New Music Starts With the Letter “A” – Avicii, Avett Brothers, and Arcade Fire

To cover a lot of musical ground, you don’t need to go beyond the letter “A”.

A few months back one of the biggest electronic dance music DJ’s on the planet, Avicii, released “Wake Me Up”. He went pretty far afield of typical EDM territory, and the video echoes the country vibe of the acoustic guitar and vocal arrangement. But the dance beat picks up as the song goes on and the video’s heroine makes the club scene. The vocal on the track is provided by Aloe Blacc, an American singer who co-wrote the song.

The Avett Brothers’ new album “Magpie and Dandelion” is out. We wrote about the band in an earlier post, and they remain a favorite in the folk rock scene. Enjoy this simple studio performance of “Morning Song”.

Arcade Fire’s albums regularly earn critical acclaim, and their recent release “Reflektor” is no different. The Canadian band delivers long, hypnotic tunes, and the video below has got to be one of the longest performances ever on Saturday Night Live.

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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2014 Nominees, Still At It After 25 Years – Or More!

Last week the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the nominees for the class of 2014. You can see the full list and contribute to this year’s fan ballot on the Rolling Stone magazine website. To be eligible for induction an artist or band must have released its first record 25 years ago, but many of this year’s nominees are still putting out new music.

Nirvana is nominated this year; their first single “Love Buzz” was released in 1988. Dave Grohl wasn’t with the band at that time, he joined in 1990, but he has carried the torch as a prolific musician, producer and filmmaker. And here’s “Love Buzz” in case you’ve never heard it.

Chic is also up this year, nominated for the eighth time. Nile Rodgers’ funky guitar was a central part of Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” CD released earlier this year – maybe that will put Chic over the top this time around.

Hall & Oates are on the ballot, and Daryl Hall is planning to add more episodes to his series “Live at Daryl’s House” soon.

The Zombies first became eligible for induction in 1989 (just when Nirvana was getting started!) but are nominated for the first time this year. The classic “She’s Not There” was released in 1964, and “Time of the Season” followed in 1968. Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, the core of The Zombies, released “Breathe Out, Breathe In” in 2011 with some jazz-inflected tunes featuring Rod’s fantastic keyboard work and Colin’s clean vocals. Check out this very retro video for “Time of the Season”, and see the gray-maned men still at it after 50 years.

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RIP Lou Reed.

Lou Reed died earlier today at 71. He’ll be missed for many things, but perhaps his lyrics most of all.

Reed first came to prominence as a founding member of the short-lived but influential Velvet Underground, a band with Andy Warhol as its mentor and producer. The band’s 1970 album “Loaded” featured two enduring singles, “Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “Sweet Jane”. What can you say about Reed’s way of capturing the meaning of rock and roll to a generation:

“Jenny said, when she was just five years old
You know there’s nothin’ happening at all …
One fine mornin’, she puts on a New York station
And she couldn’t believe what she heard at all …
Oh, her life was saved by rock ‘n’ roll”

Here’s “Sweet Jane” form Reed’s live album “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal” released in 1974. This well-loved version has an extended guitar intro, and gets into the iconic riff at about 3:20. “Anyone who ever had a heart, wouldn’t turn around and break it.”

Reed’s top-charting U.S. single, “Walk on the Wild Side”, was from his early solo album “Transformer”. Racier lines from the album version of the song were edited for the U.S. single release, but it still made quite an impression on the radio.

In later years Reed’s lyrics continued to provide a mixture of humor, self-reflection, social observation and commentary. The title track of “New Sensations” has a wonderful passage starting at the 3:00 mark about a ride on a motorcycle.

One of his biggest selling solo albums was 1989’s “New York”, and it contains a treasure trove of amazing lyrics. “Sick of You” is a rant of fake news stories that will have you recalling bits of history you wish you’d forgotten. And who but Reed could have written:

“The ozone layer ain’t got no ozone anymore,
and you’re gonna leave me for the guy next door?
I’m sick of you.”

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Sir Paul and Sir Elton Release New Music – Over One Billion Sold?

On October 14th Paul McCartney released his aptly titled album “New”, just a few weeks after Elton John released “The Diving Board”. McCartney’s Beatles and Elton John are the two top selling British artists of all time, with an estimated one billion albums sold between them.

McCartney serves up quite a mix of styles on “New”. The title track has a classic McCartney sound and was co-produced by Giles Martin, son of George Martin who produced many records for the quartet. “Appreciate” is something completely different. With the help of British uber-producer Paul Epworth, it seems more a modern take on the complex orchestrations that pushed the Beatles off the stage and into the studio in their later years.

Elton John returns to the style of his earliest albums on “The Diving Board”, delivering mostly piano-driven ballads with the help of American uber-producer T Bone Burnett. “Home Again” was the first track released from the CD a few months back. In a recent interview in Rolling Stone magazine, John says “What can I say, it’s a perfect song” of his early hit “Your Song”. So, let’s also recall some perfection, Elton John style.

If you’d like a bit more of Paul and Elton, check out our earlier posts: Paul Rocks Out and Elton and Pnau.

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After Over 40 Years, I Want You Back!

Lake Street Dive recently covered the Jackson Five’s debut major label single “I Want You Back”. The J5 released it in 1969, and it went to the top of the singles chart in January 1970. Lake Street Dive has been getting buzz from an eclectic set of directions including reviews in the Wall Street Journal, an appearance on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion” and sets at SXSW. Fronted by jazz singer Rachael Price, their sound is as eclectic as their buzz.

Enjoy the laid back Lake Street Dive cover and the historic original.

Of course, Lake Street Dive isn’t the first band to cover this song. Here are some other great renditions from KT Tunstall (showing that she can use the live loop), and Graham Parker knocking it out old-style with The Rumour in 1979.