Kennedy Center Honors: Led Zeppelin

A friend at work sent me a link to a video from Heart's tribute to Led Zeppelin at the Kennedy Center Honors:

Heart Performs Stairway to Heaven

The Washington Post's Chris Richards' Led Zeppelin: Rock-and-roll’s most magical formula, struck me as remarkable. The best music critics can put into words that which you or I can only feel, but not articulate. Chris Richards has done just that in this article. Richards also has an interview with the surviving members: Kennedy Center Honors recipients Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones on Led Zeppelin’s fabled chemistry and unwritten future.

I'm not Chris Richards, so I will keep this short: From the first time I heard Led Zeppelin, it seemed like an echo of some tribal rhythm that had always been there. What's remarkable to me is that it still feels the same way. So many of their songs seem to plug directly into my soul.

Music Monday: Buddy Freakin' Rich

I have a ton of holes in my musical knowledge. I have started filling one of them: Buddy Rich. I remember his appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, but I never really listened to him since then.

Live in The Hague in 1976
This concert is a good intro to what he and his big band were all about. Skip the first 5 minutes unless you want to practice your Russian, but once the music starts, it's a great concert. My favorite part starts at about 37:20. Birdland is a wonderful song, then at around 45:00, Channel One Suite includes one of the most amazing drum solos you will ever hear and see. Just wow.

One O'Clock Jump
This is a Count Basie standard on which Buddy's band does a nice job.

Seinfeld and the Buddy Rich Tapes
OK. This isn't his music. This is more about how much "fun" he must have been to work with.

On Nostalgia and Repetition

Chuck Klosterman's article Nostalgia on Repeat at Grantland struck a chord with me.

Like Klosterman, I had a limited set of albums and cassettes when I was a kid. When I lived in Sierra Leone between the ages of 4 and 6, we had no television, and radio was pretty useless. All I did was listen to a short list of albums:

• Easy Rider (motion picture soundtrack)
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, by The Beatles
• ABC, by The Jackson 5
• The Sound of Music (motion picture soundtrack)
• 1812 Overture, by Tchaikovsky
• Carnival of the Animals, by Saint Saens

That's it. I listened to those albums pretty much every day for easily a year and a half. I put a lot of time in listening to these albums, and thus listening to anything from them brings back feelings that are out of proportion to the quality of the music (though you gotta admit that it isn't a bad list of albums. It could have been a whole lot worse, right?).

The great mathematician John von Neumann said "Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them." As a math educator, I interpret this as a call to practice, practice, practice. I wonder if this idea can apply to music as well? Perhaps the key to really appreciating music is to listen, listen, listen.

I still sometimes get into a mood where I listen to the same album (or short list of albums) pretty often in a short time. The good new is that I'm pretty sure that Boy Kid does the repetition thing, too. The bad news is that his list of albums isn't nearly as good as mine was. One step at a time.

Music Monday: Tiny Desk Concerts

NPR's All Songs Considered has a series of Tiny Desk concerts. In a sense, this is sort of a polar opposite of the Concerts a Emporter, which are recorded in various open air locations around France. The tight space makes for an interesting setting, and a diverse set of artists have tried it out.

Booker T. Jones: Green Onions, [conversation], Born Under a Bad Sign, Down in Memphis

Holy cow! This is THE Booker T with a Hammond B3 right there at the tiny desk. Green Onions is such an iconic song, but he breathes new life into the classic he wrote 5 decades ago. He then describes how he first encountered the B3 and the story is delightful. If you only watch one of these videos, let this be the one.

tUne-yArDs: You Yes You, Doorstep, My Country
OK, so Merrill Garbus is insanely cool and she rocks that sample pedal. Watching her spin her magic on the fly is great.

Adele: Someone Like You, Chasing Pavements, Rolling In The Deep

Everyone seems to love her, but I've never really sat down to listen to Adele. I can see why she is so well loved. She has tremendous talent.

Foster the People: Houdini, Helena Beat, Pumped Up Kicks

The contrast between this and the beautiful energy they exude in full concerts is remarkable. Honestly, I am rather sick of Pumped Up Kicks, but this version is nice.

More that caught my ear:

• Givers: Meantime, Up Up Up, Atlantic
• Basia Bulat: The Shore, W Zielonym Zoo, Heart of My Own, In the Night
• They Might Be Giants: Can't Keep Johnny Down, Cloisonne, Fingertips
• The Cranberries: Linger, Tomorrow, Ode To My Family, Zombie, Raining In My Heart
• Bill Frissell: Nowhere Man, In My Life, Strawberry Fields Forever
• Beirut: East Harlem, Santa Fe, Serbian Cocek

Check out some of the other concerts: Tom Jones, Yo Yo Ma, Noah and the Whale, Gogol Bordello, YACHT, Esperanza Spalding, Fanfarlo, and many more.

Music Monday: Good Covers

Some covers of well-known songs made me smile recently.

First, the Beastie Boys and Biz Markie made me laugh out loud with an Elton John cover:
Benny and the Jets

Then, Gnarls Barkley covered the Femmes:
Gone Daddy Gone

After which, the Femmes covered Gnarls Barkley:
Crazy

That last one might be the greatest cover of all time. It's right up there with Iron & Wine's cover of one of my favorite New Order Tunes:
Love Vigilantes

Covers and remixes make me happy. Coming soon: Good Remixes.

Music Monday: Take-Away Shows

The video series Concerts a Emporter (Take-Away Shows) is worth checking out. My wife the francophile should love the settings for these.

Menomena: Wet and Rusting
Check out the kids that appear about halfway through. As one of the musicians says "that is the cutest thing I have ever seen."

Phoenix: 1901
In this video, the couple that is getting married totally steals the visual show.

Vampire Weekend: The Kids Don't Stand a Chance
They seemed to stumble early on, but playing in that space must have been a huge challenge. Also, couldn't Rostam have put the keyboard up on the hood of a car?

Architecture in Helsinki: Heart It Races
Love the beginning of this. The sound quality seems a bit off to me, but it still works overall.

The Shins: Gone for Good and Turn on Me
Nice work here.

Jason Mraz: It's a Lovely Day
We have some spray paint art at home from that same spot where he was looking at street art (by the Centre Georges Pompidou). That is my favorite place to hang out in Paris. Maybe it was staged, but tt seems like he improvised that song based on what a barefoot Bulgarian street performer was doing. Pretty impressive.

Music Monday: International Jazz Day

Happy International Jazz Day. Seriously. The UN says so. In honor of this auspicious occasion, I decided to post something for the first time in ages.

First of all, the International Jazz Day site has videos of some concerts featuring Herbie Hancock. Herbie doesn't come out until about 22:00 in the first video, but it is worth a listen.

Now for two songs from Duke Ellington, and one each from Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. Actually, for some of these, I am linking to multiple versions because each version is remarkable.

Duke Ellington: Take the A Train
With his Big Band Live at Newport Jazz Festival. This version really swings.
With a trio. This is a very smooth, cool (and longer) version of the tune.

Duke Ellington: Caravan

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers do a nice version of this classic.

Wes Montgomery's version swings, baby.

Oscar Peterson's piano work is incredible.

Miles Davis: So What
Live in Stockholm in 1960
Herbie Hancock, et al do the song justice in their tribute to Miles.

Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage
The studio version from the album of the same name is lovely. Freddie Hubbard's trumpet solo absolutely gives me chills every time.

Music Monday: Live on Letterman

Live on Letterman has an impressive list of concerts. Here are a few of the best.

Foster the People
I just bought one of their albums on Amazon MP3 (it was the $5 album deal today), so it was lucky coincidence that I discovered this concert. The frontman seems to be putting out significant effort, but he hardly makes it seem effortless. I was watching a Rush concert last night and Neil Peart is incredible. Part of what makes him so amazing is the effort he puts in while looking cool as a cucumber. Meanwhile, Lifeson and Lee seem to get energy from each other and the crowd. Anyway, FtP are good. I like a bunch of their songs, but it's interesting that the concert seems to be really draining.

Wilco
I have never gotten in to Wilco, but I think this concert will draw me in.

Cake
This is the concert that led me to LoL. Their sound is unique and the concert has some nice live versions of my favorite tunes. I could do without quite so many from the new album, but it's a small "price" to pay.

Gorillaz
A pop music act with a cartoon as its frontman? Where do I sign up? Everyone seems to be having a total ball. It's like they all have real jobs, but this is the fun stuff they do on the side, and would do for free. The string section's head bobbing is wonderful.

Music Monday YouTube Trip: Edmunds Lowe Costello

Here is another YouTube trip. Remember, that each subsequent tune has to be in the Suggestions list for the previous song.

Dave Edmunds

Girls Talk

Some of the best of the 80's.

Nick Lowe

Cruel to Be Kind

If you look carefully at this video and the previous, you will notice that Dave Edmunds is in Nick Lowe's band and vice versa.

Elvis Costello

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding
He's so young! I need to get glasses like those. Only problem is, I would end up looking like an old Urkel.

Coolest Gigs for a Violinist or Cellist

I like strings as much as the next guy, but let's face it: Not all potential gigs for a member of the string section are equally cool. Here are some gigs that I would imagine were pretty darn cool.

Gorillaz
Look at the string section bobbing their heads near the end of O Green World (song starts around 6:00). Then, check them out swaying on Feel Good, Inc. (song starts around 35:00) They are getting into it.

Vampire Weekend
Not as cool as Gorillaz, but still pretty cool.

P. Diddy and Jimmy Page on SNL
This "video" only has the sound. I remember seeing this on Saturday Night Live in the 90's when they had what looked like a full orchestra on risers behind them as they played this.

Yo-Yo Ma and Lil Buck
Lil Buck's movement is amazing. So fluid and seemingly effortless.

Music Monday: YouTube Trip: It's All About the Kids

On my way in to the office today, I heard a song that became quite the earworm: MGMT's Kids. This got me on a YouTube Trip to cure myself.

MGMT: Kids

This is a good Monday morning earworm.

Peter Bjorn & John: Young Folks

Maybe the whistling is cheezy, but I like the tune.

Kanye West: Young Folks

Interesting song based on the catchy tune. I could do without his kvetching about the media, but oh well.

So, the Kids earworm has been replaced by Young Folks. Yay me!

Music Monday: Ida Maria and Yoav

Ida Maria's voice and energy work. Check her out.

• I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked
• Oh My God
• When It Comes to You

The girl is gettin' it done.

Yoav (song: Beautiful Lie)

Cool song that inspired a couple remixes:Robert Sansixto mix and KeeMo's Terrace Mix ... but I like the original best. Yoav is yet another artist using on-the-fly sampling to create interesting music.

Music Monday: Emily Wells

Emily Wells is pretty amazing. She seems to be using the same type of technology as tUnE yArDs (Real Live Flesh), but the feel is very different.

solo: Symphony 1

a trio with Joey Reina and Sam Halterman: Symphony 6 and Symphony 9

Music Monday (Saturday Edition): YouTube Trip: Phantogram to Aesop

There are too many music posts sitting in my list of drafts, so it is time to do some house cleaning.

Here is a YouTube Trip inspired by a friend from work, whom I will call J-Dub. I need to do a Music from J-Dub post, but that will have to wait.

Phantogram: When I'm Small

J-Dub got my trip started with this gem.

Blockhead: Insomniac Olympics

I like the video for this, but had to listen to the song once without watching the video so I could focus on the sounds instead of the visuals.

Daedelus: Fair Weather Friends

Fun stuff.

Aesop Rock: None Shall Pass

Pretty freaky video, but the music is compelling.

Various Bad Plus Concerts

Yeah, I know it's not Monday. I have too many music posts in the hopper to just dole them out weekly. Deal with it.

I dig the Bad Plus. Here are some links to concerts that show their range.

Live At the Village Vanguard is a New Year's Eve concert. This is the trio doing their thing.

The Rite of Spring is their take on Stravinski's 20th century ballet masterpiece. This is quite a limb they are going out on, but it works for me. Note that the first bit of audio at the top of the article is for the interview. Go down a bit to find the audio link for the concert.

[update: I just listened to this piece all the way through. It is ambitious and truly tremendous.]

With the Frankfurt Radio Big Band is on a site that is completely written in German, but the music knows no language. A big band's horns add to the compositions so well. The most remarkable piece is The Hope Chest, which starts at the 36:00 mark. The big band has a piece that the conductor/arranger wrote for them. The Bad Plus improvised their parts to accompany them on the fly. Note that there are two parts to the concert. In Part 2, the big band version of Giant is good stuff, as is the encore Layin' a Strip For the Higher-Self State Line.

Music Monday: YouTube Trip: Favourite Stand Action

OK, so this YouTube Trip isn't about discovering new music, but it was a fun journey anyway.

Haircut 100: Favourite Shirt (Boy Meets Girl)

If this doesn't make you smile, then I am sorry. You are just broken.

Adam Ant: Stand and Deliver

Love the energy.

Human League: Love Action

Man, I liked this band when I was in High School. I had an album full of remixes that I basically wore out.

Web Stuff Friday: Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two

OMG. Check this out. This Spring marks the 25th anniversary of the Beastie Boys recording of (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!). My God. 25 freakin' years since short, hairy Steve used to blast this out of his dorm room on Friday afternoons. But I digress...

Here is an extended video of a few songs from the Beastie Boys' new album. The video is called Fight For Your Right (Revisited), but don't expect the familiar old song. It's a short movie with a zillion stars and some new Beastie Boys music.

Speaking of the zillion stars, check out who all is in this video. When you see the list of cameos at the end, I think you'll agree that it's simply epic.

I also like the music. Good to hear something new from the Beastie Boys. Pretty sure I need to buy Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two.

My First Remix: Panic at the Human League

The first time I heard The Human League's remix of Don't You Want Me, I was hosting a last-day-of-school party at the end of my Junior year of high school. We were blasting the music, swimming, sailing, and canoeing in the lake, and just generally having a great, raucous time.

When the song got to 2:22, I had a heart attack. I thought someone had bumped my precious turntable, made the album skip brutally, and (more importantly) probably damaged my turntable's stylus (you 20- and 30-somethings can get your parents to explain all that retro vinyl lingo to you). When I ran inside to check on my stereo, Bryan Reichhardt and Tammy Keysor were laughing at my panic. Good times.

This was the first remix I recall hearing and it made an immediate impact (once I calmed down). My love for remixes that started on that sun drenched afternoon is tied up with my love for jazz and mash-ups. Though I can appreciate a simple tune as much as the next guy, I like to see what artists do with a simple idea when unfettered by the constraints of a 4 minute long song that is fit for the radio.

Here are some albums that are full of some of my favorite remixes:

• Human League: Original Remixes (ex: Don't You Want Me)
• Stone Roses: The Remixes (ex: I Wanna Be Adored)
• Just Say Yo (or Yes or Da or Mao or several others) (ex: Personal Jesus)

Music Monday: YouTube Trip: from France to Home

YouTube can help you discover new music. This isn't news, but I want to make a concerted effort to document some musical journeys I take courtesy of the popular video site. After the first song, I found each subsequent song from the list of Suggestions for the previous song.

Camera Obscura: French Navy

This is a nice, jaunty tune to start the journey.

St. Vincent: Marrow

Interesting video. I like the music. Annie Clark (her real name) rocks.

tUnE yArDs: Bizness

Wow, I like Merrill Garbus. She is one talented woman.

Mumford and Sons: Little Lion Man

Maybe you only heard of these guys when they were nominated for a couple Grammies last year. If you are into the Folk Rock thing, or want to hear what it's like, this is a good song for you.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros: Home

This song is a good place to end our journey.

Music Monday: Dizzy

I remember first seeing Dizzy Gillespie on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Those cheeks were amazing. Only now do I really appreciate his artistry. What a tremendous musician.

Dizzy Gillespie doing Manteca:

• With His Dream Band: This is a tremendous group of musicians.
• in Denmark: Damn, he looks cool in this one. If I had seen that video when I was a kid, I would have wanted nothing more than to be him when I grew up.
• In Finland: The video's aspect ratio is screwed up, but the music is great.

And here Dizzy is on the Muppet Show where they had to distract the noise inspector from Dizzy's performance.