52 Weeks of Music - Week 9 - Nina Simone

There's a bit of an advisory note on this week's post. I normally like to focus on one of an artist's albums, but this is a sticky wicket, as they say.

Nina Simone burst into my consciousness through the movie Point of No Return starring Bridgette Fonda. The desperate tones of the lead character are accompanied by equally desperate and poignant Nina Simone songs. As much as anything else, I always got the feeling that this movie wanted you to go out and by a Nina Simone record. So I did.

I found a compilation CD, so I bought it (the cover image of the disc I have appears above). This compilation was an actual CD, but when I put it into my iTunes years ago, it came up as the album "Bad Habits." I usually trust Gracenote or CDDB or whatever gives iTunes its data, but something was definitely off about this

I learned later on that Nina Simone had an incredibly difficult life. Born in the US, she was a gifted musician, forced into subserviance and denied educational opportunities because of her skin color. Just before the breakthroughs of the 1960s Civil Rights movement, Nina packed off for Europe and lived much of her life as an outspoken Expatriate. Really, if anyone blames her, they should have their heads examined.

Because of the legal battles over her albums, there are many issues and reissues. Still, I wanted to talk about her music as soon as possible, because it's still Black History Month, and I've sort of largely ignored any black artists so far, much to my detriment.

I view Nina as more of an aggressive protest singer. She was popular in the US during her lifetime (died in 2003), but she shunned the music business and chose to use her music to spread the message instead of becoming a superstar she was so obviously born to be.

Her romantic tunes are almost overshadowed by her brash and plaintive songs like "Mississippi Goddamn," but the tenderness in "Love Me or Leave Me," and "My Baby Just Cares for Me" give a glimpse of just how amazingly powerful and deep she really was. She could have become rich and powerful and popular, but she took the high road and changed the world.

Another note: The song "Young Gifted and Black" does not appear on my album, but it's too good not to talk about, so I am including it blow, along with a couple other songs that make me love her all the more.







Nina Simone on Wikipedia

Nina Simone artist link in iTunes

52 Weeks of Music - Electric Warrior by T. Rex

"I was dancing when I was twelve..."


Unlike previous artists, I came to T. Rex later in life. In fact, I was completely unfamiliar with them until just a few years ago when I saw the movies The Trip and Billy Elliot. Both featured T. Rex anthems from Electric Warrior.

"Bang a Gong (Get It On)" and "Cosmic Dancer" were the songs in the respective films. The more I learned about T. Rex, the more I was fascinated. I bought the album on iTunes only years later after seeing Breakfast on Pluto, which again prominently featured "Cosmic Dancer."

The album has other standouts like "Planet Queen," "Mambo Sun" and more. To me, Electric Warrior is one of my favorite albums to listen to. But I only was a fan of the music, and never got that much into the band or Marc Bolan

I only recently became aware of another album, The Slider just this weekend when I strolled into my local record store. (Yes, they do still exist, antiquarian though they may be.) The record store had a display of new vinyl. Apparently, 15 years ago when I started collecting records in earnest after high school, I didn't know I was starting a trend. Today new and reissued albums are coming out on vinyl and come with a free MP3 download link on the Internet. Technology is wonderful.

While the Slider is good, Electric Warrior is still tops in its ethereal feel and aural magnetism. Still, as I continue with this project, you may get a review of the Slider later on. Both are really good.

Sadly, Marc Bolan died shortly before his 30th birthday in a car crash (possibly the biggest disincentive to buy a Mini ever). Of course, with the tragic early death, he's often compared to Jim Morrison of the Doors. I adored the Doors, and still do, but the musical sounds are light years apart. The Doors are more spoken word poetry, while T. Rex is still much more commercial. But the glam/punk mix packs a wallop to the Doors primal energy.

The lesson I've learned from T. Rex and Electric Warrior is that there is a cornucopia of music that you may never have heard of. I recently caught flak on facebook for stating my dislike of Arcade Fire. But while I stand by that opinion, and I still haven't heard any of their songs I particularly care for, I am reminded by experience with T. Rex is that you shouldn't ever stop listening to music. That's kind of the point of this whole blog project. Keep your ears and mind open to new experiences and possibilities and you may discover some fantastic music you never knew existed.

Electric Warrior on Wikipedia

Album link on iTunes

52 Weeks of Music - Under Rug Swept, Alanis Morissette

The 1960s had a Canadian chanteuse who captivated a generation. Her name was Joni Mitchell. The 1990s had her successor, Alanis Morissette. Alanis had a meteoric rise with Jagged Little Pill. I had loved Jagged Little Pill because it helped me deal with a lot of emotional shit, being that it came out the year I graduated high school. The sophomore effort, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie came out in 1998 after a couple of years of rebuilding and was a commercial and critical flop.

After a long musical drought, Alanis returned in 2002 with Under Rug Swept. The melodies on Under Rug Sweptseemed a bit derivative of Jagged Little Pill, but the lyrics seemed just as edgy and catchy. I loved the whole album immediately. I was again working through some major things, like just buying a house, what to do about school, and trying to find a boyfriend. I wasn't even sure I wanted to go through all the pain of a relationship, but then I heard "Flinch."

"Flinch" made me a lot more appreciative of my previous experiences. "Soon I'll grow up and I won't even flinch at your name..." To me, truer words had never been spoken. I was so short-sighted about love and emotion. I needed to hear those words to realize that there's plenty of time to get the hell over someone.

The rest of Under Rug Swept was rhapsodic. I started to like myself a lot more. Today I still love listening to these songs, probably as much as the Jagged Little Pill megahits.

Alanis probably did more for distressed young gay men than any therapist. I really adore her to this day. I've been sort of lukewarm on her other albums, but to me, the Jagged Little Pill ripped me up, but Under Rug Swept healed me.

Thanks Alanis.

Under Rug Swept on Wikipedia.

Album link on iTunes.

52 Weeks of Music - Week 6 - Easy Wonderful by Guster

I first encountered Guster in the late 90s when I returned to college after a brief hiatus in retail. Lost and Gone Forever was some of the most genius music I had heard in a long time. The 1990s were extremely wanting in terms of commercial music, but if you did a little digging, you could find bands like Guster, Barenaked Ladies, and Indigo Girls.

I do not have the least bit of hesitation grouping Guster in with the other two stellar Indie Rock talents. I actually wrote a glowing review of Guster's Lost and Gone Forever for a communications class in college, and I got an A.

Guster as a band has fairly common impetus, college friends making it big and all that, but their lyrics and musicianship are what keep me coming back for more. Guster was very big on the Internet. They became very astute at connecting with fans from the very earliest days of the online music gambit. They became a band that broke through the bland bandwitdh of pop with some indie-folk rock songs with heart.

I have to be honest, that I often am lost when I look for new music, but I actually found out that Guster had a new album through an ad on facebook. (Yes, I was Zuckerburged.) I clicked through and downloaded the free file "Bad Bad World," and completely dug it, so I splurged on the full ablum, Easy Wonderful on iTunes later that same day.

I could hardly stop listening to it after I bought it. It had been months since I had bought anything new, and this album was really good. Though the band doesn't really discuss the meaning behind its lyrics, I get the impression that some of these songs are a social critique. Consumerism, Politics, Religion. They all have some sort of thing to say about all of the big topics.

The album is actually playing as I write this, and I keep slapping my forehead, "Oh gosh, that's what they're talking about."

I highly recommend this album if you like to be intellectually stimulated by your music. And if not, the songs are still catchy and good on a superficial level.

Guster on Wikipedia


Easy Wonderful on iTunes

Video link for "Do You Love Me?"