I usually keep my New Year’s resolutions private. That’s partly because they’re usually pretty embarrassing, like “Stop being so awkward when talking to strangers” and “Wear your fun sunglasses more often.” It’s also because saying resolutions out loud (or worse — putting them on the Internet), makes them real. It raises the stakes. You become accountable to someone other than yourself, and that’s risky.
Well there’s one dude I know who doesn’t give a flying fuck.
Someone I used to swap burned CDs with once accused me of liking “pretty music.” I can’t remember exactly how he said it, and, more vexingly, I can’t remember if it was in reference to an album/artist he thought I wouldn’t like or an album/artist I liked that he didn’t. Not being able to recall that last bit kills me, because it makes all the difference. In his estimation, either his musical palate was limited or mine was.
In truth, it’s a moot point. I know my palate skews toward the consonant. I love vocal harmonies, I’m in awe of singers with perfect intonation, I listen to “Clair de lune” all the time, and I have a hard time with genres that… how shall I put this… place undue value on dynamic extremes. In my defense, I’m pretty sure it’s biological, not learned. My mom likes to tell this crazy story about taking me to see fireworks when I was little and panic-running in the opposite direction of the explosions with me in her arms because I was freaking out so violently that she thought I was having a seizure. I still cover my ears when siren-blaring firetrucks drive by. It’s not the most “adult” thing to do, I know.
Some have expressed surprise at Billie Joe Armstrong’s participation in the Foreverly project — “A punk rocker covering Every Brothers tunes?!? No wai!” — but we shouldn’t be too shocked. There’s plenty of evidence that Green Day’s lead singer likes pretty music too.
For the record, my mom volunteered to crate dig on my behalf.
It’s true! I swear!
When she’s not busy baptizin’ babies or spittin’ sermons at her day job, my mom frequents thrift stores and yard sales in search of books she can sell on Amazon. As a result, she comes into contact with used vinyl all the time, and a few weeks ago, she told me to give her a list of can’t-miss, buy-on-sight records. After counting my lucky stars for having the coolest mom around, I opened a Google doc and got to work.
I started with the half dozen or so titles I look for everywhere I go. Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain. Paul Simon’s Graceland. Things I’ve either never seen in a record store or am kicking myself for not getting when I had the chance. Bands were next. The Beatles. The Band. I don’t care which album you’re talking about — if you see certain familiar faces at an estate sale where every record is going for a dollar, it’s a no-brainer. Lastly, I gave her a short list of buy-on-sight labels. Stax and Volt were #1 and #2 on that list.
Lorde’s cover of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” — one of the more intriguing tracks on the now-streamable Catching Fire soundtrack — caught the Internet’s gaze this week, popping up on countless music blogs, Twitter feeds and Tumblr dashboards. You might even say it caught fi…
No wait! Come back!
I’m sorry, I know that was a terrible pun. Can we start over? Let’s start over.
Lorde’s cover of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” — one of the more intriguing tracks on the now-streamable Catching Fire soundtrack — caught the Internet’s gaze this week, popping up on countless music blogs, Twitter feeds and Tumblr dashboards. And while I usually try to avoid adding to coverage gluts like this one, I want to make a quick point about Lorde’s effort and why I’ve found it to be so exceptional.
There are lots of reasons to love Old Crow Medicine Show’s rendition of “Marching Through Georgia,” so many that I have no choice but to make a bulleted list. Here goes:
I’ve written about this before, but my big sister is my Beatles hero. Maybe you have one, too — that person who led you to the Liverpudlian water for the first time. When I was in middle school, my sister’s room was covered wall-to-wall with John, Paul, George and Ringo. Posters. Books. My sister draws beautifully and she did these awesome, larger-than-life charcoal illustrations of their faces. I wish I could show you pictures of the whole scene; it was amazing. She led by example, and I’ll never be able to thank her enough for it.
When my sister went to college, my mom/writing hero wrote a book about what it’s like to shepherd a child off to college for the first time. She called it She’s Leaving Home, and the Beatles song it borrowed its name from has held a special place in my heart ever since. (You can, ahem, buy said book here.) So I got really excited yesterday when I was doing some mild Spotify stalking (a certain long-hared, long-bearded Richmond musician listens to THE BEST music, just FYI) and found my new favorite version of “She’s Leaving Home.”
On Saturday, I stopped by Deep Groove Records and brought home the four used records pictured above. On Sunday morning, I played those four records while Mrs. YHT and I were making coffee and cooking brunch for some friends who were visiting from out of town. Forgive the superlative-speak, but I’m inclined to think it was the best Sunday morning of music my living room has seen/heard in the four years we’ve been in our house. A few words about each title:
I’m hitting the pause button on Fall Line Fest recap posts to give another piece of writing the tender loving care it needs, but I thought I’d take a quick moment to share my current productivity music: Cupid’s Head, by Swedish-born, Berlin-based producer Axel Willner (nomme de guerre, The Field).
See that menacing-looking bloke in the Jurassic Park shirt? That’s my brother-in-law Brian. He’s married to my sister and plays guitar in the Chicago-based metal outfit, Czar. I’m exceedingly proud to report that one of the tracks on Czar’s upcoming album No One Is Alone If No One Is Alive (due out November 5) just got exclusive premiere treatment from Revolver Magazine.
You Hear That 