D is For Drums

If you hadn't guessed, yes, this post will be about "something that you play with sticks". Now, not being a drummer myself, I can't claim to be particularly savvy to the ins and outs of drumming--I don't know the difference between a diddle and a para-diddle, I wouldn't have the first clue on how to tune a drum, and I couldn't name even one brand of snare. However, I do know when drums really get me groovin, so here is a list of some of my favorite drumming moments in music.




I think there's a sax solo around 4:40, and you know, it's probably pretty good, but Steve Gadd's drumming in this section is always what has always drawn my attention, so even after hearing this song probably over a hundred times, I'm still not really sure what the sax sounds like. How Gadd manages to play such sick fills, still emphasize the chord hits from the rest of band, and stay really tasteful is really just beyond me. Check the outro for more drumming wizardry as well.




I could go on and on for days about this band, many of my close friends know that harbor an almost unhealthy appreciation for them, but I'm not here to talk about Anathallo; I'm here to talk about DRUMS. And let me tell you, the DRUMS are what really make this song; this is an exemplary example of doing a whole lot with very little--the drum beat consists only of hits on the floor tom and on the rim, but the power behind it when four or five members of the band are playing it is undeniable. This is the only song I can think of that I regularly listen to up to four or five times in a row. And I know I said I wasn't going to gush about this band, but if you dig this, you should really check out Anathallo; they're truly hidden gem buried out there in the musical landscape.




I have little reservation about saying that Jimmy Chamberlin is my favorite drummer of all time, and this song is a perfect example of it. Now, when I first heard about Chamberlin's solo album, I had the reaction that most people would have: I assumed it would be an extremely self indulgent affair, drum solo after drum solo, maybe a little music here and there, but mostly the guy on the kit showing off how cool he is. Now I would be totally amiss if I said that this album doesn't showcase how extraordinarily cool Jimmy Chamberlin is, but as it turns out Mr. Chamberlin is not just a hell of a drummer; he's a hell of a musician, and he knows some hells of other musicians too. The music on the album really holds up, and the really great part about Chamberlin's drumming, be it in this group, Smashing Pumpkins, Zwan, or whatever, is that it's always really interesting and awesome while still being completely complementary to what the rest of the band is doing. Jimmy is consistently a powerhouse-groovemeister, but is also always tasteful about how he lets us know how cool he is, leaving room for us to see how cool the other band members are as well, and this song is a case in point.




Being by The Books, it's hard to say whether the percussion in this song consists of live drumming or is all sampled, but it doesn't really matter which it is. The drums in this song play such a central role in the rhythm, dynamics, and overall character of the song, I'd almost call them melodic. Especially creative is the monologue starting around 2:28 being bolstered and punctuated by the drum hits arranged to coincide with the speaking rhythm--I have no idea why it works as well as it does, but it does, and trust me, it's pretty sweet.




If Jimmy Chamberlin did not exist, I'm pretty sure Matt Cameron would take the crown as my favorite drummer. This song wins my award for most tactful and effective drumming performance of the post. Normally, a drummer in a rock band holds his drums and his cymbals in more or less equal regard--even if he's not hitting a lot of crashes and adding lots of color to the sound, he's probably at least riding either the hi-hat or ride cymbal to keep a steady beat. In this song, however, Matt Cameron does no such thing--the guy barely even has hit five cymbals a minute and half in, an aesthetic decision that might not be a particularly obvious choice in a song this aggressive and brutal. However, Matt's conservative use of cymbals allows the toms and bass to really drive the song and make it that much more menacing, and consequently when he does implement the occasional hi-hat choke or crash, it has that much more weight--it's as though the cymbals have much more character for their sparse use, and are that much more effective for it. Additionally, when the song hits the bridge and Cameron finally begins to use the plates a bit more liberally, the song really opens up, and the loudest section of the song is almost a relief after the relentless tom assault the entirety of the song had been up to this point. Of course, when the tom groove kicks back in to end the song, it hits all the harder once again.




I already wrote pretty extensively about this song in one of the first posts on this blog, but the studio version has something that the live version I posted before does not; never before has a drum roll created so much tension than in this song. And even more unnerving than the length of the rolls and the anticipation of a resolution is the jarring choice to give no resolution at all. No cymbal, no big chord; the roll just stops. Props to Low for making the oldest trick in the book make my skin crawl.


Zwan -- Mary Star of the Sea

Alright, I just couldn't resist one more Jimmy Chamberlin performance. If Streetcrawler was Jimmy in groove mode, this is Jimmy engaging in a raucous bout of all out ass-kickery. It starts off slowly enough, but soon enough Jimmy is handing you your ass on a sliver platter, with a generous side of holy crap to compliment it. I'll just let the drums do the rest of the talking on this one, though notable sections are 3:18-4:00, and pretty much the entire latter section of the song, especially 11:38-12:04. Lastly, a WARNING: do not listen to this song immediately before going to bed; I did the other night, and it got me so pumped I couldn't fall asleep for several hours afterward.

I hope I get old before I die

The best choir in the world contains exactly zero professional musicians and performs only arrangements of rock and roll songs. Also, every member of the group is old enough to be your grandpa.



Alright, maybe "best choir in the world" is a little hyperbolic no matter what group you're talking about, and the music I'm referring to here is certainly a far cry from a traditional choral setting. But the Young at Heart Chorus is definitely one of the most unique and fantastic musical groups I have ever heard of, and it's a shame that hardly anyone out there knows about them.

The full back story to Y@H's genesis and existence can be found on their website, but briefly, the chorus consists of a bunch of elderly retired people from the New England area, and is led by their director Bob Cilman and a full backing band in performing arrangements of songs by everyone from Bob Dylan to Sonic Youth.

Now, I tell a lot of people about this group, and I usually get to about this point before being dismissed by my listener. They assume, from my description, that the group is at most amusing and novel, and I'm just sort of a stickler for weird, quirky musical obscurities like this. They figure it can't be anything more than "cute".

Now I'll admit, on its surface, yes, the idea of a bunch of 70+ year old people performing a song by The Rolling Stones does sound a little silly (especially if those people are the Rolling Stones--ooo zing!). But my interest in the group isn't just surface deep--the brilliance of this group is in how all these songs take on an entirely new life when performed by a crowd of geriatric old codgers. Both musically, and especially lyrically, these songs are transformed into pieces of art unto themselves, and each song can be cast in a light perhaps entirely different than it was originally intended, which I find both interesting and absolutely amazing. More than anything, Y@H conjures up an affirmation for life and for living that life to its fullest that a younger performing group could never attain, no matter how heartfelt it might be.

For instance, Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" takes on a new dimension when it's not the thirty-something Dylan but a group of people over twice that age expounding "May you build a ladder to the stars // And climb on every rung // May you stay forever young", and the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" experiences a similar facelift in the hands of Y@H.

However, Young at Heart aren't totally oblivious to the amusing juxtaposition that can occur when rock songs are performed by people older than rock and roll itself, and it makes for some of their best moments; their take on Outkast's Hey Ya provides probably the only instance ever of a bunch of grandpas asking "What's cooler than being cool?" followed by a request that their audience "shake it like a Polaroid picture."

Another amusing consequence of the weird setting these songs are being performed in is that some songs develop such a stark contrast from the sentiment of the original that the song becomes about something else entirely; the Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" is a case in point, and Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" becomes both hilarious during the verse and heartwarming during the chorus when belted out by these hip geezers:



That said, however, Young At Heart's biggest achievement, at least in my mind, is one that I never thought possible: they made me like a Coldplay song.

All kidding aside, Y@H's performance of "Fix You" is one of the most gut-wrenching and emotional performances I've ever heard or seen. A little backstory--the song was originally going to be performed as a duet between chorus members Fred Knittle and Bob Salvini, but only several days before the following performance Salvini died after a long illness. Knittle decided to carry the line and perform the song on his own as tribute to his recently lost friend. The weight of the situation, the poignancy of the lyrics, Knittle's heartfelt baritone, and the consistent puffing sound of Knittle's oxygen tank as reminder of just how frail Fred is himself create one of the most gripping musical performances imaginable simply by necessity, because it couldn't be performed any other way.

I was torn about whether to include the video or the audio track for this performance; the video adds a very compelling and touching visual component, but it also inexplicably edits out a good chunk of the song, including my favorite line. So I've decided to include both--watch the video first, and then if you feel so compelled, check out the audio track below.

Fix You video (embedding disabled)

For me, the most inspiring lyric comes right at the end of the bridge, when the 81-year old Fred forcefully decries "I promise you that I will learn from my mistakes". The idea that a man who so obviously is on the homestretch, a guy unable to stand for his performance and relying on a portable oxygen tank to stay alive, could still affirm and embrace life enough to want to better himself this late in the game is truly empowering.

Fix You full audio

I hope this post wasn't too packed with sentimentality, but I also hope I got the point across. Anyway, if I can still be rocking even half as hard as these folks when I get to be this age, I'll be golden.

BLOW UP

Yet another reason why Andrew WK is the greatest guy on earth:

"Epic"

DISCLAIMER: Before you get your hopes up, no, this post is not about Faith No More. Sorry to disappoint.


The word "Epic" is one that seems to get flung around these days with wild abandon. An ice cream sundae, a weekend trip to Grandma's house, a fanny pack--I've heard all these things and more described as "epic". Now I'm all for using the word when it's appropriate, but come on; a fanny pack? I don't think even God Clapton the FSM himself could fashion a fanny pack that could ever be described as "epic".



However, if you're looking for something truly epic, look no further--the following has been certified to contain 200% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin E (the E stands for "epic", in case you haven't been following along at home), along with being a significant source of majestic and awesome as well. On a related note, I'm becoming more and more convinced that this is objectively the greatest song ever written:



Damn! What a rock star! And how does he make it look so easy?

Also, check out the chops on the concertmaster. Ol' Grizzly McFiddlepants is looking so damn grizzly.

Living Robot God Delusion Anti-Robot Demolition

I guess I should start this post off by saying that I am not extremely well versed in the technical details of vocal processing, most notably what the difference is aurally between autotune and other vocoding techniques--so far as I can tell, autotune is just a specific, extremely popular piece of vocoder software, but I can't pick it out against other vocoders. As such I will probably misuse and inappropriately equivocate the terms; my apologies to anyone I offend out there.

But that being said, if you're anything like me, you've probably had enough crappy autotuned pop shoved down your throat in that past couple years that just the two letters T and I next to each other make you gag a little bit; let's take a look at a prime example of this infection that has been festering for a while:






One of the main questions that naturally arises is one of the integrity and validity of the "musicians" using such heavily processed vocals. What does Keisha's singing voice actually sound like? Can she actually sing? And why does she always look like she'd be kinda smelly in her music videos? Anyway, a number of performers, whether because they can't actually sing or just because they feel safer with an autotune safety net, have actually been performing live shows with autotuned vocals, blurring the line between who is actually performing anymore and who is pulling a Milli Vanilli on us. Of course, it's understandable if the studio vocal is obviously autotuned, but when "singers" like Faith Hill are relying on autotune to correct their pitch live, it seems a bit more dishonest. Naturally, some musicians are not so keen on this practice; Christina Aguilera has obviously made her opinion on the matter crystal clear, and Henry Rollins also seems to share this sentiment on this track with William Shatner (check 2:30):



However, I don't really want to talk about artistic integrity here; that's for another post. I want to talk about what these processed vocals sound like. A lot of people claim to absolutely hate the sound of autotuned vocals, and I often ask them if they actually objectively don't like the auditory experience they're having, or if they're just sick of hearing tons of crappy songs with autotuned vocals (obvious connotations with a robotic music industry notwithstanding). Some people do answer with the former, but I find more often than not it's not the autotuned vocal itself that people find offensive, it's the context in which it's presented.

Personally, I don't believe that the sound of autotuned vocals themselves is offensive to the ear, it's just that it's gone past being cliche to the point where you can pretty much assume that any pop song that needs a vocal melody is going to be heavily autotuned. It's the frequency with which this thing shows up that makes people really hate it, which is a shame, because I think it's a useful tool if put in the right hands.

One rather interesting application that has been cropping up has been autotuning vocal clips never intended for musical use. This technique often ends up being used for humorous purposes; a particularly popular example of this is the Gregory Brothers' Autotune the News:



Autotuning seems made for this sort of humor; the juxtaposition of something like the evening news in the context of a bumping dance song seems pretty funny to me.

A few brave souls have been autotuning existing audio clips for more serious musical endeavors, the best of which I've heard has to be John Boswell's Symphony of Science series. I'm planning on doing an entire post on Symphony of Science at some point, so I won't say too much here, aside from the fact that Boswell does an excellent job of being very musical in his use of autotune, proving that it's not strictly for club-bangers:



Boswell shows that autotune can actually be really cool when it's not being used mindlessly, and luckily other musicians are catching onto this as well. I'd heard plenty of autotuned and/or vocoded music before that I had liked (Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" and Radiohead's "Everything in its Right Place" come to mind in particular), but it wasn't until I heard "Love You All" by Cloud Cult that I really starting viewing autotune not as just a novelty, but as a real musical instrument, with potential for depth and expression:



Part of what is most effective about this kind of "serious" autotune is the interesting juxtaposition one gets when a very human sentiment is being expressed by this robotic voice--in this case, Craig Minowa singing about his love for his family and friends. In one way, it's almost tragic; I get an image of a robot who wants to be a "real boy", trying to be as human as possible and becoming attached to those around him, but there will always be this barrier between him and those he cares for because he is innately different, and yet he persists in this alien emotion because it seems so important. It actually reminds me a lot of Leto II in the Dune series and his pure but tragic love for Hwi... but maybe I just have a really overactive imagination, and in any case I'm getting way off topic.

Anyway, on the other hand, this sort of robot love can also seem very empowering, as though love is this entity that transcends even the need for a biological existence. Craig Minowa's sentiments are not lost even though they are conveyed through this soulless machine--the sentiments are actually amplified strictly by virtue of their remaining intact in this transition from a human voice to a cold, calculated string of ones and zeros that get shuffled around and then somehow spat out of a speaker.

"Computer Love" isn't the only avenue for "serious" use of autotune, though; sometimes it can be used effectively just as an additional instrument in a song. On Sufjan Stevens' most recent album The Age of Adz, the record's conclusory track, the sprawling 25 minute "Impossible Soul", exhibits some really tasteful autotuned vocals among a musical landscape where autotune is probably the last thing you'd expect to hear, but it works. Stream it here; the autotune comes in around 10:35, though I'd recommend listening to the whole thing, both for the context in which the autotune is cropping up, and because the song (while maybe a little overblown) is really cool.

And while some props have to go to Imogen Heap for her Hide and Seek, for me there is no question that the best example of autotune's capability as a vehicle for musical expression is Justin Vernon's "acapella" tune "Woods" from Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP; if anything proves that there can be a soul in autotune, it's this:



Credit goes to Dominick for getting me seriously thinking about autotune lately.

everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful

This song wins the award for the darkest lyric sung in the lightest manner. Also, the dancing is sweet:

THE ULTIMATE HOBO BAND

For reasons that I don't recall, in high school a few friends and I played this sort of game where we'd choose famous (or not so famous) musicians to form supergroups that were tied together by some arbitrary characteristic--some particularly fun ones were The Mustache Band, The Left-Handers, and The Men Who Are Often Mistaken For Women Band (James Iha, eat your heart out). However, the one I remember most fondly was The Hobo Band, where all the members had to look like (surprise!) hobos. My musical knowledge has expanded since the original Hobo Band, so I've decided to resurrect this terribly stupid idea and create a new and improved Hobo Band 2010. If this goes well, perhaps some other theme bands will show up in the future as well.

So, without any further ado, I present Barry's Ultimate Hobo Band.


Kim Thayil (Soundgarden)
Meedly Guitar/Sludge Riffs



As far as I know, Kim Thayil was born with a giant beard and really long hair, and clearly not much has changed since. Also, being in a band in the 90's really helped with the hobo look since the fashion aesthetic was pretty much "dress like you don't give a crap," which I think Kim really took to heart. And his hoboness has only improved with time--now that his beard is gray, this guy is nothing short of hobotastic.


Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top)
Blues Licks/Fuzzy Guitar



I mean, seriously. Just look at this guy's beard. Really though, I honestly am not extremely excited about Billy's inclusion in the band because there is a guitarist I wanted to include more, but couldn't for reasons I'll explain later. As it stands, Billy is an okay member--I'm sure he'd be outclassed on the axe at every turn by Kim, but he does really really look like he should be carrying around all his possessions in a sack slung over his shoulder and jumping on train cars as they roll by, so he makes the cut.


Walter Becker (Steely Dan)
Bass/Jazz Smarm



This was also a really hard decision, but for a different reason: there are hardly any bass players that look like hobos, at least that I could find. Maybe bass players are just more inclined to being more presentable and clean shaven than other musicians? Must be the only way they can pick up on the ladies competing with guitarists, drummers, and singers. Ooo, sick burn. I don't really mean it. Besides, no matter what the reality is, I'm personally worse off than all those guys; I play keyboards. Keyboards. Yeah, that's cool. Anyway, in order for this to work we'd have to get a time-traveled Becker from the 70's, because current Becker just looks like someone's dad. I think there could be some cool interplay between Becker's jazz tendencies and Thayil's metal chops, though.


Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine)
Drums/Croons/Wyattron



This one will require even more weird temporal manipulation, since Wyatt didn't look like a hobo until later in his career, but had to stop playing drums before his hobo days due to an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. However, I'm sure the guys in R&D will be able to work something out. Anyway, this guy is obviously pretty hobo-rific, plus he can sing something like 5 or 6 octaves, is/was a great jazz-influenced drummer, and is friends with Brian Eno and Bjork. What a guy.





Honorable Mentions

Here are some others who were up for consideration but just didn't make the cut:


Eugene Huts (Gogol Bordello)



This guy was a strong consideration, but the feeling he was giving me just wasn't quite right; he gives more of a crazed homeless guy vibe than he does hobo.


Ol' Dirty Bastard (Wu Tang Clan)



A guy who has a nickname like Dirt McGirt, who is missing a bunch of teeth, and who unapologetically proclaims on The Wu's debut album "The Ol' Dirty Bastard is dirty and stinky" seems like a perfect candidate for a hobo band member. However, it just seems to me that you can't be in a hobo band if you've ever had platinum teeth at any point in your life, hence his disqualification.


Daniel Johnston



When the choice is between this guy and Robert Wyatt, there's pretty much no questions about what the correct decision is.


Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)




The only other bassist in contention, he suffered from problems similar to Eugene Hutz. Also, a hobo with this short of hair and no beard just seems wrong to me.


Denny Dias (Steely Dan)



Oh hai, Denny. I definitely would have preferred to include Denny in the group over Billy Gibbons, but it seemed lame to me to have half the band members be from Steely Dan, and as I mentioned before, my choices were a lot more scarce in the bass department than they were for guitar. Hence Becker made the cut while poor Denny here got the...axe. Hoo hoo hoo what a good guitar pun, Barry.