Songwriters, the blitz edition...

When you like a song, what is it that you like about it? Do you like the melody? Is it the rhythm that gets you? The lyrics? The quality of the singer's voice? Each of us reacts to music in a unique way. Some people cannot enjoy a song if there are any instruments or vocals that are even slightly off of true pitch. Some folks won't be able to enjoy music being sung in a language they do not understand. And we enjoy different songs in different ways. The way I love listening to Remmy Ongala is different from the way I love listening to Gary Jules. And certainly, there are songs we like for no reason other than it evokes a memory of another time in our lives; some childhood moment, some significant event.

I've been on a music listening kick recently. Indeed, everything I've written about so far has been about listening. But truthfully, I don't spend a huge amount of my time listening to music. Often, I prefer quiet, particularly if I am out walking, riding, or driving. But lately, I've been listening to a lot of music, and thinking about why I like a particular song or artist. Typically, this process convinces me I will never write a great song! So there's a sort of torture in listening to great songs. I love it, but it reminds me how far I have to go!

So I thought I'd write down a few thoughts about various random songs. Putting these feelings into words will be either a learning experience for which I am thankful, or a pretentious disaster I rue forever. My odds are on the latter. For no reason at all, and with no thought to ranking, these entries are numbered.

1. Red Vines, by Aimee Mann. I really love this song. Just a great combination of groove, great melody, and beautiful lyrics. The band is smoking, the song has a great pocket, and wow, there's this great poetry being sung over it! Her songs are so personal. One of the things that draws me into her music is that it is so raw, so bare. I think it wouldn't hurt for me to get a bit more personal in my own songwriting.

2. All My Days, by Alexi Murdoch. I love the production on this track, and I think it's just really well put together as a song. Reminds me a little of Nick Drake at times. I particularly enjoy the picking on this tune. It's so much smoother than the stuff I tend to think of. I need to spend some time practicing new picking patterns.

3. Mbiffé, by Amadou and Miriam. Dimanche à Bamako was produced by Manu Chao; talk about a power trio! Bring together the best, and this album is the result! This is the music that inspires me the most. I can't explain it well, but this sort of music moves me at the most fundamental level. I listed Mbiffé here, since it was that simple beginning that immediately drew me into this new album, but the entire album is first rate. I imagine Sénégal Fast-Food is the obvious single, with Manu Chao bringing his voice into the mix. Listening to this doesn't make me think about structures and "songs." It doesn't make me reflect or intellectualize my music. It makes me want to immediately get into the studio and start making some grooves!

4. Smash, by Avishai Cohen. The version I have is from As Is...Live At the Blue Note, a recording I highly recommend. From a compostional standpoint, I feel like listening to Cohen's band on this album is like attending a school for how to put fucking notes together! Aside from being an unbelievably good bassist, his compostions have a really tight harmonic structure that's almost haunting. And talk about finding the pocket of all sorts of crazy time signatures... this music reminds me to work on my technical skills and to study theory.

5. Burnin' And Lootin', Bob Marley and the Wailers. OK. Now you know you're a Wailer lover if you care which version of a particular song you are listening too. I love the music from every stage of Bob's career, but my favorite stuff is from the mid-to-late-seventies. All the songs they had been singing for years suddenly took a bunch of bong hits and slooooowed down. The pocket, already deeper than most bands have a right to be, got even deeper. All the years of playing together was starting to really pay off with an almost supernatural sense of connectedness. And this song is just about the top of the heap for me. This Live At The Roxy recording is a great combination of nice thick, full recording quality, and a band in absolutely top form. Listening to this reminds me that, behind the 'meanings,' the forms, and the grand ideas, it's always gotta have a pocket!

As you can see, I'm heading down the alphabet. I'll continue this next time...