Accordion to Me – Arcade Fire and Willy DeVille
Well I’m a little late to the party on this one, but I have to spread the good word of The Arcade Fire, a great band from Montreal. They’ve been all over the internet, all over the music blogs, and doggone it, they’re gettin’ to me. The song posted below was my first introduction to the band. Also, I found a page with several video links to a Lawrence, Kansas performance and interviews with the band.
I’m always bad at categorizing / pigeonholing music, so I turn again to AMG, Arcade Fire is an “experimental indie rock quintet.” “Old Flame” is a great tune. Any tune that can kick it with an accordion is a-ok with me.
From Arcade Fire Demo EP, self-released in 2003.
Arcade Fire Official Site
While we’re on an accordion kick, take a listen to Willy Deville‘s “Even While I Sleep”. Willy used to be in Mink Deville, a pioneering NY-based punk pand. I only have one of his solo albums, ‘Backstreets of Desire’, but need to get more. He’s heavily influenced by R&B and New Orleans stylings. “Even While I Sleep” features David Hidalgo of Los Lobos on the squeezebox. Dig it…
From ‘Backstreets of Desire’, 1994, Forward/Rhino – {Amazon}Homesick by Kings of Convenience
I’ll lose some sales and my boss won’t be happy
But I can’t stop listening to the sound
Of two soft voices blended in perfection
From the reels of this record that I’ve foundRead all of the lyrics here.
Wow. It’s rare that a song blows me away like this. I heard “Homesick” for the first time yesterday, and I’ve just listened to it about 6 times in a row, and I plan on listening some more. And then I’ll buy the CD. Just beautiful. Sad. Melodic. Good stuff. I played it for my wife. She said, “sounds like Simon & Garfunkel”. Yeah, I guess she’s right. Again. 🙂 To those who the words “Simon & Garfunkel” might make you scroll immediately down the page, just give it a try anyway eh?
Kings of Convenience are made up of two fellows from Norway – Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe. These boys set quite a mood.
From ‘Riot on an Empty Street’, 2003, Kindercore -{Amazon}
See their Offical Web SiteWormburner – Skinny Leather Tie
I came across this homage to the 80’s the other day by a band with an awesome name: Wormburner. Here’s a clip from their web site bio:
Wormburner was co-founded in 2002 by two guys with a song they couldn’t get out of their heads. New Yorkers Steve “Hank” Henry and Terry “Terry” Solomone once played together in a cover band. When that project ran its course, Hank and Terry began developing their own sound and their own songs. Inspired by progressive guitar rock and indie pop, their songwriting partnership quickly gave life to a tune called Skinny Leather Tie. Initially conceived by Hank as a lyrical goof best-suited for acoustic performance, he and Terry took to the City’s open mic circuit and gave the song some exposure. Astonished by universally-positive feedback, the duo visited a modest downtown recording studio and laid down an electric demo version of the song. The two of them played on all tracks: Hank on vocals and guitar, Terry on drums, bass, guitar and tambourine.
It’s a catchy tune with a kick ass drum intro, and some hilarious 80’s references in the lyrics:
But the skinny leather ties
They make me look straight outta 1985
Yeah back when three remaining Beatles were alive
California Coolers with the other middle-schoolers
Skinny leather tiesBuy Wormburner on Amazon.
Nels Cline – Mas Sangria, por favor!
In keeping in line with music that involves one of my favorite beverages, sangria, I give you the long, intoxicating journey that is “Sangria for Three”, as performed by Nels Cline, Wayne Peet, and Alex Cline, live at the Alligator Lounge in Santa Monica, CA. This one was downloaded from Nels’ Official Web Site, which has a ton of great MP3 downloads. Check his site out here.
I’ve just recently begun to explore Nels’s music, which is, again, hard to label. Improv crazy acid mind bending guitar jazz. Iiii dunno.
Nels Cline/Wayne Peet/Alex Cline – Sangria for Three, from the Tony Williams “Lifetime” Tribute – Live @ Alligator Lounge, Santa Monica, CA USA 03/17/97
Spazz Folk Coming at Ya
I have to share a song I recently discovered on another blog (can’t remember which one, but one of those links there on the right side). The band is Need New Body. The only explanation of this music that I can muster comes again from All Music.com:
They exist in an as yet unnamed category almost all their own: some sort of spazz-folk created with banjos, eight-bit video game consoles, junkyard percussion, absurd ranting, and campfire chanting.
Yeah, that’s it! This one’s infectious. Anything that gets my daughter all excited and jumping around and waving her arms has gotta be good.
Check out their latest, UFO, on Amazon. With song names like “Gigglebush Meets CompUSA, “Tittie Pop”, and “Pisscat”, it’s no wonder I’m endeared to them.
Camping Next To Water with Mr. Badly Drawn Boy
A few years ago I came across a great album from one Badly Drawn Boy. Turns out BDB is comprised of one English bloke named Damon Gough. It was his debut album, Hour of the Bewilderbeest. He’s since put out a few more albums, including the soundtrack to ‘About a Boy’, a really good romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant. But no BDB song has quite captured me like “Camping Next to Water”. It’s a melancholy tune with downright strange lyrics . But it’s the instrumentation that does it for me. The simplicity of the opening drums and guitar, building into the moment at 1:07 where there’s a cool little drum part (I know there’s probably a name for it) and the bass kicks in, and the song goes to another level.
Happy Merry Christmas Funtime
For a light-hearted approach to Christmas music, we have to return to Grandaddy, with their Christmas classic, “Alan Parsons in a Winter Wonderland.” Here’s an excerpt:
in the meadow we can build a snowman
and pretend that he is Alan Parsons
he’ll say have you listened to my new band
we’ll say no but we really like that one song
it goes ‘time keeps flowing like a river’This song was part of a 2000 Christmas compilation released only in the UK: It’s a Cool Cool Christmas. Man, I love these guys.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, etc. to everybody!
It’s Grandaddy Time
Want to put a little charge in your day? Listen to Grandaddy‘s version of “Best of All Possible Worlds.” It was written by Kris Kristofferson and released on his debut album back in 1970.
If you haven’t heard of Grandaddy, I’ll be posting some more of their stuff soon. “Solar powered space pop” is how their All Music bio starts. This song is a pretty straight-ahead country rocker that’ll put a smile and sneer on your face. Enjoy. Oh and of course, see Grandaddy’s site here.
It’s Worth a Try
Well, let’s have a go at it, shall we? As I immerse myself more and more into the endless world of internet blogs (music blogs in particular), I find myself itching to join the game. This is going to be trial and error, but I think it’s worth a shot. I am creating IckMusic out of my pure and unadulterated, compulsive and passionate love of music. I love traveling from blog to blog and discovering tunes, and reading other’s interpretations of songs, and, though I am by no means as eloquent as those I’ve seen, I figure it’s time for me to try. So, from my little corner of the world outside of Phoenix, Arizona, here you go…
Let me cut to the chase and put something out there. I just saw Calexico open for Wilco a few weeks ago, and was very impressed. Trumpets, a stand-up bass player, pedal steel, guitars… I’ve heard them referred to as Spaghetti Southwestern. Very cool stuff. From Tucson, Arizona, I give you… Calexico.