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The holidays have never been a favorite time of year for me. I don't mind them much, anymore. I just barrel through the season, tip my hat as a holiday passes, and generally, no one gets hurt. If anything, it means at least one day of sleeping in. Hallelujah and Hail Mary to that!
You know, aside from all of the average holiday pressure to be relentlessly happy--to be part of that family on the postcard--I think what kills the holiday season for so many folks are those tired, tame seasonal songs that we bear an annual bombardment of from every store, post office, cab, and yes, even in public restrooms we get no sanctity. Worse, still, than the tried and true carols of yore, we have the modern, blasphemous pop divas and clean shaven cowboys who insist upon adding upwards of sixteen unnecessary tones between each written note of the old standards, somehow making that poor bastard reindeer's theme song more annoying than when a choir of nine-year-olds tortured some unfortunate studio engineer with it in the 50s. Astounding.
For many years, that shit alone made me dread Christmas. It wasn't until I moved to the South that I discovered that good Christmas music does, indeed, exist. Now, this could come as a bit of a shock to you, and I probably wouldn't pay much attention to you if you weren't skeptical about this...but I'm going to let you in on a little secret taught to me by an unsung hero--a man by the name of Ike Carter: the place to find good holiday music is the blues, baby, and jazz. Oooh, so good.
Heartbroken and lonely on the holidays? Hesitant to sponge up all of that holiday cheer? Legendary bluesman Freddie King (son of Albert King) is too, and instead of jingling his merry bits and prancing around some spruce tree, he's singing the blues about his Christmas Tears. And he's singing them blues for us. That, my friends, is a gift from on high.
Enjoy #5 in the Erin Digs It series...just in the (saint) nick o' time: Freddie King's Christmas Tears.
There's a lot of hunger in New York right now. Figurative, literal, you name it. It can be a little tense around here. The (near) perfect elixer? Rock and roll, kids, Rock And Roll.
The Robbers on High Street sound a bit like a Brit-rockish Spoon resilient to Brooklyn's tribulations with intentionally ironic cut-loose melodies.They have my vote for being this year's Voice of Brooklyn. The androgyny, the confusion, the reservations--all served up in a deliciously deceiving bright, shiny indie rock package. Love it!
They are an impressively complex band with more to offer than only that, of course, but this tune certainly strikes a chord with the times.
If we can't have steak dinners every night, grooving with the empathetic Robbers on High Street is almost as filling.
Therefore, song #4 in the Erin Digs It series is:
Robbers on High Street - You Don't Stand a Chance
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I would love to hear this, can you UL the song yourself because I (and many others) refuse to pay to play.
You know, I tried that. I bought the song from itunes (as the group kindly suggested on their website), and it downloaded as an mpeg, and ol' Mog apparently doesn't support that file type. MP3 or bust, they say.
That Rhapsody thing is good for 25 free songs a month. After that is when they start asking for some dough.
iTunes are a bunch of Butt Covering bastards, I love them/I hate them.
Rhapsody won't let my mogger friends from outside the US borders listen in so there for I won't abide, even for free.
I'll search these guys down and have a listen somewhere else, thanks for the tip!
The following review originally appeared at Beyond Race Magazine.
"Ships are safe at harbor, but built for the sea." So reads the colorful one-sheet press clipping for the promising San Franciscan band Built For The Sea bearing implications of the band’s desire to expand, explore, and never confine themselves to any "harbor." Equipped with lead singer Lia Rose and her bandmates, The Golden Gate city steals Brooklyn’s "up and coming" thunder with this new pearl of musical talent to add to the top of the "dream-pop" ranks including Cat Power, My Brightest Diamond, The Delgados, and Nicole Atkins.
Lia Rose sings with a deft yet natural sincerity, and similarly, her lyrics come across as truthful, passionate, and unforced. On Built For The Sea’s recent ep, Mise en Scène (released in tangible format on September 18, 2008, and digitally on November 10, 2008), Rose shows even more vocal control and a refined singing style from the band’s debut album released in 2006. The beautifully befitting cover art on Mise en Scène, it should be noted, is by the expressive pop art poster pioneer, John Mavroudis. (Find his work at www.zenpop.com).
Along with Rose at the helm, Built For The Sea as a group have shown significant improvement in balancing instrumentation, in production, and in capitalizing on those moments of "magic" or perfect synchronization. The result as heard on Mise en Scène is the crème de la crème of dreamy, sentimental (but never crossing into melodramatic terrain, mind you) pop music.
"Secret Stories" boasts that same enviable ability of pop perfectionists of days past to make the simplest melodies sound beautiful without a trace of coming off as amateurish. Sparse recording and editing make the intro of a single-note piano line and accompanying cello reminiscent of a Bill Callahan-like creation. Also strong in one of Callahan’s greater suits (or to reference farther back and higher up, Leonard Cohen), the song is most successful in its intense intimacy.
With "Give it Time," the group lives up to its name and they prove themselves as versatile both in ability and in willingness to branch out into different styles and genres. The song begins with eerie, distant electric guitar through heavy, transcendent reverb until Rose’s sobering voice grounds the piece giving the first half of the song a push and pull feel between instrumentation. Leading up to the last minute of the song, however, "Give it Time," like a separate, living entity, has morphed into a progressive-style build-up and has a minute-long payoff of powerful, staggering hits with slow, dizzying releases that bring back visions of Homer’s "wine-dark sea" that Achilles gazes upon following the death of Patroclus.
Built For The Sea’s ideals manifest lyrically, as well, on Mise en Scène. The album closer, "Pacific," imagines a situation as it could be while still realizing the situation as it is. Lovelorn and separated, but determined to dream, Rose sings, "So I crossed the Atlantic, It won’t be the first time but maybe, I’ll get you to come back." Crossing an ocean is not seen as a barrier, but as passageway when you’re Built For The Sea.
And for you moggers, that cover artist walks among us: ZenPop. I highly encourage you to listen to a few more songs at Built For The Sea's Myspace page, and then order the goods once you're hooked--and it won't take long.
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Well Hallelujah and Hail Mary to that! Your post made me smile. Good writing. Enjoy the holiday as best you can:-)
The reality of my Christmas this year bites the big one, give me Dolly Parton & Rod Stewert singing "Baby It's Cold Outside" over any dirgy blues number. I love 'em the rest of the year just not for Christmas.
I did grow up with that large-family-Christmas-postcard-happiness but as I get older life has taken it's toll on my family and friends and myself and I find that come mid November each year I look forward to those incredibly sappy songs because it reminds me of how things used to be and not how things are today.
Regardless of what I just said, I understand your sentiment and I really like the tune I'll just wait a few weeks before I feel up to listening to the blues again.
Thanks E, Sleep well.
Sad Dachmo. I have a few "sappy" songs and posts over at my page if you're so inclined.
I've been divorced, lost my career job twice, dealt with a chid with dangerous tendencies, missed my Dad's funeral, missed my Mom's passing, and moved into 12 houses during my lifetime. (which ain't over yet though) So i can relate.
Christmas is about the hope that still exists, and doesn't have to be in the past.
Keep goin'.