I tripped and fell into listening to Buddy Guy way later than I’d like to admit. The man is a blues legend, obviously, and from Chicago no less, yet I grew up knowing the man’s name and little else. Pops raised us on James Taylor and Leonard Cohen, and musical culture in my elementary and junior high circles rarely extended beyond what was playing on the radio.
Plus, ya know, kids can’t appreciate the blues. Nothing crappy has happened to them yet, and even if it has they’re too young and naïve to truly appreciate just how crappy that crappy thing may have been.
As a twentysomething scraping his way through school, broke, and dating the most wrong girl God could’ve crafted for me, I got the blues, baby, and Buddy Guy is exactly where I ended up first. After falling in love with some of the older stuff he did with Junior Wells, I went ahead and bought every damn piece of material the man had ever made.
And now there’s “Living Proof,” the 74-year-old musician’s most recent full-length record, and I don’t love Mr. Guy any less than I did the first time I listened to “Drinkin’ TNT ‘n’ Smokin’ Dynamite.” This guy is still ripping solos like he’s 30.
A few years ago when B.B. King (who appears on the album, by the way) was touring after turning 80 years old, my brother and I went to one of the shows and couldn’t help but notice that he’d lost a few steps musically. Don’t get me wrong, the guy was entertaining as hell, playing all the classics and telling loads of great stories that only B.B. could tell. But as far as tearing off on ol’ Lucille like he used to… well, it just wasn’t the same.
Buddy, though, is still killing it. The first track on the album, “74 Years Young,” is high-energy, high-emotion blues at its finest. “Stay Around a Little Longer,” the track featuring King, is soulful and emotional and cool, while “Where the Blues Begins,” featuring Carlos Santana, is a classic example of Guy molding to the style of just about anybody he plays with.
Look, there isn’t a bad apple in the peck. It’s blues the best possible way blues can be done by the guy who helped define the modern iteration of the genre. You don’t even have to date a horrible woman or lose every dime to appreciate it.
I used to work at a Dairy Queen. It was a great job with a great boss and great perks (all the Mister Misties you could drink!), but the one thing about it that did suck was our ratty boombox perched in the back of the store. It was this clunky, discolored old thing with one speaker that had been blown out by a brick several years earlier (part of an attempted store robbery once upon a time) and another speaker that popped in and out.
Regardless, that crusty old stereo got us through all the summers I worked through from high school through college, and considering the long, hard hours I put in at that place, it’s impossible now for me to hear certain top 40 songs from that era and not immediately think of Dilly Bars.
Probably the one I heard more than any other song was “One Week” by the Barenaked Ladies, which had to have dominated something 30% of all radio airspace throughout the entire year of 1999. I’ve heard that godforsaken song so many times that I could pick out the lead singer’s voice in a crowd easier than that of my own mother.
Which is how I had my “aha” moment while sifting through new releases this week. I had been previewing an album by a gentleman named Steven Page, who’s got a new record, “Page One,” hitting stores today, and within seconds I literally said to myself—out loud—“That’s the dude from Barenaked Ladies.”
A quick Wikipedia search while the song continued to play confirmed my suspicion, and it was at that point I was finally able to unwind and enjoy the music. That first track, “A New Shore,” was as jumpy and fresh and catchy as any other BNL song has ever been, and I of course fell in love with the track immediately.
With other keepers like “Indecision,” “Marry Me,” and “She’s Trying to Save Me,” it became clear very quickly that Page’s foray into solo stardom was off to a hot start. “Page One” is the first original solo album the former Barenaked Ladies frontman has put out after breaking from the group over a year ago. He’s dabbled in some theater stuff and collaborative works, but only now is getting to releasing a true solo album.
Thankfully, it’s a good’n, and if all goes well, some teenager forced to spend his or her entire summer working a Dairy Queen can have the same imbedded affinity for Steven Page as I clearly have for BNL. It’s what we in the business call the Circle of Life.
Okay, so nobody in any business really calls anything that, but “Page One” was good enough to make my taste buds long for a blue raspberry Mister Misty, and that proves more than anything that Page hasn’t lost his touch.
We all know that Sufjan Stevens can be kind of, well, weird. But I guess that’s a relatively loose statement. I mean, what do we consider weird? The fact that his music is appealing to the ear, but not in the same way as, say, Kanye West or John Mayer? I guess a more appropriate term would be unique. He’s unique because he creates music outside of the formula. He continually recreates the equation, not only in relation to the music industry but to his own style. You have to respect an artist that takes risks. Especially in an age where the formula is what’s proven to make the money. Sufjan Stevens is part of the revolution.
I first heard about Sufjan Stevens upon the announcement of his 50 states project. For those of you that aren’t familiar, the goal was to write an entire album of region-specific songs for each of the 50 states. It was a grand idea, but with only Michigan and Illinois complete, one can only speculate as to whether or not the project will ever see the end. But regardless of whether or not he makes it to your state, he’s still creating new music for all, as is apparent with his latest release The Age of Adz.
This album is definitely different than his previous releases, but still very Sufjan. You’ll still hear the guitar, horns, strings, synthesizers and random strange noises. But themes are a little more wildly spread out throughout the album to take you through many different moods in a single listening session.
Buy The Age of Adz:
So with it being new music Tuesday, I wanted to let you know about the new David Archuleta album. His angelic voice and boyish good looks make him the perfect treat for any 10-year-old girl wanting to take a break from their Tiger Beat magazine. But then I realized that you’re not a 10-year-old girl.
Then I wanted to let you know about the brand new WOW Hits 2011 which I imagine is like a NOW That’s What I Call Music! CD and, let’s be honest, we all have CD burners. For those of you that haven’t figured out that these albums are just burned CDs you are paying full price for, look it up on AOL or whatever old people use these days.
But then I caught wind of the brand new Guster album. I knew right then that I would have to let you know about Easy Wonderful. For those of you that already know about (and belong to) Guster’s cult following, humor me for a second. These guys became popular around 1999 for the release of their single “Fa Fa” which goes a little something like this:
Ah, it’s nice to remember. Their new album is a slight departure from their older sound, but they still keep the same light-hearted, melodic approach with perhaps a more fully-produced sound. Their music has matured like a fine red wine, and I have to say I was again pleasantly surprised with their latest release. If you’re a fan of Guster, you’ll love Easy Wonderful. If you’re not a fan of Guster, you’ll love Easy Wonderful. It’s a win-win situation.
Here’s the latest single “Do You Love Me” with a pretty seriously awesome video:
Buy Easy Wonderful:
Sometimes, you listen to music because it’s musical. You feel like being moved by a melody or having some hard guitar or bass riff punish your ears in a fit of unrequited energy. Whatever. Music definitely plays the role of aural delectable.
But for many of us, music is also about the words—every syllable carefully chosen and arranged in a way that either best fits the tune or best fits the songwriter’s philosophies. We take a lot of meaning out of songs that say something worthwhile, and I’m guessing several people’s favorite artists are those who not only rock out, but speak out, too.
Ben Folds is typically one of those musicians who manages both words and melodies with an ability unparalleled by hardly anybody in the industry. But on his new album, “Lonely Avenue,” he didn’t write a single lyric. Nick Hornby, renowned author of books like “High Fidelity,” “About a Girl,” and “Fever Pitch,” took care of that aspect of this particular album’s tracks.
How do a great author and a great pianist come together for a project like this? Well, Folds is a fan of Hornby’s work and he came across an essay in one of his books called “31 Songs” in which Hornby praises the lyrics in Folds’s “Smoke.” Mutual admiration turned into a pretty incredible musical experiment that any fan of Ben Folds is going to absolutely adore.
Because Hornby is a writer of fiction, most of the tracks have a very narrative quality about them, and that added to Ben Folds’s gorgeous and intricate melodies makes for some very memorable music. “Picture Window” is my predetermined hit of the record, but tracks like “Claire’s Ninth” and “From Above” are also spectacular work.
We’re looking at a seriously unique project here that takes two people at the apex of their craft and puts them to work in a sort of symbiotic diamond. It’s poetry, it’s music, and it’s fantastic. Whether you listen to music for the tune or the words, you’re going to get more than your money’s worth on this one.
Check out a preview of the album here:
