Live Music Alert

There is a show going on tonight at the Star Bar. The artists playing are ADRON, Little Tybee, and Beau Victrola. There is a $5 cover and the show begins at 9pm.

This is going to be a sort of family show, with musicians from each of the bands moving from one set to the other and performing alongside each other. All of them have been friends for a long time, which should lead to a great cohesive atmosphere.

Adron is a wonderful folk, tropical musician, gathering inspiration from many genres and creating songs that bring smiles to everyone in the crowd. Her voice is nearly flawless and she can whistle as well as any bird. Playing along side her are Josh Martin on the 8-string guitar, Colin Agnew on percussion (both of Little Tybee), and a few others. The entire show should be great so don't miss it!

Covers: Art they or aren't they?

Today we're going to be discussing the music of Cat Power and more specifically the wealth of songs that she has covered throughout her career. Cat Power, or Chan Marshall (age 39) has grown to be a fairly widely known singer/songwriter for her emotional breathy vocals, minimalist style, and simple but arousing guitar parts. She has produced nine records ranging from her first, Dear Sir, which exemplifies her grungy start, playing in Brooklyn warehouses; to her latest, Jukebox, which includes much more up-beat, polished, jazz and blues inspired songs such as "Aretha, Sing One for Me".

Though her style is one of originality--mixing the feelings of grunge and old blues or jazz--within all of the albums that Chan has made there are a large amount of songs thrown in that are not originals. In 2000 she came out with The Covers Record, in which she she recreates the songs of musicians including The Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Moby Grape, Smog, Nina Simone, Lou Reed and even herself.

To get more down deep into these songs and trying to figure out why or even if cover songs can be considered art, I am going to be

comparing one specific cover by Chan to the original version. Things I would like to discuss are questions such as: What happens when an artist's source for content starts somewhere outside of them? How can a musician creating covers get their audience to take them seriously? Can a cover ever be art?

AESTHETICS

The album begins with a song that we have all heard, but that Chan Marshall has rendered somewhat unrecognizable. The first track, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", originally a Rolling Stones classic, begins with a simple, but beautiful guitar part and Chan's calm, emotive, and almost haunting voice. The first feeling and device that she seems to completely alter in the song is the pace. She has taken it down (more than) a few notches, losing the up-beat, repetitive tempo that the song originally had. While the Stones version makes you sway your hips and want to dance around the room, Marshall's cover draws you into a state of calm or contemplation.

CONTENT

In the last verse of the song she sings the lines, "When I'm riding around the globe, and I'm doing this, and I'm signing that, and I'm trying, and I'm trying". She seems to be professing the lyrics to the listener with a sensibility and passion, which is quite different from the version by the Stones. Jagger sings the lyrics with a far more blunt tone, referring more to that of protest and frustration.

Marshall's subtle but expressive singing style is a huge attribution to the emotions expressed in the lyrics. Also by including only her own acoustic guitar part in the song, the minimal style places a larger emphasis on the lyrics themselves instead of creating a greater musical landscape to get lost in.

SOCIAL/HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The Rolling Stones song, "Satisfaction" is played in restaurants and bars around the nation and is known as a quintessential song of rebellion against consumerism and the status quo. Released in 1965 it has a very specific context that it belongs to. Cat Power's covers are often from artists such as the Stones or Bob Dylan, musicians who have become idols in our popular culture, even reaching into today.

Even though she chooses these artists that are constantly covered and played, the songs she re-creates do not seems to be simply tributes to them. There is a sense that in the way that she strips down the lyrics and music of these songs, she exposes parts of them that were once more difficult to pull out.

*I of course have to admit that as an avid Cat Power listener and I fan of a lot of slower, emotive music, my writing might be somewhat swayed. Because of this fact I would really enjoy other's opinions on the topic, including the bringing up of other covers and reactions.

The Books in Athens

So last night I had the great privilege to see the band, The Books, play live in Athens, GA. The show was at the New Earth Music Hall and included an opening performance by my good friend Graham, playing under the title of Thick Paint. Both sets were great and got positive feedback from the large audience that came out for the show. This was my second time seeing The Books play live and was as inspiring and engaging as it was last October in Atlanta.

Now onto the music...

AESTHETICS
This pensive performance created an atmosphere which seemed to be a state somewhere between a meditation, a compelling documentary, and a lighthearted but truthful comic act. They use samples from various sources, including talk boxes, old obscure videos, acupuncture tapes, and geese, mixed with their own instruments (cello, five-string base, guitar, violin, keyboard, and vocals) to sculpt an auditory landscape that is dynamic, contemplative, and often quite captivating. Each song usually is formed around some sort of found content or a theme which all of the layers are then built off of.

Another large component to the overall experience of their music, especially as it is performed live, is visual. A portion of their samples come from some sort of video footage, so it is intuitive for them to then created a video expression for each song. They have been creating these videos pretty much since they have been creating their music. Seeing it all live, unable to escape this visual part of the experience, lets the viewers get the experience in its entirety.

FORM/CONTENT
The band itself is made up of Nick Zammuto (guitar, bass, and vocals) and Paul de Jong (cello) and more recently has acquired a new member, Gene Back (violin, guitar, keyboard). The form of the music that The Books create is atypical and unlike much else. It correlates to collage work in the visual arts world it the way that it cuts things out of their context and places them together to create a new revelation. They use the composition process of music to link together various different clips from an assortment of sources, often that would not otherwise be connected.

In the song that I am looking more into today, Take Time, there are clips from Medea by Pasolini, an Italian film maker; an audiobook of Ecclesiastes read by an Israeli diplomat; and others of more obscurity. The repetition of the artists singing "take time" with the inclusion of relating phrases from multiple cultures and time emphasizes a sense of this concept of patience and intention being one of universal truth.

The song begins with the phrase in Italian:

"Tutto è santo. Tutto è santo. Tutto è santo. Non c'è niente di naturale nella natura ragazzo mio. Tienilo bene in mente."

Translated to:

"All is sacred, all is sacred, all is sacred. There is nothing natural in Nature, my lad, remember that!"

This is a beautiful thought that we often do not meditate on. What makes certain parts of our world worth more than others. Why is the leaf of a tree considered a sacred part of nature while the small piece of metal in your computer is not? Both serve a significant purpose for a greater system and serve their time while eventually coming to an end. There is nothing that can ever exist that will not have implications or impact on something else in the world. Often in our culture we rush through our routines and days without noticing the details that compose to make a whole.

The Books are giving us this song as a meditation on time and contemplation. Maybe all of these small parts of life are in all actuality the most significant or gratifying and by overlooking them, we are missing out of the greatest part of existence.