If you like music, thank other music

Hello, loyal LTF-ers! It has been a long time since I was inspired to update this blog, but with the recent news regarding the ruling in the Robin Thicke vs. the estate of Marvin Gaye case and the Tom Petty vs. Sam Smith brouhaha, it seems that songs that sound like other songs are more timely and relevant than ever.

Photo credit: ABC News

The general consensus among creative people seems to be that the decision to make Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke pay damages of $7.4M to Marvin Gaye's estate is ultimately damaging to the music industry. They argue that at its core music is an art of pastiche, in which themes, ideas, melodies, bass lines, rhythms, etc., that have come before are reused in fresh, new ways to create new works of art.  Creating a litigious environment in which artists fear this basic process of pastiche is ultimately detrimental to the creation of new music.

Photo credit: Getty Images

All of this examination of the fundamental pastiche-iness (I made that word up) of music has inspired some great comparison between songs in popular media this week.

One of my favorites is this blog post by Chicago radio station WXRT, in which they cite 10 instances of songs that sound like other songs, including Jack White sounding like Led Zeppelin, Radiohead sounding the the White Album-era Beatles, and the Black Keys sounding like Pink Floyd, among others.

But to my ear, the most compelling comparison they make is between Cage the Elephant's "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" and Beck's "Loser," primarily because "Loser" was such a sonic leap for its time, sounding like almost nothing else out there at the time.

 Beck's sound here is still so distinctive 20 years later that the Cage the Elephant version sounds almost derivative to my ear. And therein lies the challenge of regulating the borrowing of music ideas. How similar does a song have to sound to another song to be considered a blatant ripoff?

One Man Gift from Above

There is something completely reassuring about the sound of James Taylor's voice, as though here is a man who has been through it all and come out the other side to tell you, "Whatever it is, it's going to be okay." In the darkest of times, there is nothing more timeless and calming to me. But there has always been a bit of mystique about this prolific singer-songwriter - I always got the feeling he'd rather sing than talk.

So it was doubly entertaining to watch his latest concert DVD, One Man Band, and discover that once you get James Taylor talking, there is just no telling what's going to come out.

One Man Band was shot in a very small theater in his hometown in the Berkshires - Taylor and one other musician make up the entire ensemble (unless you count the enormous, early-20th-century-looking "drum machine.") The show is largely acoustic, though he does play his electric guitar on a few songs for variety. But preceding each song is an often lengthy and meandering introduction (often with photo slideshow!) that reveals Taylor's wry charm.

In these candid introductions, he reveals his love of the Beatles, discusses the intersection of Richard Nixon and Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and describes Joni Mitchell as "his bitch" (in the past tense, of course.) And that's just a small sampling.

For a taste, check out this fantastic montage of the DVD:



The accompanying CD is an excellent addition to the collection as well, because the concert features a lot of his newer (though still timeless) material.

Better late than never

Ok, yes... I am a year late to jump on the Regina Spektor bandwagon. Yes, her album Begin to Hope was on the top of all the year-end, best-of lists LAST year. So I wasn't exactly ahead of that wave. But if you're in a similar boat, now is the perfect time to get into Spektor's music, which sounds like a Russian winter in music form. Seriously, what Tchaikovsky was to classical music, Spektor is to modern indie. There are elements of everything from traditional Russian waltzes to the Beatles (remember how the Russians used to go nuts for them?) to modern post-Soviet techno. And it all blends together seamlessly, tied up with Spektor's fascinating and accented soprano. (She comes from Moscow originally, by way of New York.)

A stunning album with too many highlights to mention. The album's ubiquitous single "Fidelity" is just the beginning. Ballad "Samson" is a current favorite of mine, but I have a feeling this is an album from which every song will be a favorite at some point.

Here's the video for "Fidelity":



And here she is performing "Samson" on the BBC's Culture Show:

More Sara

I just can't get enough Sara Bareilles this week - thought I'd post another song you absolutely must hear.

Here she is doing an awesome, grooved-out version of "Vegas" from the new album:



And an excerpt of her cover of the Beatles' "Oh! Darling" from Abbey Road. So much soul. Love it.

Not a 'Little Voice'

Well, I am sad to report that I missed Colbie Caillat at Summerfest last weekend. Maybe next year.

But that's okay, because I've got a new obsession this week: Sara Bareilles. Her album Little Voice releases tomorrow but you can currently stream the whole thing at AOL Music.

The songs are impossibly catchy, full of great rhythmic hooks and her voice has a soulful fragility that is drawing comparisons to Fiona Apple.

To get an idea of her voice, check out this cover of the Beatles' "A Little Help From My Friends":



And to get a feel for the rhythmic hookiness of her music, here she is performing my favorite song from the album, "Many the Miles":

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

I've had this album in my collection for five years now and it's just been waiting for the right moment to make itself indispensable. That moment has finally arrived. Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot often sounds like a lost late-Beatles album, which I guess shouldn't really come as a surprise, since the AllMusic guide informs me that the album was mixed by "mixer/multi-instrumentalist/'fifth Beatle' Jim O'Rourke."

The songwriting is held together by a general theme of wry heartbreak. The sound is very unusual, warm acoustic melodies laced throughout with often-dissonant sonic augmentation. When I first tried to listen to this album five years ago, the general dissonance of the sonic experimentation was just off-putting enough that I didn't hear through to the genius melodies and warm timbres. Now that I can hear them, I think this is a heartachingly beautiful album - possibly my favorite "breakup" album to date.

Highlights for me are the subversively lovable "Kamera", the strangely soulful "Jesus, Etc.", the danceable "Heavy Metal Drummer," and the charming major-minor "I'm the Man Who Loves You."

But I don't really recommend listening to these songs individually. This album's true genius comes from the fact that it expertly navigates every strange nuance of emotion that accompanies a heartbreak of any kind. And because of this, the album works best when listened to in its entirety, so that the false toughness of the opening track ("I Am Trying To Break Your Heart") gives way to the sweet vulnerability of "Kamera" ("Phone my family/tell them I'm lost/and no it's not okay,") before delving even deeper into the bleak despondency of "Radio Cure" ("Cheer up honey/ I hope you can/There is something wrong with me.") From here, the album shifts to a theme of getting over it, from the morbid rebirth of "War on War" ("You have to learn how to die/if you want to be alive,") to the weary reassurance of "Jesus, Etc." (Jesus, don't cry/You can rely on me honey/You can come by any time you want/I'll be around,") to the wispy hope of "Ashes of American Flags" ("I want a good life/with a nose for things/a fresh wind and bright sky/to enjoy my suffering".) Then it's time for bittersweet nostalgia to kick in with "Heavy Metal Drummer" ("I miss the innocence I've known/Playing KISS covers, beautiful and stoned") and "I'm the Man Who Loves You" ("If I could, you know I would/just hold your hand and you'd understand/I'm the man who loves you.") Finally, there's a shift to overcoming anger on "Pot Kettle Black" ("I'm tied in a knot/But I'm not gonna get caught/Calling a pot kettle black") and grieving the loss on "Poor Places" ("My jaw's been broken/My heart is wrapped in ice/My fangs have been pulled/But I really want to see you tonight".) And finally, the album ends in a kind of heart-wrenching, self-blaming acceptance with "Reservations" ("How can I convince you it's me I don't like/and not be so indifferent to the look in your eyes/when I've always been distant/and I've always told lies for love/I've got reservations about so many things/But not about you/It's not about you."

Much like a good breakup, this is one remarkably complex album. Give it a listen. And if it's not time in your life for it right now, hold on to it. In my recent experience, it'll always be there for you when you need it.

Oh, and: Head over to Wilco's official Web site to listen to an entire live set from the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC last October. SO SO SO SO good.

And the 'love' just keeps comin'...

A co-worker recently gave me a copy of the "new" Beatles album, Love. I know it's been blogged to death, but I wanted to put the official Lost Things Found stamp of approval on it. Amazing.

First of all, to have the audacity to listen to some of the greatest albums of all time and think, "Wouldn't it be better if we put 'Back in the USSR' before 'While My Guitar' (as producers George and Giles Martin did) takes some real moxie. (Although if anyone was going to feel confident in this role, it would be George Martin, the Beatles' legendary producer.) What's so incredible is how the final product, rather than watering down the original impact of the music, makes the songs sound even MORE vital, even MORE revolutionary than they did upon first hearing. This album actually sounds like the complex solution to some huge cosmic riddle.

The feeling I get when listening to this exquisite mash-up of Beatles songs is something like the feeling all those rabbis must have gotten when they applied code-breaking technology to the Torah and discovered the names of famous rabbis throughout history.

Who would ever have thought that you could superimpose "The Word" onto "Baby, You Can Drive My Car" and they would create a new sound that's almost holy, like the ancient concept of the music of the spheres finally realized?

I know - I didn't really believe it either. All I can say is, listen for yourself. There is something otherworldly going on here.

Nodding in agreement

Remember a few posts back when I mentioned re-discovering some of the more "deep-cut" Beatles' songs?

Well, Bob Lefsetz agrees with me! Who is Bob Lefsetz, you ask? Apparently, he is a Santa-Monica based music industry legend.

Here he describes the moment when he and an acquaintance discover a mutual love of the lesser-known Beatles' songs:

"Then I’m singing 'I’ll Follow The Sun'. And then replicating every note of the intro of "I Feel Fine". It’s Beatlemania all over again!

We both know every lick, every word. It’s been forty years, but there’s been no act like this since. Oh, there have been good songs, but that’s all they were, songs. The Beatle numbers were exquisite jewels, they weren’t throwaways, they had harmonies, changes, they were works of genius...

I focus in on 'Help'. With all its overlooked tracks. Like 'I Need You' and The Night Before'. And, of course, 'You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away'."

Ben over at Amazon uses this story to make a good point about the beauty of whole albums that's worth checking out.

Loving the lesser-knowns

I'm currently reading a fascinating book called "This is Your Brain on Music" by Daniel J. Levitin (more on that later) and I ran across a brilliant explanation of the music theory behind something we all intrinsically understand - the genius of the Beatles:

"The Beatles 'For No One' resolves on the V chord (the fifth degree of the scale we’re in) and we wait for a resolution that never comes - at least not in that song. But the very next song on the album Revolver starts with the very chord we were waiting to hear."

This led me to think about some of the Beatles' B-sides (like "For No One") which are often forgotten when people discuss the genius of the Beatles. My top 10 favorite lesser-known or underappreciated Beatles songs, in no particular order:

1. If I Fell
2. For No One
3. You Never Give Me Your Money
4. I'll Be Back
5. For You, Blue ("Because you're a sweet a lovely thing, I love you.")
6. I Will
7. Yes It Is ("If you wear red tonight...")
8. Sun King
9. I've Got a Feeling
10. Two of Us

You'd never guess looking at this list that my favorite Beatles album is actually The White Album, would you?