So here at Berkeley they have this thing called Caltopia. It's basically a giant infomercial, and companies from Starbucks (not exactly surprising, trying to get college kids hooked on caffeine) to Target to bike companies to the people who produce It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
Anyway, they had a little stage inside, and of course, being a faithful music junkie, I had to go check it out. So after an opening act, out comes the 'headliner', if you will, a man named Matt Nathanson. Now, I had been looking forward to this by this point because of the girl sitting next to me, an admittedly obsessed fan, and when he started singing I immediately tried to find anything I could that would make me like him as much as she does.
I couldn't.
He is one of those guys that everyone has seen, where he pulls out his beat-up acoustic guitar and goes up to the mic with his eyes closed to create this picture of poignancy while singing in a soft, slightly scratchy voice about his heartbreak or the best sex of his life or some other such influential thing. Now, don't get me wrong--this can be great. Really, really great. Take the entire movie and soundtrack of Once, or, say, a Damien Rice or Brett Dennen or Alexi Murdoch. The fact is, this formula works, but I hate the fact that it's become a formula.
There are people out there doing something different. Their voices may be unique, their lyrics ingenious, their guitar-playing innovative. Whatever it is, if it resonates with you (forgive the pun), celebrate the fact that they don't sound like everybody else.
Hi everyone--I have a question for the masses.
I'm auditioning for a vocal jazz class this coming Wednesday, and I need (rather desperately) sheet music. In my keys. Does anyone know of a website that will give me free transcriptions of jazz standards in any key? The songs I'm looking for in particular are:
Embraceable You
The Lady Is a Tramp
Since I Fell For You
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Cry Me a River
Any of these. Especially Embraceable You.
If there are sites where you have to pay, that's okay too, I guess. As a last resort; I'm cheap.
Thank you!
Oh, here's something entirely unrelated that I think is cool. I have more than a slight obsession with OK Go.
Well, today is day three of my brand new college experience, and let me tell you, it would be pretty godawful if I didn't have a fair amount of new music to get me through it.
College is such an odd thing--everyone has told me that I would love it, that I was made for it, that it would be one of the best times of my life, and yet I haven't found myself to be one of those people who comes out of their shells and meets everyone the instant they get there. As a matter of fact, my count of people I know here has reached...five. So, in true shy-person fashion, I've found solace in some unexpected friends: Modest Mouse, Spoon, Kurt Elling, Ella Fitzgerald, the Fratellis, and Voxtrot.
None of these are new discoveries, but with some new or newly purchased albums, I've been able to immerse myself in exploring some of these new tracks. There is a great recording, for instance, of "Cry Me a River" on the CD Love Letters from Ella, which I found at a great little music store on 4th street in Emeryville. Backed by the London Symphony Orchestra, it combines Ella's typical stylings with an almost majestic background. It's already an interesting song ("told me love was too plebeian", anyone?), but I really love this version of it.
Kurt Elling is someone that has risen to near star status in the world of modern vocal jazz. This guy is incredible--I've seen him live twice, once at the Monterey Jazz Festival Jazz Camp which I've participated in, and once at the actual Monterey Jazz Festival last September. He specializes in vocalese, in which he writes lyrics to well-known instrumental recordings or compositions. Thus a singer can take on Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Joe Pass, and others in the form of songs such as "A Secret I". It reminds me, actually, of how Miles Davis wrote songs over other songs, creating compositions such as "Ornithology", which was based on "How High the Moon".
I could go on about Kurt Elling for quite a while. I actually wrote one of my college admissions essays on his performances and technique. I mean, he is truly a genius.
Some of my other CD quests I'm still exploring; I have not, in fact, even gotten all the way through Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Voxtrot, or We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. But I seem to have plenty of time (read: an entire school year) to delve into these discoveries and others while I wander around an enormous campus feeling awkward.
I'm off to explore the Rasputin store down the street. I plan to add the Cold War Kids CD to my new collection, which will give me something to do while my roommate is at a frat party. Oh, the college existence.
Comments
In the 'old' days, when this formula thing happened, it could always be blamed on the label. The label's primary mission with its artists was always to use them to churn out more of the formula. But today, well, isn't it ironic that alt has become a formula, too? Alt. Indie. Formula, formula, formula. You know what's NOT formula? Kurt Elling. (Love your post on him, too)