6/6/09 - David Byrne (Everything That Happens Will Happen Today)
Mr. Byrne dressed up in his pearly whites for this one and had some nice assistance from his interpretive dancers. He, himself, even got in on the dancing every now and then. The songs from his new album are all quite nice. Nothing mindblowingly good but it a nice melding of Byrne pop and Eno ambient sounds--exactly what you would expect and hope for from a Byrne/Eno collaboration. The eye-opening thing about this concert for me was when he played a lot of the old classics from the Talking Heads days (which apparently also had a lot of Eno influence) and I could see that 'I Zimbra' signature sound come to life. The organ playing on a hurried, irregular beat, the double percussion going nonstop, and the high-treble guitar keeping to the rhythm, and some weird sound effects for good measure. I could really appreciate the research Byrne and the 'Heads had done to create that sound and once I caught it, I felt like I could groove to it for hours. He also played a few get up and dance songs like 'Burning Down the House' and 'Once in a Lifetime'.6/11/09 - Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes (Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane)
I didn't really get into Costello until about 3 or 4 years ago which I realize was entirely too late but I can't really be blamed for that now can I? I started with 'My Aim Is True' and then progressed to 'This Year's Model' and then skipped ahead to 'Accidents Will Happen' and then pulled back a bit to 'Blood And Chocolate'. And then this new album, 'Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane', just came out this month and he happened to be touring at Wolftrap, which is a fantastic outdoor venue here in the DC area, so I just had to go. I would call this show, "enjoyable". Nothing too incredible, or even with a very high degree of difficulty, but it played into the outdoor nature ambiance quite nicely. This album is a shift from the Costello norm as he's teamed up with a bluegrass band to record some Nashville hits. It works as an alternative project but it's not the best use of his talent as some of the angst and rebellion in his strainy voice are best accompanied by percussion and jagged electric guitar riffs. One song I especially enjoyed was 'I Felt the Chill', which he recorded with Loretta Lynn.6/13/09 - Duke Ellington Jazz Festival
This was a free event held on the D.C. mall next to the Washington Monument. They had about 10 jazz bands, mostly from New Orleans, doing one-hour sets over the course of 2 days. We went to the Saturday evening portion and set up a blanket and picnic. It was fun for the relaxation and the eating and the freeness, but the music was only on and off. Off when the band we heard was playing free-form, cerebral stuff with overdubbed reverend lyrics; all part of their latest concept album. We were just looking for something to bob our heads and snap our fingers to. Fortunately, they closed the set with some more traditional songs, and at long last, fingers were snapped, and heads were bobbed.
And in the non-live music arena, I recently picked up the latest release from Sonic Youth, 'The Eternal'. I heard Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune) describe their sound as urban surf music, like a car ride that you get on and have no idea where it's heading. This album really rocks and has some popping guitar riffs throughout. I might still like their previous album, 'Rather Ripped' a little more but most critics seem to agree that this latest is their best in a long time. Definitely worth checking out.
3 comments:
The Eno/Byrne album is pretty great. The critics are ignoring it, but both the title track and "Strange Overtones" are fantastic. I actually don't like Byrne without Eno, but when they get together, their stuff is solid.
For some reason, my daughter but the Byrne/Eno title track on repeat the other day and sang along in attempted harmony. I was proud, especially since the lyrics are so close to Yes's "It could happen," one of the all-time greats.
Yeah, it's not so new anymore but I still go back to it quite a bit. Especially on sunny Saturdays for some reason. "Strange Overtones" is undoubtedly the best on the album. It tells a really cool story too. And track 1 ("Home", I think) is my current shower-singing song of choice.
I usually don't subscribe to the music or movie industry's definition of "new"--they seem to shoot themselves in the foot with it. Same goes for academic articles and ideas: the "new" is insufficient reason for getting us to buy stuff, but the media incessantly covers first week album and movie sales. It is weird. It is like they are legitimizing marketing campaigns without any attention to anything else. So my definition of "new" is "last five years." I mean, I study stuff from the 1590s, and it doesn't seem that old to me. It is my way of sticking it to the man.
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