Mother Nature

Enjoy her...













Wayne McGhie - I Can See Mother Nature (1970: Wayne McGhie & the Sounds of Joy)
 - Soooo much tremolo on that guitar... but it's just the right amount....  this is one of those dusty old recordings that sounds like it grew straight from the earth.  The last saxophone note is incredible.

The Beatles - Child of Nature (1968: Esher Demos)
  - Jealous Guy in it's earliest form.  I wish it had stayed like this...

The Beatles - Mother Nature's Son (1968/2009: The Beatles)
  - But Paul stole John's idea and turned it into this song... already one of my favorite Beatles recordings... but with the new 2009 remaster it jumps up to a whole other level.  Play it loud and you can really hear the instruments breath.

Oriental Sunshine - Mother Nature (1970: Dedicated to the Bird We Love)
  - A really nice song... it's got that 70s child-like folk song vibe with some really pretty indian instrumentation and great harmonies.... the chorus makes the song for me.

Guest Post: Swan Lake, Shwan-lake!

By Alanna Gluck

Tchaikovsky is wonderful, don’t get me wrong.  But seriously, why is everybody all up in P. Ilyitch’s ballet biznyitch? Almost any classical music aficionado can identify excerpts from both “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker”. It’s as if Tchaikovsky was the ONLY composer of great ballet music and as if there is no great ballet scores that pre-or-post-date the “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake” in 1877 and 1892, respectively.

Thus, as the classical music enthusiast and balletomane that I am, I am happy to introduce “Giselle”, composed in 1841 by Adolphe Adam. Here are a few reasons you should add this score to your classical music library:

1)    “Giselle” predates “Swan Lake” by 36 years (premiered in 1841) and became the archetype of romantic ballet and the reason we have Swan Lake today.

2)    Adam is an obscure composer; prolific and popular in his time, not much of his work survives.

3)    Giselle features a crew of ultra-scary virgin-ghosts called Wilis (brides who died of a broken heart before their wedding day...can you think of a worse purgatory?) who take their revenge on any man that crosses their path, forcing him to dance to his death. SCARY.

4)    Tchaikovsky himself regarded Giselle as “a gem of music and dance” (according to Karolynne Gee)

Here is a quick sketch of the Finale to the ballet:

A church bell tolls 4 am in the distance (listen for it!) and the ghost of the devastated Giselle has protected Albrecht, who had promised love but was engaged to another, from impending death by Wilis (turns her back on her Wilis sisters for a player!). As the sun rises, she is called back to her earthbound tomb.  Albrecht is left alone in the churchyard, haunted by the revelation that it is not love that conquers all, but forgiveness.

Adam, Adolphe - Giselle, ou Les Wilis - Ballet-pantomime in 2 acts: Finale
(1992: Ermler, Royal Opera House Orchestra)

*For 10 P&P Points: Which popular Christmas carol is credited to Adam?

Chris Cohen (part II) - Deerhoof

Then Chris Cohen joined Deerhoof and things got super awesome! My personal opinion is that, 'Reveille' aside, Cohen's three albums with Deerhoof are their best three.

Deerhoof - Flower 

(2003: Apple O')

Deerhoof - Desparecere 

(2004: Milk Man)

Deerhoof - O'Malley, Former Underdog 

(2005: The Runners Four)

(See Chris Cohen - part I)

Here's a video of them playing at the old Northsix (new Music Hall of Williamsburg) in 2005. Chris Cohen is the guy going nuts on bass.  This was the first time I saw Chris Cohen and Deerhoof play live... it was a truly mind blowing show.  Just watch the drummer, Greg Saunier,  and you'll understand.

Thinkin'

...and digging the nice weather...

Curtis Mayfield - Think
(1972: Superfly)

Astrud Gilberto - Dia Das Rosas (I Think of You)
(1967: Beach Samba)




For 10 P&P Points: Who played the amazing guitar part in Mayfield's 'Think'?

Chris Cohen (part I)

Chris Cohen is a guitarist / bassist / singer / keyboard player that I became familiar with through his work with Deerhoof.  He joined them in 2002/2003 which was when they started to become more widely known (following the release of Reveille).  But before that Cohen was in a band called The Curtains.  It's not surprising that these two bands were friendly since their music shares similarities.  The Curtains made three albums before Cohen put the project on hold for Deerhoof... they were all experimental, quirky and generally pretty light-hearted.  You can definitely hear this music being a forerunner to the music he'd write with Deerhoof and the music he's written since he left Deerhoof.  Here are few tracks their first releases:


The Curtains - Warming Up (2002: Fast Talks)

The Curtains - Telegraph Victories (2003: Flybys)

  - The dummer from Deerhoof, Greg Saunier, actually joined The Curtains at this point.

The Curtains - Won't Make It (2004: Vehicles of Travel)

Damn it's good!

Positive K - Nightshift (1992: The Skills Dat Pay Da Bills)

 * For 10 P&P Points: Identify the origin of the guitar sample in this song... damn it's good!
         - Answer: Lee Moses - Time and Place (1970: Time and Place)... good work Brady!

Positive K - I Got a Man (1992: The Skills Dat Pay Da Bills)

 - I hadn't heard this song in 15 years... then my friend reminded me of it... damn it's good!!  Thanks N!

  * For 5 P&P Points: Who is singing the female vocal part in this song?

Randy Newman (Creates Something New Under the Sun)

Randy Newman's first album came out in 1968. It was not received well by critics or the public. And it was out of print for 15 years until it's cd release in 1995. It still seems to me that this album is overlooked... and I feel like that's kind of strange because his next few albums (12 Songs, Sail Away and Good Old Boys) are considered his best. So why wouldn't people want to hear the album he wrote right before them? It's amazing to hear Newman's first effort... he's already writing brilliantly deep and cutting lyrics and already composing beautiful orchestral arrangements for his songs. His voice may be lacking a little of the verve that saturates his later work but it's certainly still there.

Randy Newman - Living Without You (1968: Randy Newman)
    - This whole album is less about piano w/orchestra as it is piano and orchestra.  This is a great example of that... the piano is the backbone but the arrangement around it is vital. 

Randy Newman - The Beehive State (1968: Randy Newman)
    - This song is about Kansas and Utah.... and it's still good!  Kinda sounds like Hawkins' 'Monkberry Moon Delight' too.

Randy Newman - I Think It's Going to Rain Today (1968: Randy Newman)
    - One of Newman's best I think.  When he steps his lyrics back from the topical and shifts to the universal it's just mind-blowing.  Lonely, tragic, heartbreaking.  Cool little Copland-esque bridge for me makes the song even lonelier.

For 10 P&P Points: 'I Think It's Going to Rain Today' is one of Randy Newman's most covered songs.  Name two artists that have covered this song that have previously appeared on this blog.

CONTEST!!!

Over the next couple months I'll be asking trivia questions along with many of my posts.  Each question will be worth a certain number of 'Pongo and Perdita Points'.  If you are the first person to correctly answer the question in the comments then you win those 'P&P Points'.  If you accumulate enough P&P Points you will be eligible to receive one of the prizes that you can see on this list: Contest Prize List (there's also a link to this page and a score-keeping chart on your left below the Archive). I'll be adding more stuff to the list quite often so be sure to check back from time to time. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to pay any shipping cost whatsoever so this contest is limited to NYC residents or people planning on visiting NYC soon.

 Have fun and good luck!!!

This is IT!!! It's ALL OVER!!!

LIVE TODAY LIKE IT'S THE LAST SUNDAY EVER!!!!  ...BECAUSE IT IS!!!!

woo-hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Eternal Summers - Fall Straight Back (2008: Demo)

Dee Dee Warwick - Foolish Fool (1969: Foolish Fool)

Now, Now Every Children - Everyone You Know (2008: In the City EP)

M. Ward - To Go Home (2006: Post-War)

Smith Westerns - Gimme Some Time (2009: Smith Westerns)

Delicate Steve - Butterfly (2011: Wondervisions)