Here is the new video for a remastered version of Way To Blue off Family Tree by the late, great Nick Drake.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Panicked Paradox Of Day To Day
Here is Bright Eyes performing one of my favorite songs off Cassadaga, Classic Cars live on Craig Ferguson (Isn't he that dude from The Drew Carey show?).
Video Trifecta
While Hanson did craft a pop gem in Middle of Nowhere, their videos were for lack of a better word, awful. Enjoy them in chronological order of their release, with Mmm Bop being followed by Where's The Love and I Will Come To You.
Edit: The scoundrels at Youtube wouldn't let me embed the awesomely atrocious Where's The Love video so it will be replaced by some fan-made one because I honestly couldn't tell the difference at first.
Edit#2: I love I Will Come To You even more now that I know Taylor Hanson has a hilarious orange glow in the video.
Edit: The scoundrels at Youtube wouldn't let me embed the awesomely atrocious Where's The Love video so it will be replaced by some fan-made one because I honestly couldn't tell the difference at first.
Edit#2: I love I Will Come To You even more now that I know Taylor Hanson has a hilarious orange glow in the video.
Huzzah For Hanson!
10 years ago, an album full of the most unapologetically catchy songs I had ever heard was released. The Hanson brothers went from being three fresh-faced kids from Tulsa, Oklahoma to overnight sensations in 1997, riding the indomitable wave of Mmm Bop and subsequent hits Where's The Love and I Will Come To You. On the strength of those well-chosen singles, Hanson became one of the biggest acts on the planet and rendered marginally effeminate features attractive (to 13 year-old girls).
However, the appeal of the band did not lie in the fact that Taylor was dreamy, that the three band members were brothers, that they all possessed magnificent golden manes, or even that they had written undeniably catchy, concise pop songs. What was so compelling about Hanson was that they crafted these songs as mere teenagers. To this day, no radio act has managed to encapsulate youthful exuberance the way the Hanson kids did on Middle of Nowehere and it's hard to imagine anyone ever will.
While it's easy to dwell on the immensely popular singles found on Middle of Nowhere, it's important not to forget the other stellar songs the Hanson siblings put out on this stunning effort. What distinguished Hanson from the countless other mainstream acts out there was their consistency. Middle of Nowhere wasn't an album with three obvious singles and filler; granted, Mmm Bop was just screaming for radio airplay. With that being said, Where's The Love could have just as easily been replaced by Madeline. The infectious chants of "Here we go round again" are as addictive as any other moment on the album and the chorus itself is as memorable as Where's The Love's if not more so.
This goes to show just how polished and surprisingly cohesive this album truly was, with many of the tracks vying for possible single status. While the record does exhibit a taste for disparate genres at times, every song is characterized by this radiant viscidity that holds the songs together while also allowing them room to breathe.
For instance, funk-infused tracks such as Speechless or Look At You clearly break from the radio pop mold with a groovier more soulful sound. However, these songs still contain the group's typically tight musicianship and Taylor's unique timbre which lets listeners know this is the same band.
One song that caught my attention the second it began was Lucy, where Taylor's crisp and dare I say it, impeccable vocals carry the song as he sings of love lost like it's never happened before. Everyone has known and probably lost a proverbial Lucy and while the Hansons have never been the most verbose nor ornate writers, they manage to convey the solitude and regret of a breakup with great flair and emotional precision.
In fact, the simplicity of the writing is what makes Taylor's broken-hearted sentiments so palpable. The Oklahoma boys' grasp of both the euphoria and despair that can come to the young remains unrivaled in the realm of pop music a decade after Middle of Nowhere's release (take that Jojo).
While there are 3 ballads on Middle of Nowhere, the real standout is I Will Come To You, a gorgeous piano-driven masterpiece in which Taylor Hanson attempts to reassure a special someone that he will stand firm and be there rain or shine. This is terrifically precocious on Hanson's part, in that most pop songs written by adolescents usually feature fairly self-centered subject matter. Here we see the Hansons pushing their own envelope and expanding the theme of Middle of Nowhere, transitioning from lovelorn saps to dependable friends. In addition to that, Hanson's keen sense of melody shines through on this track as pleasant piano work and ethereal na-na-na-nas reminiscent of Hey Jude enchant listeners.
I Will Come To You embodies all that is great about Hanson. While it isn't the most musically or lyrically grandiose song one will ever encounter, any established pop act could have released it and it would have still been the centerpiece of that artist's album.
Hanson were the voice of a generation for that one fateful summer, a 3 month period during which I was acquainted with effulgent pop harmonies and charming poetic naivety. While the jubilant and ubiquitous hit Mmm Bop did garner most of Hanson's praise and has to a certain extent defined the band, Middle of Nowhere was so satisfying a listen 10 years after its original release that I have to reiterate Taylor Hanson's words and wonder "Where's The Love"?
However, the appeal of the band did not lie in the fact that Taylor was dreamy, that the three band members were brothers, that they all possessed magnificent golden manes, or even that they had written undeniably catchy, concise pop songs. What was so compelling about Hanson was that they crafted these songs as mere teenagers. To this day, no radio act has managed to encapsulate youthful exuberance the way the Hanson kids did on Middle of Nowehere and it's hard to imagine anyone ever will.
While it's easy to dwell on the immensely popular singles found on Middle of Nowhere, it's important not to forget the other stellar songs the Hanson siblings put out on this stunning effort. What distinguished Hanson from the countless other mainstream acts out there was their consistency. Middle of Nowhere wasn't an album with three obvious singles and filler; granted, Mmm Bop was just screaming for radio airplay. With that being said, Where's The Love could have just as easily been replaced by Madeline. The infectious chants of "Here we go round again" are as addictive as any other moment on the album and the chorus itself is as memorable as Where's The Love's if not more so.
This goes to show just how polished and surprisingly cohesive this album truly was, with many of the tracks vying for possible single status. While the record does exhibit a taste for disparate genres at times, every song is characterized by this radiant viscidity that holds the songs together while also allowing them room to breathe.
For instance, funk-infused tracks such as Speechless or Look At You clearly break from the radio pop mold with a groovier more soulful sound. However, these songs still contain the group's typically tight musicianship and Taylor's unique timbre which lets listeners know this is the same band.
One song that caught my attention the second it began was Lucy, where Taylor's crisp and dare I say it, impeccable vocals carry the song as he sings of love lost like it's never happened before. Everyone has known and probably lost a proverbial Lucy and while the Hansons have never been the most verbose nor ornate writers, they manage to convey the solitude and regret of a breakup with great flair and emotional precision.
In fact, the simplicity of the writing is what makes Taylor's broken-hearted sentiments so palpable. The Oklahoma boys' grasp of both the euphoria and despair that can come to the young remains unrivaled in the realm of pop music a decade after Middle of Nowhere's release (take that Jojo).
While there are 3 ballads on Middle of Nowhere, the real standout is I Will Come To You, a gorgeous piano-driven masterpiece in which Taylor Hanson attempts to reassure a special someone that he will stand firm and be there rain or shine. This is terrifically precocious on Hanson's part, in that most pop songs written by adolescents usually feature fairly self-centered subject matter. Here we see the Hansons pushing their own envelope and expanding the theme of Middle of Nowhere, transitioning from lovelorn saps to dependable friends. In addition to that, Hanson's keen sense of melody shines through on this track as pleasant piano work and ethereal na-na-na-nas reminiscent of Hey Jude enchant listeners.
I Will Come To You embodies all that is great about Hanson. While it isn't the most musically or lyrically grandiose song one will ever encounter, any established pop act could have released it and it would have still been the centerpiece of that artist's album.
Hanson were the voice of a generation for that one fateful summer, a 3 month period during which I was acquainted with effulgent pop harmonies and charming poetic naivety. While the jubilant and ubiquitous hit Mmm Bop did garner most of Hanson's praise and has to a certain extent defined the band, Middle of Nowhere was so satisfying a listen 10 years after its original release that I have to reiterate Taylor Hanson's words and wonder "Where's The Love"?
Song of the day
As a belated birthday gift to Sufjan Stevens who turned 32 a few days ago, today's song shall be his track Chicago off the stunning album Illinois.
Monday, July 9, 2007
I Taught Myself How To Grow Old
Here is the video for Off Broadway off Ryan Adams' latest, Easy Tiger.
Ryan Adams- Easy Tiger
At 32 years of age, Ryan Adams is already one of the more prolific songwriters in the business. With 9 albums under his belt in a meager 7 years, Adams has become one of the most renowned alt-country artists on the planet. Sadly, many of the 9 albums he's released are average at best. In fact, it could be argued that everything since 2001's Gold has been dismal.
The final verdict on Adams' latest isn't clear just yet but Easy Tiger does mark a slight maturation in the ex-Whiskeytown frontman's bibulous twang, with the New York native putting forth crisper, more refined songs than ever before. While this album does contain instances redolent of the Come Pick Me Up era, Easy Tiger sadly suffers from the flaws Adams can't seem to shake from his more recent work.
Easy Tiger kicks off with a rock n' roll bang as dizzying guitar lines introduce Adams on Goodnight Rose. There is a prevailingly positive theme on the album's opener as Adams claims "Don't live your life in such a hurry, life goes by us so so fast. And the sun will come up again and I will be here. If you get scared, just hold my hand". Solid lyrics and a catchy chorus has me hoping Goodnight Rose may serve as this record's New York, New York.
The next song to capture my attention is the all-out rocker Halloweenhead. That's right Halloweenhead; I couldn't believe it was the name of a Ryan Adams song either. The songs preceding it were fairly pleasant yet forgettable tracks and when the guitar comes chugging in seconds into the fourth song, it was clear that this was to be one of the record's standouts. Chugging guitars and dirty rock n roll vocals is most certainly a departure for Adams but he pulls it off with surprising swagger and aplomb. The track is so damn enjoyable that I feel compelled to exclaim "guitar solo!" every time the second chorus comes to a close.
Oh My God, Whatever, Etc. follows Halloweenhead and despite being a mellow acoustic number, doesn't drag the album down and does a nice job in preventing Easy Tiger from losing any steam. The pleasant acoustic guitar-driven track finds a more self-aware Adams claiming "I'm open all night and the customers come to stay/And everybody tips but not enough to knock me over."
Things then take a turn for the worse. Tears of Gold is memorable for all the wrong reasons as the group vocals seem out of place and distracting while The Sun Also Sets has loud, busy choruses for the sake of cacophony.
Thankfully for Adams and his faithful fans, Off Broadway isn't far away and enthralls listeners with haunting vocal harmonies and dynamics that perfectly conjure melancholy. The brevity of the song (2:32) is its only shortcoming as it effectively manages to redeeem what was rapidly becoming a worrying situation.
Adams has clearly grown musically and while progression is to be commended, he happens to be one of the few musicians for whom regression would likely be the wisest artistic move.
Easy Tiger is a documentation of how far Adams has come and where he hopes to be as he clearly dabbles in all of his prior work on this release.
Hints of the more subdued, pensive moments from Gold can be found on Off Broadway and the throwback song-for-a-rainy-day aesthetic from Heartbreaker manifests itself on Oh My God, Whatever, Etc. Unfortunately, the poorer songs' faults outweigh the encouraging signs as far too many tracks take cues from Adams' less interesting releases.
No stranger to heavy criticism, he should get his fair share for Easy Tiger, a generally enjoyable, focused effort from a musician who's finally coming of age. Thing is, it was Adams' inebriated, unfocused ramblings that constituted the essence of his appeal.
5.7/10
The final verdict on Adams' latest isn't clear just yet but Easy Tiger does mark a slight maturation in the ex-Whiskeytown frontman's bibulous twang, with the New York native putting forth crisper, more refined songs than ever before. While this album does contain instances redolent of the Come Pick Me Up era, Easy Tiger sadly suffers from the flaws Adams can't seem to shake from his more recent work.
Easy Tiger kicks off with a rock n' roll bang as dizzying guitar lines introduce Adams on Goodnight Rose. There is a prevailingly positive theme on the album's opener as Adams claims "Don't live your life in such a hurry, life goes by us so so fast. And the sun will come up again and I will be here. If you get scared, just hold my hand". Solid lyrics and a catchy chorus has me hoping Goodnight Rose may serve as this record's New York, New York.
The next song to capture my attention is the all-out rocker Halloweenhead. That's right Halloweenhead; I couldn't believe it was the name of a Ryan Adams song either. The songs preceding it were fairly pleasant yet forgettable tracks and when the guitar comes chugging in seconds into the fourth song, it was clear that this was to be one of the record's standouts. Chugging guitars and dirty rock n roll vocals is most certainly a departure for Adams but he pulls it off with surprising swagger and aplomb. The track is so damn enjoyable that I feel compelled to exclaim "guitar solo!" every time the second chorus comes to a close.
Oh My God, Whatever, Etc. follows Halloweenhead and despite being a mellow acoustic number, doesn't drag the album down and does a nice job in preventing Easy Tiger from losing any steam. The pleasant acoustic guitar-driven track finds a more self-aware Adams claiming "I'm open all night and the customers come to stay/And everybody tips but not enough to knock me over."
Things then take a turn for the worse. Tears of Gold is memorable for all the wrong reasons as the group vocals seem out of place and distracting while The Sun Also Sets has loud, busy choruses for the sake of cacophony.
Thankfully for Adams and his faithful fans, Off Broadway isn't far away and enthralls listeners with haunting vocal harmonies and dynamics that perfectly conjure melancholy. The brevity of the song (2:32) is its only shortcoming as it effectively manages to redeeem what was rapidly becoming a worrying situation.
Adams has clearly grown musically and while progression is to be commended, he happens to be one of the few musicians for whom regression would likely be the wisest artistic move.
Easy Tiger is a documentation of how far Adams has come and where he hopes to be as he clearly dabbles in all of his prior work on this release.
Hints of the more subdued, pensive moments from Gold can be found on Off Broadway and the throwback song-for-a-rainy-day aesthetic from Heartbreaker manifests itself on Oh My God, Whatever, Etc. Unfortunately, the poorer songs' faults outweigh the encouraging signs as far too many tracks take cues from Adams' less interesting releases.
No stranger to heavy criticism, he should get his fair share for Easy Tiger, a generally enjoyable, focused effort from a musician who's finally coming of age. Thing is, it was Adams' inebriated, unfocused ramblings that constituted the essence of his appeal.
5.7/10
Song of the day
Today's song of the day is Ingrid Michaelson's The Way I Am, not to be confounded with the decidedly more abrasive Eminem song of the same name.
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