The Studio

[Note: A version of this was originally published in the AV Newsletter, available every other month at the Music, Movies & More desk. For samples of each artist, check out our July playlist on Grooveshark.]

Meet the new boss ... same as the old boss

It was 45 years ago that The Who’s Roger Daltrey first sang “I hope I die before I get old.” For some reason, he chose to omit that song from his set list during his band’s Super Bowl medley earlier this year. This isn’t to say that great music is the exclusive domain of the young. This month’s crop of CDs proves that you can trust people over 30 – at least as far as their sonic output is concerned.

For your exhibit A, we have electronic musician James Murphy, otherwise known as LCD Soundsystem. Formerly part of the production collective The DFA, Murphy has pretty much trademarked the arch, minimalist tone that 21st-century dance-punk is known for, and helped to bridge the gap between New York’s early No Wave scene (including Talking Heads, The Contortions, and Blondie) to the contemporary sound of bands like The Rapture, Hot Chip, and Cut Copy. Now facing the other side of 40, the album This is Happening finds Murphy slightly more wistful, but with tongue just as firmly in cheek and feet firmly planted on the dance floor.

The National has been churning out solid, moody rock’n'roll for nearly a decade. While their past few albums called to mind a somewhat aimless life in the city, the lyrics on High Violet call to mind a more grown-up life. Characters have traded apartments for backyards, and flings for families. The album reflects this grudging maturity with a feel that’s less J.D. Salinger and more Richard Yates. Throughout it all, it’s still a National album, filled with their trademark complex, interlocking guitar work and Matt Berninger’s distinctive baritone.

Lest you think it’s all introspection and doubt, we have the power-pop tsunami that is The New Pornographers. This Canadian supergroup has always been known for its relentless melodies, sugary harmonizing, and complex time signatures. On Together, the tempo is letting up a bit, but the songcraft (and Neko Case’s voice) is just as powerful. Lest you think they’ve softened up completely, there’s a song like “Your Hands, Together,” which is a strong a statement the band has ever made. If you liked any of the Big Star hear-a-likes from the previous installment of Can’t Miss Music, definitely check these guys out.

[Note: This was originally published in the AV Newsletter, available every other month at the Music, Movies & More desk.]

The music world suffered a devastating loss on March 17th, when Alex Chilton died of a heart attack at the age of 59. Starting out as a member of the Box Tops, Chilton went on to form Big Star, as well as releasing a number of albums under his own name. Chilton may have never been a superstar, but his legacy runs deep. Hundreds of bands now cite him as an influence, and even if you don’t recognize the name, you most likely recognize his shambling, jangly power-pop sound. In this installment of the column, we’ll take a look at Chilton’s sonic descendants.

We’ll start with a look at some of the biggest names to have followed in Big Star’s footsteps. Perhaps the most significant group is R.E.M., the Athens, Georgia foursome (later a trio) who shot to multiplatinum alternative stardom in the late 80’s. Michael Stipe’s poetic, enigmatic lyrics blended with Peter Buck’s melodically haphazard guitar work helps to further the sound that Chilton made his own. Start with Document, and work your way through their entire catalog.

For a more rootsy version of the Big Star sound, look no farther than Wilco, who mixes the Chilton musical recipe with a world-weary tone and country overtones. They’ve been a Chicago favorite for some time now, so you’d be well-suited to check them out. Fans of the Chiltonesque pop-n-roll genre would be well suited to give Summerteeth a spin. If you like that one, try out the slightly less pop-influenced Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

It may seem to the casual observer that this genre is a men’s game. While the gender distribution does favor the Y-chromosome, there are a number of notable talents cranking out high-quality power pop, most notably Anna Waronker. The daughter of record producer Lenny Waronker, she’s certainly made her own mark, first with That Dog. and lately on her solo album Anna. Featuring crunchy power chords, and insanely catchy melodies, Waronker brings to mind artists like The Bangles or Matthew Sweet.

And we’ve only scratched the surface! From Sloan to Dr. Dog to Pavement, the Library has your jangly guitar-pop bases covered. If you’d like to hear samples of each artist, check out our Guitar-Pop Essentials Playlist on Grooveshark!

Who are your favorite guitar-pop groups? Let us know in the comments!

Victor Wooten is a bass player extraordinaire.  He regularly plays with Bela Fleck as one of the Flecktones, but he also performs solo. It is the solo outings that are totally innovative and surprising  His true home may be funk, but he can explore in a wide span of genres. Palmystery is his most recent CD.

Pianist Alicia De Larrocha died this past year.  Accomplished in the classical repertory, she is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish composers Granados and Albeniz.  As a tribute to her I’ve been listening to Iberia constantly.

Vijay Iyer has been getting a lot of positive press in the jazz world. I picked Tragicomic as one of my picks for 2009 before The Chicago Tribune chose it as “one of the most significant cultural events of the decade.” If you like jazz, check it out.

We’ve got another edition of the Studio podcast ready for you. In this edition, Toby’s talking about some of his favorite new albums of the past few weeks.

Skokie Public Library Studio Podcast

Featured albums:

Rodrigo y Gabriela, 11:11
Fruit Bats, The Ruminant Band
Sunset Rubdown, Dragonslayer

It is now easier than ever to find music online.  Google has recently released Google Music Search, a means of searching for songs, lyrics, and artists using Google’s unparalleled search engine.  Google music will even connect with full length (no annoying snippets) of songs from other websites such as Rhapsody, Pandora, imeen, MySpace music and others.  Oddly, it doesn’t link to my favorite music search engines Grooveshark or Songza.

Watch this video describing what Google Music Search can do.

I like the Google Music Search but at this point it comes well behind Grooveshark and Songza for my needs.  Grooveshark and Songza require less clicks to get to a song/artist and don’t require you to jump to other annoying websites to get to the meat.  But, then again, that is what a search engines is all about – getting you to other sites. Perhaps if I didn’t know about better resources, then Google Music Search would be more valuable.

Cross posted from The Radar.

Songza is a Google-esque search engine designed specifically for music. Type in a song title or artist name and it will spit out a list of songs. What makes this site so very excellent is the huge selection of music and just as importantly each song is played in its entirety. No more listening to only 40 seconds of a song and then a fade-out to nothing.

It is possible but not necessary to create and save songs to a profile. The saved songs will become a playlist which you can reorder and shuffle.  The profile will produce an RSS feed so friends and/or interested people can receive updates on songs you enjoy. You can follow my song selection @ http://songza.com/chesslibrarian/rss if you want.

Songza is fun but it isn’t perfect. Sometimes the songs lag a little. Unlike Pandora it does not stream new music to you.  Songza does not allow downloading of songs.

Songza is incredible for what it is does and I highly recommend playing with it!

The legendary and innovative jazz guitarist Les Paul died August 13, 2009 at the age of 94.  He played alongside sophisticated jazz musicians such as Art Tatum, Stuff Smith, and Louis Armstrong.  He later collaborated with his wife, Mary Ford, producing such hits as How High the Moon and Tennessee Waltz, where he experimented with multi-tracking recorded voices.  The Gibson Les Paul guitar has been worshipped by many more recent legendary rock and roll guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, and Joe Satriani.

Listen to:

All-time greatest hits

American made, world played 

Watch:

Les Paul : chasing sound!

Read:

The early years of the Les Paul legacy, 1915-1963

Les Paul : an American original

or do you need another listen without the crowd?

Try the Library!

Here is a sample of what you can find:

Depeche Mode

Tool

Killers

Jane’s Addiction

Kings of Leon

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Lou Reed

Ben Harper & Relentless7

Thievery Corporation

Rise Against

Andrew Bird

TV on the Radio

Vampire Weekend

The Decemberists

Neko Case

Animal Collective

Of  Montreal

Arctic Monkeys

Fleet Foxes

Band of Horses

Kaiser Chiefs

Coheed and Cambria

Ben Folds

Bon Iver

Silversun Pickups

Lykke Li

Peter Bjorn and John

Gomez

Glasvegas

The Airborne Toxic Event

Bat for Lashes

Passion Pit

Ra Ra Riot

White Lies

Raveonettes

Asher Roth

See the official  Lollapalooza website for the complete lineup.

Reserve the CDs now!

Please Please Me

With the Beatles

A Hard Day’s Night

Beatles for Sale

Help!

Rubber Soul

Revolver

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles (The White Album)

Abbey Road

Let It Be

Past Masters

Yellow Submarine

I wrote a little while ago about Grooveshark, an excellent music search and discovery website.   Since then the good people at Grooveshark have released a plugin (added capabilities) for our blogging software.

This plugin allows us to link to songs being discussed.  For example, I have been listening to Leonard Cohen’s The Partisan because of the election demonstrations taking place in Iran.

I am also listening to A Little Less Conversation by Elvis remixed by JXL. Why? Because the song is awesome, no other reason is needed.

In the future you may notice links to songs on the Grooveshark website.  Click on them and tell us if you like the music or not. To listen to the songs click on the Listen to Playlist button.