It was a sad day when the White Stripes broke up. Not that many people actually care. While the band was really a Jack White project, where he did literally everything except play the drums (which is sort of funny since that is the instrument that he plays with the Dead Weather), this was the one project of his that had the most complete sound. The White Stripes put out fun, interesting, and most importantly really great songs. So, it was sad to see them go.
"The Hardest Button to Button" is one of my favorite songs by the group. It comes from their Elephant disc, which also featured the equally thumping "Seven Nation Army." In fact the entire disc is chuck full of solid bass drum backbone. This song in particular has a great build with a steady beat of the bass drum. The guitar comes in slow before really kicking in. If anything it is a catchy number.
Which brings us to Ella. Normally Ella seems to just love a steady beat, and this song has one for sure. Funny though, Ella can't seem to get into it. I tried this song a variety of times, all with the same result....no interest. So, even when I play the video (which seems to add about 10 additional seconds to her interest level) she showed zero interest in the song. As a side note, the video is terrific - directed by Michael Gondry (think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Dave Chappelle's Block Party). It is an incredibly trippy video, with an innovative form of filming called pixilation animation. Just the same, zero interest from Ella. So, what do we do, we pull up the Simpsons cover version of the song with Bart playing the drums. Nope, nada interest.
Oh well, White Stripes go down, but they might not be out.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The 3 Flavors of Country
Well it’s been a while since we have done real updating of the blog here, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been experimenting with some music. A death in the family, everyone getting sick (including little Ella), and a wealth of travel put a real dink in our blog updating. With that we are back, and with sort of an experiment.
A good friend of mine consistently throws requests at me to play some “good music, you know Country music” to her. The inherent problem there is that while we both love Country it seems we love two completely different Country music’s…. Me I love good ole’ Country. Stuff you heard in the Opery 50 years ago. I also love what they call “Alt Country” music. Now my friend is a huge fan of what I like to call “Bubble Gum Country” or “Pop Country”. While I have little interest in “Pop Country” I thought for experimentation sake that I would try all three types of music. So with that here are the results.
Johnny Cash – Delia’s Gone. This one is not really fair, as we sorta knew that Ella liked this one already. Whenever we would put on Johnny Cash’s “American Recordings” (by the way if you don’t own this album, buy it!) the first song on the disc is “Delia’s Gone.” Once again, without fail, put that sucker on and Ella is entranced by what she is hearing. She loves it! If you are not familiar with this song, let’s just say it is told from the view point of a man in jail for murdering Delia (who seems to have had it coming).
Neko Case – At Last. This one is off of “Fox Confessor Brings The Flood”, one of my absolute favorite discs. If you are not familiar with Neko Case you are missing out. She has one of the best voices in the music world; unique and unforgettable. I remember taking Ian to see Neko Case a few years back. She was an opening act for Rufus Wainwright, and only played for 30 minutes. In that brief time she was simply amazing. It was her, a guitar player, a drummer, and a back-up singer. Ian was simply blown away. So, if you are not familiar with her, run out and get this disc (or any of her discs for that matter). So, back to “At Last”. The wonderful thing about this song is that it follows the principal that we learned from The Ramones. Under 2 minutes works best for Ella. This song clocks in at 1 minute, 27 seconds. Perfect. That said, play this for Ella, and she sits there mouth agape. Works every time. Either the song is just short enough that she doesn’t know what to make of it, or she does indeed love this song. My opinion is this, that this song is probably the best song that feels that it really is not completed. By that I mean it is utterly beautiful, but suddenly the song ends, as if there should be more. Every listen for me I am equally captured, and always left wanting more.
Shania Twain – Any Man of Mine. Well, this song here typifies “Pop Country.” Along with a string of other performers Shania Twain blew “Pop Country” right up! She made it successful and huge. At the hands of her husband (the legendary Mutt Lange – think AC/DC, Def Leppard, The Outlaws, The Cars) he is one of the best recording producers out there, so it makes perfect sense that Shania Twain gets big. I guess her looks didn’t hurt either. Anyway, this particular song was requested by my dear friend Lena who insists that I work this one. And Ella’s reaction? Well she seems to like the first 20 to 30 seconds each time, but that might simply be the “what is this?” factor. After that she has zero interest in the song. I tried a live version I found on YouTube, the official video for the song, and some crazy mock-up somebody out there made. Each time to the same result. Sooooo, does this mean “Pop Country” is dead for little Ella? Too early to tell. We will do another round of “3 flavors of Country” later with completely different artists to see what the results tell us. For now – traditional country 1, alt country 1, and pop country 0.
A good friend of mine consistently throws requests at me to play some “good music, you know Country music” to her. The inherent problem there is that while we both love Country it seems we love two completely different Country music’s…. Me I love good ole’ Country. Stuff you heard in the Opery 50 years ago. I also love what they call “Alt Country” music. Now my friend is a huge fan of what I like to call “Bubble Gum Country” or “Pop Country”. While I have little interest in “Pop Country” I thought for experimentation sake that I would try all three types of music. So with that here are the results.
Johnny Cash – Delia’s Gone. This one is not really fair, as we sorta knew that Ella liked this one already. Whenever we would put on Johnny Cash’s “American Recordings” (by the way if you don’t own this album, buy it!) the first song on the disc is “Delia’s Gone.” Once again, without fail, put that sucker on and Ella is entranced by what she is hearing. She loves it! If you are not familiar with this song, let’s just say it is told from the view point of a man in jail for murdering Delia (who seems to have had it coming).
Neko Case – At Last. This one is off of “Fox Confessor Brings The Flood”, one of my absolute favorite discs. If you are not familiar with Neko Case you are missing out. She has one of the best voices in the music world; unique and unforgettable. I remember taking Ian to see Neko Case a few years back. She was an opening act for Rufus Wainwright, and only played for 30 minutes. In that brief time she was simply amazing. It was her, a guitar player, a drummer, and a back-up singer. Ian was simply blown away. So, if you are not familiar with her, run out and get this disc (or any of her discs for that matter). So, back to “At Last”. The wonderful thing about this song is that it follows the principal that we learned from The Ramones. Under 2 minutes works best for Ella. This song clocks in at 1 minute, 27 seconds. Perfect. That said, play this for Ella, and she sits there mouth agape. Works every time. Either the song is just short enough that she doesn’t know what to make of it, or she does indeed love this song. My opinion is this, that this song is probably the best song that feels that it really is not completed. By that I mean it is utterly beautiful, but suddenly the song ends, as if there should be more. Every listen for me I am equally captured, and always left wanting more.
Shania Twain – Any Man of Mine. Well, this song here typifies “Pop Country.” Along with a string of other performers Shania Twain blew “Pop Country” right up! She made it successful and huge. At the hands of her husband (the legendary Mutt Lange – think AC/DC, Def Leppard, The Outlaws, The Cars) he is one of the best recording producers out there, so it makes perfect sense that Shania Twain gets big. I guess her looks didn’t hurt either. Anyway, this particular song was requested by my dear friend Lena who insists that I work this one. And Ella’s reaction? Well she seems to like the first 20 to 30 seconds each time, but that might simply be the “what is this?” factor. After that she has zero interest in the song. I tried a live version I found on YouTube, the official video for the song, and some crazy mock-up somebody out there made. Each time to the same result. Sooooo, does this mean “Pop Country” is dead for little Ella? Too early to tell. We will do another round of “3 flavors of Country” later with completely different artists to see what the results tell us. For now – traditional country 1, alt country 1, and pop country 0.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Worries
As we know, Ella ADORES Langhorne Slim. ADORES. Rob discovered that she also loves his song "Worries." She likes is so much that I can sing it to her (in my off-key, terrible voice) and it still makes her smile. I don't think it outranks "Rebel Side of Heaven" in her musical hierarchy, but it is definitely up there. The acoustic version seems to be her favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T2NMuzpWi4
It is a sweet little song, so give it a listen. We listened to this approximately 252 times on our drive to and from Michigan last week. Although I'm tired of him, thank GOD we found Langhorne.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T2NMuzpWi4
It is a sweet little song, so give it a listen. We listened to this approximately 252 times on our drive to and from Michigan last week. Although I'm tired of him, thank GOD we found Langhorne.
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