Viva Voce: Red Letter Day

Ok, I hadn't heard this song before today. Needless to say, I'm quite smitten. Apparently, this husband and wife duo have been making music for more than a decade. The opening melody had a Hooverphonic meets spaghetti western vibe and the double vocal gives the song a richness but floats just enough to keep the overall ethereal tone.

"Red Letter Day" is off the duo's newest album, Rose City. This is the kind of find that spawned the idea to start this blog. It's fantastic. Enjoy it, enjoy your Friday, enjoy your life. That sounded like a Sprite commercial. 

Song Breakdown

Best Place and Time to Listen:

While exploring small town America.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Clint Eastwood as the Outlaw Josey Wales.

Click Here to Listen to Red Letter Days

The Prayer Chain: Fifty-Eight

Yes, the five-eight time signature is really interesting, but it's the soulful eloquence that this song is delivered in that really gets under your skin. The Prayer Chain was one of the few CCM bands of their time to reach to contemporary, cutting-edge acts for influence and one of the first to take a step beyond that, creating a sound all their own. 

This song is a gospel song, with the same reverence to anger and pain that great soul acts of the 70s were able to paint without sacrificing anything artistically. The unrelenting vocals, galloping beat and whirling guitar succussfully underscore the message, the demand. Just because you may be a child of God, life can still really suck . . . the sun can seem "so dark today." It's ok to be mad at God, to call God out, to not be a smiling, polite product of the proclivity that a lot of religious insitutions show for behavior modification. I think this song effectively portrays what real faith looks like, sometimes doubting, sometimes angry, but always alive. And yes, the five-eight time signature is really damn cool.

Song Breakdown:

Best Place and Time to Listen:

The morning after a real shit day.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Robert Duvall as Sonny Dewey from The Apostle.

03 Fifty-Eight.wma - The Prayer Chain

Pixies: Gouge Away

Ah, the seminal Pixies. The classic soft - loud dynamic, enigmatic lyrics and Pixie goodness. Gouge Away is on the near perfect Doolittle and encapsulates everything I love about them. Sychophantic? You bet your ass, it's the Pixies! 

The somehow off-kilter and infectious guitar melodies of Joey Santiago, ethereal backing vocals and solid bass lines of Kim Deal, snappy beats of Davide Lovering and songwriting genius and novel vocal stylings of Frank Black - has there really ever been a better rock band?

Song Breakdown

Best Place and Time to Listen:

Hiding underneath your desk as to avoid tedious busy work, while waiting for the boss to go to work.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Alan Arkin as George Aaronow in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Gouge Away - Pixies

Halo Benders: Virginia Reel around the Fountain

A "take" on The Smith's "Reel around the Fountain," the Halo Benders capture Doug Martsch's iridescent guitar work and Calvin Johnson's trademark deep-toned, conversational style vocals. Leaving the typical quirkiness behind, they are able to capture something that is nothing less than rock epic. Yeah, I said it.

Take in the whirling guitars and contrasting vocals, because none of the other songs on The Rebels Not In offer the same significant statement of sound. While they were always able to make room for a purely Halo Benders sound, "Virginia Reel around the Fountain" definitely falls more into the Built to Spill camp than the Beat Happening one. At times, playful cacophonies and at others charming lo-fi, the Halo Benders are always interesting.

Song Breakdown

Best Place and Time to Listen:

Sync with your favorite 6 minutes of your favorite movie. It is amazing! And of course it works. Yeah buddy, it works with that one too.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Schizophrenic mathematician and Nobel Prize winner John Nash.

Click Below to Listen to Virginia Reel Around the Fountain:

Halo Benders - Virginia Reel Around the Fountain.wma

Sloan: Everything You've Done Wrong

It's Friday and alas, still no sun. But who cares, we have Sloan! Those masters of pop rock construction have an uncanny smile inducing ability . . . what is it about those Canadians? Ah, America's hat has been great for smiles and laughs: Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, Pictionary, dental mirrors, those funny accents and of course, Sloan. 

Horn intro, layered vocals and jangly guitar goodness. It's all there in "Everything You've Done Wrong," seemingly a song about redemption . . . and who doesn't need a little redemption? You'll find the song off the fantastic One Chord to Another, the band's third album released in 1996. "Do your time and then come home for good," easy enough to apply to your day, whether you're working, in traffic, locked up, whatever, do your time, come home for good and you'll surely have somebody or something waiting for you! So what if it's just a stack of bills, somebody took the time to send them to you!

Song Breakdown

Best Place and Time to Listen:

A birthday party (or a welcome home party)!

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Martha Stewart.

Disclaimer: The player states "Chester the Molester," but it is indeed "Everything You've Done Wrong."

Beck: The Golden Age

Sublime, delicate and gorgeous. Sea Change was such a reflective, beautiful album that somehow makes sadness appealing. Taking a break from genre hopping, blips and bleeps and experimentation, Beck made a timeless album that will sound poignant and fresh and have the emotional weight fifteen years from now.

"The Golden Age" is bittersweet and despite being fueled mainly by acoustic guitar, pleasingly spacey. It's hard to pick just one song from Sea Change, but this one has everything. Embrace the melancholy, it looks good on you!

Song Breakdown:

Best Place and Time to Listen:

Sitting in your driveway after having just gotten home from a long night. Cigarettes and alcohol may or may not further the experience.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Bill Murray as Bob Harris in Lost in Translation.

The Golden Age - Beck

Sparkle Afternoon: Gorgeous

Think you have the pulse on Indonesian pop minimalism? I thought so, but now you do! Sparkle Afternoon welcomes a concoction of shoegaze, dream pop, indie rock and small doses of brit pop. A sparse piano arrangement with delicate vocals builds into dominating guitar fuzz and drums. This BFW recording artist could just as easily have a place on 4AD's roster of shoegaze phenoms. 

You can download this track and other for FREE at BFW's website. You'll find a fantastic collection of music in not only this genre, but ambient, experimental and electronic artists that have not cracked the surface quite yet."Gorgeous" is just that . . . even makes me think of the Tracy Shedd's old band Sella. Remember them? Those were the days, begging for rides to the OP Civic Center!

Song Breakdown:

Best Place and Time to Listen:

An open field, slightly overcast, napping in the grass.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Carol Kane.

Click Here to Listen to Gorgeous by Sparkle Afternoon

Chasing Ghosts: Nervine

An ominous piano intro ushers in a frenzied blitz of rock in Chasing Ghosts' "Nervine." While showing obvious proclivities to bands like the Deftones, there is a nod to pop sensibility in influences like Jimmy Eat World. When stripped of the electronic injections and studio touches, Jacksonville based Chasing Ghosts shows an earnest inclination for the intensity and energy that would be welcome by post-punk rockers that throw it up for Jets to Brazil and their ilk. I would imagine that this favorable characteristic really manifests itself in their live show.

While "Nervine" could fit comfortably into a modern rock radio station lineup with 30 Seconds to Mars and Fall Out Boy, there is a penchant for artistry, experiment and ambition that sets them apart and could be that type of gateway group that lays the groundwork for fans wanting more than what is in the DJ's rotation.

Don't miss their June 6th CD Release Party at Murray Hill Theatre on Edgewood Avenue!

Song Breakdown:

Best Time and Place to Listen:

The Himalaya Ride at the next fair you attend.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Evan Rachel Wood.

Click Here to Listen to Nervine:

http://isitvivid.com/nervine-01.mp3

Iron & Wine: Boy with a Coin

Galvanic hand claps blended with an ethereal backward guitar loop and Sam Beam's patented, whispered vocals makes "Boy with a Coin" a big spooky delight. Off The Shepherd's Dog, a real evolution for Iron & Wine, "Boy with a Coin" possesses a snappy guitar progression and a rare danceable quality. 

While this is a departure from the hushed, understated singer-songwriter quality of earlier records, it's got the Iron & Wine stamp of sound architecture, distinct resonance and enigmatic, story-telling lyric. On that note, a lyric snippet:

Boy with a coin he found in the weeds

with bullets and pages of trade magazines

close to a car that flipped on the turn

when God left the ground to circle the world

Song Breakdown

Best Place and Time to Listen:

Meandering, twilight drives.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Laura Harring . . . Mulholland Drive.

Boy With A Coin (Single) - Iron & Wine

Shangrala: Zilla

It's such a good album, let's just go ahead and close the week with it! "Zilla" is big and will stomp puny human structures to rubble and melt the rest of your record collection with the fire that surges from its mouth!

Do not miss Shangrala, the other great bands and celebrated artists participating in the Benefit for Brian Hicks this Sunday May 17th at the Eclipse!

10 Zilla.wma - Shangrala

Shangrala: Golden Streets

Delay goodness that gives nod to The Edge starts "Golden Streets" and permeates through the entire song. Interesting breaks, sincere vocals and smart musicianship give the song that Shangrala balance of accessibility, skillful math rock ability and a preciousness that nears but never embraces emo, rather transcending it and taking the banner from the pioneers of the now saturated genre instead of the imitators. This is a good band and as good as an album This Is How We Communicate is, they are even better live. So . . . .

Sunday - May 17th at the Eclipse

Don't miss them at their first show in over a year at the Stop Brian Cancer II benefit where all proceeds will go to Brian Hicks. Also playing: Mike Katilius and Thumbnail Sketch. You will be able to bid on art donated by celebrated local artists: Mark George, Ian Chase, Eric Gillyard, Donald Dusinberre, Mark Estlund, Shannon Estlund, Pete Henry and Morrison Pierce. Visit the Facebook group for further information or to bid on art.

01 Golden Streets.wma - Shangrala

Teddybears: Punk Rocker

Swedish grindcore at its finest with guest singer Iggy Pop! In the interest of keeping to punk rock sensibilities, make your own damn assessment of this song. 

Next week: local artists Chasing Ghosts and new EP from When Tides Collide.

05 What Elmo Isnt - Guy Smiley