From the Wu-Tang Killa Bees to indie-pop’s The Bird and the Bee, musicians are irresistibly drawn to bee references. And why not? The bee’s stinger is ideal for violent or naughty metaphors, and romantic songs come to life with a little pollination/honey-making innuendo.
Here are a couple snippets from the Diana Ross and The Supremes song, “Honey Bee (Keep on Stinging Me)”: “You started a fever burnin’ deep inside of me, since you stung me with your sweet love… This taste of honey you’re givin’ me has sweetened all my bitterness.”
(Diana Ross and The Supremes know a thing or two about bee metaphors.)
Sean Hayes (the alt-folk singer/songwriter, not the actor from Will & Grace) takes musical bee references in a socially conscious direction with his single, “Honeybees Falling,” released on Dec. 8 from Sean Hayes Music.
“Who’s out chasin’ after money? Little mouse in a maze
Clouds above the buildings, pockets full of rain
Mystery surrounds us, mystery all around us….
“Go ask the birds, the birds, the birds
Listen to the wind, the wind, the wind
Go ask the honeybees falling
Listen to the breathing in…”
In a recent e-mail interview with Eleven’s Song Reviews, Hayes explained his reference to falling bees.
“Honeybee populations are dying… It has been happening for years and it’s getting worse. It is a very scary thing with huge consequences… Go ask the honeybees!” he said.
To Hayes’ point, in an August 2009 Time magazine article, “New Clues in the Mass Death of Bees,” author Bryan Walsh reports on colony collapse disorder (CCD), a phenomenon that has resulted in the reduction of nearly one-third of all American honeybees in recent years.
On a higher level, “Honeybees Falling” urges us to rethink our disconnection from nature and the sometimes harmful decisions we make as a result.
“Asking questions like scientists or mystics. Knowing we do not know. The grind, grind, grind, easy-to-forget money is a made-up magic, but honeybees are real,” says Hayes.
“Honeybees Falling” isn’t Hayes’ first venture into the world of bee imagery.
In the song, “All for Love,” from the album, “Flowering Spade,” Hayes sings, “I’ll gather your honey. I’ll plant your seed. I’ll be your harvest, leave you my sting.”
If you are interested in hearing more from Hayes, he is releasing a new album on March 2, 2010, called “Run Wolves Run.” Here’s a pre-released video from one of the tracks, “Garden.”
My first exposure to singer/songwriter/guitarist Dave Davison was this Tuesday, when label Sargent House released a split EP with two songs from Cast Spells (a Davison side project) and Good Old War.
Listening to the moving, sentimental song, “Letters,” I assumed Davison was a folk singer. Check out this link to the EP: http://castspells.bandcamp.com.
Then, I searched Cast Spells on YouTube and watched the video, “A Badge, Glass Room Sessions.” Seeing Davison with his bushy hair and bare feet, playing his acoustic guitar, and I “knew” he was a folk singer.
Turns out I was only 31 percent right (approximately!) about Davison’s folk leanings.
He is best known for his work with Maps & Atlases, a Chicago-based math-rock, prog-rock, nerd-rock, post-rock, alt-punk group (pick your genre description). While the members of Maps & Atlases acknowledge a folk influence (in an MTV2 “On the Rise” segment), the group is pure technical chops and fireworks.
For those who are new to Dave Davison, I’m admittedly taking you on an ass backwards journey through his music. Don’t worry. “Letters” is a great place to start.
The honesty of Davison’s voice combined with his sweet but urgent guitar lines are powerful. Call it quiet confidence. His frenetic energy demonstrated with his other groups is subtler here.
Here’s an excerpt from the lyrics (couldn’t make out some of these):
“Dragonflies and gnats and their incisions in the water
……???
And I remember when you laughed, the rise and fall of your stomach
And the dirt and bark all over your skin
In lakes and spitting watermelon seeds
We planted a garden beneath our kicking feet
These are letters to you
These are letters to you”
If you are interested in getting to know Davison’s work better, check out the new split EP and his many other recordings. Also, he is currently on the road in select cities with Cast Spells, accompanied by Good Old War and Hezekiah Jones. According to Sargent House’s Twitter profile (@sargenthouse), audiences are loving it. Davison will perform with Cast Spells and HEY!TONAL in Europe starting in late February 2010.
Web sites of groups of which Dave Davison is a member include the following:
(Want to hear the song first? Scroll toward the end of this posting.)
So I walk into Banana Republic and I’m fascinated by something. It’s not the clothes or the freakishly stylish sales attendants…it’s the sophisticated in-store music. Apparently, Banana Republic wants to accessorize my eardrums.
That’s the idea. In fact, the retailer employs music licensing and branding firm Rock River to provide “branded music strategies.” Why? By selecting the right tunes for its stores, Banana Republic helps influence consumers to buy expensive shirts (I bought two.).
Taking Artistic License Scottish singer Angela McCluskey knows the value of music licensing. As part of the group, Telepopmusik, she sang the Grammy-nominated song “Breathe,” which was featured in a 2003 TV ad for the Mitsubishi Outlander.
In a 2004 interview with National Public Radio, McCluskey said she loved being associated with the car commercial. “If they associate it, then they could buy the album… Car commercials are the only way anybody’s ever going to hear your music anymore,” she said.
This year, she sang “I’m Not the Girl” for a TV ad featuring the Schick Quattro TrimStyle For Women Razor. See the bizarre video: http://www.quattroforwomen.com/media.php (hint – look for the computer-animated topiaries).
Recently, McCluskey performed on the Season Six trailer soundtrack for the TV show, “Entourage.”
Indie Evolves Don’t assume that McCluskey is a lightweight because her music is attractive for commercial use. Just the opposite. Music branding companies such as Rock River, DMX, Inc., Shout It Out Loud Music and Elias Artsoffer their clients the best musicians out there, including indies.
(Musicians James Allen and Angela McClusky attend the 2008 FilmAid International Power of Film Gala in New York City.)
Francis Garcia, creative director and founder of Shout It Out Loud Music (www.shoutitoutloudmusic.com), a New York City-based advertising, TV and film music company that has composed original scores and licensed music for Audi, Cadillac, Toyota, Ford, Walmart, McDonald’s, Discovery Channel, Nicktoons, Fuse and Fox Searchlight, recently shared the following with Eleven’s Song Reviews:
“Record labels have become more reliant on music licensing as a revenue stream as CD sales have dramatically diminished. Labels and publishers have become savvier at getting their music into the hands of advertising agencies.
“Concurrently, there’s been a stylistic paradigm shift that’s forged the way for recording artists, as advertisers have moved away from ‘jingles’ and toward album music. The indie music community has even become less denouncing of artists that choose to have their music licensed by a major brand. These factors have made the landscape of music business vastly different than what it was 10 years ago.”
To her credit, McCluskey is a Lilith Fair alum and has worked with R.E.M., Dr. John and Cyndi Lauper. She has also recorded several albums with the Wild Colonials, Telepopmusik and Tryptich and has released her own solo projects.
Message in a Bottle? McCluskey’s song “Message,” from the album, “You Could Start a Fight in an Empty House,” (released Nov. 23, 2009, on Bernadette) is receiving a lot of attention from my MP3 player these days.
Grooving to this electronic music track, I imagine myself speeding in a Porsche Cayman at 2 a.m., heading to an epic party hosted by “Brangelina.” McCluskey’s vocals, world-wise and mysterious, transport me to such places.
At the same time, “Message” is ripe for a slick marketing campaign. I can see the song backing a FedEx commercial. How about an Absolut Vodka ad (hence my message-in-a-bottle reference)?
What are your thoughts about the commercial use of indie music?
Is the world a big rubber band ball with everything connected to everything? Maybe. When you look for common threads among people, history, science…relationships start to surface. At the very least, you and I are connected right now through the Internet. So with this in mind, let’s play a game (not the Kevin Bacon game).
Question: What do “The Secret” (the Law of Attraction philosophy featured on Oprah), jazz artists Eddie Harris and Pharaoh Sanders (best known for their work in the ‘60s and ‘70s) and the year 1983 have in common?
Answer: Georgia Anne Muldrow.
Many of the universe’s funkiest wavelengths have converged recently to create the neo-soul hip-hopstress, Georgia Ann Muldrow (jahjahmuldrow on Twitter).
Born in 1983, Muldrow was raised in a musical home in Los Angeles. Her mom, Rickie Byars Beckwith, sang with avant-garde jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders among others. Muldrow’s late father, Ronald Muldrow, was a jazz guitarist who played with artists such as soul-jazz pioneer Eddie Harris.
With this foundation, Georgia naturally gravitated toward music, and also appears to have incorporated her mother’s spirituality. Beckwith is the musical director of Agape Spiritual Center, a “New Thought” church founded by Muldrow’s stepdad, Dr. Michael Beckwith. The reverend was featured in the 2006 movie, “The Secret.”
(Georgia Anne Muldrow’s mother, Rickie Byars Beckwith, and stepfather Michael Beckwith) Take into account these influences along with the hip-hop voice of Muldrow’s generation, and you have the song, “Never a Day in Vain,” from the new album, “Early” (released Nov. 10 on Animatedcartunes). Listen to the song here
Here’s an excerpt of the lyrics:
“My prayer is to be better, and to live a life of love
An honest human being, whose light heart can soar with the doves.
It’s hard to keep your head up, when life’s smoke obscures your gaze
I pray to see the beauty, even in that smoke’s dark haze
And when, I feel worthy to receive, the universe opens up to me
I’m a wide open vessel, true love expressin’,
I’ll never live a day in vain”
Another 1983 Connection Steven Ellison (Flying Lotus), with whom Muldrow and her partner, Dudley Perkins have recorded and performed, called his debut album, “1983.” (I can all but confirm that this was the year he was born.)
Here’s a video of Perkins (a.k.a. Declaime) and Muldrow (a.k.a. Patti Blingh) performing to Flying Lotus’ beats.
Ellison’s background was similar to Muldrow’s in that he grew up in L.A. in a musical family. He is the great nephew of Alice Coltrane, the late free-jazz singer/mystic and John Coltrane, the late jazz god.
Now follow me here. Pharaoh Sanders, who played with Muldrow’s mom, also recorded and played with the Coltranes, who were big influences of Muldrow’s and just about all serious musicians out there.
(Let me know what you think of this song by leaving a comment.)
To your dismay, the couple you follow on your favorite TV drama has a nasty blowup over infidelity. In a dress by Vera Wang, the distraught woman sobs alone in her dark apartment with her back against the bedroom door. Her scorned lover races off in his 2010 Camaro. He shakes his head in disbelief about the betrayal and then suddenly punches the dash.
In my view, the song, “Ambulance,” by Eisley on the new EP, “Fire Kite,” was born for moments like this.
The track explores the kind of emotional hurt that only a romantic relationship can inflict – when your broken heart aches so badly you may need to call an ambulance.
(Eisley’s song, “Ambulance” – my vote for the next track featured on “Grey’s Anatomy”)
Here’s an excerpt of the lyrics, sung by the band’s keyboard player, Stacy Dupree:
“I need an ambulance, I took the worst of the blow
Send me a redeemer, let me know
If I’m gonna’ be alright, am I’m gonna’ be alright
Cause I know how it usually goes, I know how it usually goes
“I built a monument, for the love we used to know
But that is far removed, and you say
That I’m gonna’ be okay, and yeah I’m gonna’ be okay
But it doesn’t seem that way, no, love, not today
“Cause I was told to get out, told to leave
Told to have my things in the parking lot
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, baby, yeah
Just send me that ambulance, oh
Just send me that ambulance”
Intentionally or not, Eisley, a group from Tyler, Texas, made up of four sibling twenty-somethings and a cousin, has written a song that could fit nicely in the “Grey’s Anatomy” genre of music, an unlikely category that has emerged since the TV show debuted in 2005. Grey’s Anatomy has featured a who’s who of cool young artists, including KT Tunstall, Ingrid Michaelson, Anna Nalick, Brandi Carlile, Peter Bjorn and John, The Bird and the Bee and Feist.
In recent years, Eisley has toured with several well-known bands, including (you may have seen this coming) “Grey’s Anatomy” soundtrack alumni Coldplay, Snow Patrol, The Fray and Gomez.
To get a feel for the song, “Ambulance,” think of the emotional intensity of tunes like Sarah McLachlan’s “I Will Remember You,” along with the sweetness of Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories’ song, “Stay.”
So grab a box of napkins, a quart of ice cream and experience the song, “Ambulance,” by Eisley on the EP “Fire Kite” (Sire Records Company, released Oct. 9, 2009).
Sources: www.washingtonpost.com (Eisley: Rock and Relatives – These Four Siblings, Plus One Cousin, Are Truly at Home on the Road, April 18, 2008), www.purevolume.com/eisley, www.cbsnews.com (Grey’s Anatomy Music Revisited, May 17, 2007) and iTunes (Grey’s Anatomy search).
Eugene Hütz, founder of the acclaimed gypsy rock group, Gogol Bordello, was a teenager when the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986 displaced his family in Kiev, Ukraine. Since then, Hütz seems to have converted that chaotic, atom-splitting energy into “complete orgasmal hysteria” onstage - which is how Hütz has described the group’s live performances (NPR Interview, 2007).
(L to R: Gogol Bordello’s Yuri Lemeshev, Sergey Ryabstev and Eugene Hütz)
Here’s what a couple of my Facebook friends told me this week about seeing Gogol Bordello live:
Dana – I just saw them at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans and at Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival last year. I wanted to run away with them. Totally contagious.
Brian – I “lurves” me some gypsy rock. I saw them at ACL a couple years ago. Very high-energy – the crowd couldn’t help but dance.
Until recently, I had never heard of the band. I’m probably the last person who can claim that in indie listening circles, because Hütz, the group’s leader, knows how to draw attention to himself, thanks to his charisma, philosophical bent and sweaty decadence.
To date, the band has its own documentary, “Gogol Bordello Non-Stop” (Hoptza Films, 2008), has performed with pop powerhouse Madonna and has appeared at countless marquee music festivals across the globe. Hütz also played leading roles in the movies “Everything is Illuminated” (Warner Independent Pictures, 2005) and Madonna’s directorial debut, “Filth and Wisdom” (IFC Films, 2008).
New Album On Oct. 6, 2009, Gogol Bordello released a CD/DVD set called “Live from Axis Mundi” (SideOneDummy) that includes footage from a concert in New York City as well as a BBC radio session.
The music attacks the senses. Every time I tried to settle into any particular beat or sound, Gogol Bordello pulled me by the ear to witness another jarring style or musical idea. The group smashes dub, gypsy music, punk, caberet and more into loud anthems that make me want to sing and cast my vote for something – with Gogol Bordello, that’s probably something extreme.
My favorite track is “Ultimate,” which was from a 2008 live performance on BBC- Radio 1’s “In The Company Of (with Colin Murray).”
Here’s a taste of the lyrics (word order is faithful to the recording):
“An evolution is eternal
An evolution isn’t over
Everybody shows
And everybody knows
That if we are here, not to do
What you and I wanna’ do
And go forever crazy with it
Why the hell we are even here?
Daaaahhhh!!!!”
When Hütz yells at the end of each verse, it’s time to party like a car crash.
Since words really can’t describe Gogol Bordello, here are a couple videos:
Following in the tradition of Julie Andrews, Jim Brickman and the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Disney Records has released a new collection of its classic movie tunes, this time performed by…Los Lobos? That’s right everybody. The guys from East L.A. are bringing “un poco del alma Latina” (a bit of Latin soul) to Disney.
(L to R: Los Lobos’ Cesar Rosas, Dopey, Snow White and Sneezy)
Since 1973, Los Lobos has combined rock, soul and traditional Spanish and Mexican music into a sound that has sold millions of records and won three Grammys. On the album, “Los Lobos Goes Disney” (released Oct 26, 2009), the group doesn’t change a thing. The song, “Heigh-Ho,” from the Disney classic animated film, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” is a standout.
The song kicks off with noisy, banging guitars and drums that settle into a rocking norteño-style groove. With appropriate Disney flourish, the “Heigh-Ho” singers begin alternating low and high “heigh-hos.”
Here are the lyrics:
First Verse “Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, la hora ya llegó (The time has arrived.)
Whistles…heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, la casa vuelvo yo (I go back home.)
Whistles…heigh-ho, heigh-ho
Second Verse “Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, la casa vuelvo yo (I go back home.)
Whistles…heigh-ho, heigh-ho, heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, el día ya acabo (The day is over.)
Whistles…heigh-ho, heigh-ho
The end of the song is even more hardcore than the beginning, complete with a chaotic drum roll, as if to say, “hell yeah” – but in a nice way for the kids.
By the way, if your kids can’t get enough of Los Lobos after listening to “Los Lobos Goes Disney,” the group made a children’s album with Lalo Guerrero called, “Papa’s Dream” (1995). They’re also on the soundtrack of the movie, “Spy Kids,” and they play the theme song to Disney’s “Handy Manny” TV show.
Also, see a replay of Los Lobos’ performance on Oct. 18, 2009, at the White House’s Fiesta Latina, a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoagkxrPshU
Special Thanks ¡Muchas gracias to friends Milagros Heeter and Kelly Knipe for contributing their Spanish-language skills to this review!
Second and Third Favorite SongsThis Week: 2. Devendra Banhart – “Angelika” from the album, “What Will We Be” (Folk Rock) and 3. Devendra Banhart – “Can’t Help But Smiling” from the album, “What Will We Be” (Folk Rock)
(If you listen to this song, let me know in the comments if you like it or not.)
Every once in a while, usually while I’m driving in traffic, an awful, violent thought flashes through my mind. Then, I think, “Wow, that was unacceptable”; I pop another Lexapro; and I move on with my day. I can imagine singer/songwriter Alec Ounsworth having a similar experience, but instead thinking, “What a great idea for a song.”
(Left, Singer/Songwriter Alec Ounsworth; Right, Friendly Serial Killer, Dexter)
As an example, see an excerpt of his lyrics from the new song, “Bones in the Grave.”
(Help me out with the correct lyrics if you know them.)
“Bald head and John’s convict tattoos
Ice raining, ice for hours
Ready, see medicine boy
Leaps the ??? …
But the nurse has yet to arrive
“So I killed Johnny’s pregnant shadow
While he was fast asleep
The doctor says don’t let him go
He wants me six feet deep
“Gotta’ get them bones, in the grave
Get them bones, in the grave
Get them booooones…”
Disturbing! Is Alec a serial killer in the making? Nah. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he’s a creative guy who exorcises his demons through his art…or something like that.
Musically, I love everything about “Bones in the Grave,” on the album, “Mo Beauty,” which was recorded in New Orleans. Drummer Stanton Moore begins the song like he’s an animal in a cage, rattling noisy chains with his teeth. An organ, creeping like a spider, joins a guitar playing whatever the hell it wants, not necessarily in tune with anything else.
Ounsworth’s nasally voice is front and center, channeling 1982 Gordon Gano (singer of the Violent Femmes) to great effect.
By the time the band finishes the chorus, I’m clapping and singing along.
So just in time for Halloween and as the fourth season of Dexter is well underway, solo artist Alec Ounsworth (also from the musical projects Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Flashy Python) gives us a great song in a scary package.
Second and Third Favorite Songs This Week: 2. Miguel Zenón – “Esta Plena” from the album, “Esta Plena” (Latin Jazz) and 3. Lyle Lovett – “Pantry” from the Album, “Natural Forces” (Country)
(If you listen to this song, let me know in the comments if you like it or not.)
Here’s a test. Try not to dance around the room waving your hands in the air when you listen to the song, “The Diplomat,“ sung by Maria Muldaur. It’s impossible.
(Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton – dancing like diplomats.)
How does Muldaur push your dance buttons? She has three things going for her.
1. Jug Music – This song, from Muldaur’s new album “Garden of Joy,” is played in the style of jug music, a fun, old-timey style that became popular in the 1920s and re-emerged in the 1960s. Jug band musicians use instruments such as jugs, washboards, guitars, banjos, etc., to create a sound with a nice bluesy bounce.
2. Personality – On “The Diplomat,” Muldaur walks us through the average person’s bad day. She sounds world-weary like the rest of us, but with a mischievous sense of humor – kind of like crying with a wink. Muldaur’s vocal approach is the blues, and during the really good parts she gets all raspy.
Muldaur has some great lyrics to work with, compliments of singer/songwriter Dan Hicks. Here’s a sample:
“An acorn fell from a tree and tried to bop me in the head
I say to the acorn, is it something that I said
I’m just practicing my diplomacy
Everything is everything and it’s alright with me”
“…Won’t somebody just throw me a bone
So I can chew the thing alone
Won’t somebody allow me to roam
So I can get on safely home”
3. Roots Music Know-How – Muldaur has some serious roots music credentials. Born in Greenwich Village in New York, she was part of the ‘60s folk revival that included Bob Dylan.
Over the years, she has hung out, sang or played with a who’s who of roots music legends, including Doc Watson, Bukka White, Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, Son House, Jim Kweskin, John Sebastian, David Grisman, Geoff Muldaur (her ex-husband), Jerry Garcia, Joan Baez, Allen Toussaint and Bonnie Raitt.
Muldaur has recorded over 35 albums since her first solo album in 1973 that included her biggest hit, “Midnight at the Oasis.”
So if you’re ready to take “The Diplomat” dance test. Check the song out on the album, “Garden of Joy” by Maria Muldaur, released Oct. 6, 2009, Stony Plain Recording Co. Her Web sites include www.mariamuldaur.com and www.myspace.com/mariamuldaurtoday. She has a fan page on Facebook.
Also, if you’d like to hear another version of the song, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks perform the tune on the album, “Tangled Tales,” released March 24, 2009, Surfdog, Inc.
Sources: www.mariamuldaur.com (bio page), www.heralddeparis.com (“Meet her at the Oasis: Maria Muldaur, Matriarch of Rock and Roll,” Al Carlos Hernandez, Oct. 4, 2009) and http://blogcritics.org/music (Music Review: “Maria Muldaur – Maria Muldaur & Her Garden Of Joy,” David Bowling, Oct. 5, 2009)
Remember the movie, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” the 1971 version with Gene Wilder? In my favorite scene, children frolic in the “Chocolate Room,” eating candy flowers and drinking out of a chocolate creek. The song, “Swing,” on the new Zero 7 album, “Yeah Ghost,” would make a nice alternative soundtrack for this classic movie moment.
Sweets and chocolate displays at the after-party following the UK Premiere of ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory,’ in 2005.
“Swing” is light and fun in a good way – not pop music piffle. The song starts with a lilting electric piano/organ, accented by bells and the rest of the hand-clapping rhythm section. Singer Martha Tilston brings what sounds to me like a pouty lower lip to the party – which actually works well.
With all that going for it, the real magic of this song comes from the background vocals. Their effect is hard to describe, but to me, they’re like the soothing fall breezes we’re experiencing in Texas right now – they make me feel good.
As playful steel drums usher the song to its ending, I feel revived, relaxed and I tell myself it’s probably time to watch “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” again.
So take a listen to the song, “Swing,” by Zero 7 on the new album, “Yeah Ghost,” released Sept. 7, 2009, Warner Music UK Limited. The group’s Web sites include www.zero7.co.uk and www.myspace.com/zero7official. Zero 7 has a fan site on Facebook.
(By the way, for a twisted update on the Willy Wonka Chocolate Room scene, see the animated “Family Guy” version, “Pure Inebriation,” about a beer drinker’s fantasyland.)
