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Pop Rock Nation

Category: People

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  • “For All I Care” – The Bad Plus Adds Vocals

    Badplus

    Recorded in April of last year and released on February 3rd , 2009, the latest Bad Plus album, “For All I Care”, is not exactly a “new” release anymore. Still, I feel compelled to review it here because I believe that the Bad Plus is the most important group in contemporary music today. Unlike the majority of other working bands, it is one of few to actively bridge the gaps between rock, pop, jazz, and, with “For All I Care”, classical music. Certainly, other groups have explored various sonic territories, but no one defies categorization quite like the Bad Plus. From the release of their eponymous debut, the Bad Plus have produced both transformative covers of rock classics to thundering yet sophisticated originals. Their success in doing so has the potential to open the ears of music fans of all stripes, though whether this will happens remains to be seen.

    However, I don’t want to use this post to glorify The Bad Plus’ place in the contemporary music. For All I Care stands out for three reasons: The inclusion of vocalist Wendy Lewis, the absence of original materials, and the use of 20th century classical music. The first two aspects are fundamentally related – I’m not so sure the group is comfortable writing lyrics, so they may have been unable to write new material. Whether this is the only reason there are no originals isn’t clear but it has to be a reason. Ultimately, my only complaint with the album is that the absence of TBP compositions robs the listener of the thrill of hearing the band play new material, not just reworkings of rock songs, however entertaining and radical those reworkings may be.

    Let met start with the positive sides to the album, which far outnumber the negative ones. First, TBP does a great job of redefining – through reharmonization, odd time meters, changed arrangements, etc. – various hits and non-hits from a relatively large sequence of rock and pop history with classics as diverse as “Comfortably Numb”, “Lithium”, and “Barracuda” getting the TBP treatment. Of particular note is “Lithium”, the opening track. Wendy Lewis’ subtle and flat (this not intended as a criticism) vocals provides the perfect vehicle for the the Nirvana classic, while the trio plays a dissonant accompaniment that manages to both stun the listener with its ingenuity and refuse to abandon the moody feeling of the original.

    “Comfortably Numb” again involves a stark contrast between the Lewis’ low key delivery and the trio’s rebellious playing. The song develops from minimalist playing to the grandeur of the chorus back to minimalism and then again to chorus with a harmonic angst that brings out the subtle tension of the song and then finally, after a pounding finish to the chorus, a soft end that is, well, comfortably numb. The Bee Gee’s “How Deep is Your Love” (an interesting inclusion, to say the least) gets completely reworked as well, with a classical-esque introduction from Iverson and a version of the song that is unrecognizable from the original.. Wilco’s “Radio Cure” does not undergo much of a transformation, with the band staying true to the original with some changes in the song structure. Wendy Lewis delivers Jeff Tweedy’s thoughtful lyrics to the tune convincingly – I really thought this was one of the better tracks on the album.

    And, to break up the vocal tracks, the Bad Plus includes three classical covers – Ligeti’s “”, Milton Babbitt’s “Semi-Simple Variations” and Stravinsky’s “Variation d’Apollon”. “Fém” and “Semi-Simple Variations” highlight the band’s incredible syncopation and “Variation d’Apollon” is a beautiful, lifting piece. The pieces are wonderfully arranged and feature the most daring playing on the album, though I’m not sure they fit in perfectly with the vocal tracks.

    As I mentioned earlier, my only complaint with the album is the lack of originals. TBP compositions like “1972 Bronze Medalist”, from These Are the Vistas and “Physical Cities”, from Prog are, for me, the highlights of these albums. TBP’s covers are great but the meat of their music is really the originals. Still, the album gets my praise for seamlessly bringing Wendy Lewis into the TBP “sound”. Whether you are a TBP fan or not, please go out and buy this album!

  • Flute is the New Pink

     

    Growing up, I hated the color pink. I was a tomboy, and considered pink a Barbie color.

    As I got older, I discovered that I actually look pretty decent in pink. I also developed a thing for men who wear pink (no one wears pink as well as Rufus Thomas.

    Of course, it’s all about how one wears pink (or any article of clothing). Anyone who wears pink, especially a man, knows that a shirt could never compromise one’s sense of self – that really, not much can. Despite pink’s booming Hello Kitty popularity, I’ve come full circle and now have a healthy appreciation for it.

    In the world of music, playing the flute is the new pink.

    Back in grade school, I played alto saxophone in the band. The flute section always bored me – it was comprised of all girls, and stereotypically giggly and rather annoying ones at that. They only seemed interested in using the flute as a soprano instrument, and their high notes rang like dog whistles. Unless they had solos, the spastic drums, rampant tuba, and bleating saxophones drowned them out.

    Until recently, I felt about the flute the way I used to feel about pink. Then, You Tube links of beat box/flautist Nathan Lee started making the rounds. Lee, lithe, shiny bald, and clad in sweatpants for his Google London gig, seems unassuming at first as he wheedles a few whistles from the flute. Then he starts beat boxing – while he’s playing the flute. This dichotomy, not unlike Lee’s own half-Scottish and half-Indian background, defies convention. Lee reinvents both beat boxing and flute playing, and tosses in a bit of Indian flavor, funk, jazz, and hip hop beats along the way.

    Two aspects of Lee’s performance amaze me – the first is that he plays the flute and beat boxes at the same time. He beat boxes with enough force and precision to use those exhalations to power the flute. Anyone not watching him would assume that two people were playing. The second is the surprisingly wonderful musical dichotomy he creates. Not only does his performance fuse genre and sound, but it also produces a fusion in connotation and effect – suddenly, the flute is the least girlie instrument around, and beat boxing trills with finesse.

    Perhaps Lee is an exception, a musical universe unto himself. I wondered if anyone else was using the flute in a new and interesting way.

    Then I went to Ryles Jazz Club in Inman Square and saw the Lance Martin Band. They’re a pretty typical soft jazz/blues band that specializes in funky remakes of classic songs, particularly by the Beatles. What’s unique about this band is that the frontman, Lance Martin, leads with a flute. He’s a rather big fellow with a beret and a groove, and he almost consumes the silver. Rather than producing vocals, he sings with his flute. Martin’s flute is like a bumblebee you can’t catch, flitting around the stage, soaring and diving and buzzing and looping above and around the songs. Trying to follow it is dizzying, so you ground yourself in the familiar bass and the piano’s 7th chords and allow the flute to pull through the whole thing like a fine thread.

    The flute’s mobility allows for some fun shenanigans, such as Lance Miller’s Letterman-esque foray onto Hampshire Street. In the middle of a song, Miller, still piping away, burst through the double doors into the kitchen, then out the back exit onto the street where he danced and played to passersby as though he were Inman Square’s own Pan. The audience watched through the window and listened via Martin’s wireless mike, appreciating how the flute’s size allows it to transcend what we previously considered to be its entertainment value.

    The first flute, carved out of swan bone, was found in a cave in Northern France over 30,000 years ago. Since then, the flute, fife, and/or recorder have appeared in Greek mythology, ancient Egypt, and the Bible. From the Pied Piper to Leonardo da Vinci to Jean-Pierre Rampal to Nathan Lee, the flute has demonstrated its staying power, and not just because of its historical roots. Despite my initial doubts, the flute supports reinvention and the infinite possibilities of musical creativity. Like pink, the flute can be elevated above stereotype and expectation, so long as you keep your mind and ears open.

  • The Top 100 Songs of the ’00s, #91: “Spiralling”

    Keane

    …in which a band previously known for somewhat sleepy piano ballads discovers synth-pop with a vengeance.

    I mean, I liked Keane before. They were as good as any Coldplay knockoff band could have possibly been, and that no-guitars angle was pretty inventive as far as those sort of angles go. But for their third album, 2008’s “Perfect Symmetry”, Tom Chaplin and his boys must have located a bunch of Duran Duran and Tears for Fears albums, because not only did they discover guitars (!), but they also got all “Wild Boys”-on us. “Spiralling” uses Chaplin’s drama student voice to create a PERFECT Brit dance-pop anthem, the likes of which haven’t been heard since the days of King, The Blow Monkeys and Curiosity Killed the Cat. Well done, boys. Let’s party like it’s 1985.