Remember when I said that Okkervil River's youtube channel sure did have some exciting stuff in store for us? Well, it looks as if I was right with that little prediction because they recently uploaded Bon Iver beautifying the already beautiful Blue Tulip :
One of my favorite new discoveries (That'd be you, Mister Justin Vernon of Bon Iver) covering one of my favorite bands of all time... Well, it was an exciting morning in The Hot Half Life household, especially since I'd already been in a fairly Bon Iver-y mood the past few days before this discovery!
Even if you're not a fan of Bon Iver for some very silly reason (Never heard his work perhaps? Or just a vendetta against relaxing, understated, heartfelt music from modern pseudo-hippies?), the video's worth checking out for the 2:15 mark alone when the background vocals set in for an unexpected and breathtaking bridge that builds up to a beautiful close.
Also, it's definitely worth heading over to My Old Kentucky Blog and checking out not only their interview with Justin Vernon but also the amazing version of Flume that he recorded live in their studios which gave me a whole new appreciation for the song, already one of my favorites off of the superb For Emma, Forever Ago.
One of the first things I decided I wanted to do upon starting this blog was do a continuing segment to shine some light upon artists, some quite well known and others not so much, that I consider to be musical geniuses. Genius isn’t a word to be used lightly and I think we can all agree that it’s thrown around far too much in modern times - Any artist that shows any sign of promise in their genre is immediately praised, given the title of the next great hope and called a - you guessed it - genius far too prematurely. And the whole practice is thrown even more askew when truly talents are either falling through the cracks or being dismissed whilst others are being heralded as the next Dylan and throw-away pop acts are being compared to the Beatles. So I would personally like to reserve the "g" word for a chosen few who have earned it by drastically changing my life with their music. I think everyone has people like that, people who orchestrate their lives, whose music they really, truly could not live without. This series of entries is going to showcase mine.
I actually had my first Hot Half Life Genius entry completely done and ready to be put up today, explaining my project, giving back story on my subject, how that subjects music had affected the world around us and my life in particular but... I think it’s more fitting to tell you all who my hands down number one favorite musician of all time is, seeing as I do have song lyrics of his tattooed on my own arm and I haven’t yet mentioned him before in this blog, don’t you?
Stephen Smith was born in August of 1969. He changed his name to Elliott after high school and released the nine track album Roman Candle in 1994 with a slew of other records to follow. If you don’t know who he is, well, that’s what google is for. & if you don’t know his music, well, that’s a damn shame because it’s amazing. [Additionally, I think his last release From a Basement on a Hill would make a terrific starting off point for those of you interested in furthering your knowledge of Elliott Smith, as it's a perfectly realized mix of his early lo-fi works and his later, more produced stuff.]
I was first introduced to Mr. Smith via the amazing buzz he received for his one-two punch of amazing-ness circa 1997 - His album Either/Or and his stellar work on the Good Will Hunting soundtrack with the Oscar nominated Miss Misery.
The first time I ever saw him, I was about twelve years old, staying up far too late to watch 120 Minutes on MTV to catch a glimpse of the following :
I immediately bought his albums, committed all of his lyrics to memory and agonized over many journal pages, fearful that I would never be able to write anything close to the brilliant honesty he’d achieved in Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands, a phenom of a song that, ten years later, remains a favorite.
This man is the soundtrack to my life. He makes me feel better when I'm sad, less alone when I feel like I'm the most singular freak in the entire world. No matter what I feel at any given moment, Elliott Smith has a song in the vast catalog I've been perusing for approximately half of my hot, half life to fit it. If I could give him an honor higher than being Amber Valentine’s Hot Half Life Genius Number One, I would but for now, this will have to do. I hope it's enough.
Although it's a toss up, King's Crossing ranks as one of my favorite Elliott songs of all time, if not my very favorite. While I do tend to prefer my Elliott more subdued, this track is outstanding starting with the ambient ninety second intro of piano and Bealtes-esque vocals which then gives way to, in my opinion, one of the best vocal tracks Elliott ever layed down over an amazingly produced [but never over-produced] array of instruments. The emotions are tangible, the lyrics are tortured and it might not get any better than this - "Read the part where we turn out fine, it's a hell of a role if you can keep it alive."
From somewhere around Either/Or, from a time before Elliott's production values went up, The Enemy Is You is a gem of a semi-rare track didn't make it onto the posthumous double album of unreleased tracks New Moon but the feel's the same as the tracks that you will find on that release - Acoustic guitar, muted drums and the signature hushed, layered vocals and intricate, finely crafted lyrics that hook you in from the very start - "You've got your head turned 'round, walking upside down through the sunken dream, through the crushing crowd."
Figure 8 is my least favorite of Elliott's releases. That's not to say I don't like it - I love it. I love my least favorite Elliott Smith record more than I love most records that I really like by most other artists but regardless, out of all of his albums, I think it's just overproduced, plain and simple. But I think the same thing about Let It Be and God knows I still adore the Beatles. However, this stripped down version of Son of Sam really showcases Elliott's talent at guitar. Like I said before, I prefer my Elliott more subdued. Just himself and his acoustic guitar. Speaking of which...
I listen to a lot of music. Sure most of it comprises of unkempt, sort of sad, shy looking guys with an acoustic guitars but I swear to you - While that is my preference, my tastes are varied.
Now, although I know I run the risk of this blog, named after an Okkervil River lyric and already devoting one of it's mere 4 entries to Okkervil River, becoming somewhat of an Okkervil River shrine and I'll be the first to admit that even I was quite shocked after seeing their exact play counts per week on my last.fm chart (191 this week, 170-something last week), I might seem a bit... Well... Enthusiastic about them. But I promise to do my best to curb my Okkervil spasms to once a month and this, I feel, was too good not to share : It seems as if Will Sheff and Company have started their own youtube channel.
Right now, you can see a superb duet between Will and The New Pornographer's A.C. Newman on Lost Coastlines and, if you watch the intro to hear the project's mission statement, you'll hear the promise of more to come.
Exciting? You betcha!
And as a little post-script for you : Which song, specifically, did my blog's title come from?
Originally a bonus track to The Stage Names and now included for all the enjoy on the forthcoming Stand-Ins, it shouldn't suprise me that Will Sheff's written another superbly orchestrated, finely crafted, incredibly relatable song about a tragic female character, yet every time he does, I'm taken aback.
Last Okkervil post for the month until after the Stand-Ins release.
For a long time I didn’t. When the admitedly catchy stomp of Take Me Out oversaturated everyone’s ears, radio and television commercials circa 2004, I figured they were a throwaway pop-rock band trying too hard to be hip, just like the Killers only from across the pond. But then I made friends with a boy named Jon who was quite the Franz aficionado and the more I chilled with him, the more he spun their records and the more I caught the lyrical prowess of Alex Kapranos - Seductive, sophisticated, tongue in cheek and quite intellectual, I took an immediate shine and bought both their albums right after You Could Have It So Much Better was released.
Then Alex Kapranos wrote a book about food and I bought that too.
I downloaded b-sides, live tracks, cover songs, for I told you, dear reader, I love Franz Ferdinand.
I have a tee shirt and everything.
I happen to think they are the most stylish band in modern rock and that the world would be a better place if more guys dressed like Alex Kapranos. Sure, at their core, Franz Ferdinand is a pop band but I think they make the most flawlessly danceable, lyrically developed, good-mood, sexy pop music around. And that type of awesome transcends genres.
But enough about me. What about Franz?If you’re like me, which you’re probably not, you have probably spent the vast majority of the past year muttering to yourself, whenever a Franz Ferdinand song came up on your iPod shuffle, ‘Geez, Alex Kapranos, stop making out with that precious Eleanor Freidberg, not that I blame you, and release another album already!’
But Monday, he managed to tear himself away from the female half of the Fiery Furnaces just long enough to give us our first taste of that album, due out in January. Lucid Dreams, the first single, is already starting to burn up select areas of the internet. It’s a bit too early to form a full opinion on it but, to me, so far it sounds like more of the same from my favourite band of fashiony Scots. Not that that’s a bad thing though - Franz Ferdinand has been quite honest about the fact that their original mission statement was to make music for pretty girls to dance to.
At that, I believe they’re continuing to succeed. Lucid Dreams
I was going to embed the gorgeously animated video for Eleanor Put Your Boots On but Domino Records has disabled embedding on youtube, so instead, enjoy my two favourite Franz Ferdinand songs of all time, the b-side to The Fallen single and The Fallen done acoustic, which may be better than a music video anyhow.
Not brand new or anything, I’m just starting my second full week but let me tell you, internet, I love it. I love my job. However, the music selection... Well, it’s spotty at best.
Others who work retail understand my plight. Heck, others who shop retail understand my plight - Oft times, you walk into a store and, as a music lover, your brain just disconnects because before your trip to, oh, let's say, Target is through, chances are that, as someone who appreciates originality and creativity, your heart and your head will get hurt by Rihanna and her um-ber-ella-ella-ella.
But every now and then, I’m noticing a gem or two sneaking through. Mostly, the songs I've taken a shine to have all been songs I've liked before but have previously known - In the past six days of work, The Hold Steady play count is up to a solid two and I'm hearing Franz Ferdinand at a steady daily rate and considering I’m now a Hot Topic employee (and an assistant manager at that, children!), these statistics are not bad at all! But now, as of yesterday, I can say that I’ve actually discovered my first artist, thanks to my coworker Matt for pointing him out to me.
The easiest, most obvious comparison I could draw to Andrew Jackson Jihad is a male, more awesome, far funnier version of Kimya Dawson. If you ever have found yourself listening to the Moldy Peaches, thinking longingly ‘Gee, I sure like them but I sure would like them much, much better if they had more upbeat songs about serial killing and accidentally giving your own brother fetal alcohol syndrome.’, well then Andrew Jackson Jihad is your man. Acoustic guitar based, spastic sounding vocals and strangely upbeat and hilariously innapropriate lyrics, Andrew Jackson Jihad sounds just like you’d imagine after seeing a picture of him.
This is a guy I’d love to hang out with.
& that, perhaps, is the best accolade I can give.
But you should listen for yourself.
Rejoice Now enjoy him and his band playing in a parking lot!
Me and my friends are like ‘Double whiskey, Coke, no ice.’
Well, actually, me and my friends are like ‘Venti green tea Frappacino, no whip.’ but that doesn’t make the following statement any less true : Everyone needs a good summer song. Something rock and roll. Something that inspires you to make your summer better.
Sometimes you get lucky and find it on your own.
But sometimes you get even luckier and you’re given a full, immaculate album that delivers everything you could possibly want, from melody to ambition to gravity of lyrics.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Hold Steady have given us that album.
The Hold Steady’s fourth album, Stay Positive, takes the promise they’ve shown with the solid Seperation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America and runs with it. This album is damn near perfect, starting and ending with two phenomenal songs - Constructive Summer and Slapped Actress - and sprinkling some very amazing ones in between. I challenge you to listen to Stay Positive’s title track and not feel the overwhelming urge to crack a small half-smile and think, regardless of whatever you may be going through personally, ‘You know, things really aren’t so bad.’
You gotta stay positive.
And this album could not have come at a better time. From the shout-along background vocals, to Craig Finn’s characteristically lackadaisically delivered vocals to the lyrics themselves which alternate between the Hold Steady’s typically jaded style to the alarmingly uplifting ‘Let this be our annual reminder that we can all be something bigger’, Constructive Summer was not only just what I needed to musically get me through the drives to work (I occasionally space out, it’s a boring trek) but also the most amazing start to an album this side of Okkervil River’s forthcoming Stand Ins.
As for the closing track, Slapped Actress - Well, it might be the closest thing to a religious experience I will ever have. It’s really that good. And I really feel that strongly about it. Because it really is just that good.
My name is Amber and I'm a girl who writes about songs. You might know me better as the Editor In Chief of Radio Free Chicago, where I proofread, dictate, review, and ramble. I love music and I love my life.
