Actually, all that I really learned is to not mix large quantities of alcohol and magic. Weird things happen then. My results are also slightly inconclusive on that, because my notes become a bit fuzzy, so actually never mind.

To kick off this final semester I have but one amazing song. This time it is a song by Mono/Poly entitled “Forest Dark” off of his Manifestations – EP. Signed to Brainfeeder (Flying Lotus’ label), this LA based artist shook the foundation of the experimental trip-hop scene with this 2011 release.

The song begins in some rainforest with a deft synthesizer riff that sets a sort of neutral -1 mood. An outstanding setup for what is to follow: a dark explosion of hip-hop madness. Deep pulsating bass lines envelop your brain like slow vibrating tendrils while the main melody of a slowly stuttering synth distracts you.

This furious break skyrockets the mood to +8, pretty much right on the cusp of inciting riots. But Mono/Poly realizes this and in order to maintain the mellowness he initiates a sort of descent which creates an entirely unheard effect in the face of hip-hop. Basically the synths from the beginning make a miraculous return to calm everyone down, forgetting that all they really do is just set up another drop.

This time it’s even better, with a +9 to face-melting, the retriggering of the different instruments display the advanced level of beat making that this artist is on. Like some giant monster crawling out forest, this song is trying to eat you, but only to regurgitate you so that it can eat you again.

The last part is basically one giant softening and a return to neutrality. The monster threw you up a second time and has left you on the forest floor to ponder what just happened. It actually becomes very ambient and trippy towards the end proving that Mono/Poly has many different tricks up his sleeve. I recommend listening to the rest of this album and gazing at the pretty cover art:

Wish me luck as I try to find a job. I think I’m going to actually have to start going to company information meetings. I always thought those were some kind of jokes.

&)

-oko

P.S. Full Circle.

Aviv Cohen

Aviv Cohen is a throwback. He is a consummate musician with a keen ear, laid-back skill, and an innate knowledge of what makes good music. It is always so refreshing being introduced to a musician who knows what they are doing and Aviv – who is the sole employee of the band The Widest Smiling Faces – has good reason to grin.

Aviv, who is based in Brooklyn, NY, has just released his second album Me and My Ribcage, and it features 12 tracks of ambient folk with a hint of medieval sampling and excellent guitar work. Most importantly, the music is light and breezy – like the sunny, cool New York afternoon that is just outside my window as I type this. It is a pleasure to listen to Aviv’s graceful melodies and you can tell that he – and Chris Wojdak, who added textures and assisted with arrangement, on the album - took care to make sure that the layers and sounds remained smooth.

The title track, “Me and My Ribcage” is the opening song on the album.The first minute of the song sends you soaring through light, immaculate clouds, into a denseless, gravity-less atmosphere. The weightless guitar sings a peaceful melody which at the one-minute marks pauses and leads into a soft acoustic guitar and Aviv’s low-fi, tender vocal. His vocal is actually a bit abstruse. I don’t know what to make of his calm vocal. It’s as if he is living in a different time, as if he recorded this back in 1930 – every word vibrates – similar to the way that John Darnielle plays with his voice even thought it is quite different. I actually do get a bit of the Elephant Six feeling as well.

British Progressive Folk groups like The Amazing Blondel played medieval-esque music back in the late 60s and early 70s, and the beginning riff of “Two Lips” followed by the multi-layered, accented vocal feels like this. I catch a little of Syd Barrett in the vocal. I also absolutely love the feeling I get when I listen to this. It is eccentric music – almost psychedelic (more in the Elephant Six way than the late 60′s way). Aviv is also a proficient lyricist and I would like to highlight the ending of the song:

“And two words sting my eyes with doubt brushed under skin and out of mouth (and down) he lied to feel our beating hearts it pulled us back to where we started.
In a way I had to grin we cut the hands from off of it and all his fingers red with stain will lead us to a house unfaded on the reeds.”

Poetic and well done

I am including “Lazy Boy” as my last sampling of Aviv’s music. I love the fullness of this song. Aviv’s music is relaxing and an absolute pleasure to explore. I suggest you take a listen to the entire album which is available here.

Colin Hay

Colin Hay has come a long way since co-forming and providing lead vocals for the men down under Men at Work in the 1980s. But you know what they say (okay, I don’t think anyone says this), a good vocalist is always appreciated in the music community. That is not so much an aphorism, but rather a fact that I hope to be true. For Hay, it is very true.

Hay has Zach Braff (who played J.D. in the popular medical comedy “Scrubs”) for a career revitalization. Braff is one of those guys who appreciates a good vocalist. He started using Hay’s solo material – which is a delicate blend of acoustic rhythm, deeply emotion lyric, and somber vocal splendor, in his work. Since a lot of young folk like Braff (and a lot of people in general loved “Scrubs”), Hay’s music suddenly found a new, younger group of listeners, like myself. I knew of Men at Work, but, I did not know of Colin Hay until I heard “Overkill” on “Scrubs.”

I was hooked. I did have in mind far loftier goals for a post today, but I have been quite busy. This, though, will certainly do. While I have not published a Lyric of the Day in what seems like forever, I think that some lines from “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin,” one of my favorite songs by Hay, would be appreciated by the masses. I am going to see Colin Hay at Town Hall in NYC in April, by the way, and I am PSYCHED!

This song was in “Scrubs” in case you were going, “where have I heard this song before.” My favorite lyrical part of this song is the beginning.

“Any minute now, my ship is coming in
I’ll keep checking the horizon
I’ll stand on the bow, feel the waves come crashing
Come crashing down, down, down, on me

And you say, be still my love
Open up your heart
Let the light shine in
But don’t you understand
I already have a plan
I’m waiting for my real life to begin”

Just listen to the song and let the waves crash down on you. The song touches on a hint of a grand existential wait. It does seem that our protagonist will forever be by the shore waiting for his ship to come in, but, perhaps there is some peace in this situation – some beauty in the monotony. Or, perhaps, I have been reading too much Camus. Any which way, please enjoy this song!

Do you ever happen to catch yourself traveling to the North Country fair? Happens to me all the time. It is a lyrical sojourn though, one that only lasts for the three minutes of Bob Dylan’s eloquent portrayal of love and loss. “Girl from the North Country” is one of Dylan’s most masterful songs – and this man is the master of songs. So that must mean that this song is masterful on top of masterful. I’m going to stop writing master. You catch my drift, though, right? Dylan sang of the North Country fair, released it in 1963 as the second track on his second album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, and boy have people remembered him!

There is a special canorous draw to Dylan’s odes to English folk. His authenticity and skill for folk music is evident in all of his folky endeavors, but he approaches English folk with such immaculate melodic splendor that it is tough to listen and not be moved. His vocal is tender and understated and I love that. His lightly plucked guitar tells the story that he effortlessly sings. While Dylan is not English, he is pretty much a musical chameleon and he does English folk well. In a way, it reminds me of how Nick Drake approached his hometown genre. Drake played some of the most beautiful English folk and if you have never heard of him please check out his music because he is wonderful.

There is Dylan singing his song if you needed any proof.

I am posting about “Girl from the North Country” today because I wanted to highlight some covers of Dylan’s classic that evoke the same emotion in me. Both examples are soft, almost subtle, versions that wash over listeners with warmth and feeling. The first comes from the grand harmonizers – Crosby Stills & Nash.

It is ethereal, atmospheric, and, well, classic CSN. No one takes a song and creates harmonies like CSN. It is just a pleasure to listen to them at work. And I’m sure you are enjoying it right now.

Eddie Vedder’s version is true to Dylan’s classic. And I am a bit surprised with how much I love this version. I believe it is because Vedder contains himself. He keeps his voice authentic and almost timid. We know he can be grungy, but, instead he teases us with a vocal sincerity that is much respected. Excellent version by Vedder.

And, before I let you all go today, I have to give you the best version of this song. Bob Dylan. Johnny Cash. The Girl From The North Country. Magic.

Etta James didn’t only know Johnny Otis because they were two musicians in the business. She may not have been in the business if it wasn’t for Otis’ keen ear for incredible talent. She also may have never been Etta James. At 14 years old, James formed a doo-wop band called the Creolettes with some friends. Somehow – and stories conflict on how – James met Otis and Otis liked what he heard from James. He changed the name of the band to the Peaches and he changed the name of the lead singer from Jamesetta Hawkins to Etta James. In 1955 she released a song called “Roll With Me, Henry” (“Dance with Me, Henry” was the changed name in fear of censorship). The song was released under the name of “The Wallflower” and it became a huge hit.

In a way it is weird that two musicians with such a close connection died within days of each other, but life is capricious.  Enjoy the music and RIP Etta and Johnny