Sometimes it’s so hard to say, but everything’s gonna be alright. With seven new tunes in the set, this particular Wednesday night was a personally thrilling exploration of some new artists and genres that kept me on my toes. I don’t think Bjork or Smokey Robinson should feel threatened in any way by my renditions of their songs, but I do hope that the patrons of Brennan’s saw through my interpretations of these songs enough to see the beauty and pain the material for this set contained. I sprinkled in some songs from past shows for good measure, but really on this night I learned more about what these tunes mean to me by playing them than I could ever convey to you by writing about them. Just the same, here’s the lowdown…
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 - Brennan’s Pub - Solo Acoustic
1. “Dreaming Against Me” - Seven Mary Three
I like to start with this song - it gives me my bearings and has a positive message, assuring everyone that it is truly all downhill from here…
2. “Spanish Pipedream” - John Prine (John Prine - 1971)
The magic of John Prine’s self-titled debut album is in his songs - candid, quirky, simple, and powerful. It’s hard to imagine him as a 25 year-old in 1971 bouncing from the more mature songs on that album like “Sam Stone” and “Angel From Montgomery” and then turning to the near comedy tunes like “Spanish Pipedream” and “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore” without feeling like John Prine was the goofiest prophet ever. Decades later his stuff is still edgy, crafty, and scary good. Buy this album and then check out The Missing Years and Sweet Revenge
3. “People Ain’t No Good” - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (The Boatman’s Call - 1997)
Darkness man, there’s lots of it in this world. Nick Cave has a pretty strong handle on most of it at this point, and I’m into it. ”People Ain’t No Good” is just my kind of pessimism - the artful yet brutish kind. The black and white notion in this song that people ain’t no good is the conclusion the chorus draws from the sentimental destruction of the verses. I’ve been plotting a way to include a Nick Cave song in my set since the Razorface project began, and it wasn’t until my friend Mari requested this song that I figured out how. I highly recommend Murder Ballads and Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! and anything else you can get your hands on by NIck Cave & the Bad Seeds. He’s Edgar Alan Poe with a microphone, a chainsaw, and a possessed band. I got to see them live once at the Hollywood Bowl and I’m still recovering from his assault of the audience, which was perhaps the most interesting part of the night as he drew an equal mix of intellectual phsychobilly goths wearing Cramps t-shirts and the intellectually lost wearing solid black t-shirts, like myself. I didn’t bother to read it myself, but allmusic.com has a long review of this song, so it must be good - read it here. Also, by skimming that article I learned that this song was on the Shrek 2 soundtrack, which kind of blows my mind. Check out this intimate live version below or just buy Boatman’s Call
4. “Hard to Believe” - Original co-written by David Bowick
5. “Give Up” - Original
6. ”Hyperballad” - Bjork (Post - 1995)
I was driving around with my iPod on shuffle all, as I sometimes do to spark inspiration for new covers. As the gods of random played me Wes Montgomery, Soilent Green and Steve Earle I searched for a better understanding and a clearer articulation of what I like to listen to. It dawned on me that all of these styles featured guitar predominantly. Being a guitarist that made a lot of sense to me, and just as I was beginning to agree with myself a Bjork song called “Modern Things” came up next in the shuffle. I was instantly reminded of how the sound of Post penetrates your mind and romances your attention. I immediately went back and listened to the entire album, which is one of my all-time favorites. ”Hyperballad” always stood out to me because of the beautifully intricate chorus melody and message. I remember seeing a guy play an acoustic version of this song years ago at a pub in Cleveland, OH and it’s never left me. Years later, I got to work with Spike Stent, the man behind the sonic intrigue of Post. Performing my humble version was a nice way to connect all of the memories this song and album have given me. Here is the video, though I recommend closing your eyes and listening…
7. “Champagne, IL” - Old 97’s
8. “Won’t Be Home” - Old 97’s
9. ”1492” - Counting Crows (Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings - 2008)
I will stand on anyone’s desk about this claim: Counting Crows are the only band I can think of (save Neurosis, perhaps) that has gotten better accross the board with each album. Truth. The songs, the production, the performaces - better every time. That’s an unpopular stance to take on a band who’s 1994 debut record was the mighty August and Everything After… but I stand by it. Listen to 1996’s Recovering the Satellites - NOT the sound of successful band laying up on a softmore effort to ride out success. Listen to 1999’s Desert Life - an album mature and meaningful far beyond it’s years. Listen to 2002’s Hard Candy - unabashed pop, catch, and drive. And released in 2008, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings screams out of the speakers like a debut album from a band that has less to lose now than ever. Duritz and the Crows aren’t afraid to bear all, and that is why I love them, and why they are better than most people think - there I said it. The vocal performances on their albums, ESPECIALLY “1492” are so raw, emotive, and compelling they make the psuedo-intensity of Slipknot sound like the tame polish of the Backstreet Boys, two bands I never saw a whole lot of difference in anyway. Buy this song on iTunes now and feel this:
10. “Last Night’s Dress” - Lena Stein (GRAMMY Camp LA - 2011)
I spend my days working as a Project Manager for the GRAMMY Foundation and we spend our summers presenting GRAMMY Camp - a music industry program for high school students interested in a career in music. Over the past 4 years I have been schooled, humbled, blown away, and inspired by the original work that the campers have produced during their brief time at the 10-day residential Camp. “Last Night’s Dress” comes from summer 2011 camper Lena Stein, now a student at Vanderbilt, and delivers near perfect country structure, sentiment, and delivery over a story, subject matter, and perspective beyond Lena’s years. I covered this song as an homage to her talents as a writer and to the many talented and passionate young people I get to work with every year. Check out GRAMMY Camp at www.grammyintheschools.com.
11. “Tracks of My Tears” - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1965)
One of my favorite songs for years, this was also requested by my friend Mari and provided a nice stretch for me to cover. The striking sadness of this song is infectious to the point that you no longer realize how truly dark the lyrics are - call it the motown stockholm syndrome - or just call it a deceptive version of the blues, but if you are not already intimately familiar with “Tracks of My Tears” you have not quite lived a full musical life. Or perhaps you married your high school sweetheart and you have no need for such pain and misery through pop music. Either way, here it is, enjoy:
12. “Short Side of Nothing” - Los Lobos (Kiko - 1992)
Best known as the band in the movie La Bamba about the life of Richie Valens, Los Lobos have given the music world so much more, and Kiko is the pinnacle of their legacy, for me. My dad would play Kiko around the house when I was growing up and once I moved away to college it was one of the first such albums that I remember missing from home and replacing immediately. This album brilliantly bridges the gap between Los Lobos traditional east LA hispanic style and the experimental ground they would ultimately cover on later releases and with their alter-ego band The Latin Playboys. ”Short Side of Nothing” is one of the more straightforward tunes on the album, marked by a crafty chord progression in the verse and simple bluesy lyrics. Check out this album top to bottom on iTunes.
13. “A Kiss Before I Go” - Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
14. “Healing Bones” - Jules Shear
15. “The Titan Who Cried Like A Baby” - Monster Magnet
No better way to close out a set of music and fun than a song no one knows that includes the lyric, “looking out of my chez I see a girl on a donkey”. I’m not afraid to admit that sometimes I don’t know what it means either. See you soon!
Upcoming Razorface Shows-
- Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - Brennan’s Pub - 8pm w/ Jeff Cleveland
- Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - Brennan’s Pub - 8pm
