Song #379 of 9999 - She May Call You Up Tonight by The Left Banke

I don't usually start the week with a guest blogger but I'm tired and it's just so easy. TONIGHT, and for one night only, 9999 Songs is proud to present Spokane's very own Glenn Case, discussing one of his favorite songs from 1967. Glenn is an accomplished singer/songwriter who recently released his long-awaited LP Throw Money, which you can hear here. (You can probably buy it too, but that information seems surprisingly difficult to find. We'll get the marketing team on that right away.)

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Song #379 of 9999

Song: She May Call You Up Tonight

Artist: The Left Banke

Year: 1967

Album: Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina

I have found that the story behind a song can often help me to appreciate that composition in a new light.

The excellent liner notes of many Rhino records compilations are usually a perfect companion to the music they accompany. I mistakenly thought that "There's Gonna Be A Storm" was released by Rhino, but it's actually a collection of the Left Banke's complete recordings from 1966-1969 that was put out by Mercury. I believe the fact that my memory mistook it for a Rhino release speaks to the quality of the information contained in the booklet.

Don't get me wrong, This 26 song collection is not packed with keepers, but there are some tremendous songs and, as it turns out, three of the very best songs (including the band's biggest hit) were all written about the same woman.

According to the liner notes, "(Bass player, Tom Finn) introduced his girlfriend Renée Fladen to the rest of the group in late 1965. As it turned out, Finn was not the only member attracted to her and almost instantly (Keyboardist, Michael Brown) composed three of The Left Banke's biggest songs about Fladen: 'She May Call You Up Tonight,' 'Pretty Ballerina,' and of course 'Walk Away Renée.'"

"Walk Away Renée" is easily the band's biggest hit. It was successfully covered by the Four Tops, and the Left Banke's version ranked #220 on Rolling Stone's "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time." The band's sound was referred to as Baroque Pop or "Bach-Rock," likely because of the harpsichords and strings that can be found in a number of their songs.

My song choice, "She May Call You Up Tonight" is more of a straight ahead Pop/Rock song, clocking in at a swift 2 minutes and 18 seconds. Gone are the harpsichords and strings, which might have had something to do with why the single didn't chart as high as the other two Renée Fladen inspired songs: The band had a signature sound, and that sound is mostly abandoned here.

What the song DOES have is piano, bass, drums, guitars, vocal harmonies and a wonderful chord structure. Sounds like I'm describing a Beatles song, right? Well, it goes without saying that the fab four were an influence. In fact, "Good Day Sunshine" was one of the songs this band "cut their teeth on" according to the booklet of "There's Gonna Be A Storm."

I believe this song is worth your time if you have two and a half minutes to spare, and you enjoy the sound of 60's pop inspired by the British Invasion acts of the era.

If you love what you hear, it might be worthwhile to check out the entire "There's Gonna Be A Storm" album, and/or the Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs cover version of "She May Call You Up Tonight."

Song #378 of 9999 - Harrowdown Hill by Thom Yorke

Song #378 of 9999

Title: Harrowdown Hill
Artist: Thom Yorke
Year: 2006
Album: The Eraser

Rarely do I complain. [...pause for reader snickering...] But 2006 just wasn't a good year for music. I will be the first to admit that a lot of stuff got by me that year so I spent the week listening to The Killers and The Decemberists and Snow Patrol and The Raconteurs and Arctic Monkeys—these are not good albums, people! This is why I have to write about Rihanna and movie soundtracks!!

But I digress. Thom Yorke pretty much bent over backward not to call The Eraser a solo record, apparently to assuage any fears from the Radiohead faithful that the album marked the end of the line for Britain's most significant band of the previous decade. But it bears his name and musical likeness so what else to call it? It's certainly not a Radiohead record, lacking the range and musical skill of a band where everyone is so creative and talented that (those) five (specific) heads are better than (any) one (of them).

But The Eraser is not lacking in weightiness or imagination and, while different, stands up to Radiohead's better work. Perhaps most striking is the relatively direct bent of Yorke's lyrics on the record, as he trades complex imagery and wordplay for straightforward, often emotional, verse. Consider this lyric from "Harrowdown Hill," which chronicles (and questions the validity of) Iraq weapons inspector David Kelly's suicide:

and i'm coming home
i'm coming home
to make it all right
so dry your eyes
we think the same things at the same time
we just cant do anything about it

This is a far cry from karma police/arrest this girl/her Hitler hairdo/is making me feel ill/and we have crashed her party. But what draws me in is the lyric coupled with earnestness of delivery—Yorke delivers the lines like they're real thoughts he's having right now, not words seemingly cut from a magazine and pasted onto paper. Which may work fine for Radiohead but perhaps not for this solo album. (there, I said it)

See you tomorrow in 1967.

Song #377 of 9999 - With a Gun by The Minus 5

Song #377 of 9999

Title: With a Gun
Artist: The Minus 5
Year: 2006
Album: The Minus 5

Poor Scott McCaughey. If you said "who?", then you know exactly what I mean. The Seattle-based guitarist and singer for The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5 seems to be bursting with creative juices and has an unquenchable passion for writing the quaintest indie pop songs west of the Mississippi. But with a voice that falls somewhere on the spectrum between Jerry Garcia and Jeff Tweedy and songs that don't quite live up to those of his contemporaries (REM, Wilco), I can't imagine he will ever establish a foothold with a large fan base. This may be exactly what he wants but it also means those of us who do tune in never get the reward we're seeking.

I bought The Minus 5, a.k.a. "The Gun Album" after hearing approximately twelve seconds of the lead track, "Rifle Called Goodbye," which sports a Beatle-esque opening, fancy chord progression and evocative lyrics (The quartermaster bakes a radio/The traitor's a rag doll in the tornado). But the album becomes a letdown shortly thereafter and, while it gradually gets better with repeated exposure, I'm not reaching for it very often.

"With a Gun" is a standout on the album. It's simple but pleasing and the opening lines (like almost all of McCaughey's songs) command your attention ("I like you with a gun/The way you shine/Silver barrel in the sun"). There's a really nicely situated major-seventh chord in each verse (on the word "barrel" in the highlighted verse) and his clever use of the word "spiral-bound" lights up the lyricist in me. It's really a great song and wouldn't seem out of place on one of the early Wilco albums. But that's the problem for me. I hear this song and wish I were listening to Wilco instead. It's impossible not to make the comparison—The Minus 5 even collaborate with Wilco frequently—and McCaughey and Co. don't often measure up. Still, it's not hard to appreciate The Minus 5's spirited performances and McCaughey's fervor and skill as a songwriter.

Song #376 of 9999 - SOS by Rihanna

Song #376 of 9999

Title: SOS
Artist: Rihanna
Year: 2006
Album: A Girl Like Me

Okay, let's get this out of the way. I'll forgive you for not liking this song if you can forgive me for liking it. It's important that we can rely on each other this way.

There are plenty of reasons not to like "SOS." Overexposure? Check. Ridiculous in-your-face overproduction and mastering? Check. Excessive length for a single that has basically one two-bar chord progression repeated a million times? Check. Repulsive backbeat with handclaps? Check. Those Star Wars laser-cannon sounds? Well....maybe not those—they're kinda fun.

But there are actually just as many reasons to dig it. Although I'm not a fan of the reediness in Rihanna's voice, it's more palatable in this upbeat context (i.e. limited emoting) and she certainly has impressive technical skill. At 1:39, she even pulls off some clever phrasing and the nightclub swing succeeds at getting your toes tapping.

But the real treat is the construction (I hesitate to say composition) of the song itself, especially in the way it incorporates and embraces "Tainted Love" as performed by English synth-duo Soft Cell. Most obviously, we hear a sample of the bass line and heart-monitor synth from the 1981 hit. But less obvious and delightful (at least to me) is the incorporation of the lyric you got me tossin' and turnin' and can't sleep at night, a line paraphrased from the first verse of "Tainted Love." For good measure, the final verse cleverly name-drops an additional bunch of songs from the 1980s:

Take on me (uh huh) you know inside you feel it right [A-Ha]
Take me on, I could just die up in your arms tonight. [Cutting Crew]
I'm out with you, you got me head over heels [Go-Gos]
Boy you keep me hanging on the way you make me feel [Kim Wilde]

These are details worth celebrating even if you can't stand the song (...anymore—admit it, in 2006 you were all over this).

Song #375 of 9999 - Après Moi by Regina Spektor

Tonight, I get to catch up on TV and let yet another one of my brilliant friends do the heavy lifting. Denise Hudson is a self-described Singer/Song~Writer/Troublemaker with a music degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where she resides. She records music under the artist name DJ Ranger Den. Check her out on YouTube. Thanks Denise!

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Song #375 of 9999

Title: Après Moi
Artist: Regina Spektor
Year: 2006
Album: Begin to Hope

       

                                   (studio version)                               (live on Austin City Limits)

I first heard Regina Spektor's "Après Moi" during an informal screening of Begin to Hope sometime in 2006 when it was released. This was a time when I was emerging from a rather insular period of my life. 2006 was a pivot year for me – a turning point, which is why I picked it [as the featured year in which to be the guest blogger]. For a while I had restricted my music consumption. I’d experienced a series of disappointments in my professional life and was a little overwhelmed and in a state of weird indecision.

If you’re listening to this whole album, "Après Moi" is a sudden surprise contrast to "Hotel Song." Things are misty and happy-sad modern and all of a sudden the sweeping red velvet curtain drops.

"Après Moi" has an old-world feel, probably because of the way Spektor voices her chords. A lot of piano players that come out of the music schools navigate the keyboard in this way. The cynical part of me thinks of these songs as Musically Manipulative; that they are very beautiful but they lull you into a dream state and use Excessive Tonality to satisfy and accomplish an emotional task. This makes me sad, because I would rather be writing beautiful salon pieces because I like to listen to nice things. It’s just as bad perhaps to plant deliberate weirdness.

I actually do aesthetically approve of this lush sonic brocade and adore D Minor, which as we know is the key of desperation, conspiracies, vigilantes, pirate romances, and Dracula. It arrives with Authority. It makes the song so Anthemic. Yes, I use D Minor. LIB-ER-A-LL-YYYY.

At times in her work, despite a firm left hand, Spector’s vocally percussive choices can get a bit distracting from having a smooth clean line. At other times they’re surprising and delightful. This is a personal signature of hers though, and has grown and fluctuated with her as an artist.

In both recordings of this song, her “I (OOOPf), must go on standing …” could arguably be considered in-the-way. What are these noises she's making? Are they necessary?

I found the noises more palatable as an instrumental device in the studio recording. They led up nicely to the overall fanfare at the end. Spector’s self professed devotion to plot in lyric writing (which I agree with, because there are song faeries and they tell us what to do); it justifies a marching snare, stick tapping, and arm pumping. Her bodily Foley art complements this, and mighty fine is the bravura of those vocal embellishments! All the good ticker-tape trappings of a dandy protest march.

The little phrase après moi le déluge ("after me, the flood") that the title comes from was in fashion at various times – including those of Louis XV. Most famously attributed to his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, it may have been her attempt to calm him when he learned of the defeat of Rossbach in 1757. She told him not to worry because … he would become ill, and that after them, the flood would come. Historically this saying often held a tang of indifference and social irresponsibility.

If usage of it in the song was meant to be callously aristocratic, I can only assume Spector was going for sarcasm. But right after the passages which are reminiscent of beatitudes (“don’t be afraid...inherit…”), she sounds like she’s steeling herself to a revolutionary’s task – with a difficult inner monologue. She's having a stream-of-consciousness moment of truth, fueling her resolve with these repeating litanies. Maybe the mystery of the chorus hook is that she will bring about another sort of rising tide, somehow changing things.

So my imagination wonders if this could be broader, more abstract. On the stage in my mind, characters sit on opposite shoulders; it’s Angel vs. Devil talk. Maybe this is me – needing to pick up a banner and have my own march myself. It’s a … romantic … notion. :)

The revolutionary with a burning heart is choiceless in such matters. But the poet in her, the artist who is a slave to the impermanence of the seasons gets the concept of mourning. This is why the Russian verse is heartbreaking and brave. And it’s the genius of the song; where its heart lies, in my opinion. Really, Spektor is a storyteller, a cataloger of influences into cohesion.

I tried to line up the word meanings so that you could hear the impact of the language if you wanted. I recommend listening to the live performance because the way the words fit with the melody (at 3:05), you get where the coldness of the syllables fall.

"fevRAl'. dasTAt' cherNIl i pLAkat'!
February. Get ink and weep

piSAt' a fevraLE navzRYd,
Write of February sob-loudly

paKA graHOchooshaya sLYAkat'
While rattling slush

visNOyu CHYOrnayu gaRIt
Spring black(ness?) burns"

As the year went on I ultimately had to face my fears. It will always be hard for me to say what needs to be said, to be confrontational. Perhaps it is delusional to want to stick to one’s own calling and to feel resolve like a fire. But Pasternak also wrote:

“And never for a single moment,Betray your credo or pretend,But be alive – this only matters –Alive and burning to the end.”

-Boris Pasternak – It Is Not Seemly To Be Famous (t.by Lydia Pasternak Slater)

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ps. On an unrelated note, a cover of Regina Spektor’s "Après Moi" will appear on Peter Gabriel's And I’ll Scratch Yours, a compilation to be released on October 23rd. Spektor contributed to part one of this project You Scratch My Back, covering Gabriel's "Blood of Eden."

Song #374 of 9999 - Cruelty to Animals by Pernice Brothers

Song #374 of 9999

Title: Cruelty to Animals
Artist: Pernice Brothers
Year: 2006
Album: Live a Little

After reflecting on the lyric to Joe Pernice's "Cruelty to Animals," I considered just pasting it into this space in its entirety and walking away. It's a stunning piece of creative writing that doesn't need the ramblings of one lunatic in Lancaster to validate its worth. Consider the opening stanzas:

She won't mind if the place we stand is marked by ash.
She believes what doesn't kill her only takes more time to kill her.
Then she smiles as she paints her lips and does her lashes.
Stunning as a taxidermy victim in a silver cage.

I'm arrested by an aria brought from the country.
Stuck in dumb amazement like a dog who's told to levitate.
This smash number-one goes to her lover in the belfry,
Singing like a bird in flames and headed for the window pane.

Holy similes! These aren't your grandmother's lyrics!! Or are they? Later, Pernice let's the cat out of the bag (it's probably dead already) by revealing the song is a play on the French Canadian children's song "Alouette," which describes the slow retributive plucking of each and every feather from the body of a lark who sings his song a bit too early outside the wrong window.

Alouette, gentille alouette.
Head to toe so thoroughly until we're both dismembered.
Alouette, gentille alouette.
Naïve, yes, but none the worse, spinning glue back into horses.
I'll never leave the place where you are.

Who or what is the song really about? Don't know and not sure I need to. With lyrics this dazzling, I'm happy just to see and hear the words placed next to one another or, better yet, assembled into yet another crisp chamber pop offering from an undersung artist.

Songs #372 & 373 - It's TWOsday!

Song #372 of 9999                                          Song #373 of 9999

Title: Back to Black                                        Title: That Teenage Feeling
Artist: Amy Winehouse                                  Artist: Neko Case

Year: 2006                                                      Year: 2006
Album: Back to Black                                    Album: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

                                

It's TWOsday and I thought I would feature two powerhouse female vocalists who borrow from a previous generation on their 2006 releases.

Amy Winehouse's entire sophomore effort is sonically set in the early 1960s, when girl groups ruled the charts. Producer Mark Ronson paints the title track from a palette of boomy bass drums, tambourines drenched in reverb, spaghetti-western guitars, unison strings, ringing vibes and clangy chimes. The syncopated bass set against staccato minor chord crotchets (she was British after all) is practically quoted from "Baby Love" but where The Supremes' song quickly takes a turn toward a major key, Winehouse's song gets darker and darker. A persistent four-chord progression (i-iv-VI-V) supports a lyric that would have made Diana Ross blush: He left no time to regret/Kept his dick wet/With his same old safe bet. Blunt, caustic, direct (and very obviously from the modern pop era), these lines initially belie but ultimately strengthen the underlying sentiment, which could have come from the early 60s or any other era for that matter: 

We only said good-bye with words

I died a hundred times

You go back to her 

And I go back to black

In Neko Case's case (heh), the instruments are modern but the chord progression and 12/8 feel evoke 15-year-old Brenda Lee's 1960 hit "I'm Sorry." But Case doesn't pretend to be twenty years younger as she considers the fear that accompanies the realization she may never again find love. This is adult subject matter and the song is more pensive than pouty. The chord progression is as complex as the sentiment, relying heavily on diminished chords that seem to suggest uncertainty. And it's hard to know if her "brave friend" is a real person or an alter ego but we do know she sounds like she stepped right out of the Brill Building when she sings I don't care if forever never comes/'Cause I'm holding out for that teenage feeling. It's a chorus I long for later in the song but Case doesn't deliver, choosing to end the song as abruptly and harshly as any I've heard. No happy or sad endings here—the projector just eats the film.