Great fun at the Paul McCartney show last night. What a set list - a ton of Beatles tunes (something like twenty) for one thing, and not just the ones you might expect, but some from off the beaten track (although even lesser known Beatles songs are still famous by most standards), such as "I Got a Feeling" with its intricate inner-voice harmonies in the guitar parts, "Things We Said Today", an under-appreciated pop masterpiece, "The Night Before", "I Will" (ditto for both). A lot of great Wings stuff too, including one of my favourites, the mighty "Let Me Roll It". Also excellent versions of "A Day in the Life", "Give Peace a Chance", and "Something", tributes to John and George, of course. And he's still in terrific voice, as powerful versions of "Got to Get You into My Life", "Band on the Run" and "Golden Slumbers" demonstrated. He's got an excellent band too - lots of great guitar stuff (with many contributions from McCartney), excellent backing vocals, strong grooves, and just the right attitude in terms of how to back a legend. Here's a song that he didn't play last night, but which I find is sort of his quintessential statement regarding how he sees his place in the world, in which he has always shown, as Auden put it, "an affirming flame": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2udwmwNBwbs.

A little over a week until my first ex-Beatle concert, and I'm thinking about the songs that I'd really like to hear at the show. In the past, I've had good luck a few times with this kind of wishful thinking: Dylan doing probably my favourite of his tunes (it certainly was at the time, anyway), "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" early in a concert a few years back and Lindsey Buckingham doing "Trouble" second in a very memorable set at the Metropolis in 2007 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXTr3e0VPNc). Anyway, among the great McCartney tunes from his solo years, I'd really like to hear "Rock Show" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_UtHHS8xWM) and this one, which was co-written with Elvis Costello, if I'm not mistaken: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h85OGkCaKIg. And of course, anything from Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, which is up there with his greatest stuff in my opinion. I'll post some more requests in the days ahead, including a list of my favourite McCartney tunes from the Beatles.

A question: What exactly is a blues ballad? Can anyone out there help me with this? I first heard the term some years ago during the terrific video that Donald Fagen did about the influence of blues on his songwriting, when he compared his use of major seven chords in a blues form to "blues ballads done by Bobby 'Blue' Bland". I'll have to find the video (that's right - I have it on VHS) before I can double-check the accuracy of the quotation I just gave or provide the correct title of the video, but I think that was the gist of it. And the Wikipedia entry was OK, but not entirely convincing. However it did hip me to an amazing Fats Domino song that I hadn't heard before, called "Every Night About This Time", which you have to check out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZpJmHldX0s).

And the quandary also got me thinking about other possible examples, such as the hugely under-appreciated Stones tune, "I Got the Blues" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgF-PRY96Is&playnext=1&list=PLFCC93639C9A06912). The song is also a good example of what happens when Jagger and Richards really get down to working together. Here's hoping they do it again soon.

In retrospect, much as I enjoyed Keith's autobiography (Life), certain things about his thinking keep on bugging me, particularly the way he sort of treats Mick as if he was a by-stander while they were making their great albums of the early seventies. Of course, you know that there's an underlying respect there, but for whatever reason he does slag him pretty hard throughout the book. My point in this post is this: what Keith was to rock and roll guitar, Mick was to rock and roll singing, no more or less. And people that don't think that his contribution to the band (and music, in general) was the equivalent of Keith's (or Charlie's) are not hearing things accurately. Try singing along with "Ventilator Blues" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l0X1w8a7D8) or "Let It Loose" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrCiKD-cBvo) if you don't believe me. Mick's experience as a serious blues student and instrumentalist (Keith does give credit to his harmonica playing - but he's an excellent guitarist as well) allowed him to find melodic material and phrasings that were much more sophisticated than most people (including Keith, apparently) realize. Here are the lyrics to the album, arguably the greatest in rock 'n' roll history, that contains the classic tracks mentioned above: http://dougscripts.com/itunes/pdf/examplepdf.pdf. (You'll need them to sing along. Try it. Seriously.)

Got a ticket to Sir Paul's second Montreal show the other day, and am really surprised how much I'm already looking forward to it. For one thing, and I'm ashamed to say this, it'll be the first time that I've ever seen a Beatle in concert. I know. I can't believe it myself. How could this have happened? I guess living in either Montreal or Edmonton my entire life didn't help, but on the other hand, there are planes, boats, cars, trains in existence - so that argument isn't very good. In any event, I'm going to really enjoy not only the concert itself but also the build-up to it. What do I mean by that, you wonder? For one thing, I'm going to prepare for it by re-listening to all the McCartney I can - be it Beatles, solo, Wings, or Fireman - and I hope to write a few posts about it along the way as well.

Speaking of McCartney solo work, I'm going to mention an album that I think is just amazing, even though I've written about it in the past, the tragically under-appreciated Chaos and Creation in the Backyard from 2005. Produced by Nigel Godrich (of Radiohead fame), who may be the best producer he's had since George Martin, it's one of my favourite McCartney recordings (and I include the second side of Abbey Road in that assessment). Here's the wonderful "Jenny Wren": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9GvXFphCFc. The description under the video (i.e. the "Show More" thing) is worth checking out, too.

Gotta love the Google thing today - a very cool tribute to the great Les Paul. It'd be hard to think of a more influential twentieth century musician, if you think about it. I mean, overdubbing and the electric guitar, what more could someone be asked to contribute? Anyone who uses either (or in most cases, both), which means virtually everyone in popular music, owes him a tip of the cap - and a serious re-listening to his recordings. The place to start, for me, is obvious: his work with the astonishing vocalist, Mary Ford (talk about a singer who is in tune!). Without these two pioneers, would we have had The Beach Boys or Queen? Or Led Zeppelin? Props needed. Here's a cool clip of the duo doing one of their most famous numbers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0ffdwBUL78.

Another very cool thing about the Keith Richards' book, Life (2010), is the credit that he gives to other musicians for inspiring/helping him and the Stones. The sections that treat the early years of the band and their blues purist attitude are great, as are the tributes that he gives to Chuck Berry and Gram Parsons. The former name has been associated with the Stones since their inception. Not only did they record a whole whack of his songs, but Keith, by his own admission, stole (or is it borrowed?) virtually every lick that he played. Here's "Bye Bye Johnny", the first song on their first EP (from January, 1964): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdBKH4-6q1w. But Parsons' influence on the band wasn't as well known (before this book, to me, anyway), but now I hear it loud and clear. I hope that his charismatic style and true love of country music will inspire other rockers to keep that door to the past (and future) open as well. Here's "Dead Flowers" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YRdxHHFKvQ) and "Juanita" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvquxLSW64M&feature=related) for your consideration and enjoyment.

Finished Keith's book (Life), and even though I got a little bogged down in the heavy drug years, found it to be a remarkable read. I guess that, for me, honesty is the most important attribute for an autobiography, and this book has plenty of it. And it's also really well written, and both surprising and insightful, particularly about music. Speaking of which, I always find that I hear an artist's music a little more clearly after reading about them, and that was certainly the case here. Specifically, the book got me to give another listen to some of my early Stones LPs and have a better appreciation of the energy they contain. I realize that I've been one to undervalue their early work sometimes, mostly when it's compared to the glory years of 68-72, but that's not really fair for a couple of reasons: One, the glory years wouldn't have happened without the formative ones. Two, the four albums released in that period put almost every other rock and roll act in the rear-view mirror, as well. And don't get me wrong, I've always liked their early stuff, and I do even more now, with images of their early days in mind. Here's their great version of "Under the Boardwalk": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6A9zqRY-ME.

Of course, there's a bit of a downside to the book, and that's the realization that in some ways the group broke up a long time ago, that many of the albums from the late seventies on were not made with the same team spirit that had made them giants in the first place. Oh well. I, for one, am very glad that they stayed together anyway, and that I (and how many others) got the chance to see them a few times and that they kept on making music. Even though we never got another Exile, we did get some other really good stuff. You've also gotta love the fact that they stayed true to their original blues heroes, who also didn't retire, or let anyone tell them what to do. Inspiring. And they certainly were the originators of many more smiles than the dingdongs who spent their careers trying to imprison them. Hope they stay around for as long as they want to. ("Brown Sugar": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59K2kF6o9Tk)

Watched the opening of Saturday Night Live last night, including the opening song (a funny one about not singing a song) from Justin Timberlake, and was struck again by a fact that I haven't written about nearly enough. I think there's no doubt about it: Stevie Wonder is the most influential musician in pop, rock or r&b music in the last fifty years. Turn on the radio (or TV, as in the case above) and you'll hear him in almost everything. His singing, harmonic innovations, tremendous attention to detail in building rhythms (the episode from the Classic Albums series about Songs in the Key of Life provides some cool stuff about his process), and his hugely under-rated accomplishments as a lyricist, all of it grounded in the Motown school of music - well, it's no wonder that his influence is up there with anyone you could name (Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, James Brown, like that). And amazingly, he's equally great as a singles artist (example:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkQKk2ukiyw) or album artist (the five released between 1972 and 1976, all masterpieces - here's the discography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonder_discography, and here's "Saturn" from Songs in the Key of Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KpUO6t9qQ).

I'm about two thirds of the way through Keith Richards' Life (2010), and I'm finding it to be quite simply terrific. Some of the descriptive bits are so vivid you'd think the guy was a novelist rather than a rock 'n' roller - I nearly wrote "rocker" there, which would have been a mistake, because one of the really big deals to him is the importance of the swing element in music. He comes back to the point several times in fact, and one of the criticisms that he has for a lot of rock is that the roll part has been forgotten (but I don't agree with him in thinking that the charge can be applied to the Beatles - just listen to "Eight Days a Week": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtuybFrq7Rw, in comparison to "Something Happened to Me Yesterday": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=banNjTF6qEI, if you want evidence. However the Stones did learn to swing much harder later on, like on this one for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geQ_SmCZWjE). The book has a lot of very insightful stuff on music from the various perspectives that he's assumed (fan, student, performer, composer, band leader), including some things I'd never seen written about before, really important for musicians and fans to think about. It's not only a great and fun autobiography, it's an essential book on music.

One of the many musicians originally inspired by the Stones, David Johansen, had a similar comment recently about how vital swing rhythms are to rock, pointing out that without it, rock becomes militaristic - which was the case with a lot of punk. It's also the case with techno and any other style of music played (largely) by machines. The human element necessary in trying to figure out how the triplet and the eighth note co-exist (playing swing eighth notes is one of the most difficult things a jazz musician has to learn) is crucial to the excitement generated and will never be replicated or replaced. The best swing music - be it jazz, country, rock, r&b - has the power to draw in the listener in a very subtle and seductive way, and I'm not sure that music that doesn't understand this is destined to last. Which won't be the case with the work of any of the names above.

Came across an interesting thought from the great detective writer Raymond Chandler the other day. I'm not sure of its original context (it was quoted in a book review), but I imagine it was somehow or other in defense of his genre, which is usually under-rated. Anyway, the words went this way: "There are not vital and significant forms of art; there is only art, and precious little of that." Upon reading this I understood my rather eclectic musical listening tastes, which run from the Sex Pistols to Stravinsky, and which I've tried to explain on this blog in the past, much more clearly. Chandler said it all, and with his usual concision (one of the main reasons that Lou Reed is a big admirer): it's either art or it isn't. Therefore the task of people who write about music, or play it, or even quite simply only care about it, is to differentiate between the two categories, and to understand their reasons for doing so.

I listened to Fleetwood Mac's Tusk several times the other day, and found that it's stood up really well to the test of time. I mentioned it during a recent post on the Beatles' White Album, which sent me through my collection to find it, and was glad I did. Like the Fabs, the group is centered around three distinguished and distinctive songwriters, who are all splendid lead vocalists but who also have the ability to blend for ensemble singing. Also, the two groups have outstanding rhythm sections who are able to bring a wide variety of material to life. It's hard to pick specific highlights on an album as well-balanced as this one, so here's a link to the first track, Christine McVie's "Over and Over": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhUsXxdAkbg. I hope it'll make you want to listen to the whole thing.

Finished reading Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat (2010), thoroughly enjoyed it, learned a lot from it, and now I'm recommending it to anyone interested in participating and/or better understanding the craft of songwriting. The book is filled with highly detailed, insightful and honest observations about his own work as well as that of others. One particularly cool thing for me is how it provides the context needed to appreciate the lyrics to the songs. For example, I don't know how many times I've heard "Send In the Clowns" or "Losing My Mind" without knowing where they fit into the larger works that they came from - not having seen A Little Night Music or Follies. This lacking, among others, has now been corrected thanks to this terrific book. Here's Sinatra doing the first one listed above, before it became a standard apparently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJvUCDP9u0I. And here's Peggy Lee doing the latter in a way I hadn't heard before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeUvNoWyfQk&feature=related. Two great singers interpreting a songwriter appropriate to their level.

I've read a great many knuckleheaded comments lately about The King of Limbs, Radiohead's new album, which is too bad because it means that a lot of people are not appreciating it for what it is: a deepening of their musical concept and process (which do overlap, but are not precisely the same thing). And it seems like the band are getting it from both sides - either the record is too experimental or not experimental enough... It's neither actually. In fact, it's simply further exploration of a way of making music, which they invented, by the way, and which produces results that are unlike those of any other artist. Think of that: after all these years, there's still no one that sounds like them. Of course, this means that there might not be as much of a change between this one and In Rainbows as there was between, say, The Bends and OK Computer, but that's as it should be. It means that they're honing their process. And it's important to keep in mind that these guys are a great and unique rock band, not trend-followers. They'll be remembered among the greatest musicians of our time, of any, in fact. And the best thing I've heard about them recently came in an interview with Jonny Greenwood, in which he said (and I'm paraphrasing) that the band has learned a lot about how to speed up their process. My hope is that this means that we're going to get new music from them more frequently. Here are links to their most recent release (a two-sided single for Record Store Day). For maximum enjoyment, listen to them with the right mindset: "Supercollider"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ii-FumszIg. "The Butcher": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w19ZlO_JEJ0&feature=related.

I listened to the the Beatles' White Album from cover to cover the other day and was as amazed as I was the first time I heard it. It's well-known now that the album was considered by the members of the band to be a record of their early work as solo artists (listening to the lyrics to "Blackbird" from that perspective says it all), and that the accompanying photos are made up entirely of individual shots, and so forth. But, for me, it still sounds like perhaps the most representative Beatles album, because it contains so much breathing room and thus allows them to be heard both as individuals and as a collective. In retrospect, it's also clear that it was a template for some of the best large-scale ambitions of later rock artists (The Clash's Sandanista! and Fleetwood Mac's Tusk come to mind), and that its individual tracks have remained inspirations for songwriters up to the present moment. An example? Compare "Good Night" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIKugx1sToY) with Radiohead's closing track from Kid A, "Motion Picture Soundtrack" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ju8xO_Zvfo).

The album's MVP is Starr, in my opinion, and not only for his unforgettable vocal contributions (such as the one linked above), but his near-infallibility in the studio and his heart full of soul playing and placement made the record possible despite the tensions present at its making. Check him out on this one, Lennon's "I'm So Tired": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy-gOf-_3f4&feature=related.

And just to round things off, here's a highlight from Harrison, "Savoy Truffle": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBJqPxpWD5w, and one from McCartney, "Martha My Dear": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogwO9V9wIHg.

Kierkegaard's dictum, "Life must be lived forward, but can only be understood backwards", can also be related to music, and particularly composition, in a very important way. The reason for this is that music theory is very largely an after-the-fact activity. Because the composing process is centered on finding connections to a central idea or two and chasing them down as well as possible, there isn't the time to analyze each musical moment in terms of theory. But, the more experience that a composer has, the more likely that they will be able to work backwards from an envisioned whole, and thus infuse logic and inevitability into every gesture. Mozart was this type of composer, and his String Quartet No. 19 in C Major (K. 465), an example of this type of composition. The first movement is what gave the piece its nickname (the Dissonance Quartet), and it gives, very clearly I think, evidence of this kind of very advanced thinking. Have a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7dv2-bxhE8.

Note to regular readers of this blog: Because I'll be working on some other writing projects for the next little while, I'm going to be updating weekly, rather than daily, for a bit. This applies my Shakespeare blog (Star of England, linked on the right) as well.

I was too young to see the original rockabilly singers. And although I was never in the presence of Elvis Presley or Gene Vincent, I did get to see quite a few of the artists who kept that crucial flame alive for those of us who weren't there at the beginning. From among that group, Robert Gordon was the greatest. He had the voice, the understated charisma, the sense of drama and the taste to convey all of the original excitement to the next generation of gone cats. A great example of his taste, by the way, is the fact that he nearly always plays with a rock 'n' roll trio of guitar, bass and drums, which is just as it should be. He's one of the few rockers who (truly) understands that less is more. Here's a great clip of him doing Conway Twitty's "It's Only Make Believe": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwB7itzYIMo. And here's a link to his website: http://www.robertgordon.dk/.

Having mentioned Elvis Presley's ballad singing yesterday, I thought I would find an example for you today, and "Love Me Tender" is as good as any. What's immediately striking to me, whenever I listen to Elvis now, is the control he had over his instrument, seemingly from the very beginning, and the astonishing resonance that it was capable of producing. It was no doubt largely informed by his knowledge of gospel singing (another example of taste being the most important attribute for a musician). Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZBUb0ElnNY.

And now have a listen to the same song (in a medley with "Witchcraft") sung by Presley and Frank Sinatra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVfXCYk0xSA. How many rock and roll singers could have done that? I think Frank speaks for all of us with his final comment in the clip: "Thank you, Elvis".

Vincent Eugene Craddock, better known as Gene Vincent, is one of the greatest rock and roll singers, up there with Elvis Presley. I think that, along with his sense of swing and dramatic timing, it was his natural quality, the sense that what he was singing about was actually happening to him, that made him so great. Like Presley, he was equally convincing on ballads and rockers, and like John Lennon, the greatest rock and roll singer of the following decade, he had the gift of always making the listener feel like part of the action (and fun). You can clearly hear how much Lennon learned from him by comparing their versions of "Be-Bop-a-Lula". Vincent's was recorded in 1956 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7trV_-mSyE), and Lennon's in 1975. It's the first and best track on his Rock 'n' Roll album of that year (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKQB0ezWGOE).

As I hope you've noticed, I try to avoid getting negative on this blog. One of my guiding principles in writing it has been Auden's comment on how criticism should concern itself with opening up an audience to things of which they are unaware, and thus, there shouldn't really be time left over for deriding anything, considering how much good stuff is almost entirely neglected. That being said, there is one era and/or style of music upon the terribleness of which I can't remain silent: the eighties. I'm sorry, but the scars of that horrible time are still in my psyche. On the bright side, I am forever in the debt of the relatively few great bands that kept rock alive during those dark days. The best of that small bunch, for me, were the Replacements, whose career was perhaps best summarized in a blurb written by Nick Hornby, which can be found on the cover of Jim Walsh's highly recommended 2007 book, The Replacements: All Over but the Shouting: "The Replacements were superheroes: They rescued a whole planet from '80s music." Well said.

Another group from that time deserving of recognition is the Style Council, the r&b influenced group fronted by the former leader of the Jam, Paul Weller, that were in operation from 1983-1989. I think of them as a singles band (like most of their ancestors, I suppose), and their releases had a sort of street art quality to them, tied in with particular moments and social scenes. I think my favourite among them is this one, "How She Threw It All Away" from 1988:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG80bEinXNk. By the way, Weller has remained active, and terrific, in the years since. He released his tenth solo album, Wake Up the Nation, in 2010.

I'd be remiss if I were to write about Gene Bertoncini, as I did yesterday, without doing the same about Charlie Byrd, who, as the popularizer of finger-style jazz guitar, was an influence on Bertoncini, and virtually every other jazz guitarist. He was an influence on all of jazz, in fact, because of his work in bringing Brazilian music and the Bossa Nova style into its current mainstream status. Byrd's 1962 collaboration with the saxophone giant, Stan Getz, Jazz Samba, remains a cornerstone in the field, and a must-hear for every jazz fan. Here's a link to the opening track, "Desafinado", which features tremendous solo work, by both Byrd and Getz, that proved that Bossa Nova could provide a framework for a jazz musician's abilities that would be every bit as solid and challenging as those found in standards: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGfiAzPiYG4). This cut was a pop hit at the time, by the way, reaching #15 on the Billboard charts. Those were the days.

One of the great things about going to music school is the number of events, such as concerts and workshops, that one has the opportunity to attend. One such occasion for me was a very memorable workshop with the great American jazz/classical guitarist, Gene Bertoncini. On that day, he captivated the audience with his virtuosity, his humour, and his generosity in sharing his approach and musical concept (I remember several of the top guitarists at school carefully taking notes). And I should clarify the term (jazz/classical) used above: What I mean is that, essentially, Bertoncini is a jazz player, but one who plays it on a classical guitar using classical technique. But a picture's worth a thousand words, and a video some exponent of that, so here's a link to a performance of "The Shadow of Your Smile" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCss_FtMWDQ), and here's another to his website (http://www.genebertoncini.com/). He's got nineteen other videos on his YouTube channel, many of which contain insights on his work that would be helpful to listeners, and other guitarists, of course.

In case there are, among the readers of this blog, people that have not heard Sly Stone's version of "Que Sera", le voila: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQZNkzP4kYw&feature=related. There's a lot to be enjoyed with this one, and a lot to be learned too. The first thing that strikes me is the phrasing, both by Sly and his sister Rose. For example, it's interesting how the held notes of a multi-syllabic word are always on the last syllable ("When I was just a little..."), and never is the meaning of the words contradicted for a musical effect (Stephen Sondheim would approve). Rose's tone, in both the musical and linguistic senses of the word, is impeccable, and Sly's free-form harmonizing on the choruses is another highlight worth many listens. It's everything a cover tune should be. There may be some as good, but there aren't any better.

By the way, Sly is apparently at work in the studio, which is brilliant news. More info and links to hear some recent work can be found here: http://www.slystonebook.com/.

I've been listening to a fair bit of Stravinsky recently, ever since my post on Monday regarding the Bad Plus and their Rite of Spring project, and in particular the three great early ballets (The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring - which were all, amazingly, composed between 1910 and 1913). The theory has been put forward several times that often a composer's most compelling music is written for the ballet. Obviously, dance itself (and the rhythms it requires) become the inspirational agent, and that certainly seems the case with this music, which is, to some listeners (including this one), the high point of Stravinsky's career. These scores, beautiful, strange and powerful throughout, are as important culturally as they are musically. They are among the defining accomplishments of modernism, as important as Picasso, and, inspired and inspiring, they retain all of their expressive power to this day. Here's a clip of the opening of Petrushka: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbWDG3LU4bc.

As I expected it would be, Jeff Tweedy's solo show at the Olympia Theatre (in Montreal) was brilliant, full to the brim of music, poetry, humour and (an under-appreciated aspect of Tweedy's art) innovative guitar-playing. Some personal highlights: "Theologians" during the first encore; "One Wing", which might be my favourite Wilco song; "Kamera", a standout on an album filled with them, their 2002 masterpiece, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I can't remember if it was said before or after his playing "Country Disappeared", but he mentioned that a video of the song had been shot in the same theatre during Wilco's last Montreal visit, in February of 2010, so I looked it up and enjoyed it very much - so here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkK4fjUlmVs. Go see this group, or Tweedy solo, if you possibly can, and listen to their records, too. They are a band that can hold the field with any other that could be named. Don't miss out.

Off to see Jeff Tweedy tonight, which should be highly entertaining. I've seen Wilco a few times now and they always surpass expectations. They're a bit like Don Mattingly, the great Yankee first baseman, in that regard (When Yogi Berra was asked if Mattingly had surpassed expectations with a particularly great season, he said, "I'd say he's done more than that"). Baseball and humour are themes that both Wilco and Tweedy have frequently explored. Wilco's summer tours have often used minor league ball parks for venues, for example - I saw them in August of 2009 at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, New York - and Jeff Tweedy is a very funny person. He could have been a stand-up comic, probably, but I'm glad he devoted himself to music. Here's a clip that I hadn't seen before, which shows his sense of humour and his musicianship, a cover of Bob Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate": (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRuU_IkGUyo&feature=related). And go see Tweedy (and/or Wilco) in person if you can.

Harry Nilsson was one of the greatest singers in rock history, a favourite of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and David Bowie. His 1971 album Nilsson Schmilsson is the place to start for someone not familiar with his work (which would apparently include the people who voted on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers list, from which Nilsson, ridiculously, was left off). Both the album title and its famous cover photo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilsson_Schmilsson) demonstrate his self-deprecating quality, but don't be fooled, the album contains some of the most wide-ranging, adventurous and virtuosic rock singing ever done. The big hits, "Coconut" and "Without You", both demonstrate the vocal variety of which Nilsson was capable, but to really get a sense of his artistry, I'd recommend listening to the entire album (and then some others after that). Here's the first track, "Gotta Get Up", to get you started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKy_gTrdXaU.

The Ballad of Mott the Hoople, a documentary about the band, is a movie that I'm looking forward to seeing. It's playing at various festivals and things at the moment, as far as I can tell, so I'm hopeful it'll have some form of general release soon. We'll see.

Mostly because of the presence of Ian Hunter, who wrote Diary of a Rock and Roll Star (1974) and many songs about the band's adventures, Mott obtained the reputation of a band that was self-aware, clever, literary. And many have noticed the apparent contradictions that they embodied - the rock star attitude combined with self-deprecating irony - they gave people a lot to think about. Here's a link to a great video of the band (but without Mick Ralphs, unfortunately) doing their wonderful hit, "Roll Away the Stone", on Top of the Pops (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CFUuN__7tE) in late '73. The expression on Hunter's face right before the vocal says it all: Rock and roll is both serious and fun. Then he sings right over his lip-sync. (I have no idea what the intro before the song is about, though).

In the posts regarding my top ten Queen songs a few days ago, you may have noticed that I didn't include "Bohemian Rhapsody". There were a couple of reasons for this, most of which have to do with its fame, but I do think the song is a remarkable achievement. However, I don't think it's unique - in fact, I think the song was inspired by, and perhaps even based on, a Mott the Hoople song called "Marionette" (from their 1974 album, The Hoople). Queen had toured with them in 1973, and alluded to the experience in "Now I'm Here" ("Down in the city just Hoople and me...") on Sheer Heart Attack, which was released the following year. On the Mott the Hoople website, in honour of their too-brief reunion of 2009, Brian May was quoted thus: "On tour as support to Mott The Hoople (the only time Queen ever supported anyone), I was always conscious that we were in the presence of something great, something highly evolved, close to the centre of the Spirit of Rock 'n' Roll, something to breathe in and learn from."

My contention today is that "Bohemian Rhapsody" was another result of that influence. Here are links to the track in question (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aWhdmFr61Q) and its lyrics (http://www.elyrics.net/read/m/mott-the-hoople-lyrics/marionette-lyrics.html).

Found a most interesting piece of news yesterday on the NPR music site which informs us that the Bad Plus, the American jazz trio with the repertoire of astonishing variety, has taken on a commission to rework Stravinsky's watershed, modernist masterpiece, The Rite of Spring, for their instrumentation and style. You can read more about the project and hear both a sample and an interview here: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/20/134666157/the-bad-plus-tackle-stravinskys-spring. Judging from the clip, it's going to be a tremendous recording when it's completed, and I hope they tour it, too - that would be amazing. During the interview, they call the Rite "the Monster", which is a fair description, both in terms of its technical content and cultural importance. The 2009 film, Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, got mixed reviews, and I would concur, but the opening scenes which portray the events surrounding the ballet's Paris premiere are terrific. Imagine a time when an orchestral work (along with Nijinsky's choreography) could bring in the riot police; those were the days. The music, though, still sounds both challenging and awesomely beautiful. Here's a link to the Joffrey Ballet's recreation of the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjX3oAwv_Fs.

Top ten favourite Queen songs, continued:

5. "Play the Game" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr2iDWQSwsI): Yesterday I mentioned that I consider John Deacon a pop music genius, well, I think the same of Freddie Mercury. The bridge in this one ("My game of love has just begun...") is one of the most exciting I've heard.

4. "Long Away" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e06qoOTrkE): My favourite of the several wonderful Brian May space-folk songs, with a beautiful lead vocal and all-galaxy guitar playing (of course).

3. "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke/Nevermore/The March of the Black Queen" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N73NdiH0cBk/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckRX0k9owAY) I'm not really cheating here, I don't think, because these ones pretty much function as a suite. (By the way, one of the many highlights of A Night at the Opera is the instrumental segue from May's "The Prophet's Song" to Mercury's "Love of My Life".) These songs sound best on the recently (2011) remastered versions, or on LP (if you're lucky enough to have one).

2. "Brighton Rock" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdUKi3_QntE): May is just awesome on this one, as is well known, but so's Mercury. Listen to the way he comes out of the falsetto halfway through the word "magic". How did he do that? And you've gotta love the fairground sound effects at the opening. Drama, fun, virtuosity: pure Queen.

1. "Killer Queen" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ti2P_z5IPw): Upon hearing this one for the first time, I listened to it another twenty or so times in a row. I simply couldn't believe that a song could be so perfectly crafted, and my opinion hasn't changed. The signature tune of one of the all-time rock and roll acts.

Since I like to think of myself as a serious Queen fan (which is something that I've never apologized for, I'm happy to say) I thought that one way of whittling down the many contenders for entry into my top ten list of favourite songs would be to avoid the obvious choices. Also, one of the goals of this blog is to introduce people to things they might not hear otherwise, so there's a bit of that in there, too. Thus, with a couple of exceptions, most of the following are not from a list of their most known:

8. "My Fairy King" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EYUqsfl7gE): Talk about an ambitious song for a debut album, this one features a double lead vocal from Mercury and Roger Taylor, astonishing changes of pace and a great many beautiful melodies. 7. "Drowse" (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=queen+drowse&aq=f): Speaking of Roger Taylor, this is one of his great songs. Actually, I like all of his songs; I wish the albums contained more of them, in fact. But it seems like he and John Deacon usually only contributed one per album, sort of dual George Harrison roles or something - and like Harrison, they wrote some of the band's best numbers. This one allows him to display his astonishing vocal range (he's the really high voice on nearly all of their recordings) as well as his highly original, melodic approach to the drums. Lyrically, he was the only one in the group to deal with teenage topics, and he did so really well. 6. "Need Your Lovin' Tonight" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRa8mqWIX-0): I think that John Deacon is an unacknowledged pop genius, and this one proves it (if "You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" and "You and I" hadn't already done so). It's amazing how often Mercury's best singing is found on tunes he didn't write, a fact that underlines both his musicianship and his generosity. Taylor, also, is awesome on this one. Tune in tomorrow for the top five.

Queen have recently released remastered versions of their first five albums, and the occasion has led to the publication of a couple of top ten lists, so I think I'll add one of my own. I'll start today with only spots 10. and 9. because I've been wanting to write about these two songs for another reason: their influence on Radiohead.

10. "White Queen (As it Began)" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHobnwUhhIM): This one's a Brian May song from 1974's Queen II. May's ultra-brainy concept of the guitar as orchestral instrument has been a clear influence on Radiohead's approach to the instrument and to the studio itself. And besides that, the strings at the beginning of this are very evocative of the way they're used on "How to Disappear Completely" and "Faust Arp", for a couple of examples.

9. "The Prophet's Song" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xmsXqgHHEI): A through-composed masterpiece, also by May, from A Night at the Opera (1975) which features the echo (a.k.a. delay) effect which he had applied to his guitar work on "Brighton Rock" (which became a showpiece of their live performances for years). Its influence on Radiohead can be heard in the two closing tracks from The King of Limbs, "Give Up the Ghost" and "Separator".

I'll have the last eight spots for you over the next couple of posts.

I wasn't surprised to learn that Gigi Gryce (short for George General Gryce), the saxophonist and bandleader who wrote the pocket-sized jazz standard masterpiece called "Minority", studied classical composition (at the Boston Conservatory during the forties), because it is a perfect example of the small compositional form known as "sentence structure". In it, a melodic idea is played, then repeated in a contrasting key and then "liquidated", which according to Arnold Schoenberg's Fundamentals of Musical Composition, consists of "gradually eliminating characteristic features, until only uncharacteristic ones remain, which have little in common with the basic motive". Here's a version, performed by an all-star lineup, in which the form is clearly audible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDR2c6k9ixk&feature=related. The theme is played twice at the beginning, the first starting at 0:14, and the second at 0:29. (By the way, you'll hear sentence structure in a great many of Mozart's works, as well, if you listen for it.)

Thom Yorke is a very hard-working musician. Very soon after the latest Radiohead album, we've already got more new music from him. This one is what used to be called a two-sided single, with tracks called "Ego" and "Mirror", and it was made in collaboration with two electronic musicians - both of whom go by monikers, Burial (William Bevan) and Four Tet (Kieran Hebden). Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a YouTube version that comes without DJ chattering, so that link will come as soon as I do. In the meantime, I thought I'd provide links for two remixes of tracks from Yorke's 2006 solo album, The Eraser, one each from the two artists named above. Just as arranging became an art form in its own rite with the development of jazz, so has remixing in the digital age. The results can be quite compelling. Here's the original version of "Atoms for Peace": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoOlrf3x2gI&feature=related, and here's Four Tet's remix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7iWEim4sWo. And here's Yorke's original of "And It Rained All Night": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A604BZ1YZU&feature=related, and here's Burial's remix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnrsXNBSwGA.

The New York Dolls are still an adventurous, deeply-schooled, challenging, fun-loving rock band. I've been listening to their new album, Dancing Backward in High Heels, non-stop for a couple of days now with much delight. I don't know how recording it in Newcastle brought them back to the fifties/early-sixties girl-group sound, one of the musical veins that they tapped in the early seventies (thus starting the camp approach that was an integral part of punk), but it did. It's an updated version of the sound, too, and man, does it ever sound hip in 2011. By the way, there was a lot of turnover in the group's personnel from the last album to this one - only the drummer, Brian Delaney and the two original members, David Johansen and Syl Sylvain, are back from the squad that produced One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This (2006) and Cause I Sez So (2009), and having seen the band in that configuration, I was sorry to hear that the bassist, Sami Yaffa and the guitarist, Steve Conte had gone, because they both made terrific contributions. But that's rock and roll, I guess. In any event, this new release is a very interesting development of the band's sound, and maybe the personnel changes allowed that to happen to some degree. Here's the brilliant second track, "Streetcake" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPz_baKEe3U&playnext=1&list=PLAD8182C5ECFA20AE).

Great news for Steely Dan fans: another big tour is happening this summer (info: http://www.steelydan.com/). By my count, it'll be their eighth of the twenty-first century. Who would have guessed that the studio-centric duo of the seventies would turn into millennial road warriors? Not me, but I'm certainly glad that it's happened. I've seen them a few times over this time, and it's always a treat. I think that the aspect that I enjoy the most is the fact that they haven't compromised their commitment to musicianship and all-around technical excellence in any way just for the sake of getting a show on the road. Their concerts are always on the vanguard of what can be accomplished in popular music. Their records too, come to think of it. In fact, I don't think that they've been given enough credit in this area, by which I mean their contributions in terms of expanding the possibilities of what popular music in recording - and more recently, in performance - can sound like. For that alone, they should be appreciated. On top of that, of course, is the greatness of their song-craft, both lyrically and musically. If you get half a chance, go see them this summer, to say thanks. Here's "Pearl of the Quarter" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC8_KGHbrOI) one of my favourites from the early days.

I've been having another read of England's Dreaming, Jon Savage's great tome on punk and the Sex Pistols from 1991, and the thing that I'm finding really striking is the depth of his examination into the philosophical movements that were responsible for it. The book is a must-read for anyone who remains unconvinced about the importance of punk. And it brings back to mind the fact that rock music, which, in comparison with other types of music, is relatively easy to play on a technical level, requires much more than other styles in terms of thought. It therefore can't be judged on the same terms as other forms of music, and rock music which has nothing more to say than "I want to be a star!" or "I wish I was rich!" or "Let's party!" is worthless. And anyone who doesn't think that young people need to be given a chance to participate in philosophical discussion, and that art directed toward them doesn't need to contain it, should watch a couple of episodes of Jersey Shore and get back to me. (Here's a link to Jon Savage's website: http://www.jonsavage.com/.)

I've been thinking about Beethoven a lot lately, and of a particular description that I heard of him some years back by one of my college professors, who called him "almost a Promethean figure", which seems entirely right to me. Basically, the more one learns about his life and work, the more awestruck one becomes, and perhaps most importantly, the more deeply one can enter into the music - which is on a level with the greatest human accomplishments in any field. His works always contain structural clarity, and yet they are daring and ground-breaking as they push against the boundaries of form. They contain therefore "the unexpected and the obvious", the elements of great art from Ezra Pound's dictum. Here's the picturesque first movement from the Sixth Symphony - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMJPZ-mu-Ts - as case in point.

It's really hard to write a post on a day that's brought such horrific news. I guess the only thing to say is that we've all got to try to help in any way available to us. A thought that keeps coming to mind is the fact that the people of Japan have always had great interest and taste in music, and particularly rock music. My hope is that the many artists who've benefited from that interest over the years will do their best to make contributions towards the healing and rebuilding process, and not only with their money, but with their music, too. Here's Bruce Cockburn's "Tokyo", a song that may be of use today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDJJrAP_eCI.

What a great month March 2011 has been for rock and roll fans. Not only did we get a new (and tremendous) Radiohead album, not only do we have a new one by the Strokes to look forward to (it's to be called Angles, apparently, and its release date is March 22), but the New York Dolls have just released their fifth album (the third of their 21st century comeback), Dancing Backward in High Heels, and after a listen to all the tracks I could find on YouTube (I'll be picking up the CD tomorrow, I hope), my first impression is that it's another great one. The first thing you'll notice is its sound. It's unlike anything the band have done before, and yet it's rooted in the band's past and logical for their future, as well. I'll be writing more about the record in a week or so, assuming I can get the album, but it certainly looks like they've done it again. That's a five for five ratio in the great albums versus number of albums released category, by the way. Here's the opening track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmzFpt9_xck&feature=related.

Today, I finally got the chance to hear Jonny Greenwood's new soundtrack for the recently released film entitled, Norwegian Wood, and also to hear a very interesting interview with him courtesy of this website: http://www.greenplastic.com/. During the chat, he discussed how the plot of the story, which involves a music teacher who has a breakdown and has to re-learn how to play, influenced the composition of the music. And having given it a couple of listens, I can clearly hear what he's talking about (and the music's wonderful, by the way). But it also got me thinking about a central aspect of Radiohead's music: they try very hard to never rely on assumptions, to think as if the song they're working on is the first of its kind, maybe even the first they've ever played. It's the right way to proceed, because if assumptions are allowed into the composing process (and even a unit as small as a chord or scale fragment can be an assumption), creativity and originality get compromised, and it can seem like there's not much that hasn't been done in music. In fact, very little has been done in music, but as has always been the case, only fresh thinking and effort can get to the ground-breaking stuff. Here's a piece from the above soundtrack that exemplifies all of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xYbK53vs2s.

I've been reading quite a bit of commentary on Radiohead's latest release, The King of Limbs, and I've been left, more than a few times, quite puzzled. I'm not entirely sure that some critics are entirely sure what to listen for in the band's music. So today, I'm going to start with what not to listen (or look) for: 1. The length of an album is quite irrelevant when music of this quality is under discussion. Radiohead's music is intricate and detailed to an unparalleled level in the history of rock, and the only way to appreciate the fact is with repeated listenings, and I mean many of them. Music, like poetry, is about compressed power, not length. Examples? Sgt. Pepper's clocks in at 39:42, and A Love Supreme at 33:02. (I think it was Robert Christgau who started all of this, with his "consumer alerts" for albums under a certain duration and so forth. It was a wrongheaded approach, and it wasn't his only one either - the stuff he's written about this band is pretty dumb, too.) 2. The lyrics are incidental to what Radiohead is doing. And while they shouldn't be disregarded, the band's art is located in its extrapolation of the various emotional states that the words hint at. Therefore, "Feral" has as much to say, in its own way, as does "Green Plastic Trees" or "Paranoid Android". 3. I remember Thom Yorke saying something about being "sick of melody" about ten years ago (or so), and while many of his songs belie that statement, it should be remembered that what the band is really after doesn't have a lot to do with a song's tune. T.S. Eliot once said that a poet uses ideas the way a burglar uses a piece of meat: to distract a dog, while he goes about his business. This also applies to the approach Radiohead takes to melody. Try listening to "Lotus Flower" for its texture, its details, its rhythms, which are put together with such care and originality that they sound new and different with every listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfOa1a8hYP8.

Top ten favourite Bowie tunes, continued: 5. "Win" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB9RSG-56wU): A great song from his most underrated album, which includes three others that would be in my top twenty list: "Young Americans", "Right" and "Can You Hear Me" (and maybe "Somebody Up There Likes Me", too, come to think of it). 4. "Moonage Daydream" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE4Mu_cZcIA): Just an amazing song from an album full of them, with lyrics that deserve to be memorized and quoted. There's an allusion to it at the end of Ian Hunter's "The Great Escape" from his 2009 Man Overboard, in fact, and a band that I was in once got its name from it (if you're interested). 3. "Aladdin Sane" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2y9inP4CqE): The mesmerizing title track of the album where Bowie's collagist lyrics were at their most powerful. And apparently Bowie was conceptually responsible for the piece's signature, Mike Garson's expressive Cecil Tayloresque piano performance, by asking for an avant-garde approach, rather than the latin or blues inspired playing that he'd done on earlier takes. Garson has said that a week hasn't gone by since during which someone hasn't asked him about it. 2. "Life On Mars?" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C0RmRGTePw): A beautifully constructed piece with chord progressions that are surprising and yet completely logical. It's terrifically orchestrated and sung, as well. 1. "Stay" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJVtv9LlK9Y&feature=related): I've always had a particular affection for this one since seeing the concert mentioned yesterday. I got in early to see the soundcheck which Bowie showed up at part way through, and while the band was playing this one, he took over the vocals from Carlos Alomar with a very funny "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" gesture. A magical memory and a brilliant song.

I saw Bowie at the Montreal Forum in July of 1983, the Serious Moonlight Tour, and was struck by the number of huge hits the guy had at his disposal. And they're not just hits either, but really great and lasting songs, rock and roll art. All this to say that the task that I've set for myself (a top ten of favourite Bowie songs) is going to be a tough one. But, here we go:

10. "Lady Grinning Soul" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvieJsPcUbk): Although I think Aladdin Sane is great, I've always felt that the first side is much stronger than the second (I'm referring to the LP version, of course), but this astonishing closing number elevates not only the side but the entire album.

9. "Always Crashing in the Same Car" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2vEtfyveeY): "Every chance, every chance that I take/ I take it on the road..." What an opening line. The best song on Low, and that's saying something.

8. "Ashes to Ashes" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-IkC3isMoc): Imagine someone writing a sequel to their most important song, the one that made them famous, revered - and surpassing it.

7. "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBezS7ElQJU&feature=related): A beautiful melody that stands out even on an album full of them, and a lovesong to a cityscape, worthy of comparison with early Eliot.

6. "Andy Warhol" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoPPiDkXO3Y): One of three great homages on Hunky Dory, his first great album, with the others to Dylan and the Velvets. Bowie's taste was impeccable, obviously, and now he provides that opportunity for others.

Tomorrow: the top five.

David Bowie has very good taste in David Bowie music. I mention this because tomorrow I'm going to undertake the daunting (but fun) task of choosing my top ten Bowie tunes, and my list is going to have a significant amount of overlap with the one he made for his 2008 release, iSelect, which was comprised of his personal favourites, many of which are mine too, as you'll see.

One tune that is certainly among my most frequent Bowie listens, but which won't be on the list (because I'll choose from his originals only), is "Wild Is the Wind", a cover of a film song by Dimitri Tiomkin, with lyrics by Ned Washington (who also penned the words to "Stella by Starlight", "Green Dolphin Street" and "My Foolish Heart") which can be found on his 1976 masterpiece, Station to Station. Bowie's vocal performance, a frequently underrated aspect of his music, evokes the subject matter perfectly, and the band is terrific, as well. Check it out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cSAKlu0OlU), and tune in tomorrow.

A couple of days ago, I wrote that I thought that Bill Evans is the instrumentalist who is the best reference point for listeners to hear close-to-definitive versions of standards. I think the task is tougher when it comes to singers though, because there are quite a few contenders. So I'll make it a touch easier by choosing one female, Billie Holiday, and one male, Frank Sinatra, two vocalists with a lot in common, starting with their tremendous rhythmic sophistication and phrasing. And of course, both have been emulated to such a point that when they are listened to now, the originality of their styles can be underestimated, which is unfortunate - both were trailblazers and should be heard that way. (I've said it before, but it's unfair to compare artists to what came after them - they should only be heard vis a vis what came before.) In any case, a listener who is interested in really appreciating a song can go a long way toward it by checking out the versions of one or, if possible, both of these giants. Here's "The Very Thought of You" by Holiday - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPJuFxl0bxY and Sinatra - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_V3wxwY6_Q.

After writing about the most representative Beach Boys song yesterday, I thought I'd continue in that vein today with the equivalent from the Roxy Music canon. "A Song for Europe" would have to be the choice. The romance among the ruins epic with its continental setting and theme of doomed beauty, and which includes sections sung in Latin (!) and French, is a pretty fair encapsulation of the Roxy world-view. And the music is halfway between the inspired wildness of their earliest stuff (an influence on the Sex Pistols' sound through Steve Jones, in fact) and the glossed poignancy of their later work. Both sides of the band are equally appreciated by fans, and on this one we get both. Here's the original: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u47h9fDGKxg), and here's a live version from a 2010 performance that features a splendid solo from saxophonist and co-writer Andy Mackay: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HqUW_OahuI&feature=related).

Even more than "Good Vibrations", "Sail On Sailor", or "God Only Knows", the song that best represents everything that's great about the Beach Boys is "Don't Worry Baby". Reasons? 1. It shows the way their music was grounded in the sounds and techniques of the fifties and yet it still sounds fresh today. 2. The singing is awesome. It might be the best vocal performance of Brian Wilson's career. 3. The lyrics can stand shoulder to shoulder with any Chuck Berry tune (and he was one of their primary models, of course) in its depiction of the minefield that teenage life can be. In this case, the narrator has to face a street race brought on this way: "I guess I should have kept my mouth shut when I started to brag about my car/ But I can't back down now because I pushed the other guys too far". 4. Even by Brian Wilson standards, it's got a beautiful melody. Here's a link to the best-sounding version I could find: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9E1by7PocE&feature=related.

To think about definitive versions of jazz standards is tricky, mostly because it's quite subjective. But the fact remains that there are certain artists who are considered touchstones, and their performances are the ones that are most frequently consulted by musicians and serious listeners who want to try to understand the essence of a song. Among instrumentalists, one name that is brought up in this regard more than any other is the pianist Bill Evans, for the simple reason that his musical approach is deeply grounded in fundamentals and therefore contains no wrong turns. As Cannonball Adderley said, on the cover of 1958's Everybody Digs Bill Evans (the quote-filled sleeve was the record company's idea; Evans, who was a modest person, didn't like it): "Bill Evans has rare originality and taste and the even rarer ability to make his conception of a number seem the definitive way to play it."

Here's a version of "What Is This Thing Called Love?" that exemplifies that statement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY82ZNEgNHY.

I've been listening to "Caravan" a lot lately, and its importance as a piece is becoming more clear to me with each spin. Written by the trombonist Juan Tizol, and brought to its current fame by Duke Ellington, the tune may be the one that started two major schools in jazz. First, with its Latin and Mideastern melodies and rhythms, it is very likely the one that made jazz international. Second, with its long sections built on unstable chords (dimished and dominant), it may have been the origin of modal jazz (although the blues were involved as well, of course). And to top it off, it's just a great piece of music. Here's a terrific version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4XKHkzDggk.

Since its inception, free jazz has been one of the most polarizing styles of music, and it's managed to remain so for over fifty years. Actually, it's an approach to music more than a style, because like certain schools of visual art, the process is meant to be out in the open and noted. It came into being, at least partially, because players were tired of being boxed in by the use of songs and chord changes as improvisational contexts. Theoretically, free jazz is meant to be played without chord changes and to be based on mutual composition in the moment. But what results can often alienate listeners, mostly because there isn't time for any kind of editing.

Ornette Coleman is the first name that comes to mind when the genre is mentioned, and deservedly, because he has dedicated more time to it than any other musician. And because free jazz as a concept is just as divisive among musicians as it is with fans, many of Coleman's peers have said negative things about his music. I think the fact that he's still at it, after over fifty years, speaks for itself. In any event, it's clear that controversy and the induction of thinking are necessary results of what he does, and he know it. As a listener, I find that his best recordings are the ones in which he's in the company of the great Charlie Haden on bass: The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959), Change of the Century (1959), This is Our Music (1960), and Song X (1986), which also features Pat Metheny. Here's the title track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d66Ytt2g7ns

I really enjoy hearing experienced vocalists doing versions of songs by younger artists. This happened a lot in the seventies, when singers, with Frank Sinatra leading the way, began to cover artists such as the Beatles and Stevie Wonder, having realized that some of the best songwriters of that time were the ones working in rock and r&b groups. I think the same thing is happening now to some degree, as serious jazz musicians and singers continue to look to the modern rock repertoire for inspiring material. One of my favourite examples of the phenomenon is the great jazz singer Mark Murphy's version of Coldplay's "What If", from his 2007 masterpiece, Love Is What Stays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVVSlcMjAJo. It's wonderfully arranged and played, and, of course, sung with his usual combination of head and heart.

The title track from the Bad Plus' most recent release, Never Stop (2010), is a blast. A composition by their bassist Reid Anderson, it was originally written for a fashion show that the band was commissioned to score, and you can hear how its rhythms might have been inspired by imagined parades of models. The tune is straightforward in one way, but it's kind of tricky in another, because the beat gets turned around several times via the use of asymmetrical figures. Of course, this device is one of the secret weapons of Radiohead, a band that the Bad Plus have covered several times during their fascinating career, and it's not impossible that they picked up the idea as a result. But maybe not, because they have done tunes by a few other artists as well. In fact, I wonder if there's ever been a band that have covered such an eclectic list of sources, which includes Black Sabbath, Queen, Yes, The Pixies, Neil Young, Nirvana, Roger Miller, Blondie, Led Zeppelin, Heart, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Ornette Coleman, Rush, David Bowie, Wilco, Pink Floyd, the Bee Gees, The Flaming Lips, and several others. It's quite amazing, really. Oh, and I didn't even mention the classical composers that they've covered - Stravinksy, Babbitt, Ligeti among them. But perhaps the most astonishing thing about the group is the fact that their most compelling music is found in their original compositions, which are contributed by all three members. We're talking about a great group here. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfSEVk8f2Co

The great pianist Wray Downes (http://www.myspace.com/381846361/music/songs/For-You-3209961) uses the term "deep time" to describe the effect achieved by the very strongest players, rhythmically speaking. A musician who achieves it has a sound that seems to expand with every note played. It allows the listener to hear into the very structure of the instrument, right into the grain of the wood in the case of the guitar and upright bass. Two musicians who provide an excellent example of the phenomenon are Jim Hall and Ron Carter, who have made three albums as a duo: Alone Together (1972), Telephone (1985) and Live at the Village West (1995). The track linked below is one of my very favourite versions of "Autumn Leaves", from Alone Together. It's everything jazz should be, played with deep time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjfN5NKnJ90

George Shearing, the great pianist, composer and band leader died a little less than two weeks ago, at the age of 91. His story is an amazing one, and this site tells it better than I could, so have a look: (http://www.georgeshearing.net/). Known as a musician's musician, he was a brilliant pianist who made major innovations both vertically and horizontally (i.e. melodically and harmonically). A great writer as well, his most famous piece "Lullaby of Birdland" has become a staple of the jazz repertoire. But my personal favourite is "Conception", a tune I first heard on Bill Evans' debut album, New Jazz Conceptions (1956). It's the sort of tune known as a "minefield" among jazz players because of the extremely challenging nature of its chord changes. And, on top of that, it's usually played at a high tempo, as it is in this version, which features glittering solos from the magnificent guitarist, Chuck Wayne and Shearing, and great ensemble work from the whole group: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KQCtE2t1kM.

Unusual guitar tunings can inspire some great songs. It was certainly the case with The English Beat's "Save it for Later" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bM0wVjU2-k) which was written as a result of the singer Dave Wakeling's experiments with the concept. Open tuning is a better name for it, actually, and it's been integral to the sound of artists as various as the Rolling Stones, Nick Drake and the Velvet Underground. One reason for it leading to creativity is that it can turn the guitar into a stranger, technically speaking, because the notes on some of the strings have changed places. Therefore the guitarist has almost no choice but to be creative, because all of his or her stock phrases, voicings, licks, and so forth are no longer accessible. (I remember hearing one guitarist say that a big danger for those who play the instrument is that by constantly going back to familiar places, "the guitar can end up playing you".) Another related idea is the fact that some writers compose using an instrument with which they're relatively unfamiliar to avoid the cliches that are the inevitable result of learning music. Perhaps cliches is too strong a term, maybe vocabulary is better, because I don't want to sound like I'm denigrating memorized patterns - serious playing is impossible without them, but for the purpose of writing, they can be, and usually are, counter-productive.

Back to the tune in question. I think it's safe to say that you'd know you'd written a good song when Pete Townshend wants to cover it, which was the case here, but apparently he had to phone Dave Wakeling to get help with the tuning first. (It's D-A-D-A-A-D, by the way.)

Further to yesterday's post on The King of Limbs: with a few more listens it's become apparent that not all of the tracks are as complex as "Bloom", "Little By Little", or "Lotus Flower". In fact, "Codex" and "Give Up the Ghost" are, by Radiohead's standards, fairly straightforward, with the former showing clearly some of the influence of Neil Young on both Yorke's singing and writing. So the point that I made yesterday, about how this will be a difficult album for those who cover Radiohead, may not apply to all of its songs equally. In any event, I always enjoy hearing people do the songs, mainly because they help me to hear even more deeply into the complexity of the original versions. So I hope that I'm wrong, and that there will be many more covers to come in every style we've heard in the past, from reggae to string quartet, solo piano to small jazz ensemble, and in some we haven't yet. Let The King of Limbs reign!

After some more listening to Radiohead's The King of Limbs, one thing that occurs to me is that the material on this record is going to be very difficult for other artists to cover. The group's song-writing has always been of such originality and excellence that it has led to musicians from all genres and backgrounds doing versions of their songs. First on the list of these, simply due to the sheer number of tracks he's recorded from the Radiohead repertoire, is the classical pianist Christopher O'Riley, who has made a very interesting career out of arranging and performing works from some of the more advanced rock composers such as Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Radiohead of course (two full albums worth, in fact), and others. But The King of Limbs strikes me as so complex, even by their standards, that I'll be amazed (and very impressed) if Mr. O'Riley (or Brad Mehldau, or any of the other jazz musicians who've tackled their music in the past) can do so with songs from this album. And it isn't only the rhythms that are demanding, the melodic material is also full of surprise with lines taking unexpected turns and sometimes suggesting two or more tunes being referred to at once. It's music that asks a lot of its listeners, to say the least, and of those who would like to play along. We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, here's O'Riley's version of "Talk Show Host": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj4zFWnaF7U&feature=related

I don't have many nice things to say about music videos for the most part, but in fairness, there are some good ones. And a big point in their favour is the fact that it was the Beatles who really started the idea with their "pop promotional films" for "Day Tripper", "Help!", "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" amongst others. At that point, they were quite simply too big to tour (particularly since the knowledge regarding how to do it properly on such a scale was still about ten years away), so basically they invented the music video instead. And these ones are still a lot of fun to watch, my favourite being this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPjDMZiuhbQ&feature=related.

I'll mention a few more of these in posts to come, but first I must admit that my favourite music video of all time is not by the Beatles. In fact, it's not even by a group that I've listened to very much (my loss, certainly, because when I do hear their music, I very much enjoy it): It's the Flying Pickets with the only number one a cappella pop hit ever (unless I'm mistaken), their cover of Yaz's "Only You": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgDKtLPp46s.

Quite the day for Radiohead fans. Checked into their Dead Air Space website this morning (http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/), found out that the album was available a day early, got the download done and have given it one listen in its entirety, found it phenomenal. Before hearing it, I was of the mind that they wouldn't be able to make the kind of progression that we've become used to hearing throughout their career; I didn't see how they would move past In Rainbows, in other words. But they have. This album has complexity and depth of a kind that I'm not sure I've heard on a rock album before. Many of the early reviews have pointed out that this is a record that will require a lot of listening, and therefore strong opinions of any kind should be avoided at this stage, and I don't disagree, but it's not going to stop me: The King of Limbs is a high-water mark in rock history. More on it in posts to come, but in the meantime, a few more listens needed.

Jim Hall and Bill Evans made two albums together as a duo, both with thought-provoking titles, Intermodulation (1966) and Undercurrent (1963), and both are now considered classics - among the very best recordings in jazz history, regardless of the size of the ensemble. Undercurrent opens with an up-tempo version of "My Funny Valentine" that may be the single track that best exemplifies the diversity of Jim Hall's guitar artistry. It features first one of his dazzling and one-of-a-kind solos and then, during Evans' solo, the ultra-swinging yet sensitive comping that led the great bassist Red Mitchell to say: "The best band I ever played with was Jim Hall". Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReOms_FY7EU.

The title song from Lou Reed's Coney Island Baby (1975) is an enigma, because it has an effect on listeners that is far beyond what a reading of the lyrics would suggest it should. Of course, the music plays a big part, as does Reed's close-to-the-vest singing style... Wait a minute, maybe that's it. Maybe the song is powerful simply because it portrays a character - someone who normally wouldn't reveal the emotional motivations behind his actions - realizing that he'd always possessed sensitivity and a need for human connection even before he could articulate the fact. Looked at this way, the ending, with its references to the glory of love, doesn't come out of nowhere.

Well, that's one theory, I guess. And whether it's right or wrong, the song's a masterpiece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPHbbvQEA1E.

Wow! Neil Young won his first Grammy for music yesterday! (He won for best packaging of a box-set or something the year before.) I guess he finally reached their high standards. OK, enough with the sarcasm - sorry about that - but it is utterly ridiculous that an artist of Young's caliber (and there would be an argument for his being the greatest recording artist in rock history) would win his first Grammy forty years into his career. And I'm sorry, but not one of the albums nominated this year will be remembered in forty years, let alone listened to. And if you don't believe me, listen to any or all of them, and then listen to After the Gold Rush.

I'm really glad to find out that Radiohead's new album is to be released (via digital download) this Saturday, because it gives me something positive to write about. You see, I was going to write about what a farce the Grammys are, and always have been (fun fact: Milli Vanilli won a Grammy before Bob Dylan did!), but now I don't have to. But before I leave the subject entirely, let me posit the following: the Grammys are about money, not music. They have about as much relevance, for someone serious about music, as does American Idol, which is to say, none.

OK, back to The King of Limbs (that's the title), because it's such a cool thing to have a great band at the height of their powers that can generate tremendous excitement with a forthcoming release. I was pretty young during the Beatles years, but I do remember how it seemed like their every move was an event. And then there were the many rock acts during the seventies who made me anticipate their new stuff. The Clash, Bowie, Queen, Neil Young, to name a few. Now, there are two: the chaps from Oxford mentioned above, and Wilco, who will be releasing their next album later this year. So, in celebration, here are "The Tourist" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAXRKPGKXWs) and "War on War" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-b37qFXvZw)

After hearing a not very good cover of a Dylan tune in a coffee shop earlier today, it made me want to hear something by the man himself. So I listened to the excellent live album called The Bootleg Series Volume 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue which was released in 2002. The opening track, his version of "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" recorded at the Montreal Forum, is one of the greatest concert openers I've ever heard on a live record. It's simultaneously ferocious and lyrical, just an amazing performance. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it on YouTube, but take my word for it, if you haven't heard it, you must. Anyway, here's a really good performance of a great song with a great title, "Tangled Up in Blue", from the same era: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSZvHqf9qM.

Speaking of great songs, as I have been on the last couple of posts, here's one of my all-time faves: "Blue Letter" from Fleetwood Mac (1975), which was the first album with the configuration that was to be their most famous: Mick Fleetwood, Christine and John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The song in question (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sniMg4mIUrU) seems to me an often overlooked classic from their repertoire, with all the elements that were to shortly make them into ultra-stars (i.e. bigger than superstars): glittering harmony singing, powerful and well-thought-out part-writing, strong rhythmic playing. In this case I didn't mention their greatest strength, their song-writing, because this one's a cover; it was written by the song-writing brothers Rick and Michael Curtis, past members of several bands including Crazy Horse. But they make it sound like one of their own. (By the way, I became a fan of Fleetwood Mac relatively late. Their fame got in the way of my appreciation of their music during their biggest years, I guess. My loss: they were, and are, great.)

I like those minimalist videos that can be found on YouTube that simply show a phonograph record being played. I think they're cool for a couple of reasons. One, they remind me of the way I listened to music as a teenager, when I would alternate between reading the lyrics and/or looking at the cover art and photos, and watching the platter spin. Two, they're less intrusive on the imaginative experience of listening to music than music videos, which, it must be said, have done a lot more harm than good to popular music. But, I'll save that tirade for another post, because today I want to provide a link to one of the videos described above (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjs1mm5vngc), this one for the Van Morrison classic "Wild Night". A couple of thoughts on it: Is there a better song with which a cover band could open a set? Both the music and words are filled with excitement and promise. And what a singer the guy is. As on most of his records, his vocal is easily the most rhythmically sophisticated of the instruments (which happens on most Dylan tracks as well). Lyrically, one of Morrison's great themes, appropriately enough, is the energy that can be received through listening to great records. You get the feeling that he spent many hours of his youth doing the same.

It's always intriguing when a seemingly impossible task is accomplished. Inspiring too. "Philadelphia Freedom", the 1975 single by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, written at the request of tennis star and friend Billie Jean King, has always struck me as a good example. The task at hand was to write a song for a tennis team (!) with an unsubtle name (to say the least), while incorporating the sound of the r&b for which the city was famous - all without being corny. And they did it. First of all, it's not about tennis, but so what, because it sounds like it could be. Second, its lyrics are ambiguous enough to be about whatever the listener wants (like freedom itself, I guess). Third, the music speaks for itself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXbsNw1spWA.

Further to the last couple of posts on Miles Davis, here's "It Could Happen to You" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIDVoXfgA1g) from his 1956 album, Relaxin', one of a series of five masterpieces named for gerunds (Walkin', Cookin', Workin', Steamin' being the others) recorded for Prestige Records between 1954 and 1961. These were made with what has become known as his first great quintet (the second great one came about eight years later): John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, and they've become central as models for small group jazz among educators and musicians. (By the way, Davis made many other albums for Prestige as well, but with the exception of Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet from 1956, not with this particular group.) The track linked above is quite representative of their work, and for Miles' as a soloist in particular. His improvisation starts with many references to the melody, but then it slowly moves into the pure, oblique and spacious originality for which he's famous.

Having mentioned Miles Davis' Kind of Blue yesterday, I started thinking about the great blues tune that it contains called, "Freddie Freeloader", and its unusual, but beautiful chord progression that ends on a bVII7 chord. It also features great solos from all three horn players (Davis, Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly), over a brilliantly swinging groove from Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers, and above all a subtle but powerful performance from the pianist Wynton Kelly. It's the only track on the album on which he appears (it's Bill Evans on the rest), but I would guess that more people have heard his performance on this one than on all of his other recordings combined. Which is too bad, because he's made many excellent albums both as a leader and sideman. In fact, it was his abilities as a sideman, his comping skills, for which he was particularly renowned, and you can hear his expertise and taste on this track. Listen to the way he gradually joins in with Davis' solo at 2:15, for an example. And his own solo is perfect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPfFhfSuUZ4

"Miles Davis was never wrong about music." - Keith Jarrett

The Man with the Horn (1981) was Miles Davis' first album in six years, and it's a great one. The opening track, "Fat Time", has a title that I've always found thought-provoking. My interpretation is that it refers to all the possibilities that are available within a jazz groove, including rhythms that are only felt or implied rather than played. Ergo, the time is fat. Hear for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxDq65Wjua8&feature=fvsr

The latter part of Miles career contains many gems like this one, but they require a lot of background work to appreciate. Step one: listening to the recordings made in the early part of his career. Step two: realizing that an artist of his caliber is never going to be content to repeat himself. If we want to listen to Kind of Blue, there's nothing stopping us, but we shouldn't have expected him to record it more than once. Luckily for us, because so much interesting listening resulted (which will take us many years to appreciate and understand), he didn't.

Top fourteen songs of the Rolling Stones, according to me, continued: 7. "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZPA_AKsC1A): I think the title says it all, and what a great video. One question: Why is Charlie smiling so much? 6. "Ventilator Blues" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_ozNANFiNA): This one provides the counter-argument to the song in spot #7. It's both great rock and roll and high art. 5. "Bitch" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtnxvpIEg8w): A ridiculous groove right off the top, a wonderful Arif Mardin horn arrangement, a great vocal, and Charlie and band locked in throughout. 4. "Memory Motel" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7so3BNXUE0I): Shows that the heart of the Stones is the song-writing. Just a beautiful tune, with a great second lead vocal from Keith. 3. "Moonlight Mile" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugYzDqQtdHU): Another beautiful ballad, wonderfully played. Listen for Mick Taylor's slide contributions, a great string arrangement and Jagger's excellent acoustic playing. 2. "Gimme Shelter" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhBpUJcpiCg): A once-in-a-lifetime recording of a perfect song. 1. "Let It Loose" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrCiKD-cBvo): It's just always been my favourite Stones song.

OK, in honour of the fact that the Rolling Stones have been around for the longest span of any rock and roll act (fifty years in April of 2012), I'm going to give them four extra spots on my list of favourites (and I also can't seem to whittle it down any further). So here are my top fourteen Rolling Stones songs (in reverse order this time): 14. "Play With Fire" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfM_zmlGkco): I've always thought that this was the track that is most representative of the tone of their early stuff. It's also the first Stones song that I remember hearing. 13. "Beast of Burden" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi90jHzFb3E): I never get tired of this one. Great performances all around, with Charlie Watts' particularly gigantic. 12. "Hide Your Love" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo94dLN_0ZA): There are some r&b grooves that are found only on Rolling Stones records. A great song on a seriously under-valued album. Excellent playing from Mick Taylor, as usual. His secret weapon? His intention is always clear. 11. "Satisfaction" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a7cHPy04s8): Without it, we may have not had the rest. Still a one-of-a-kind groove. 10. "Torn and Frayed" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHlD3hEHOqI): One of their most evocative songs lyrically, and for me, the center-piece of Exile. 9. "Dead Flowers" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1O69lY_tw4): Not many bands can play both the blues and country music, and be equally convincing. (Hmm, maybe that's their secret.) 8. "Monkey Man" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNY8eYmzdH4): Almost every element of what makes them great present on this one.

(The remaining seven tomorrow.)

Good news for rock fans in Montreal. It looks like Wilco's Jeff Tweedy has developed an affection for the place. At last year's Wilco show at the Olympia (February 27, it was), Tweedy told the crowd that they were "almost perfect". I don't know about that, but I was there and can vouch that the crowd definitely were lively and enthusiastic. (Maybe it's the venue: On the PiL website, John Lydon said that his May 8, 2010 gig at the Olympia was "one of the most uplifting experiences of my life", and that it was "bar none the best PiL concert ever": http://www.pilofficial.com/info2.html) In any event, Tweedy has included Montreal on a short list of dates for his upcoming solo tour; he'll be back at the Olympia on March 25. Maybe he'll get another near perfect audience; we'll see. But if he doesn't, he's not afraid to, um, voice his displeasure, as you can see for yourself in this clip from his 2006 solo DVD, Sunken Treasure. The second link is for the song that he plays right after the discussion/admonishment (which is very much worth listening to): 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew3AOlbJXos 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG9LZvKDEZ0&feature=related

You have to admire him, not only for how good he is, but for his honesty. How many musicians would've included an episode like this one on a DVD of their own choosing?

OK, as promised yesterday, my top five songs from Radiohead's Hail to the Thief (2003). I'll be using the original double titles: 1. "Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves)": (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2uIQ2SoxhU) A great example of the contrapuntal quality of their music. As I've mentioned before, the biggest factor in determining how a piece sounds is the way that it's written. 2. "A Punchup at a Wedding. (No no no no no no no no)": (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upJuupWjcx8&feature=related) I can never understand why this tune isn't mentioned with their best tunes more often: I think it's great. What a groove. 3. "A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.)": (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg4q_ZUiTNA) A beginning like one of Mendelssohn's Songs without Words which leads into their first attempt at rap - and they pull it off. A remarkable (and scary) song. 4. "There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere)": (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6ZkWBjgnIY). Just a great rock song. Ed's backups are haunting, as usual. 5. "Myxomatosis. (Judge, Jury & Executioner)": (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgeKRbmUBns) A rhythmic powerhouse of astonishing originality.

So there it is. As I said yesterday, this album is very under-rated. If you think you don't like it, give it another listen.