Tuesday 29 May 2012

Seahorses - Improvised Soundtrack with Eric Gallipo - May 28, 2012

Last week Eric Gallipo and I performed a live soundtrack to Jean Painleve`s film Seahorses as part of The Olio Cooperative`s Sound and Vision night.  Sound and Vision is an evening of silent film shorts with live soundtracks performed by local Victoria musicians and artists.
I had become fascinated with the films of Painleve after seeing an excerpt at the surrealist show that was mounted at The Vancouver Art Gallery; having participated in past editions of  Sound and Vision I vowed to do one of them.  Little did I know at that time that Yo Le Tengo has scored at least eight of Painleve`s most popular  films!

I have always done this project solo, but on this occasion I invited Eric Gallipo to join me. Eric is an attentive, empathetic improviser and one of the most eclectic, original, and talented musicians I know.  Whether it`s the harsh noise of CSTL, the classic bebop stylings of the Eric Gallipo Ensemble, or whatever the fuck you ask him to do in whatever situation, he brings a fresh creative perspective, humour (sometimes twisted), and musical chops to spare.



A few nights after the show, we set up with my crappy laptop webcam filming a DVD on the TV That`s what you call postmodern image degeneration, don`t you know.   We did one take and here it is


If you are interested in Jean Painleve, I would suggest racing down to Pic A Flic (located in scenic Cook Street Village) and renting the 3 DVD Science Is Fiction compilation of his work issued by Criterion.  Sadly, Criterion has had a lot the Jean Painleve stuff taken off youtube, including most of the Yo Le Tengo tracked films

Check out some noise!




Wednesday 23 May 2012

Skeleton - May 23, 2012


Though I wrote this song about a year ago,  it still feels a little fresh and new, maybe because I haven't performed it live a zillion times. This version of it is recorded with Rachelle Reath on violin, Emily Goodenough on cello, and Marek Tyler on the drums. We have been rehearsing for our first show in this configuration June 9 at The Fort St. Cafe with Vancouver band Cloudsplitter.  Emily just learned the song tonight, so kudos to Emily I say.  Anyone got a name for this sweet combo? Bring it on - let the blog comments rain down.






Here we are playing the song




Skeleton - David P. Smith

The skeleton in my closet he knows how to party
down by the river amongst the debris
There we discuss alien conspiracies
trailer park lesbians, UFC
How it feels to see your reflection in a glass of whiskey

Whiskey rivers swum like public pool lengths
dreamlessly sinking in quicksand beds
Unresolved nights became resolute dawns
the angry sparrows twittered as the sun grew strong
Days begun orange, then turned to blue
with periods of brown forecast for the afternoon

Fat robins feast on freshly turned worms
starlings flit and swoop like sci-fi insect swarms
A little brown bird lies still on the street
near the passenger door to the left of my feet
Maybe, maybe, maybe he's asleep

The skeleton in my closet likes to go out on the town
likes to paint it red, he really likes to get down
Sometimes he gets so down I find him crawling around
And I say
if you piss in the carburetor, the car will stall
if you piss on the temple floor, the walls will fall
you can piss your pants, buddy it's your call
You can do what you want, I'll pick you up when you fall

The digital satellite unit casts a hideous shadow on our house
while I recline on the sofa in the costume of a louse
While on the TV, weeping women flee
the good doctor eats a live chimpanzee
and the air is alive with fleas' disease

The skeleton in my closet pulls me aside
he says 
brother got a minute, I need to confide
you see, my dreams all cower like scared cats in the rain
and I don't mind feeling numb, it means I don't feel pain
but it scares me being numb, in case I don't feel again

It was a sad good-bye to the jugglers and clowns
went working for the man in a jackhammer town
Now I have a daughter and I have a wife
and this is the foundation on which I build my life

The skeleton in my closet says he's feeling tired
says it's hard to care, says he feels uninspired
And I say
put your pants on one leg at a time
open the curtains and let the sun shine
every minute in the world a hundred ten people are dying
Sing a song, stop crying
Sing a song, stop crying
you 





Wednesday 16 May 2012

Positively 4th Street - The Inevitable Dylan Cover - May 15, 2012

Here's the inevitable Bob Dylan cover.  Going to high school in rural Alberta there may have been some people listening to Dylan, but it was no one I knew.  The soundtrack to drunken teen-age parties was comprised of Led Zeppelin 4, Nazareth's Greatest Hits, Frampton Comes Alive, Styx - The Grand Illusion......well you get the drift.  My first exposure to Dylan was when I left home and went to university.  I promptly became obsessed, borrowed a copy of the first Greatest Hits record and playing it incessantly.  I have a memory, I'm not sure I would classify as fond or not, of leaning inebriated out my dorm window screaming the chorus of Like A Rolling Stone at befuddled passers-bys.  No one can match the almost joyful exuberance of Dylan's self-righteous venom.  And one of the most venomous is Positively 4th Street.  My version has some tempo and melody variations to the original....here it is:











Positively 4th Street - Bob Dylan

You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning

You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that’s winning

You say I let you down
You know it’s not like that
If you’re so hurt
Why then don’t you show it

You say you lost your faith
But that’s not where it’s at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it

I know the reason
That you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd
You’re in with

Do you take me for such a fool
To think I’d make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don’t know to begin with

You see me on the street
You always act surprised
You say, “How are you?” “Good luck”
But you don’t mean it

When you know as well as me
You’d rather see me paralyzed
Why don’t you just come out once
And scream it

No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I’d rob them

And now I know you’re dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don’t you understand
It’s not my problem

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you

Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you


There's a lot of not that awesome covers of this song out there.  Dylan's versions are so idiosyncratic and definitive, it can be hard to pull off.  I liked this one by Jerry Garcia with Merl Saunders.  





Monday 7 May 2012

The Beast In Me - Johnny Cash - May 6, 2012

I have had a terrible cold and sore throat this week and consequently I'm able to sing two or three tones lower than I normally could.  A perfect opportunity to do some Johnny Cash.  The Beast In Me appears on the first American Recordings album and was written by his then son-in-law Nick Lowe.  If you're not familiar with Nick Lowe, he is a gifted and orginal songwriter.  His haunting version of The Beast In Me appears on Impossible Bird, an album which song to song is one of the consistently best written records I've encountered.  Nick Lowe wrote the song specifically for Johnny and at the bottom of this page I've put a link to him talking about how the song came about.



Okay, so here we go.  Here's my rendition on accordion



The Beast In Me - Nick Lowe

The beast in me 
is caged by frail and fragile bars
restless by day and by night
rants and rages at the stars
God help the beast in me

The beast in me
has had to learn to live with pain
and how to shelter from the rain
and in the twinkling of any eye
might have to be restrained
God help the beast in me

Sometimes he tries to kid me
that he's just a teddy bear
and maybe even manages to vanish in the air
and that is when I must beware

Of the beast in me
that everybody knows
they've seen him out dressed in my clothes
patently unclear
if it's New York or New Year
God help the beast in me
God bless the beast in me

An excellent live version by Johnny in the period following the release of American 1.  He was really in a career renaissance at this point, at the height of his powers.



Nick Lowe's version from The Impossible Bird album


Nick Lowe talking about writing The Beast In Me

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Whiskey, You Are Not My Brother - New Song - May 1, 2012

Remember that post about a month ago before we played with Black Valley Gospel at Crace Mountain?
Whether you do or don't, the night of that show David Chenery proposed a collaboration of a sorts between us.  He wants to record some of my older material and give it the f*@!#!?! Black Valley treatment!  I was both honoured and excited about the proposal.  Initial song ideas include some Dogbreath Brothers tunes - Stay Away With The Whiskey, Look In Your Heart, and Bent, Broke, Busted 'n' Blue - plus Last Trip To Vancouver from the Eelgirl EP and a heavy version of the instrumental Jackass Path from the Hurtin' Dance Party album possibly with a spoken word piece.  Crazy shit!

I started working on a song this week and it seemed like maybe it could fit this project.    I've keyed it so Chenery could easily do manic vocals an octave above what I'm doing.  This is really a sketch of the song. We'll run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes.


Check out the video - my head looks like a sock puppet




******Stardate January 13, 2016:  the collaboration with Chenery did not come to fruition.  However, I did a minor tweak on the lyrics, a major tweak on the arrangement and feel, and went on to record the song with Mike Hall in a combo with drums (Marek Tyler), cello (Hank Pine). Live off the floor don't you know, to fabulous 1/4" reel to reel.  Stay tuned....I'll post it soon!

Whiskey, You Are Not My Brother

Whiskey, you are not my brother
do not stand so near
take your hand from my shoulder
do not whisper in my ear

There is a place
where black is dark
dark, dark blue
where you are misshapen and made obese
by all that does not fill you

Whiskey, you are not my brother
do not stand so near
take your hand from my shoulder
do not whisper in my ear

There is a place
where the river is deep
deep, deep green
the waters are opaque, they are viscous
they appear to be serene


Whiskey, you are not my brother
do not stand so near
take your hand from my shoulder
do not whisper in my ear