song by bands like Blind Melon, Pearl Jam, the Lemonheads, Drivin N Cryin, and Led Zeppelin (just to name a few), I can associate a memory from those formative years.

So this tune is a lot more to me than arguably one of the best 'grunge' era songs. It makes me think of all the hilariously dumb shit I did as a teenager and the great folks I did it with. So track 9 is dedicated not only to Tim Wendling and his new bride, but to those high school years and to all the endearing idiots I am still lucky enough to call friend.