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Wordless Chorus - My Morning Jacket
Say with me "trip-uh-let". The intro track to the Z album, "Wordless Chorus" does, indeed, have a wordless chorus, with a triplet feel throughout. The vocal arrangement on the chorus, consisting of "ah"s, is beautifully layered. A cool, mellow beginning to a good album--thanks to Mr. David Owen Jones for the hookup.
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Almost Gothic - Steely Dan
This track, positioned dead center in Two Against Nature, the disc that drove the Dan to the surface again, really embodies the essence of this album for me. There's a picture in the liner notes of two young girls rollerskating near a large body of water (presumably, the mighty Pacific, as Walter Becker is a citizen of Hawaii). It triggered sense memories of being in Fort Lauderdale, along A1A (yes, Beach Front Avenue), with the giant condos overlooking the ocean. Now, there's a tangent...
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Forever My Friend - Ray LaMontagne
Jen, who was turned on to Ray via her friend Lyndi, in turn, turned me on to the Cat Stevens/Ben Harper hybrid that is this man. I barely had time to internalize his music before we saw him at the Fine Line in downtown Minneapolis in March. This track has a warmth to it, in his ever whispering voice, and the outro is phenomenal...a driving, mellow train, to the sweet end.
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Grace - Jason Gay
I've had the privilege of playing with Jason for his last several shows in Mankato and Iowa, and this is a great, great track. Jason puts the concept of God's grace into human form, illustrating it as if a girl whose affections are aimed at him not because of his strengths, but because of his weakness. This has been a constant reminder to me of how this grace of God's works. You should check this out.
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You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go - Madeleine Peyroux
I first heard this song on my parents' boat last summer, when Jen and I danced to it. Like most of Careless Love, it's addictively listenable, with her soft, delicate voice and tremendous musicianship. The piano playing, in particular, is textbook--not underplayed, definitely not overplayed, but just a prime example of the importance of note choice.
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Mushaboom - Feist
Leslie Feist, formerly of Broken Social Scene, turned out this track which melts yours truly, the listener, with a relaxed vocal style reminiscent of Madeleine Peyroux. The first line, "Helping the kids out of their coats", paints a June-and-Ward picture of domesticity, albeit in "second-floor living without a yard." The handclaps, atop the folk guitar, create a fabulous folk vibe, and the brass--perfectly mixed--gives it enough of an edge to stand out amongst similar songs.
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Where The Truth Lies - Melissa Manchester
So, my co-worker Kathy called over the cubicle wall to my other co-worker, Melissa. As she waited for the reply, I jokingly asked, "Melissa Manchester?" This immediately revived a previous conversation about the artist, who was a favorite of Kathy's in the heyday, and prompted me to insert "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" into my last mix. iTunes was immediately called to the forefront of my desktop, and a search went out for all songs Manchester. This track, lifted from her latest release, When I Look Down That Road, is fantastic dark jazz. The chord changes from the 30-second sample alone sealed the deal for me. It's awesome when office banter can have such juicy results as this.
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Rewrite This Tragedy - Sara Groves
When playing the last gig with Jason Gay, several of the other musicians were players who regularly gig with Sara Groves, and were all salivating over her newest disc, Add To The Beauty. As song-by-song accolades came forth, I went out in pursuit of the album, and this track stood out from the first few bars. It's bass, acoustic guitar, piano, pad and vibes, and it colors the mood exquisitely. There's no rewriting this one.
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Sacrifice - Rachael Sage
I heard this track on a Paste sampler (love them, love them), and enjoyed her vocals, as well as the Hammond B3 tastily played in the background...the player even gets a solo! Where have all the organ solos gone?
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Born - Over The Rhine
Again, a Paste sampler track, without which I would never have had the pleasure of getting turned on to Over The Rhine. It's incredibly simple, a mood bath of female vocals, acoustic and slide guitar, and a hint of ambience, but the end result is killer. Well, "soft" killer.
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Dreamsville - Dave Grusin (featuring Diana Krall)
As a lifelong fan and student of the jazz stylings of Henry Mancini (infused at age 7 with "The Pink Panther") and a new student and sponge of all that is Dave Grusin, 1997's Two For The Road was a match made in stereophonic sound. For this track, Grusin brings in Diana Krall, whose vocal is smooth, strong and so sexy. Of course, Dave's just The Man, with his chord colors and sensitive string arrangements, so to throw a dollop of Diana on top is perfection. Well done.
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Come Lie With Me - Holly Palmer
This track actually came on my iMac in 2002 as a sample track for iTunes. That alone, I can't believe. But her voice, over a surprising barrage of diminished chords, made me wonder who this girl was. Turns out, wow, she's toured with David Bowie, and has made a name for herself as a solo artist also. I'm actually surprised this hasn't turned up in a mix before, but given the company, it fit expertly.
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Everything I've Got In My Pocket - Minnie Driver
It's got the feel of Natalie Imbruglia's "Identify" (which makes me wonder if Billy Corgan had a hand in its production), shifting from minor to major on the same chord, and the ambience bathes Driver's voice in strings and pads. It feels like it should be played over the closing credits of a movie (as "Identify" was in the movie "Stigmata"). Anyone who's seen Ms. Driver's cameo performance in "GoldenEye", mocking "Stand By Your Man", will be relieved to know her voice can actually have this effect, versus what "strangling a cat" would sound like, in 007's words.
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Festival - Dungen
And we take it up a notch. Still with me? These guys are Swedish, and the lyrics are all in Swedish, so we'll have to go with the vibe alone. But they have it in spades, with cool vocal harmonies, jangling guitars, and a fun little saloon piano outro to bookend the sweet acoustic guitar at the top of the song.
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Vostok Jazz - Cybophonia
For Jen's friend Lyndi's birthday, she asked for something in the downtempo vein, something she could throw in during a cocktail party or just to chill. A bit of online research led to a trip to the Electric Fetus, and what began as a quest for one of the Hotel Costes discs ended up with Ambient Lounge 2. Why the sudden switch? Simple: no one should pay $20 for one CD, as was the case with Hotel Costes. And this was a great introduction to the Ambient Lounge series! This track, in particular, bubbles along at a languid pace, but there's plenty of motion and emotion intermingled to make the ride go by fast.
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Stoned - Lewis Taylor
I'd heard Taylor's name on the British import version of the "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" soundtrack. I didn't realize what a trans-Atlantic legend he was until I heard this track and dug a little deeper. He has a handful of import releases, far beyond my financial reaches, but finally broke into the American market with his album by the same name.
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Cherish - Madonna
I've actually not explored too deeply into Madonna's catalog, but after Jen suggested a few of her songs for last April's legendary Prom 2005, this song popped up on the old radar. Total radio-friendly pop, courtesy of Patrick Leonard (whose collaboration with the late Kevin Gilbert in Toy Matinee is a masterpiece not to go undiscovered), done in an effervescent and delectable way.
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German Test Drive - Spymob
Years ago, I was a total exotic sports car enthusiast. As the Road & Track passed me by, so to speak, I directed my interests elsewhere, leaving the spec-checking to my more driven co-conspirators. However, when I heard this song, it took me back to glorious 1987. I wanted to strap on a pair of leather driving gloves, take the keys to a Porsche 959, and head toward the Autobahn. This song exudes high-speed freedom. Musically, it's like Joe Jackson on crystal meth, with plenty of fuzzed-out Rhodes and a revolving bass line.
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