Reflections: Best Summer Songs from 1983

1. "She's a Beauty" by The Tubes
2. "Affair of the Heart" by Rick Springfield
3. "Love's Got a Line on You" by Scandal
4. "Is There Something I Should Know" by Duran Duran
5. "Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo
6. "Little Red Corvette" by Prince
7. "Maniac" by Michael Sembello
8. "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" by The Human League
9. "Time (Clock of The Heart)" by Culture Club

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CD Review: Yusuf

Yusuf
Roadsinger
Eder Music/UME
By David Chiu

Coming off of his return to pop music in 2006, Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, is back with his latest Roadsinger, whose folk sound carries the tradition of Stevens’ classic works from the ‘70s. Collectively the lyrical content of the songs seems to convey a journey of spiritual truth and enlightenment, and effectively does so without proselytizing. Some of the tracks, especially the somber “World O’ Darkness” and “The Rain” are quite rather timely in this uncertain world of fear and negativity; yet the majority of the introspective songs like “Thinking of You,” “All Kinds of Roses” and “Welcome Home” are very spiritual and uplifting. Yusuf hasn’t lost a step when it comes to his distinctive soulful vocals and his gift of melody and lush arrangements. Roadsinger is both exquisite and heartfelt, a fine outing from an artist whom the public would have never expected to return to mainstream music.

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CD Review: Passion Pit

Passion Pit
Manners
French Kiss/Columbia
By David Chiu

Passion Pit seems to wear ‘80s electronic dance pop music heavily on their sleeves. Nearly every track on their album Manners seems to evoke the best of synthpop music from that decade, such as in “Little Secrets,” which is reminiscent of Scritti Politti; and “The Reeling,” which sounds like an old school track that a DJ would have played at an ‘80s New York nightclub. Manners is essentially collection of whimsical pop songs (“Moth’s Wings,” “Sleepyhead”) with the occasional slow jam (the seductive “Swimming in the Flood”). But Passion Pit forges its own identity partly due to the fact of Michael Angelakos’ soaring high-pitched vocals, especially on the opening track “Make Light,” and his impressionistic and almost angstful lyrics. (Think of Prefab Sprout with synthesizers). Manners is not your typical electropop album, yet you can’t help but feeling uplifted and good upon listening to this.

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CD Review: R.E.M.

R.E.M.
Reckoning: Deluxe Edition
I.R.S./UME
By David Chiu

Following in the same vein of last year’s reissue of Murmur, R.E.M.s 1984 second album Reckoning is being given the similar deluxe treatment featuring both the original album and a previously unreleased live concert. Sure Reckoning had the misfortune of having to following-up the great Murmur album. However, it also held its own just fine, containing several tracks that would become R.E.M. favorites: the slightly punkish “Pretty Persuasion,” the lovely “So. Central Rain,” and the folky “(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville.” The album also has some underrated songs including the poppy and energetic “Harborcoat,” the up-tempo “7 Chinese Brothers,” and “Time After Time,” which has a somewhat Middle Eastern feel. The second disc on the reissue is a pretty good live R.E.M. performance featuring a majority of Reckoning’s cuts, along with older songs “Radio Free Europe,” “Gardening at Night” and “9-9,” and a soulful rendition of the Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale.”

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CD Review: King Crimson

King Crimson
In the Court of the Crimson King: An Observation by King Crimson
Caroline/Virgin
By David Chiu

For better or worse, King Crimson’s debut album In the Court of the Crimson King, released exactly 40 years ago, inaugurated the progressive art rock movement of the ‘70s. It still remains to this day a challenging yet rewarding listen because of its dynamic musicianship and bold musical mix of rock and jazz. Fronted by Robert Fripp’s piercing guitar and Ian MacDonald’s sax and Mellotron, In the Court…’s divergent sounds include the heavy, screaming rock of “21st Century Schizoid Man”; the mellow jazz of “I Talk to the Wind” and “Moonchild”; the haunting Epitaph; and the dramatic finale “The Court of the Crimson King.” The band’s music has certainly evolved stylistically as if not to replicate the uniqueness of the debut. Four decades later In the Court… still remains one of King Crimson’s greatest works, arguably the best.

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News: Blondie and Pat Benatar Play Free Brooklyn Show in August

It’s not often that you have Blondie’s Deborah Harry and Pat Benatar—two of the greatest female pop singers of their era—on the same bill. But that’s the case this summer when both Blondie and Benatar are going to be touring together. And for us lucky New Yorkers, the two acts are coming to Brooklyn to play a free show on Aug. 13 at Asser Levy Park near Coney Island. Female punk-pop band The Donnas will be opening for both acts.

Read my interview with Deborah Harry in Spinner.com from last year.

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Live Review: Matthew Barber

Matthew Barber
Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY
May 13, 2009
By David Chiu

Matthew Barber, a young Canadian singer-songwriter, played at his first ever show in Brooklyn last Wednesday opening for Jill Sobule. While his set was very brief, Barber seemed to make the most of that opportunity and perhaps endeared himself to the audience.

Hailing from Toronto, Barber has recorded four albums; his latest record, Ghost Notes, is the first one to be officially released in the U.S. and had earned him a recent JUNO Award nomination. He has previously toured the States; his sister Jill is also a musician—both of them played together on their Sibling Revlery Tour.

Barber brought Ghost Notes’ folk pop sensibilities onstage at Union Hall performing just by himself with his acoustic guitar. Naturally the songs from Ghost Notes the very tall and somewhat lanky musician played were stripped down to its barest essentials but still retained their melodicism such as the soulful balled “Easily Bruised” and I’m Gonna Settle My Accounts With You."; “Sleep Comes to Me” has a very bluegrass feel. The rest of the material from the set included the somewhat bluesy “Cinammon Hearts,” which he described as a Valentine’ Day song; “True Believer,” a tune inspired by Lefty Frisell; and the closer “I Wasn’t Born To Leave You.”

Despite the very earnest and sometimes somber nature of the lyrics, Barber injected a good does of levity into the performance with his sense of self-deprecating humor. Perhaps the only downer from that evening was the fact that he didn’t play more songs from Ghost Notes-- there are some really strong cuts on that album in addition to the aforementioned three he performed. Regardless, it’s safe to say that the Brooklynites at the Hall got a fairly good taste of this Canadian artist’s sound.

A Brief Q & A with Matthew Barber:


1. How is it playing to American audiences who perhaps don't know your music as opposed to playing to Canadian audiences?

American audiences are similar to Canadian as far as I can tell.? So far so good. It's a challenge to play for people who don't know your music at all, but it's also liberating because you have a blank slate with which to make your first impression.

2. With the release of Ghost Notes in the U.S., what do you hope American listeners come away from this album, and your music in general? Do you have any expectations?

I hope that people catch on to my music and spread it around the country through word of mouth or Internet or whatever. I'd love to tour in the U.S. more extensively. I'd like to reach people who are interested in quality music and especially those that dig good singer-songwriters, and who will appreciate sincerity.

3. Aside from touring and promoting for this album, what projects are you currently working on? Are you working on any new songs?

I'm in the planning stages of my next record. Most of the songs are written, some are being finished, and I'm experimenting a lot in my home studio. I'm also recording and mixing some other bands at my studio, and getting my vegetable garden together.

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Film: "The Times of Harvey Milk" Turns 25

“If a bullet should enter by brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”
Harvey Milk


Today in America it’s not unusual for a gay man or a lesbian to hold public office. Among them include Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and New York State Senator Thomas Duane. But years ago that idea seemed unfathomable.

That was the status quo…until Harvey Milk changed everything. In 1977, Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and became the first openly gay person to do so. However Milk’s life and that of Mayor George Moscone ended on Nov. 27, 1978, when both men were assassinated by former supervisor Dan White.

The story of Milk and the San Francisco gay rights movement is told in the documentary film “The Times of Harvey Milk.” Released 25 years ago, it is one of the greatest documentaries ever. Thankfully this Oscar-winning movie is now available in its entirey both on YouTube and Hulu. It is must-see viewing for everybody, especially for those who have only seen last year’s Gus Van Sant-directed dramatization “Milk,” for which Sean Penn won an Academy Award for his portrayal of the slain supervisor.

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Interview: Directors Nyla Bialek Adams and Laurie Trombley of Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley

Read my interview with Nyla Bialek Adams and Laurie Trombley of "Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley," on Microphone Memory Emotion.

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Live Review: Greta Gertler

Greta Gertler
Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY
May 9, 2009
Review by David Chiu

Ever since hearing her excellent 2003 debut album, The Baby That Brought Bad Weather, I have seen Brooklyn-based musician Greta Gertler a few times, most notably at Joe’s Pub. However, this recent Union Hall show was unique because it was the first time I had seen the singer/songwriter from Australia perform solo onstage with just her keyboard. Yet the lack of a backup band didn’t take anything away from her soaring voice, her dazzling musicianship, and catchy pop songs. In fact, it made one appreciate her talents even more closely.

Gertler is in the process of recording her next record titled The Universal Thump; she recently came back to the States from tours of her native Australia and Europe. For the Union Hall show, she performed some new songs, including one called “Honeybee,” which sort of has a very romantic sound. She also performed older material such as the uptempo “Edible Restaurant” and the ballad “If Bob Was God,” and concluded the set with “Flora,” a song about the komodo dragon. Despite the brevity of the set, it was a nice evening of whimsical pop music that seems to draw inspiration from old-fashioned European melodies and Tin Pan Alley.

www.gretagertler.net

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CD Review: Diana Krall

Diana Krall
Quiet Nights
Verve
By David Chiu

Diana Krall’s latest album is another sultry jazz pop work. It also draws inspiration also from Latin jazz and boss nova, which is no surprise three of the songs in the collection feature the works of Antonio Carlos Jobim, including the classic The Girl from Ipamena (here interpreted as “The Boy From Ipanema”). Accompanied by lush orchestration, the music, spanning from the standards such as by Porter and Cahn/Styne to Bacharach/David, certainly evokes the feeling of summery romantic evenings and furthered by Krall’s husky, luscious vocals.

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CD Review: Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly
Memorial Collection
Down the Line: Rarities
Geffen/Decca/UME
by David Chiu

The songs on these two recent collections commemorating the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly’s death sound so vibrant and alive. Memorial Collection is a 3-CD set spanning Holly’s entire career from his early recordings as a member of the duo Buddy and Bob, to his last solo works. In between are the great works he did with the Crickets, such as “Peggy Sue,” “Oh Boy,” “It’s So Easy” and “That’ll Be The Day.” For Holly-philes, Down the Line is a treasure trove of rare and previous unreleased works: for example, the first song My Two Timin’ Woman, was recorded when Holly was just 13! (You can tell by his voice on the recording). The last 15 tracks, especially “Dearest,” are particularly poignant since they feature Holly unplugged on just his voice and guitar. They were recorded from his apartment in New York City, just a mere few months before that fateful plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959.

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Bob Dylan interview in Rolling Stone

If you haven’t checked out the latest issue of Rolling Stone, historian Douglas Brinkley has written a wonderful interview about Bob Dylan, who is the magazine’s cover story. Highly recommended.

Here’s an excerpt from that issue in which Dylan talks about The Ed Sullivan Show, in which CBS didn’t want him to perform “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” in 1963:

“I just had it in my mind to do that particular song. I’d rehearsed it and it went down well. And I knew everybody back home would be watching me on The Ed Sullivan Show. But then I walked out of The Ed Sullivan Show, and they couldn’t have a chance to see me. So I don’t know what that says about me as a person.”

Image from RollingStone.com

 

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News: New George Harrison Compilation

After 20 years, a new George Harrison compilation will finally be released combining his songs from both the Capitol and Dark Horse Records eras. Capitol/EMI yesterday announced the tracklisting for Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison, which is coming out on June 15^th:

 

1. Got My Mind Set On You

2. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)

3. The Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)

4. My Sweet Lord

5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps [Live] - Concert For Bangladesh

6. All Things Must Pass

7. Any Road

8. This Is Love

9. All Those Years Ago

10. Marwa Blues

11. What Is Life

12. Rising Sun

13. When We Was Fab

14. Something [Live] - Concert For Bangladesh

15. Blow Away

16. Cheer Down

17. Here Comes The Sun [Live] - Concert For Bangladesh

18. I Don’t Want To Do It

19. Isn’t It A Pity

 

 

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From The Archives: Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs

As part of NewBeats.com's 10th anniversary, here is a 2006 interview with Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs.

Furs’ Butler Going the Solo Route Quietly
By David Chiu

As a former angry young rocker, Richard Butler, the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs, evoked wry and ironic sentiments (i.e. "We Love You" from the 1980 debut album The Psychedelic Furs) through his distinctive raw voice along with the driving rock played by the guys behind him. Those ingredients cemented the Furs’ reputation as one of the influential post-punk bands of the ‘80s.

Today Richard Butler is forging a new chapter in his musical life. After 25 years of fronting his band, he finally released his self-titled solo debut on April 18. That distinctive voice still remains, but the new music is ambitious and stark in contrast to his work in the Furs, drawing more on electronic and ambient textures than the straightforward rock and roll Furs fans were accustomed to.

According to the Englishman, who now resides in upstate New York, there were some opportunities to recording a solo album through the years, but it never came to fruition until now.

“I planned to do one way, way, way back in 1982 or 3,” he remembered, “and it never sort of happened. I was going to do one in around 1990, but that ended up sounding so much like a band, and that became Love Spit Love.” [Love Spit Love was Butler’s post-Furs band in the Nineties].

Richard Butler marked a collaboration between Butler and producer Jon Carin, who had previously played with the Psychedelic Furs on the 1987 Midnight to Midnight album; he also recorded and toured with Pink Floyd. Carin’s expertise with sonic atmospherics certainly, along with Butler’s lyrics, steered the ethereal direction the album took.

“For this one, I didn’t know I was going to do a solo album when I started,” said Butler. “At one point during the recording of it Jon said we should make this record so that the music (showcases) your voice. It was very personal, a lot of it. It seemed right that it was a solo record.
“It wasn’t a conscious thing, really. It just sort of happened because of the way we structured and wrote the songs, so they were automatically more intimate. It gave rise to what I was going through at the time. It became more clear. If I was singing the lyrics against the rock band and singing a lot harder maybe it wouldn’t be so intimate.”

Upon listening to the album, fans and listeners could really hear Butler’s vocals against the subdued musical background. Not laced with his sometimes trademark sarcasm and irony, the songs (which would perfectly fit in with a television or movie soundtrack) reveal a sense of aching and vulnerability that is echoed in his singing, especially on tracks from the fragile strains of “Good Days Bad Days” through the heartfelt “Maybe Someday.”

“Good,” he said matter-of-factly. “I wanted that. I was singing a lot more quietly. The way we wrote the songs were mainly withacoustic guitars. They weren’t a lot of music to compete against and find a place for your vocals. So I was able to sing very quietly. And I enjoyed it."

Although Butler’s lyrics with the Furs grew reflective and thoughtful on subsequent albums since the punk-ridden angst of the band’s first albums (1980’s The Psychedelic Furs and Talk, Talk, Talk the following year), the songs on "Richard Butler" are the most personal and soul-searching the singer has ever written.

“A lot of [the songs] refer to loneliness,” Butler explained, “whether it’s somebody mapping the stars up in space, somebody being the last person alive, or somebody sitting in a bar and not being able to sleep. It’s just a series of pictures of loneliness asking whether it’s all worth it.”

Not bounded by a deadline, Butler and Carin were freed to work on the album at their own pace and in the manner that they liked.

“We didn’t have a record company breathing down our necks. We didn’t have anybody saying, ‘You should write more songs like this and less songs like that.’ We were left entirely to our own devices, which is perfect. Not that I’ve ever listened to those people anyway.”

Along with the release of the record, Butler has been on the road performing semi-acoustically accompanied by Joshua Lopez and Zak Shaffer on electric and acoustic guitars and keyboards. A recent New York City performance was a far more intimate affair with Butler seated on a high stool with mike in hand.

“I quite like it,” he said of the stripped-down approach, which was done with the Furs and Love Spit Love. “When we did radio shows and acoustic Christmas shows when we were one of a number of bands that were playing acoustically. I really enjoyed it to hear my voice, and really focusing more on singing.”

And when Butler wasn’t making music, he was working on his paintings, revisiting a part of his youth. His art works has been shown in galleries in New York; one of his paintings was used as the cover of his new album.

“I went to art school in England before I started the band [in the Seventies],” he remembered. “In my last year of art school, one of the teachers came up to me and said, “There’s only half a dozen painters in England who can make a living by painting.’ He reeled off a half dozen names and I thought, ‘Oh great, this isn’t going to be easy!’ I formed the band out of the excitement of the music scene of that time, so that took off and painting got pushed aside for a while. I picked it up again ten years ago.”

Fans can take heart that Butler’s present solo work is not an indication that the Psychedelic Furs are breaking up again. The band, who reunited in 2000 after a nearly ten-year hiatus, is currently working on its eighth studio album since 1991’s World Outside.

“Tim [Butler] and John [Ashton] are writing music and they got quite a bit of music,” said Butler. “So I’m due to add the vocals to it.”

As if Butler's solo album and the upcoming Furs record wasn't enough to satiate fan interest, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Furs' second album Talk Talk Talk, regarded by many as the band’s best album. One of its songs, “Pretty in Pink,” inspired the John Hughes film of the same name five years later and gave the band its first mainstream hit. If you look at any Furs compilation, you’ll notice that a considerable number of tracks are taken from that album.

“It’s looking pretty good for 25-years-old,” mused Butler. “People say its influential. The record doesn’t sound dated. In any given time, there are always different tricks that producers use. Steve Lilywhite thankfully didn’t use many of those so it didn’t have anything particularly to date it."

With his first solo album now completed, Butler said he is receptive to recording another one down the road.

“Absolutely, I’d love to," he said. "In fact there are a lot of songs that went into this album that I wanted to use and had written already. They didn’t get used because the album took a slightly different direction when it became very ambient and acoustic.”

When asked if writing these new songs was like therapy after what he had gone through personally, he responded first with a laugh, “I suppose in some ways. Doing anything is any like therapy. As long as you’re not sitting down thinking too much, you’re alright.”

For more information on Richard Butler, visit myspace.com/richardbutlermusic andburneddowndays.com

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CD Review: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan
Together Through Life
Columbia
By David Chiu

Bob Dylan returns with another triumphant new album on the wave of a creative momentum that started with 1997’s comeback record Time Out of Mind. Stylistically Together Through Life is steeped in the sounds of old-time soul music from the ‘50s, pop music from the '20s, and of course the blues. Lyrically the narrator on the new songs comes across as being on the crossroads of life. both spiritually ("If You Ever Go To Houston," "This Dream of You") and romantically (the slow ballad "Life Is Hard," and "Forgetful Heart," which is reminiscent of Love Sick in spirit). Together Through Life feels like a real blues record as one can hear in the growl of Dylan’s voice on "My Wife’s Hometown," and the social commentary of "It’s All Good"; other tracks sound very breezy including the devil-may care of "Beyond Here Lies Nothin’" and the gospel-sounding swagger of "I Feel a Change Comin’ On"). The result is something that is very gritty, soulful, romantic and poignant.

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CD Review: Metric

Metric
Fantasies
Metric Music International/Last Gang Records
By David Chiu

With its New Wave-ish melodic hooks, heavy beats, and Emily Haines’ reedy voice, Canadian band Metric’s latest album is both noisy and stylish. Some of the music on Fantasies seems to draw inspiration from a variety of alternative rock and pop influences from the late ‘70s to mid ‘90s. For example the opening guitar notes of “Gold Guns Girls” sounds reminiscent of the Sex Pistols until it morphs into a technopop tune similar to Berlin’s “The Metro”; “Sick Muse” hearkens back to ‘Brit pop; and “Gimme Sympathy” sounds like a Blondie track (although it makes the references to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, especially the latter band’s “Here Comes the Sun”). But don’t call Fantasies a derivative work as it certainly stands out on its own terms—there seems to be angst and desperation in the pointed words set against the music’s dense atmospherics. The mix of electropop and brash rock (one of the songs is aptly called “Stadium Love”) adds up to a very bold-sounding work.

Watch a video of "Gimme Stadium:"

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