Terrific album... whether you're buddhist or not

Songs for Tibet

I was supposed to either review NAS or Third day but i chanced upon this week's new releases on itunes and immediately gravitated toward "Songs for Tibet". The likes of Imogen Heap, John Mayer, Dave Matthews, Joan Armatrading etc doing an acoustic/stripped down version of songs for a charity album really popped out at me. Was it a convenient repack of old songs or was it something actually worth listening to? I am glad to report that the album is EXCELLENT. From the very first song, Imogen heap makes her incredible "Hide and Seek" even more ethereal and dreamlike with Tibetan sounding instruments floating behind the melodies. Closing your eyes, you can almost smell the llamas. Intrigued, i skipped Sting ( Sting is so overrated) and went to Alanis's "versions of violence". If you have yet to listen to her new album, this one song is a must try. The version she recorded for this album according to itunes was performed in a pre concert dressing room showcase. It really sounds super organic with an excellent vocal delivery. The original is kinda electro rock but here, this version really highlights the chorus and brings attention to Alanis's lyrical phrasing which is always a delight.

Time for a song break. Enjoy Imgoen's live performance of the song recorded some time ago.



Alright, now we return to more amazing material. John Mayer and Moby immediately follow Alanis with terrific versions of their hit material. I'm especially impressed with Moby who does a stripped version of "We are all made of stars". Slowing down the tempo and re arranging the instrumentation, the song sounds like it belongs on some MTV unplugged 2008. At this point, i must admit i cringed at the next 10 artistes whom i assumed were the "fillers" . I mean it's pretty hard to get excited by the likes of Rush, Joan Armatrading, Ben harper, Teitur etc etc. But this is where i was totally blown away. I actually spent more than an hour listening and re listening to the back 10 songs by artistes i had never given a chance.

Who is Jonatha Brooke? Who is Rupert Hine? I have no idea but I'm gonna find out! Jonatha Brooke's song "Madonna on the curb" is so enchanting and absorbing i hit replay 3 times. When Joan Armatrading sings " In these times, everyone needs love, in these times do you pray to God...Compassion is the fire that burns the hurt ,the pain, the soul" Makes me want to stop by the next busker and drop him 50 cents. here is her music video for the song , do yourself a favour and just soak in the chorus. Classy lady, classy song


The goodies just keep rolling on and i was captivated by Rush's instrumental piece "Hope". I have very very shallow knowledge of Rush and Alex Lifeson is more appealing to me as the guitarist than the band itself but this song is so beautiful i am tempted to go retro and give this old rock band a 2nd listen. ( the song is uploaded in the imeem player, listen to it) There is no lousy song on this entire release and i think the covers/songs really do justice to the overall theme. I believe part proceeds will be going to Tibet in their peace initiatives and whether that means the dalai lama gets a new LV robe is another matter. I'm just ignoring the charity element and focusing on the good tunes. Before i get lynched by rabid Buddhists, let me defend renegade good turned bad monks all over the world by saying this. You take away a man's god given right to meat ...sex... and hair. Clothe him in a dress and poke holes in his head... wait did i mention no sex and no hair? Yes. Well dear readers, what the hell did anyone expect these guys to do except to go a bit looney?? Ditto for priests too..

Let me leave ya with Dave Matthew's brilliant "Where are you going". The version on this album is a "live" performance and it's really fantastic.

Beck: Be a loser

Beck

I have come to the conclusion after listening to "Modern Times" that Beck is part of a dying breed of modern day story tellers with unparalled talent. Easily one of the godfathers of the indie music we all enjoy today, Beck has been doing his thing for a long long long time. Sure his experimentation hasn't always worked out but i suppose this is the price you pay for genius. Most of us who aren't Beck fans will vaguely remember his one radio song "Loser" released way way back in the 90s. May i take the opportunity to introduce the album "Odelay" to you. Easily one of his best albums and one of THE best albums in the past decade.

Notice i use the word albums often with Beck, as opposed to the current day cotton candy substance of 3 killers and remaining fillers. In fact, these days we actually expect to buy an album for 2-3 songs!! Beck is someone who churns out albums, not singles. He tells stories, not summaries. He weaves magic, not card tricks.

Watch this video preview of the album that does a decent job of meshing bits of different songs into a teaser clip



Beck is someone who collaborates and borrows inspiration from everyone in jazz, blues, electronica, country, folk etc etc. I remember his last album "Guerlito" and how country blues it sounded. If you get the chance to listen to that album, you MUST listen to "Black Tambourine". Arrghh. so good. Click to watch a live performance. ( check out the dancing tambourine guy haha.. screwball)




Anyway i digress again, Modern guilt helms Dangermouse as the partner in crime and what a pairing! Danger Mouse is behind Gnarls Barkley's annoying "Crazy" and also the brains behind Gorillaz. C'mon did you really think Damon Albarn could gradutae from Blur to Gorillaz all by his british lonesome? He had help. alot of help. Danger Mouse is a superbly gifted producer and he lends an astonishing sense of song writing to this album. For one, the album is so well paced that it doesn't feel like a Beck release. I'm used to 10 min orchestra pieces with weird 4 min atmospheric noise from him. In Modern Guilt, not only do the songs bounce easily to the next, they do so with minimal effort and maximim pleasure.

You really need to listen to this album to get the full flavour and by that i mean approaching it from a "How did he do that" perspective. I swear track 6 "Walls" has trash cans as percussions. It's got a simple addicitive chorus with i think organs, keyboards and apparently, thrash cans. Song 8 "Soul of a Man" engages the help of cows i believe. Somehow he re creates moo-ing that works PERFECT for the song. Cows mooing??? Genius i say, genius.

I understand Beck is not for everyone and some of y'all are happy with top 40 and that is perfectly fine. But listen, before you ate oysters, you perhaps only ate cockels. When's the last time you paid 40 bucks for cockels? Give him a go and see if he can't instantly improve your cd library's credibility. I've uploaded 4 songs into the playlist, and do as they say in Australia " You never never know if you never ever go".