ChaseMacri.com » Radiohead

Peter Gabriel’s “Scratch My Back”

Chase — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:02:55 +0000

With the exception of a few songs here and there, I am not too familiar with Peter Gabriel’s work both in Genesis and his solo career. The following is a song-by-song review of his new album Scratch My Back which is a collection of covers beautifully set to strings, horns and the occasional piano.

1. “Heroes” originally performed by David Bowie
I’m not going to lie, I first heard this song on the Godzilla soundtrack as performed by the Wallflowers. I’ve since heard the David Bowie version, which is a thousand times better (though the Wallflowers one isn’t bad by any stretch) but I really LOVE Gabriel’s version of this song. I’m not really sure why. Maybe it’s how intimate his vocal performance sounds to me. The closeness of the mic placement, how quietly he begins the song to how epic it becomes later. I love the loop-like nature of the string arrangement. I also like the idea that loving your partner is heroic. I also love how the higher register singing Gabriel does reminds me of my favorite college professor (which is a huge reason I like this record as much as I do, and why I like “Everything That Happened Will Happen Today” by Brian Eno and David Byrne.) This song is just epic and Gabriel treats it as such.

2. “The Boy in the Bubble” originally performed by Paul Simon
“The Boy in the Bubble” begins pretty plain but is surprising towards the middle and end. The lyrics are visuals. Each line puts a picture in your head and associates with a memory. I really like the line “these are the days of miracle and wonder” and how it is in reference to the advances in technology in the modern age and they can be used to keep people connected.

3. “Mirrorball” originally performed by Elbow
At first I thought this was a cover of that Sarah McLachlan song “Mirrorball” but as it turns out, Mirrorball was just the name of her live record and wasn’t actually a song she penned. Anyway. I like this song’s placement before “Flume.” The line “we made the moon our mirrorball” and “everything has changed” and how confrontational the song seems to be to the singer’s former lover. A “screw you” kind of break up song. Fantastic, soaring arrangement in the strings this song, particular during the “life off love” section. Gabriel’s vocals are in top form.

4. “Flume” originally performed by Bon Iver
I was very affected by Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago when it came out in 2007. I caught a Bon Iver live set on an NPR All Songs Considered podcast and was blown away by the fragility and power present at the same time in Justin Vernon’s voice.
Gabriel’s take on it somehow makes it even more frail and heart breaking. From the slow start with piano and vocal, to the crescendos in the choruses both in the string section and Gabriel’s voice. The moon comes back, but I get the impression it is a different moon than in the Elbow cover, and this is one colored with regret. There are various interpretations of the lyrics out there but the one I identify with the most is feeling isolated and different from your surroundings. An extra layer of sadness is applied to this interpretation when you put the words in Gabriel’s mouth who is twice Vernon’s age which make them particularly potent. The extra refrain of “she’s the moon” at the end also lead to an interpretation that this is being sung as a tribute to the singer’s mother, who may have died.

5. “Listening Wind” originally performed by Talking Heads
Despite the fact that this song is just Gabriel’s voice and strings (and maybe a flute too,) it makes me move. I feel my body sway back and forth, my head keeps the beat and the emotion of the song finds its way inside. The lyrics “he feels the presence of the wind beside him” are perfectly transformed into the string arrangement. The rising, scalar nature of the lead melody in the violin balance the jumping violas and bass and run contrary to Gabriel’s melodies which generally start at the top and find their way down the scale. Similar to the movements of a tree wrestling in the wind, the movement of each individual branch is seemingly cacophony, but the wind is blown with a steady beat which keeps me listening, and swaying.

6. “The Power Of the Heart” originally performed by Lou Reed
Building slowly like most of the tracks on this covers album, one can imagine being in rehearsal space or a large living room with Gabriel at the piano and a string quartet in front of him. Pretty simple verse, chorus, bridge arrangement and dynamics. The arrangement’s understated nature may by the opposite of what the lyrics intend, but that also could be the point. The lyrics say it without any help from the instruments. “All around the world just to bring you back, it was the power of your heart.” Even the rise at the end of the song underpin the fact that with or without the bombast the power in the song is not the music.

7. “My Body Is a Cage” originally performed by Arcade Fire
The main refrain of the song, “my body is a cage,” makes me wonder if the lyric is sung with the thought of inevitable death from age in Gabriel’s mind. Being 60, I can’t imagine he can move around in the same way anymore. The string and horn arrangement build to claustrophobic levels and overwhelm the singer even at the top of his range. Despite the physical decline the line “the mind is the key” is repeated over and over towards the end of the song with an angelic choir in the background.

8. “The Book of Love” originally performed by the Magnetic Fields; a duet sung with Melanie Gabriel
This song is Nicole Krauss’ “The History of Love” in nearly four minutes. Love is a bitch. Love is painful. Love is dull. Love is beautiful. Love is worthy. Love is enthralling. Love is idealized by the young but understood by the old. Love is selfish and sacrificial.

9. “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today” by Randy Newman
Randy Newman will best be remember by me for his songs in Toy Story. That was the first time I noticed him and have a hard time taking his non-Disney-approved songs very seriously. Gabriel conjures his best Cash on this version of “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today.”

10. “Après moi” originally performed by Regina Spektor
Gabriel slowed down Spektor’s “Après moi” to a tempo fit for a funeral march. While Spektor’s version of the song is manic, scattered and almost comical, Gabriel’s is comical in it’s utter seriousness. The lyrics seems to be about fear of totalitarian theft or a crazy delusion that there are lame people out there trying to steal your legs. Be afraid for what you have because someone may steal it. I may be missing something that would tie it all together, but this cover is my least preferred thus far.

11. “Philadelphia” by Neil Young
I can identify with this song and feeling afraid of being rejected by your community. Having been pushed out to sail without a map it’s been an interesting couple of years since graduating from college. Trying to figure out what it is I’m “supposed” to be doing with my life, learning how to be married and how to love unconditionally, taking care of stupid details and bills. I really like the line “I will not be ashamed of love.” It resonates on a couple levels: not being too concerned about the way people think of me, in other words, by myself; not being afraid of really getting in depth in to what I love, mostly metal and hardcore; and to love my friends without self-consciousness as they deserve to be loved.

12. “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” originally performed by Radiohead
The change of the constant guitar arpeggios to slowly outlined piano 9th chords transform the song that originally (and brilliantly) ended Radiohead’s “The Bends,” to a formless entity somehow bleaker than the original. Out bleak-ing Radiohead is a tremendous feat in and of itself. The arrangement of the song slowly pulls the listener down the drain unaware but the real magic is in Gabriel’s choice to mimic Yorke’s vocals. Cracking, tearing his vocals all through the “ohs” and “fade out again” perhaps better than the original recording, or perhaps how Yorke would record the song now. On top of this, the ending is fantastic. In the last few seconds, Gabriel slides into chords foreign and beautiful despite their darkness. Much like the ending of Radiohead’s Kid A with the orchestra tuning that crescendos to heaven’s pearly gates Gabriel’s slide transports the listener from a place of despair to euphoria but one must wonder if the euphoria is heavenly or perhaps we’re feeling warm because we’re about to freeze to death.

Listen to the full album at the Guardian and at Lala
Scratch My Back at Wikipedia

Radiohead is so neat

Chase — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:33:47 +0000

Berry Live at McPeak’s Barn 10/27/08

Chase — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:32:00 +0000

I just arrived home from seeing my very first live concert at Greenville College Professor Rick McPeak’s barn just outside of Greenville. I’ve been out to the barn a couple times. Once at the end of last semester for some St. Paul’s get together, once for helping Thomas Johnson want the garden he planted there. Every time I went there it was warm, tonight was not at all warm. It was downright cold, indeed. 41 degrees. The concert was in benefit to Travis Hall’s “Pumpkin Patch of Peace.” Travis started the patch to help a village he met in the middle east with building a well. He plants the seeds in the summer, and waits a few weeks for harvest. This year, in spite of some tricky weather, was a plentiful harvest.
In celebration of the plentiful patch of peaceful pumpkins, the GC community was invited to the McPeak barn for food, fellowship and some rock and roll. After several rounds of piping hot chili and soup, washed down with a variety of breads and brownies, Rachel Bowden played a set. While having seen Rachel play a few times before, I was not there for her set though I heard it was enjoyable. I missed her set because I ran home to pick up my guitar for Joey Lemon.
While eating my delicious chili and brownies, Joey asked if I still had the Rickenbacker guitar I bought about 4 years ago now. About a year after I first purchased the Rick unbeknownst to Joey he bought the same guitar that I had. Obviously great minds think alike. It’s a beautiful instruments, that feels and sounds great. He wanted to know if I still had it because, while on one of their “Amtrack” or “Bus” tours between Sacramento and Las Vegas someone stole his. I extended the obvious condolences and he jokingly asked if he could play mine, assuming I had it on me. I of course didn’t have it in the car, but offered to go get it since I lived pretty close. Joey didn’t want to inconvenience me, but I went and got it anyway. That was why I missed Rachel’s set. Oh, I also had to restring the guitar because the strings were hella old.
I arrived back at the barn with my freshly strung Rick just in time for the beginning of Berry’s set. They had just finished setting all their stuff up when along came a blast from the past. Paul Goodenough nearly swore when he was my Rickenbacker (since he didn’t see me bring it in.) Matt Aufrecht and Joey were both elated and they were ready to start.
You’ll notice I only mentioned three names. Berry is now a three piece. Joey Lemon on vocals and guitar, Paul Goodenough on drums and vocals, Matt Aufrecht on piano and vocals. No bass guitar (formally filled by Sam Campbell, Kit Hamon, and many others.) No second guitar (formally filled by Zach Heyveld though about 3 years ago). No secondary keys (formally Chris Kav, Tim Mon, Liz Goodenough who also played flute.) Three piece.
Also, because they’ve been touring on buses and trains and stuff, they’ve really simplified and shrunk the size of their gear. Paul has always played a simple kit, but his kick drum was 16′ x 12′. I have NEVER seen a kick drum SO SMALL in my life. Oh, his lone tom had to have been 8 x 10, maybe, and he was playing a piccalo snare. Teeny tiny drum kit, Paul.
Needless to say, by the looks of their gear (and every rock and roll gearaphile snob will critique a band by their gear while they’re setting up always before they play their first note because that’s what you have to do to be a gearaphile snob because we ALL know that an LTD through Mesa Dual Rect stack WILL sound like shit before a chord is even thought to be strummed) I wasn’t sure what to expect. Berry opened with (I think) Running from Place to Place which is a song from the Floundering EP and I was amazed by how tight and full they sounded. Matt covers the low end (although on Empathy, he played a lot of lower keys throughout, really bassing up the mix). Berry has always been pretty good at dynamics, but they were GREAT tonight.
Their set was comprised of new stuff and old stuff, though they didn’t do Fifty-eight, they did do Tick Tock, Courtney Luv, Middle Man, There Are Several (which, no matter how many times I hear it, I’m always surprised when Joey screams doing the first noisey section) I think they played about 11 songs and it was wonderful.
Seeing Berry play made me think of two things: 1) it’s amazing how huge they sound this three guys and no bass guitar. 2) how can this “less is more” principle be applied to the two styles of music I love to play most: hardcore and post-rock.
While hardcore is rooted in the “play as hard and as fast as possible” mentality, there is plenty of room for dynamic shifts, tempo and meter changes, breakdowns, rock stops, builds and feedback for the music to be more than a non-stop onslaught of brazen loudness. My hardcore implemented these ideas some, but could’ve stretched this idea much further assuming everyone in the band in on board with the idea. Which made me think about how difficult it is to find several people who are: 1) very creative, and also 2) share the same vision for the music your group is trying to make. All the bands I have been in have had no more than 5 people in them. Even five is borderline too many people. Because its very hard to find 5 people who are 1) very creative and 2) of the same vision. While all five guys don’t have to be monotone in the musical ideas they have as that may lead to very sterile, uncreative music, they do need to know where they’re taking this music and it cannot be in several directions.
More often than not, you’ll have a band of four or five people and they will be lead by one, MAYBE two creative geniuses who will push the other members forward either dictating what they will play, or giving them a very neat outline where they can choose what crayons they’d like to use as long as they color within those lines. I think this is particularly true of groups that follow more of a pop-song format, though many, take Radiohead or Wilco for example, all contribute creatively to the formation of a song even though the bar bones structure was written by Yorke or Tweedy respectively.
A band like Berry, this probably also the case. Joey writes the songs, then the band destroys it a little, or completely, and then bring it back into a usable form that is similar, and dissimilar to what it was in the beginning and is now also a creation of the whole band’s rather than just Joey’s. While in my case in Pilots, I came with a pretty well crafted song, the band learned it, maybe adjusted a part here and there, or threw in a different back beat, and the song’s done. VERY seldom could I bring a melodic idea to the group and something great would come of it (with one exception, the song “His Hands” began as a simple riff, and through several jams did Matt and I come up with a structure that eventually gave way to a song.) But even this exception is much different to most of our songs. It’s over 6 minutes long, has three very dynamic sections from very quiet to loud, and has an extended intro and outro. Not at all like a few of the songs I wrote that were V-CH-V-CH-BR.
In another way, how can I apply these dynamic ideas to post-rock? Is it possible to create the same kind of melodic weight and transcendence of an Explosions 6 minute song in 2 and half using dynamic ideas that Berry does? Instead of slowing building a giant crescendo use more subtly choices for notes that build to chords and use scissors to cut and paste the low end giving certain “heavier” sections bottom end and weight while leaving “lighter” sections trebly and airy? Maybe? Perhaps the one of the beauties of post-rock is repetition and the way it weaves a melody like a theme throughout 3, 4 and 5 movements of a piece. This is undoubtedly true, but is it possible to do both?
I don’t know. I’d like to try. This makes me wish I’ll run into a few more people who I’ll be able to create music with again and that we’ll be “of one mind.” Perhaps JB will live close soon and we’ll find a drummer and a bass player who will make post-rock
music with us. Or Pilots will reunite in January like we’re taking about. Who knows. Until then I’ll just have the next time Berry makes it down, or see the Color Revolt or something like that.

Radiohead

Chase — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 02:30:41 +0000

I got my discbox. It’s tight. I like the extras and the photos. They’re now Steve’s background.

In Rainbows is coming

Chase — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 03:06:29 +0000

Never have i been more stoked about an album as i am about this one. In fact, the last time I have been this excited about a new album was dc Talk’s Supernatural. I shouted when i found out the news! Radiohead’s seventh full length release, In Rainbows, comes out in 4 days on October the 10th. It is available only and unusually as a digital download from their website, which you can visit here. That’s pretty typical nowadays with iTunes and even Amazon. Now, here’s the unusual part. You decide the price. You can pay as much, or as little as you, if anything, for it. There’s also a “discbox” version that is much more involved, and I imagine a lot of the “real” fans will buy it. Go buy the download. You can get it for free. And even if you don’t like Radiohead very much, do it ’cause it’s free, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll like a few songs or become a fan…

You can watch a lot of live videos of them performing all the songs off of it at various points live on YouTube. Do it. Watch this video first of Videotape. This song may quickly rise in my favorite Radiohead song list. It’s too early to tell, but I can’t listen to it enough. The main melody riff is like a circle in that it always wants to begin again, and it’s hard to let it stop. Here are the lyrics as found from greenplastic.com

Lyrics:

Videotape

When I’m at the pearly gates
This will be on my videotape, my videotape
Mephistopheles is just beneath
and he’s reaching up to grab me

This is one for the good days
and i have it all here
In red, blue, green
Red, blue, green

You are my center
When i spin away
Out of control on videotape
On videotape
On videotape
On videotape

This is my way of saying goodbye
Because I can’t do it face to face
I’m talking to you after it’s too late
From my videotape

No matter what happens now
I won’t be afraid
Because I know today has been the most perfect day I’ve ever seen.

we must always keep into account the frailty of our humanness

Chase — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 02:32:14 +0000

we must always keep into account the frailty of our humanness, and to remember we can be outspokenly wrong, not completely informed, and even offensive the the open-minded Christ we serve. In other words, let us not cast the first stone upon the homosexual, just like Christ does not cast the first stone upon the adulterer, for Christ washes the same feces off of us every day as he does other “sinners.”
be passionate about your beliefs, but be more passionate about loving all people.

also, i have a protected post. so friends, go read it, laugh, and comment. it’s quite the funny story.

and lastly, this Holler, Wild Rose is quite good. One of the first band’s compared to Radiohead that I actually see, and agree with. JB, MCGood, that should be enough reason for you to check them out. They’re an iTunes NPR download from Second Stage, subscribe, download, enjoy.

In Rainbows

Chase — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 02:57:28 +0000

is awesome.

new wilco

Chase — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 05:34:22 +0000

There’s a new Wilco record coming out next month. It’s release date is May 15th. It’s called Sky Blue Sky. I’m stoked. Almost as stoked as I am for the new Radiohead…

sorry if im simply a repeater

Chase — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 05:36:48 +0000

newest dead air space

“radiohead starts up again having finally caught up on some sleep next week
i have a cd of what we;’ve been up to…
and you haven’t.
yet.
(sorry)

i must listen to it, after taking an ear break
that always makes me nervous
hope you’re well

yours

Thom”

matt good

Chase — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 05:37:35 +0000

nigel has yet another toy we want: http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/

im surprised, but elated

some of my friends are in a band, and they’ve got some new songs online. they’re like copeland, if copeland was good: http://www.myspace.com/crimsonaddict