Rings Around the Furry Animals

Before I went back to school in the fall of 2000 I went to see my friends about what new music I should be listening to so I can be hip on and talk about. Since a few of my friends worked at a record store I got their take on the new music scene. There was a list from one friend and another friend told me that I should listen to a few groups that are unique and might catch the eyes of some people up at school. I knew some bands would carry to the people who do like good music. These bands like Radiohead, R.E.M, and the like. My friend gave me a promo copy of the new Spiritualized at the time and also handed me a copy of The Flaming Lips Soft Bulletin. He told me that will get somebody's attention. He also handed me a band I knew a bit about, but had not heard their music. This band was called Super Furry Animals. I might have heard them in passing, but did not recognize who they were.

During the summer of 2000 I took a bunch of music and put together a 3CD set for me to listen to in the car. I listened to all this stuff that I thought I would listen to and I really was ready for the new world of school and also at the same time. My friend handed me a few Super Furry Animal CD's and told me that I would love them. He was was correct, it did not take much to get into their music. I liked the spacey electronic stuff as well as the hard rocking music they did. The Super Furry Animals were not like anything that I heard from other bands of that era. The music was different because while some of the bands I did listen to were serious in their musical intent; Super Furry Animals just seemed like they were having a great time.



The two CD's that my friend gave me had tongue and cheek lyrics as well as song titles that were filled with humor. But in their own way the music was quite fun and exciting as well. It was a band that I knew I was going to love. It was quite funny listening to all their songs hearing how not serious they were talking about life. It was like this band was just here to have fun and ride the waves of what ever would happen to them. This is a band I could be a follower for a long time. I actually still am too. I buy all their music and listen to their music with the humor they find in making it.

In 2001 I told my friend who introduced me to them they were coming to America to tour. He and I said we would make the effort to go see them. I grabbed a few of my college friends and we went to see them. Not only were they good in the studio, but they were great live and the funny stuff was also transformed on stage. They came out in Furry Animal suits and looked like chewbacca's It was quite funny for the first 15 minutes of the show. They played this spacey type song and after the song was over they took off their outfits and introduced each other to the crowd. The album they were promoting was the one in this blog. Rings Around the World is a fine album. It might be my favorite album of theirs though. The first three or four songs are really a great introduction to what they do so well. When you hear them they mix a Beatles type feel from the late sixties with humor and wit with a dash of electronic music. They even have some fun cameo's on the album. Paul McCartney and John Cale make themselves known that this too is as fun for the Super Furry Animals as well it is for them.



With its kaleidoscopic blend of pop, prog, punk, psych, and electronica. Still, this is nearly Super Furry Cliff Notes, offering a glossy, big-screen variation on all of their themes -- decadently lush pop-psych, chugging rock & roll, bitter leftism, sublimely warped imagery, experimentalism wrapped in luxurious productions.(AM) The CD is a great start for anyone who wants to explore them. This is what I want in my music. It is an album that will beg you to listen to it more and more. Try it on for size and let me know what you think. This is the reason I love music, because when it's a band not to be taken seriously you have a lot of fun. They were so not serious before when they did a an all Welsh album. I bet you cannot say anything about that any other band out there. Get this and I am sure you will love them as much as I do. Enjoy!

Fantasisa's of Sandy Bull

Once in a while you find music that you would have never thought you would hear in your lifetime. You hear this music and wonder how this either escaped you or when it did come out, what were people thinking. Once in a while you hear something that ten, even twenty years down the line it finally catches up to you. In the age of internet and computers and technology this might be heard or not. It might be somewhere in the middle or even a music fan like myself might catch it that curve. It always baffled me that music like this came out. Where was it's audience or even then what people loved this stuff that anytime this music was around did people go see it or try to tell others about it.

In 1963 when Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo came out, I am sure there were people who had no idea what this was. There might be even people who do and like me I wonder what they would have thought about this stuff. I don't know much of the story behind this, but when I heard it after doing the 21st century thing (downloading) I was struck by the uniqueness of this music. What was the goal of this music. Was it to turn heads? What was Vanguard records thinking? They were a folk label sure, but was there a point that they might have stumbled upon something so different that they had to put it out or did they see some vision that we all missed and now is some kind of talked about classic.



A fusion of the most different musical forms, folk, blues, bluegrass, jazz & more, with a unique use of guitar & banjo. That is what Amazon said about it. It sure is, because I hear all kinds of influences. It is way different then what was coming out at the time. Yes, true, the music of that was just before the Beatles made it and the folk music was popular, but this was not political. At least not in the music. There was no words, so he had really nothing to say. When I first heard this I was in shock that a person can create this. I was even more in awe when his funny little remake of "Carmina Burana Fantasy" was on here with Sandy playing Banjo. No orchestra no voice like the piece we know so well.



So if you are interested in something way different then what is really out there or something that really is beyond description, then you should try this out. As all music points out before Leo Kottke, Richard Thompson, and Ry Cooder Sandy Bull did it better then anybody else. Not "rock" by any stretch of the imagination, it's nevertheless easy to see that it could have had an influence on the rock musicians who began incorporating eclectic and Middle Eastern sensibilities into their music a few years later. Even more impressive asking Ornette Coleman's drummer Billy Higgins to sit and and helping along made for interesting music. Try it if you find a copy let me know! I love to hear what you have to say! Enjoy!

Timeless Abercrombie

People who know me well, know that I will not settle for any music that is not engaging or simple. I love music that takes a bit of difficulty to really understand what is happening. People who also know me know that I love ECM records. I mean any smart music geek should listen to some of the early ECM albums to hear how forward thinking this music was. The other day I grabbed some of this early ECM gems and really was quite impressed with what this music did for me and for music in general.

I took the more then handful of these records and went through them. I was looking for something that was rare and unique for it's time frame and then with the music that goes with it. In some respect, the music never fit the years that the music belonged with. When ECM started in 1970, not many people were listening to Jazz, or Classical. If they were they were like my science teacher from High School, who told me that he liked music with Organ and the popular music for him was Procol Harum. He loved listening to Bach Organ music and stuff that was not of mainstream music, but of stuff that was just unique. I owe him a lot on the music I listen to now, because the music that I love is jazz keyboard music. The Bill Evans, Keith Jarretts' of this world are amazing every time I hear them. They never get old.



I also love Guitar as well. The music of great guitar chord progressions really astonish me as well. If you notice a theme in some of my ECM blogs I really like the music of John Abercrombie. He is featured in a few of my posts. From Gateway to the Collin Walcott Grazing Dreams to baking Charles Lloyd. His guitar playing is sick and beyond description. I had the pleasure of seeing him play a few times. The first time I saw him play he made me speechless. The second time around I knew what to expect, but he still once again had me shaking my head. I know what your thinking. Is there a few Rock guitar players that do the same thing? Yes, there is but remember they play with bass, keys and drums. With John Abercrombie, he plays with any kind of group. His latest project is a quartet of Violin, Upright Bass and Drums. He has done this ensemble of for the past three albums.

So now were are back in John Abercrombie's early years. The album I chose was his first as a leader. It was called Timeless. This one in a way is also unique with band forming. This has the great Jan Hammer on keyboards and also Jack DeJohnette on drums. There is no need for bass or even a brass section here. They do this with so little effort that it seems like they did this when they were kids. Even the song "Love Song" where it's only piano and acoustic guitar sounds great with so little effort. the other piano and acoustic guitar duet "Remembering" sounded fresh and new. In all this great music the song that still makes my head shake on this album is the staple in Abercrombie's cannon. "Ralph's Piano Waltz" is amazing piece of work. It makes you understand why a group like this comes around once in a blue moon. Even in 1975 this stuff was really ahead of it's time.



If you need to add more soul to your music collection and really want to hear the music tell the story like it should then I suggest this album. To me, it's a wonderful album just to hear how three great musicians really know how to put it all together and do it well. It really is an album worth searching for. After this I am sure any ECM album will be on your mind next time you go CD's buying. Check it out and let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Electric Porn!!

When you hear the music of the New Pornographers it does not take you long to get hooked. I mean this large ensemble is quite amazing. The sound of their music is sounding like a orchestra. I knew when I first heard them back in 2001 I knew that I more then likely would be a fan for life. Then I saw them live and really did understand that they are very talented and more then likely I will be waiting for their next breath. The stuff they put out is full of more energy then bands half their size put out. The writing, and the music is so great.

What makes the New Pornographers so great is that fact they share everything as far as the musical load and the writing load. Not one person is responsible for these great actions. Even better is the fact that the solo careers of A.C. Newman and Neko Case are even just as great as an album that the New Pornographers would put out. It's hard to realize that they are even from Canada. Not to knock Canada, but there is so much great stuff that we don't really appreciate that should be heard.



I liked what I heard and really enjoyed the music that they did. It was not a band who was going to do one album and ten years from now wonder if they are still making music. It was great to also hear that the females in the band share the vocal duties. Hearing Neko Case makes my heart melt, and in a band like this, it is easy to see how much weight she carries. The whole band at times makes these great songs that get crafted around her. In other songs her voice carries the song as a whole. A great example of both females in the band is the song "All For Swinging You Around." It's music that you wish you could make. The catchy hooks and the best words and music in the world. You hear this stuff and you know that this is not a flash in a pan type thing. This is stuff that has a great makings of a Indie-Rock masterpiece.

A.C. Newman and Neko really know where it counts too. I have not been disappointed by any of their music or writing. They took just under a year to create this album, so naturally a fresh confidence would transpire and "The Laws Have Changed" highlights the band's growth as a whole. This is a band that really knows where there direction is. I like that in a band. With so much music out there, do some of these bands really know which way is the correct way? I think there are a few bands that do and here is proof.

It was crime at the time
But the laws, we changed them
Though the hero for hire's
Forever the same one

Introducing for the first time
Pharaoh on the microphone
Sing all hail
What'll be revealed today
When we peer into the great unknown
From the line to the throne?

Awakened to cheers
After years on the faultline
We are shocked to be here
In the face of the meantime
Pharaoh, all your methods have taught me
Is to separate my blood from bone

It will all fail
Feeling what I feel today
When we peer into the great unknown
From the line to the throne

Form a line through here
Form a line to the throne

Alone in the chain
It remains to be seen how
How well you can play
When the pawn takes a queen now

It was crime at the time
But the laws have changed
Yeah



I chose this album because this is the first one I heard and was in shock how great something like this could be made in today's fast paced times. I do regret not playing a lot of this CD on my radio shows. It would really have a great vibe for a few of my shows. Electric Version has 13 songs and all of them are keepers. They are great and each song will have some kind of connection. It's a must own and should be part of anyone's music collection. Enjoy a band and the music of The New Pornographers. This might be something you might be missing. I like this a lot more then I say in this post. It is an album that keeps you smiling and saying, "This music will save the world." Enjoy!