Taking a Dive, On The Slide
“Truth was, if you were going to believe something, it was best to believe in stuff that made the world seem a more interesting place.”― Christopher Brookmyre
Barb and I were joking last night that we had seen two bands within days of each other who, between them, had a total of about 50 members on stage. OK…maybe not that many, but between ELO at the Chase Center on Sunday night and The Polyphonic Spree at the Chapel on Wednesday…the numbers aren’t that far off. Jeff Lynn of ELO and Tim DeLaughter of the Spree both have incredible visions around orchestrated rock ‘n’ roll…and both shined this past week. ELO…a final tour, a mighty curtain call, taking over a huge stage with Lynn a solitary figure in the middle, with band and strings surrounding, him the eye of a half-storm, his incredible songs, hit after hit, delivered as he strummed his acoustic, a strong voice behind a stoic always-shaded musician: his grandeur on stage for all to see with his songs and his orchestra…overly making up for his lack of live theatrics; he was never one for between song banter or even a hey-ho-lets-go. But there was no banter needed, given that a mere few notes played to introduce each song induced a know-that-tune dopamine hit to the packed stadium audience, everyone sinking into absolute sentimental bliss as the lyrics majestically breathed out: Can’t Get It Out Of My Head, Telephone Line, Do Ya, Sweet Talkin’ Woman, Livin’ Thing (the first single I ever bought)…so many more. Lynn’s voice so strong singing through a tour d’ force of the best of 1970s top forty radio…played to perfection by the band & orchestra that Lynn and his music director Mike Stevens (who is also lead guitarist) had meticulously put together.
The Polyphonic Spree was a whole other animal, with a group of 15+ musicians sardined into a packed night clubs’ small stage. Tim also donned an acoustic guitar…also flanked by violinist…also running through a career of recordings (they have been around 24 years) playing through the fan favorites of their catalog mixed with songs from the new record Salvage Enterprise. The ensemble is a kinetic crazed amoeba of energy, jumping to the rhythm of every song, throwing instruments around on beat with free hands rhythmically banging at the air, miraculously never hitting anyone else on stage, with Tim lunging towards the crowd with thumbs up, conducting the exciting craziness; The Polyphonic Spree put on a life-affirming show with catchy melody after catchy riff, with uplifting lyrics more times than not focused on the sun and the joy it brings. A dynamic set which found the full band blasting the club room into outer space just to break things down to a lone piano with Tim singing beauty atop, leading to a crest of a wave—its like magic—as the band ultimately raged back in…over and over again, going through baroque pop, Bowie-esque glam, Beach Boysee tattooing harmonies, ethereal psychedelia, and as my friend David Pehling commented, making end-of song noise like a happy version of The Swans (who are known for their live intense thick walls of dark drones). Our show was one of the three that original Spree harpist Ricky Rasura stood in for, whose ability to dazzle with his astute pickings as he throws his huge instrument around as if it was a saxophone—defying any of gravity’s laws—jumping lock-step with his stage neighbor, an over-the-top trombonist, who saluted the audience with every pull of the hand slide.
Having seen both epic bands within four days of each other, I could not help but wonder what the career trajectory of the Spree would have been if they were coming up in the 1970s, when rock ‘n’ roll still had such a strong foothold on top 40 radio. Songs like Hold Me Now, Light and Day, Hanging Around The Day may have woven their way into the fabric of American album oriented rock radio in grand fashion. Unlike ELO whose set was purely a walk through the past (no problem with that—the show was pure joy), the Polyphonic Spree are peaking in regard to their most recent production, with the new release Salvage Enterprise being one of their strongest, most complex and emotive records to date. Tim accomplishes the impossible by touring with a huge huge band without a stadium sized budget, touring with one of the only busses in this country that can accommodate so many people.
It would be easy to suggest that ELO begat The Polyphonic Spree, and I am sure Tim took much inspiration from Jeff Lynn’s sound and vision. Both bands are evolving the genre of rock music, and both bands know the power of pushing that rock through a whole brigade of top-notch musicians. On records. On the road. Dramatic as if their stage belonged to Broadway. But they are in no way mere images of the other, but instead continued evolutions of what has come before, each leading the way to new frontiers. The fact that they are at times hitting the same cities within days of each other just proves that regardless of the digital music world that so often consumes the airwaves and the family homes, there is an organic musical beauty that still exists in the confines of pop and rock movements. In the clubs. In the stadiums.
HAPPY 147th BIRTHDAY TO JAZZ PROGENITOR BUDDY BOLDEN! My past Signal about him can be found here. Happy 99th birthday to the great Jimmy Reed as well!
***Also, there is a new Terrascopædia out now…an absolutely stunning illustrated occasional for fans of psychedelic and folk music featuring an interview I did with Meg Baird. Legendary English publisher Phil McMullen hand presses each of the 160 total copies he produces on a vintage machine…and there are a handful left for anyone who might desire one. I got mine last night: they are beauties.
One of the great storytellers of the golden age of modern radio shows, Starlee Kine, is back…with a new podcast. Starlee was an original voyager in the early days of “the podcast” creating the incredible Mystery Show…while also being a contributor to This American Life. She has such an incredible way of approaching and translating the world we live in through conversations she has, friends she finds, details she ponders. The podcast is starting with her figuring out her podcast…or why she can’t do a podcast…or why she must do a podcast…excited to see where it goes….
Celebrated Aussie music writer Glenn A. Baker auctions 80,000 piece strong music collection
Bruce Milne of Au Go Go records once laid it out to me how Australians have access to great records: because of their the proximity to Japan (for killer pressings and for Japanese underground brilliance), because of their incredible import system (which Bruce had a hand in creating). Glenn Baker’s collection is somewhat legendary in the field, records…books…ephemera. I would love to know the details of what is contained within.
Ed Lachman Takes Us Inside Lou Reed and John Cale’s Songs for Drella
A fantastic interview: “By shooting this, I realized I wanted to do it very minimally, in the style of that period. I was part of that period; I even remember going to Warhol studio back then. I’m old enough that I was around the Velvet Underground. I realized the music was not only a eulogy, but it was also a confessional. It was also about their relationship because they never talked again. They didn’t talk for 17 years, up to when they did this in 1990. So this was this rare opportunity I had with them, but it was like a diary. I wanted to have these long extended takes where it was about the performance, and recording this relationship between them and also to Andy. I felt it had this observational quality, something like the relationship was with Andy. Some people said he was a Svengali, but I feel he was more a passive observer and lived through other people. Certainly, Lou had a contentious relationship with Andy during their period, because he was never big on having Nico in the group. Their relationship finally broke down.”
Jacob Lawrence paintings of the Haitian Revolution to be restored by Amistad Center at Tulane
“A New Orleans research center has received $1 million to conserve 41 paintings by Jacob Lawrence, one of the most important American artists of the 20th century. The three-year grant to the Amistad Research Center from the Terra Foundation for American Art will underwrite a project to analyze and preserve a series of paintings by Lawrence (1917-2000) depicting the 1791 revolution of enslaved people that Toussaint L’Ouverture led against French rulers of the Caribbean island of Saint-Domingue (now shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic).”
How Biscoff Became The Cookie Of The Skies
I love these cookies…and realized that no matter what airlines I am on…they serve them. Crazy. I started wondering…how does something like this happened…every airline agreeing on a specific snack: a cookie that is fairly unknown outside of 30,000 feet.
What the Water Knows
By: Sam Hill
What the mouth sings, the soul must learn to forgive.
A rat's as moral as a monk in the eyes of the real world.
Still, the heart is a river
pouring from itself, a river that cannot be crossed.
It opens on a bay
and turns back upon itself as the tide comes in,
it carries the cry of the loon and the salts
of the unutterably human.
A distant eagle enters the mouth of a river
salmon no longer run and his wide wings glide
upstream until he disappears
into the nothing from which he came.
Only the thought remains. Lacking the eagle's cunning
or the wisdom of the sparrow, where shall I turn,
drowning in sorrow? Who will know what the trees know,
the spidery patience of young maple or what the willow confess?
Let me be water. The heart pours out in waves.
Listen to what the water says.
Wind, be a friend.
There's nothing I couldn't forgive.
FOR THOSE IN SAN ANSELMO: Grahame Lesh and band will be playing in the park this Saturday for free. Oh yeah.