Music From Big Pink (The Band)

Today I want to get off the 'final release for a band' train, and instead talk about the 'first release for The Band'.  And I'll get some of the negative out right away - I personally think Music From Big Pink is an overrated record, not terrible, but certainly not exciting and only occasionally moving.

One thing I will say in the Band's favor though.  They sound authentic, and never moreso than on this first recording.  Even when the writing isn't up to par, the band's vocal deliveries and ensemble sound keep things grounded in real human emotion.  And what about that ensemble sound?  These guys really do have a unique vibe all their own.  It is roots music, but the abundance of piano and organ, as well as the guitar and especially vocal style, gives it a distinctly soulful feel that I find missing in a lot of 'Americana'.  But when they get more adventurous with their arrangements on this record, I feel the results are spotty.  I genuinely love the twists and turns of "We Can Talk", but I hate the overblown organ intro to "Chest Fever", and repeating it in the middle of the song was a terrible, terrible idea.

The songwriting is similarly inconsistent.  The strongest songs for me, both melodically and lyrically, are when they clearly have Dylan's help:  I could listen to "Tears of Rage" a million times and still be riveted.  But when left to their own devices, they simply cannot deliver on the same level, despite some attempts like "The Weight" and "Lonesome Suzie".  These aren't bad songs, but they're both longer than they need to be.  Even some of the shorter songs tend to drag a bit ("In a Station" comes to mind).

When I think of Music From Big Pink as a whole, I must admit that it is a very cohesive record.  It has a sound all its own, while avoiding sounding particularly repetitive.  Nevertheless, it's also a fairly plodding record where the only real standouts occur because of outside influence.  And while the sound may be homely and authentic, it's not particularly grabbing or exciting.  But enough of my complaining, Dave claims to like this album a lot, so maybe he'll say something different.

 
First of all, we owe an apology for the lateness of this update.  We usually like to get a review up on Tuesdays, but we were on the road all day this past Tuesday before playing a show that evening, and that's part of what I want to talk about.

The show was great.  We played at a fairly large neighborhood bar in a cozy residential zone not far from downtown Indianapolis.  The place is called the Vollrath Tavern, and the venue rep's name is Elvis.  We got there and Dave asked him where the bathroom was.  He immediately fired back with "Men's or women's?"  I knew right away that this dude and this night were gonna be awesome.

It turned out that the venue was an original-music-only venue, and after getting called and threatened by BMI or ASCAP or some other such fascist organization, they actually enforced it.  When the first band played a cover song, they were immediately addressed by one of the workers and told they couldn't do that again.  Then when we played our set, we played a relatively new song of our own, and we had our sound shut down in the middle!  Someone in the audience swore that it was a cover of a Queen song.  We were apologized to and given a free shot for our trouble; plus it was a good laugh when we started the song from the middle to finish it.

But it kind of got me thinking, as a songwriter, is it good to write something that reminds someone of something else?  Obviously if it reminds him of something terrible, the answer is, "Go find a day job, clown."  But if it reminds him of something he likes, shouldn't this be taken as a compliment?  I think so.  While it is important to have a voice and sound of your own, when a person listens to you for the first time, he doesn't know what you sound like, so he can't very well compliment your new song as sounding like you.  It is notoriously difficult to describe music in and of itself without comparisons (try it sometime, and then you can come back and complain about my album reviews).  So if a new fan is ready to believe that something we wrote was written by Fredury Mercury and company, I'm willing to take that as a compliment by comparison.  It certainly means the crowd is listening, anyway!


 
This week I'm kind of continuing the theme of reviewing a band's final release.  This time I want to talk about what is probably my favorite overall Pavement record, Terror Twilight.

I spent a good while trying to decide why I like this album so much.  It's not as energetic as some of their earlier work, and nowhere near as diverse as Wowee Zowee.  The lyrics are no more or less decipherable than on any given Pavement album.  But one thing that occured to me was that this record is focused, and that's partly what makes it stand out.  There's no musical half-assery going on here; everything sounds like it was carefully considered and arranged.  The pop songs are tight and catchy, while some of the more expansive numbers feature very intricate guitar interplay.  But at the same time, the record does not sound sterile at all.  Oh sure, the production is sparkly clean as needed, but while the various musical twists and turns sound planned and rehearsed, they do NOT sound either forced or tame.

The writing is a big reason why.  Malkmus can come up with a catchy little set of chords and melody in his sleep, and he's no slouch at letting it all hang out with a heavier rock riff either.  And his vocal delivery makes sure that things never get boring; even when he sounds lethargic ("Major Leagues" comes to mind), the slight sarcasm is still there, proving he doesn't need to shout or warble out of tune anymore to get his "I really don't care what you think" attitude across.

For me, the standout song on the record that really highlights everything I love about it is "Speak, See, Remember".  It starts out as a catchy little jazz-pop thing, punctured by some sharp vocals over a pause or two, but in the middle it suddenly morphs into this beautiful jangly double-guitar heaven of melody.  But just when you're smiling all over, in comes the distorted guitar that breaks the formerly tight rhythm into a slacker-rock riff that builds with harmonizing guitars before crashing back into a small reprise of the beginning of the song.  These are all the things I love about Pavement - catchy chords, double guitar jangle, vocals that alternate between beautiful melody and sneering attitude, and a good slacker's riff every now and again - and they are all on display in a measured and mature fashion on this album.  Is it possible to call a "slacker's riff" mature?  Yeah - it means it's got the attitude without being obnoxious.  Like this record.

 
Let It Be (The Beatles, not the Replacements you clown)

What better way to begin reviewing albums than to start with the ending?  That is to say, the ending of the Beatles catalog, naturally!

Look, there are people out there who STILL claim that this record is a weak-spot in the Beatles catalog, and that it is essentially disposable in a rock music fan's collection.  So let's get one thing straight right away - Let It Be, despite a handful of flaws, is a GREAT album, and we're gonna spend a couple paragraphs discussing why.

On a song-per-song basis, I'll admit this is a flawed record.  Little ditties like "Maggie Mae" don't stand so well on their own, "Dig A Pony" is hardly going to convert the doubters on even the 2nd or 3rd listen, and I'll admit I've never been a huge fan of "Get Back".  "The Long and Winding Road" can be really grating too if you hate sugary sentimentality, like me.  But none of those are actually 'bad' songs (except maybe the "L&W Road", which actually sounds nice on Let It Be....Naked, a recent re-release which Paul produced to get rid of Phil Spector's strings and things).  And there are highlights throughout!  The title track obviously, but what about "I've Got a Feeling" with the uplifting Paul contrasting with the wise-cracking John?  George making sure the record has some bite with "I Me Mine"?  And if you don't enjoy the rollicking 50s-style rock'n'roll romp "One After 909", consider yourself no friend of mine.

But it's the record as a whole that really shines.  Opening with "Two of Us" was a great idea, because it really serves to emphasize the overall intimacy of the music on here.  Most of the time it sounds like you could be sitting in the studio with these guys, alternating between tomfoolery and honesty as only the best of friends can.  The snippets of studio chatter help to create this feeling, as well as the rawness of many of the songs.  However, the feeling of intimacy is not lost in the studio wizardry of songs like "Across the Universe" and "Let It Be", because here it is the lyrics and vocal delivery that keep the listener feeling close to the performers.  And this closeness is pretty consistent even through juxtapositions like "Dig It" - "Let It Be" - "Maggie Mae".

I have one final word in this album's favor:  it's diverse.  That should go without saying considering who we're talking about here, but sometimes people seem to forget.  Yeah, there's a lot of musical rawness, but no one is gonna call the title track a 'raw' studio recording.  Sure there are ballads and introspection, but no one puts "Get Back" in that pigeonhole.  There's some shuffling, some waltzing, some gospel, and some plain old rock'n'roll.  And the vocal melodies and harmonies?  Look folks, it's the Beatles.  End of review.

PS - On the whole Phil Spector thing:  yeah he blew it with "Long and Winding", but I give him a definite thumbs up for the album as a whole.  The intimacy I described in the review doesn't happen without a producer who KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING and Phil clearly does.  Choosing his studio chatter carefully, leaving some songs dirty while cleaning others up, then pacing the album by interspersing the polished amongst the raw - yeah, this guy deserves his fair share of the credit for how positive this album turned out.  Too bad he was a loony.