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  • a few quick recommendations of 2014 albums

    I don’t have much to say about music from 2014 yet beyond “Here are some albums I’ve listened to a couple times that are definitely good”. I’ve been short on music-listening time this year: there’s been my mom’s cancer and my revival of my teenage fascination with the TV show Doctor Who, plus various temporary issues. That’s why I’m still far from done with my Best-of-2013 review countdown, even. But in case you’re curious, here are some 2014 albums I’m happy with, along with sketchy, tentative descriptions:

    Bastards of Fate, Vampires are Real and Palpable. Loud, woozy, strange, carnivalesque, racing from one idea to another, and prone to explosions — all with crooned melodic vocals.

    Jon Langford & Skull Orchard, Here Be Monsters. Americana from the former leader of the Mekons: lyrically smart, politically charged, with arrangement ideas (especially percussion) that are just a little bit off.

    Laibach, Spectre. Slightly-poppy industrial dance from Slovenian pranksters who’ve made a long career of toying with fascist imagery (for example, the minor tinkering needed to turn Queen’s “One Vision” into a Nazi rallying call), but finally decided this year to explicitly sing as their leftist selves — which, it turns out, works just fine, and infuses them with new energy.

    Muuy Biien, D.Y.I. An abrasive, churning, hostile splatter of echoey 2-minute punk-rock songs, more spoken/yelled than sung, that’s very well-played for what it is and ends up striking me as lots of fun. The surf-rock influence helps.

    Neneh Cherry, Blank Project. Sensual, minimalist R & B. The most aggressive songs sound to me like sparer feminine takes on Kanye’s Yeezus, while the rest put almost all the emphasis and power onto her jazz-and-hip-hop-influenced crooning.

    Reconaissance Fly, Flower Futures. Arty avant-cabaret with strange melodic progressions and tuning and playfully weird lyrics (reminding me of Slapp Happy, if their songs had gotten longer instead of shorter as they got weirder). Extremely well-sung, although willfully distant.

    Sage Francis, Copper Gone. My favorite album of 2014 so far is dense, energetic hip-hop full of leftist politics, personal reflections and recriminations, complicated wordplay, and cultural-allusion mixmastering that often pays off in oddball insight.

    Seeming, Madness & Extinction. Or, my favorite album of 2014 so far is a lavishly beautiful, massively layered goth-pop album about, yes, madness and (human) extinction. Not normally my kind of thing; it’s just so well done.

    St. Vincent, S/T. Another layered, dark pop album, helmed by the solemn vocals and twisted King Crimson-ish guitar work of Annie Clark. This is St. Vincent’s slickest and most accessible record: “dance music for funerals” is I think how she described its intent.

    Stars in Battledress, In Droplet Form. A very English, precisely composed, good-natured keyboard-pop record with influences baroque, Kid A-ish, quirk-poppy, and Stereolabby.

    Stephen Malkmus, Wig Out at Jagbag’s. Guitar-heroics indie-pop of a laid-back nature, as if the Allman Brothers had been geeky university Northerners instead of not like that at all.

    Tori Amos, Unrepentant Geraldines. At least musically, it would be very easy to believe this was a long-lost predecessor to Little Earthquakes: piano-centric, direct, easy-access. I’ll probably decide it’s great once I give it the attention it deserves; for now I’m annoyed that all the reviews are so ecstatic that this isn’t like the Beekeeper or Abnormally Attracted to Sin, both of which I think are wonderful, wonderful records. But even though right now I find it an unwanted corrective and haven’t listened very well, I can tell it’s no worse than good.

    TunaBunny, Kingdom Technology. A very strange amalgam of vocal-harmony-driven rock’n’roll, drone/ambient, and Fall/Wire-ish post-punk.

    White Hinterland, Baby. Jazzy, soulful minor-key piano-pop songs with nifty experimental edges.

    Wovenhand, Refractory Obdurate. Dark, dry, gothy minor-key post-punk guitar-rock that reminds me of early Echo & the Bunnymen, Chairs Missing/ 154-era Wire, and the Chameleons.

  • Family blends

    Family blends

    Sometimes when families get together to sing, they make the most delightful “family blends”…

    Last week, I was on YouTube watching videos starring the Boone Sisters. For those who weren’t around in the 70s, the Boone Sisters are the four daughters of Pat and Shirley Boone. In the 70s, they were a successful singing group, especially among Christians. I’m not a particularly religious person, but I happened to read Cherry Boone O’Neill’s book, Starving For Attention, which is her account of struggling with anorexia nervosa. In that book, she writes about singing with her sisters and what it was like to grow up as Pat Boone’s eldest daughter.

    Many years later, I purchased Debby Boone’s 2005 album, Reflections of Rosemary, which was a tribute to her late mother-in-law, Rosemary Clooney. On that album, there is a single track that features Debby Boone singing with her sisters. In the liner notes, she writes about “family blends”, that is the interesting way singers from the same families can blend their voices. Debby Boone writes of how Rosemary Clooney used to sing with her sister and the two were able to harmonize beautifully. I am myself a singer, though I’ve never tried to sing with my sisters. I think it’s mainly because by the time I started singing, they were already long gone from the house and the opportunity never presented itself. Still, I’m kind of fascinated by musicians who are related and sing together.


    This is a 1977 recording of the Boone Sisters singing “Hasta Mañana”, a song made famous by ABBA.

    The Boone Sisters have obviously sung together since 1977, but this was the best produced example of their family blend I could find. Here’s a more updated version of them singing together.


    Covering “You Won’t, You Don’t”, a song originally performed by Billy Gilman.

    Another family with a great blend is the one formed by Carly Simon and James Taylor. Though they’ve been divorced for decades, they did produce Ben and Sally Taylor, who inherited their parents’ beautiful voices.


    Carly Simon, Ben Taylor, and Sally Taylor sing “You Can Close Your Eyes”, a song written by James Taylor.

    That family blend is especially apparent in this video from 1981 starring James Taylor and his siblings…


    James Taylor with Alex, Hugh, Livingston, and sister Kate!

    Sometimes siblings play together rather than blend their voices. Here’s a video of Stephanie Jordan with the Jordan family, singing “Here’s To Life” on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I can’t listen to this version of “Here’s To Life” without being profoundly moved. The Jordan Family was very personally affected by Hurricane Katrina and were still missing a family member when they performed a benefit days after the storm struck.


    Such a moving performance. Brings me to tears every time.

    Lawrence Welk’s show was great for showcasing singing siblings. The Lennon Sisters were just one sister act that performed on his show.


    Based on the comments on YouTube, this video apparently still excites certain male viewers.

    Of course, no blog post about family blends can be complete without at least a mention of the Jackson 5, which is one of the most successful family acts ever.


    The Jackson 5 sings “I Want You Back”…

    And here’s a video starring the Jacksons and little sister Janet!


    The intro to this was obviously very well rehearsed…

    As long as I’m looking at big families and family blends, I have to mention The Osmonds, whose family blends are legendary.


    Anybody else think it’s funny that young Donny Osmond sings about being a swinger?

    I make fun of The Osmonds a lot, but I actually do enjoy this particular rendition of “Love Me For A Reason”.


    It was actually YouTube that introduced me to The Osmonds, since they were popular when I was a wee one. This video is a good example of the way they blend their voices.

    And here’s one that features the entire humongous choir of siblings, including Marie, Tom, and Virl…


    Nice family blend on this video!

    There is something about hearing families sing together that touches my heart, even though I have read that singing families sometimes have their share of interpersonal problems. Of course, the same could be said about any family. I could add a number of groups to this post about family blends, but I want to save them for a future post when I need a good topic. For now, it’s time to get back to the process of moving!

  • Germany!

    Germany!

    Moving is becoming an annual ordeal for my husband and me. Less than a year after our move to Texas, we’re moving to Germany!

    And since we’re moving to Germany, I thought today’s post should focus on music associated with that awesome country. I am actually quite delighted that my husband Bill got a job offer in Germany. We’ve lived there before and we loved it, even though the whole process of moving– especially internationally and with pets– is an enormous pain in the ass. Besides the fact that we love Germany, Germany seems to be the only place that wants Bill. He has had just one job interview in over two months of sending out resumes and applications. He had another one scheduled for next week, but it was for a job he wasn’t terribly interested in doing and it was in a different city. So this is a great thing and the timing is perfect, except that we have to move our dogs, which will be more of a challenge during the summer months.

    The last time Bill and I moved to Germany, it was 2007. I distinctly remember landing in Frankfurt, picking up our dogs (different ones than we have now), and driving a rental car to Stuttgart. I turned on the radio and could only find German pop music. In my exhausted, sleep deprived state, it was kind of like this.


    Seriously, every song I heard on the radio reminded me of a 90s era Mentos ad…

    I would have been happy if I’d heard this classic hit by German singer and actress, Nena.


    I could at least dance to this and maybe keep my eyes open as we cruised down the autobahn.

    British band After The Fire recorded another 80s anthem called “Der Kommissar”. Anyone my age remembers this song because it was a huge hit in the United States. Here’s a bit of trivia I just learned this morning; “Der Kommissar” was reworked by the late Laura Branigan, of all people, in 1983. This song was originally written and recorded by Falco, an Austrian man whose real name was Johannes (Hans) Hölzel. Falco was also responsible for the 80s hit, “Rock Me Amadeus”. Sadly, he died on February 6, 1998, having sustained catastrophic injuries in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. He was only 41 years old. Yes, I know he was Austrian, not German… but I still think of Germany when I hear his tunes.


    After The Fire’s version of “Der Kommissar”.


    Falco’s version of “Der Kommissar”. I think I like his version better than After The Fire’s.


    “Rock Me Amadeus” performed by Falco. Music starts after 26 seconds.

    When we were in Germany last time, I relied a lot on iTunes for new music. This time, maybe I will attempt to broaden my horizons a bit. A friend of mine who is European says I should listen to Herbert Grönemeyer. He actually says it in a derisive way, but in the interest of expanding my musical repertoire, I’m going to listen to a song by him right now…


    Not too bad… may be a bit of an acquired taste?

    There’s always Wolfsheim, a synth pop band from Hamburg. They haven’t been active since the mid 2000s, though they never officially disbanded. I kind of like this track I found on YouTube, though…


    I could get into Wolfsheim…

    There’s also Rammstein, a band that has been around since 1994 and still continues to make music today.


    Kind of a somber sound to this pop song… I might need to learn German so I can sing along.

    Frankly, the one thing I’m really looking forward to is Eurovision, the annual European pop contest that takes place every May. I like it because the acts are often very silly, which makes them equally entertaining. I like to see the different songs put out by countries in Europe. Oddly enough, a lot of the songs are sung in English, even when the contestants hail from a country where English is not the official language.


    Here’s Germany’s entry in the 2014 Eurovision Contest.

    If I have to choose the most impressive German music I’ve discovered recently, it’s Salut Salon, a quartet of German women who have a most amazing knack for performing great music while contorting themselves.


    These women are incredible! And they hail from Deutschland!

    I just have to keep my mind on all the awesomeness about to come my way by Europe… and not the pain in the ass of moving! Germany, here we come!