Archives : all posts by Sean

So I'm officially obssessed with the song "Brazil". My friends and I got hooked after hearing the Arcade Fire do a cover, 18 months ago. Two days later and I had downloaded Geoff Muldaur's version that's used in Terry Gilliam's great film of the same name. I was familiar with the track, but had never really realized the magnitude of its awesomeness. The sky-sailing guitar track, the whistling, the muted latin drums... it's like a summer breeze, a multicoloured kite. Muldaur's vocals are overdramatic and silly, plump as a pompadour. The rolled r's are tropical birds, the guy who jumps in with "thrills" (?) is like a flying-fish that pops out of the ocean. The off-key, tuba-farting finale seals the deal, demands another listen.

See that? It's so amazing awesome that I'm comparing rolled r's to toucans.

Cornelius did a nice, chill version on Point - sort of a laptop interpretation - and I've also grabbed James Last's bland electric guitar version. Last's cover is instrumental, which was disappointing to me at the time... this past week, I finally scored a recording of the Xavier Cugat original, from which all other "Brazil"s followed. It's surprisingly mediocre - basically big band samba, but the groovy, ghostly choir definitely hints at the direction Muldaur takes it in. To my astonishment, though, it too is instrumental - I had always assumed the vocals had been passed down from the original, not that they were Muldaur innovations. Did he really make them up? Or did somebody in between add lyrics?

The newest addition to the "Brazil" collection is a Benny Goodman recording, with Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian (I think). The clarinet lead carries the melody really well, and the soloing's absolutely solid. Sooner or later, I'll be able to make a "Brazil" mix CD, and I will be able to commit seppuku a happy man.

Alex writes about songs about child abuse, picking up on very similar ideas to the ones I expressed about anti-war music. He has much more faith in the power of the "precise," however - and he's right that "Names" is a very powerful song.

It seems DJ Shadow and Zach De La Rocha have jumped onto the download-our-new-anti-war-song bandwagon. "March of Death" is a hilarious title, but much can be redeemed by the pairing of Shadow's outstanding ear and Zach's nearly hysterical, nearly self-parodic passion.

Still, I have yet to hear an anti-war song from the past year that moves me in the least way. Actually, forget moving me - nothing's made an impression at all. The activist music seems to be trapped between two poles. It's either vague or specific: the former (as seen in "March of Death"'s lyrics) feels like a cheesy (if enraged) Hallmark card; the latter (see: The Beastie Boys or John Mellencamp) feels like a bad SNL satire.

This has always been a problem for me; while many hail Bert Jansch's "Needle of Death" as his best work, I've always been put off by the fact that it's obviously, ostentatiously about heroin. I know, I know -- that's the point! -- but I still find the 'needle of death' schtick to be a vulgar intrusion on the resonance of the song. I suppose it's the same principle that makes K unable to listen to Gillian Welch's beautiful "Everything is Free" since I told her it was about Napster.

The consequence of all this is that the music that has best answered my feelings about tragedy and war in the past two years has been classical music - Glenn Gould's early Goldberg Variations in particular. It speaks to fear, anger and hope, without making some eye-rolling metaphor linking Bush with Faust. There's more power, for me, in the subtlety. It's odd, though, that the music most affecting when it comes to the here-and-now's current events isn't the music of the here-and-now, but that of the distant past...

The folk tradition compels artists to sing about what's going on, I guess. And the legacy of the 70s anti-war songs is felt (and appreciated) to this day. But there's a reason, I think, that people remember the simple chorus of "Give Peace a Chance" and not its convoluted verses. Maybe Zach, John, Bruce and the Beasties have something to learn... (maybe so do I).

What josh says is true true true. I remember.

The new Goldfrapp record (Black Cherry) is really disappointing. I guess they've moved on from the straight Portishead-style trip-hop of Felt Mountain, but where they've gone instead isn't any less derivative. Felt Mountain was sexy and dangerous and luscious, and there was always this delicious film noir aspect to it - there's even a violinist in the band. Black Cherry, on the other hand, whips out 80s synths and drenches each song in them. Nothing's poignant or sultry - everything's cheesy and dance-fever-filled.

If electro is the new trip-hop, however, with synthesizers standing in for string samples, then maybe this 80s revival is gonna happen for real. We've already seen grasy rock revived, as well as new penchants for metal (Andrew WK) and rawer blues-based r'n'r (the white stripes)... maybe new wave will take over the charts (and maybe The Arcade Fire's Neil-Young-meets-New Order dreams could climb the pop billboard...).

I just wish I didn't think the eighties sucked.

Current Best Song in the World: "Clark Gable" -- Postal Service

It's when the horns blow and the strings rain down that this pop song achieves near-transcendence... it's all the bluster and passion and velocity of love, tacked on to that nonstop synth rhythm. Gibbard's reassuring vocals sound like they're trying to convince themselves... the breakdown into handclaps and straight drumming is like that descent into status quo, stepping away from the sublime, into livable life (where we forget about the Great and the Scary).

Dan and Nathan Lane talk about the Pavement DVD. Nathan's non sequiturs underline the soul of the scene, like guitar feedback under lyrics.

And "Carrot Rope" is my favourite. (Well, after "Shady Lane.")