Music

September 1, 2009, a Tuesday evening, and several days hence.

There comes a time in every man's life when he must tell you about his favorite music. These are some of my favorite songs and moments in music that come from other dimensions. Looking back over the list it looks like I gravitate toward rich textures and orchestration but you can take from them what you will. Some are just plain great from beginning to end. I hope to keep updating the list as time permits.

• Who Are You? — The Who [specifically, the break from 3:07–3:44]
  Seriously, where did this come from? And why isn't there more of it?
• The Violent Light Through Falling Shards — Tyondai Braxton
  All 9 minutes.
• Keep On Movin' — Soul II Soul [first 5 seconds, piano entrance]
  What most people don't realize is this was the first time piano and strings were tied to a dance track like this. You should listen to the whole thing.
• Sunshine on My Shoulders — John Denver
  You cannot write a song like this with this simple music and these simple lyrics unless sunshine actually makes you happy. The fact that John Denver wrote it is enough to make it transcend any criticism of it. The typical path to appreciation of this song goes like this: you've got to be kidding me; this guy is an idiot; this is so repetetive and boring. Then you fall in love. Oh my god this is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
• Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) — Phil Collins
  Listen to the texture of those piano chords combined with Phil's lyrics. And then you get to 1:33 when the drums kick in and it's all over; you are part of this song for the rest of its duration and if you are alone in the car and not singing along you are not human.
• August Day Song — Bebel Gilberto [2:01–2:09]
  Percussion, nylon string guitar and two part harmony: the whole point of the song is to play the chord sequence from 2:01 to 2:09.
• Summer Sun — Koop
  Play this at your next summer evening jam and see if it doesn't transport you and your guests. Of course, we're talking outdoor summer evening chill cocktail party, not summer death metal party. I hear they have those.
• Every Breath You Take — The Police [0:00–0:01]
  The opening snare is unmistakable. We're listening to Stewart Copeland. Listen if only for the reason that it's one of the top selling singles of all time: after that first hit the rest of the song is in another world. Also one of the most understated songs by The Police.
• Mr. Lucky (Goes Latin) — Henry Mancini
  If you only listen to one Henry Mancini song in your life besides The Pink Panther Theme, and besides Lujon, you need to hear Mr. Lucky (Goes Latin). Okay who am I kidding? You also need to listen everything the man has written to understand why he's one of the 20th century's masters of orchestration. The cello entrance around 0:38 is absolutely gorgeous.
• Baby, Now That I've Found You — Alison Krauss [2:42–3:02]
  If Alison's voice alone doesn't strike you as one of the most amazing instruments ever created then listen from the beginning just so you can arrive at 2:42 and listen through 3:02. Harmony and vocal quality so pure and dead on I can't imagine how it was ever created.
• Nova — Amon Tobin
  4-4 electronica, chill, and dance music is easy. Nova requires genius to create.
• Cold — Annie Lennox
  I would pay the price of admission to an Annie Lennox concert just to hear her sing two songs: No More I Love Yous and this song. I'm thankful to have had the privilege.
• Good Vibrations — The Beach Boys
  Just beautiful. One of the most technically advanced songs of its day, Brian Wilson explores the studio-as-instrument concept.
• Vocalise intro to Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 20 in D Minor k 466 prelude I: allegro — Bobby McFerrin
  There's an expression in classical music circles that says you can always pick out a Mozart piece because Mozart sings; I think Bobby nailed it, both literally and metaphorically with this short introduction. I couldn't find a link to the recording, so here's Bobby on Bach. After this you need to hear his performance of Drive on SNL from the 1980s. I couldn't find that one, so here's another from around the same time period.
• Halcyon — Canon Blue
  Canon Blue: my favorite discovery of the last couple years. I think you have to be a musician to appreciate these and not only that, you have to have tried your hand at writing serious songs. Try writing a non-ironic song about hope without sounding trite and cliche. This song nails it. Not to mention it has an overdose of what's missing in most pop music: texture and dynamics. Ennui on this album is a close second favorite for orchestration. You can listen to both of these and a few others on the MySpace site. It's really hard to pick just one, so here are some others I love: Odds and Ends, Pale Horse, Rum Diary
• Heal Me — Cheryl Bear
  Gorgeous.
• DJ Song — DJ Spinna
  Play this at your next evening groove and see if it doesn't chill everyone out and get heads bouncing at the same time. I wish there was a sample somewhere I could link to. You'll just have to go searching for it yourself.
• What a Fool Believes — The Doobie Brothers
  Technically this is a Doobie Brothers joint but it's all Michael McDonald. I'm convinced that if you don't love McDonald, you don't really love music; you only care about impressing your friends. "It Keeps You Running" should keep you running if the only thing you ever listen to is the chorus. McDonald has seen a resurgence in popularity over the last few years thanks to Yacht Rock but you need to love this man's music for its own sake, not just because Yacht Rock was the only (good) creative episodic endeavor on video in the opening years of the 21st century.
• Come Undone — Duran Duran
  I don't know why but when I see an artist successfully make a transition from one era to another it's a complete head rush. This is what I feel when I listen to this gem off The Wedding Album. They graduate from the 80s and sound better than ever. The battle-tested drum machine sequence heard on so many albums of the five years preceding this song sounds almost new and fresh with the abfab guitar/bass lines. They're almost Depeche Mode on this one.
• Gabriel's Oboe — Ennio Morricone
  Gabriel's Oboe, (track 13), The Mission, Ennio Morricone, one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard in my life from one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. You need to see the movie to appreciate this track. The bass drum has multiple meanings for me and it's this version rather than Gabriel's Oboe (track 3) that captures the essence of the whole movie. There's a brilliant line toward the end of the film. The archbishop begins to regret his decision to remove the Guarani from their territory. The Portuguese ambassador says, "the world is thus." The archbishop replies, "No, thus have we made the world; thus have I made it." I can't tell you how full of sadness I am thinking about that one line and the conviction that comes with it.
• When the Sun Meets the Sky — Eric Johnson [3:15–4:00, 5:10–end]
  Eric Johnson. Well, this is hard, because he's got a lot of moments that take me different places. Eric is one of those musicians who knows his instrument so well that he makes you forget he's playing it. The reason why Eric Johnson is my favorite modern guitarist is not because he's got talent. It's because he picks the right notes. Some guitarists can play blindingly fast. They can play tight. Some have tone. Some have style. Eric has all of these, but in addition, he understands that note choice is what separates the good from bad from ugly. I'm so glad I got to see him live when he came through Seattle a few years ago. In a small club, no less. I was 10 feet away.
• Five Millenia Later — Eric Serra
  I fell in love with The Fifth Element on the first viewing because of the direction, tight editing, cinematography, and Eric Serra's astounding score. Five Millenia Later combined with the visual sequence is one of my favorite bits of cinema.
• Black and Blue and Numb All Over — Graig Markel
  What can I say? I'm a sucker for novel combination of sound. Texture. Sound wash. Distortion. You'll have to buy the album from Sonic Boom to hear it, which isn't such a bad thing as you'll be supporting an artist.
• The Power of Love — Huey Lewis & The News
  In my opinion the last great Rock 'n Roll group was Huey Lewis & The News. The sublime moment and the absolute zenith of rock and roll in the 80s was Michael J. Fox kissing his girlfriend in Back to the Future, at which point, The Power of Love begins rolling. Okay, okay, Highway to the Danger Zone during the opening scene of Top Gun is pretty good, too.
• Pantomime... — Harold Budd with Zeitgeist
  Just listen. Then go to Breathless...I.
• Shower the People (live 1988) — James Taylor
  This is my favorite version of this song. PBS used to air this concert during their fundraising efforts in the 90s. This was the first time I had heard this unplugged. The apologetic humor beforehand makes it even more endearing. As far as I can tell, the reel-to-reel recorder plays the isolated backing vocals from the album version of the song. Not only is it a beautiful song and beautiful performance, you can tell he believes what he's singing.
• Time — Joe Satriani
  Another guitarist's guitarist. This song has it all. Power, dynamics, great texture, distortion, and virtuosity. You need to hear the notes on this one. And make sure you stay for the time change at the end.
• This Is It — Kenny Loggins
  Kenny has an amazing tenor. Combined with McDonald this song gets rocked out of smooth stadium. Chuckatapah, chuckatapah!
• Something About You — Level 42
  There's something about the counterpoint. And this is one of my favorite videos of the 80s.
• Teardrop — Massive Attack
  I don't care that this is now part of a soundtrack. It's a brilliant song, brilliantly orchestrated. Many many perfect choices come together in this song. Listen with some good quality headphones.
• Sweet Charity — Mr. Bungle
  I think the Beach Boys could have come back as Mr. Bungle in a parallel, bizarro universe. You need to hear the entirety of both Disco Volante and California, their penultimate and final albums, respectively. The orchestration and complexity of California has remained unmatched for almost 10 years. In addition to the above track, see Ars Moriendi and Goodbye Sober Day from California. From Disco Volante, Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz. I'm sorry that I can't get full versions from the albums for you.