#5

“Enlightenment must come little by little- otherwise it would overwhelm.” - Idries Shah


“Fitz & Dizzyspells” – Andrew Bird

When was the last time you had a lightbulb come on above your head when you found that certain kind of enlightenment that comes along with finding a new band or artist? To reach music nirvana is something that cannot be accomplished. It is impossible to know everything, yet Pitchfork already has a pretty decent grasp of it. Still, they are not infallible. You can’t rely on them to always bring you what you want to hear about your favorite artist. They are brutally honest, and it’s something you must accept even if you can’t get over that they gave the new Kings of Leon album a terrible score. Yes, you can go to Pitchfork for your music comprehension and wisdom, but there’s nothing like discovering an artist on your own or having a friend just hand you a CD saying, “You should be listening to this.” Such is the case with me discovering the tortuously wonderful music of Andrew Bird.

Mr. Bird, a classically trained violinist and an overlord of whistling, has been around in the music scene for quite some time. His footsteps can be traced back to the days of the revival of swing and old-time jazz in the mid to late 90’s, and the band that was at the centerpiece of that movement the Squirrel Nut Zippers. After the Zipper’s disbandment, Bird had formed the band Bowl of Fire and continued on with the traditional folk and jazz that made SNZ a name for them. Later on Bowl of Fire also disbanded and Bird went on to a solo career that carries him to present day. I could go on and on about the twists and turns in Bird’s musical direction throughout his career, but that’s not the point of this issue’s post. The point to his music is the feeling it expresses. How Bird’s music captures the essence of so many good and bad memories through his lyrics, the cadence of his voice, and, of course, his ability to turn the violin into an instrument capable of setting the perfect soundtrack to those memories.

Music is a gateway to feeling. You hear a song and it emits a signal to your brain to conjure up a memory that was once forgotten. Suppressed even. There’s always music to help you to remember. But what if it was not only a song but also an entire catalog from an artist? What if every song you heard, no matter which one it was by someone, it compelled you to either turn the volume up to bask in the memory, or just skip to the next album entirely to escape the pain it once caused? Anyone that’s deep into music has at least one band or singer that they can’t bare to listen to, and yet, still, no matter how much we don’t want to hear a song or an album by that harbinger of grief, sometimes we can’t not skip the track. It takes us over. The memory pokes its head out, gnashes its teeth, latches onto us and says, “Hold on, this is going to get messy.” We stop, we listen, and we remember no matter how bloody the situation gets. That’s all part of the discovery of music. One thing will always lead you to another.

Fitz and the Dizzyspells - And...

“Wait” – The Kills

Enlightenment is about discovering new things, things that may be in your life already, but hidden in a veil of darkness. That is why I created 5SIAR in the first place. There are plenty of bands I haven’t really taken the time to get to know. I’m always in a hurry to skip to the next track without giving a band a chance. The songs sit patiently on my ipod until that moment that I decide to let one or a few measures play of a song. There’s always a 50/50 chance that I’ll either love it or hate it. A person is always going to have a finite decision with music. However, there may come a time when that band that you thought you’d hate and always skipped over becomes the eventual possibility of loving them. A band may also give you a doorway to a new sub-genre that exists outside your comfort zone. The Kills are the perfect example. Forgive me ahead of time for tossing around the sub-genre of garage/blues rock; that is if you have no idea what I’m talking about.

The Kills, made up of Florida native Alison “VV” Mosshart and Londonite Jamie “Hotel” Hince, are pretty much The White Stripes for people who don’t like The White Stripes. Why you ask? Because they don’t sound like The White Stripes which is kind of a big deal if you’re a White Stripes hater. Their main influence: blatantly To Bring You My Love era PJ Harvey. I’m OK with that. What I’m not OK with is the fact that in the past every time they have come up during my daily ipod shuffle I would skip them. Their music reminds me of walking down an endless desert road without any idea where you are or where you’re going. So, if ever you need a band to add to a desert driving mix then my suggestion would be The Kills.

The path to enlightenment and finding new bands should not be rushed by any means. Take your time in your quest to discover. Please don’t deem it necessary to constantly follow what your friends are listening to just so you can join in on their conversations. Ease yourself into it. Make a goal of listening to one new artist a week, or two weeks, or whatever you’re comfortable with. That is, of course, you’re a music nerd like I am.

Wait - The Kills

“If You Find Yourself Caught In Love” – Belle & Sebastian

A friend told me recently that there are better Belle & Sebastian albums than Dear Catastrophe Waitress. At the time I felt like any other music fan defending my opinion with angst and a loud retort. But after careful consideration I have to say that I agree with him. Though there are no real memories that make themselves known to this song or album, but I do have a memory of first hearing the albums Tigermilk & If You’re Feeling Sinister for the first time. It goes back to a time when my knowledge of music was contained within the realm of mainstream. I have dubbed that period in my life the “dark ages” since I hadn’t achieved enlightenment yet. I still don’t think I have, but I’m closer now at least and not stuck in some kind of bad dream where I’m in a bar and all they play is Slipknot and Disturbed.

Yes, there was a time when I didn’t know the first thing about “good” music. In my youth I was attached to everything that was MTV, you know, when they still played music. I was never able to stay up late enough to watch 120 Minutes so all of what I listened to came from my daily ritual of coming home from school, grabbing a bag of chips, and watching MTV for my favorite Tool videos which they didn’t play during the day anyway. I was pretty screwed. With age though comes wisdom. You experience more, you meet new people, and those people turn you on to the bands they listen to. This unfortunately did not happen until my mid-twenties. So yeah, I kind of jumped on the bandwagon a little too late. I used to have a bad habit of that, but thanks to well-educated friends that listen to great music I am no longer stuck in Hot Topic land.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the Scottish do a few things better than the rest of the world. They can make a damn good beer and they can churn out some damn good bands. Hell, Belle & Sebastian even won the top spot on the 50 Best Scottish Bands Of All Time list. That’s got to mean something, right? And let us not forgot all of those other Scots that are mention worthy such as Camera Obscura, Mogwai, Franz Ferdinand, Idlewild, Arab Strap, and Frightened Rabbit, etc., etc., etc. Their whiskey, however, still needs some work.

If You Find Yourself Caught In...

“I Know It’s Over” – The Smiths

Who better to talk about break-ups than King Breakup himself? Him being Morrissey. I’m having a bit of déjà vu so bear with me on this song. Everything that I’ve attempted to write so far has come out sounding like the song from a few posts ago. No one needs to hear more about the self-deprecation and loneliness of Morrissey. But what you do need to hear is the album The Queen Is Dead at least once. Maybe someone has already told you to go listen to it? Can you remember if they did or not? I did, and truthfully it wasn’t until last year that I listened to it. I know what you’re going to say, “But Nick, you’re pretty savvy when it comes to picking up on good bands whether new or old. How could you have never listened to one of the most influential albums of our time?” Hey, nobody’s perfect, so cut me some slack. As stated before, I'm still on my path to discovery.

The only memories The Smiths and Morrissey bring to the surface are, again, ones of still being in my infant stages of gathering knowledge about today’s and yesterday’s music and culture. Nevermind that the song is talking about an ex of someone (most likely Morrissey) getting married and the person (Morrissey) can’t let go. Pretty obvious scenario when you’re reading the lyrics. Has Morrissey had any good memories in his life? I can’t help but wonder if Morrissey’s complete and utter lack of sunshine goes back as far as, let’s say, kindergarten, or whatever the British equivalent to it is. Perhaps this is what happens to rock stars from the UK. It’s the inevitability of either writing depressing songs for the rest of your career or just offing yourself because of the depression. Sorry to harp on that, Ian Curtis. Which leads me to the question; why hasn’t Oasis died yet? Or for that matter, Keith Richards.

I am convinced by not only my peers but by the battery of music columnists that The Queen Is Dead is indeed essential. If you’ve come across this blog and you’ve never listened to it, then please do. Allow me to be that person that has passed on the torch to another generation of music lovers and admirers. I mean, c’mon, there has to be someone out there that hasn’t listened to it yet.

My apologies. Lala didn't have this specific song on their website. So instead you get the next best thing which is my favorite song from The Queen Is Dead.

Bigmouth Strikes Again - The S...

“Wheels” – Emmylou Harris

Growing up I despised country music. My first taste of it wasn’t until riding the school bus in high school. The bus driver would always put the country station on because the amount of kids that were “country” outnumbered the kids that were “not-country.” So there were many afternoons spent listening to Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakam (I kinda like him now), and George Straight. Of course I didn’t dare to ask the bus driver to change the station. To do that would’ve meant verbal, or possibly physical abuse. And since during this time period I was listening to Tori Amos a lot that would’ve given the cow hounds (as I liked to call them) even more reason to beat me up. But such is the life for an introverted nerdy teenager.

Fast forward quite a few years and quite a few cow tippings later. A certain album named I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning by a certain fellow named Conor Oberst made its way to my ears with a certain guest vocalist named Emmylou Harris. Being the nerd I am I quickly started finding her albums and listening to them. What came next was a bit of a shock to me. This was country music that I liked and could stand to listen to for an extended period of time. I didn’t feel like gouging out my eardrums with some kind of metal prod. The first Emmylou album was this one, Elite Hotel. It’s a fine example of how her voice can be like velvet while unpolished and coarse at the same time.

Emmylou brought the light to shine the way to other country and alt-country artists new and old that I’ve grown to love. The journey of discovery and enlightenment never ends. Even when you feel like you’ve earned your wings you are never truly done. It is an ongoing process because there is obviously always new bands coming out and always old bands that someone suggests to you. As the quote at the beginning of this post says, you should never feel overwhelmed by your path in life. Take small steps because when you do that you’ll find that the lightbulb turns on a lot more than it shuts itself off.

Wheels - Emmylou Harris with J...


I’d like to take the time to thank Scott Harrell for putting a couple of my album reviews in this issue of REAX Magazine and to TheFrontLoader.com for adding 5 Songs In A Row to their website. Thanks guys!