Halloween Music Time Machine: Destination - 1964

I hate Halloween. I have for a long time now.


It started in 1979 when I was ten. Halloween fell this year on the day my best friend and trick-or-treat cohort had Hebrew school classes. I decided to wait for my good buddy to return home before going out to do our tricks and treats. That left us with barely an hour of daylight before the night was unceremoniously turned over to the rowdy teenagers.


God had other plans. As I anxiously awaited his return, my soon-to-be former best friend listened to the solemn Rabbi as he pointed out the evils of celebrating Halloween. Upon his return that evening, the now brain-washed shell of a best friend looked at me with spaced-out eyes. He then shrugged before delivering a nonchalant, "Who needs all that candy, anyway?" Some people are so easily persuaded, I thought as I began applying green paint to my face and body. After slipping into my intentionally ripped, white pajama bottoms, I sadly and incredibly Hulked alone through the neighborhood, battling the brisk twilight air and time itself in search of treats.


This year I've decided to find a better Halloween using a Musical Time Machine to witness a classic live date by one of my favorite artists. I've chosen 1964, a relatively safe time, five years before my birth and two years after the release of Boris Pickett's dreadful novelty hit, "Monster Mash." With the question of when decided, the question is where.


Sure, I could point my machine towards Ipswich, England. The quaint little harbor city 75 miles northeast of London is hosting The Beatles at the Gaumont Theater. (This would be the only Halloween that The Beatles would spend performing in front of an audience). Although I'd love to see The Beatles perform live, I'm nervous about traversing the ocean on my first trip through time. Also, an average Beatles show in 1964 lasts hardly over a half-hour, and I'd be lucky to hear a single note over the screeching screams of the teenage girls. Two of my favorite artists are playing historic shows in two cities; my hometown of New York and my current city of Los Angeles.


Bob Dylan is in New York at none other than the famous Philharmonic Hall. It's going to be a fantastic show, not just because it'll find Dylan in a particularly charming mood, chattering and even joking with the enthusiastic audience between songs. (Soon, he'll be hanging up this friendly stage persona, giving way to only the occasional half-mumbled, cryptic insult directed towards a befuddled audience). So what if Bob is a little stoned at this gig? He's giggling at his own jokes and forgettin forgetting lyrics here and there. "I have my Bob Dylan mask on," he wisecracks at one point. It's just Bob alone with an acoustic guitar. At the end of the set, Joan Baez will join Bob and attempt to outshine him by singing a bit louder.


None of that is what's going to make this night truly special. The audience will be hearing several songs for the first time. Furthermore, the pieces are nothing like anything ever heard in popular music. Peppered between songs such as "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" are several song debuts that won't be heard on record for another five months. What will the faces of the mesmerized crowd look like as they hear "Mr. Tambourine Man," "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," his epic "Gates of Eden" for the first time?


Yep, Halloween at Philharmonic Hall in 1964 will be a time to remember.


But it's not that simple.


3,000 miles away in Los Angeles, the great Thelonious Monk will be playing with his classic final quartet at the "It Club" in downtown L.A. He'll be playing definitive versions of many of his standards, alongside some more obscure numbers.


Where Dylan is on the cusp of a creative peak, the same day finds Thelonious Monk fully matured and at the height of his creative powers. Time Magazine featured Monk on the cover in 1964, accompanied by the article, "The Loneliest Monk."


It's hardly been a month since bassist Larry Gales joined what would be Monk's last great unit. Monk (along with Gales, plus Charlie Rouse on tenor and Ben Riley on drums) will swing hard throughout three sets, delivering unique and definitive versions from the pages of one of jazz's most significant songbooks. (If I can figure out a way to stay another day, I can attend the sets the following night.)


For my money, Thelonious Monk is the most creative pianist ever recorded. Only Monk can make something so wrong so damned right.
Monk. Dylan. New York. L.A... decisions, decisions. Luckily for me, I still have a few days to decide.


Fortunately, both performances were immaculately recorded for those without a time machine and are now widely available on CD. The Dylan set was finally released forty years later as "The Bootleg Series Volume 6: 1964 Live."


The Monk set (along with the following day's sets) can be found on "Live at the "It" Club - Complete." If you are a virgin to either Jazz or Thelonious Monk, this disc is a perfect introduction to both.
Both discs contain many tricks and even more treats. Together, they add up to over four hours of musical perfection coincidentally recorded at nearly the same time, albeit the width of a continent away.


So tell me, what are you doing this Halloween?

Album Review: Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue

 

HORNBY TURNS OUT TO BE FOLDS' BERNIE TAUPIN 

Ben Folds' last long-player, Way to Normal (later remastered, reordered, expanded, and improved on the quasi-release, Stems and Seeds), found the master ivory-smith stretching out past his piano roots into new territory with mixed results. Lonely Avenue—his latest in collaboration with author turned lyricist, best-selling British novelist Nick Hornby—is a wonderful return to the hooky, piano-based, smart power-pop that made Folds a college campus favorite.  

On Lonely Avenue, Folds' challenges himself by composing new tunes set to the words of his unlikely lyricist/collaborator (known to many for the novel, "High Fidelity," later adapted into a fine film starring John Cusack and breakout-star Jack Black). "High Fidelity," is an unabashed homage to Hornby's own love of music wrapped in a traditional romantic comedy. In Hornby, Folds finds a perfect collaborator; one who allows Folds to compositionally stretch in terms of melody and structure, and to approach songwriting from new angles and perspectives. Although Folds is a fine lyricist himself, his biggest weakness (if you can call it that) is a tendency to be a bit "on the nose" with his words; light on metaphor and generally leaving little room for interpretation. "Give me my money back, you bitch/I want my money back and don't forget my black T-shirt," says his appropriately titled, "Song for the Dumped," from 1997's Whatever And Ever Amen.

In the character-driven, Lonely Avenue (named after a song composed by the legendary Doc Pomus, one of the many colorful characters illustrated over the course of the album), Hornby succinctly and effectively communicates layers of subtleties and emotion, often employing very few words. Many of the songs/stories have an almost Rod Serling-esque emotional "zap" at the very end; a line or two that suddenly shifts everything that proceeded it more sharply into focus. Such is the case in "Claire's Ninth," about a young girl's ninth birthday, ruined when her separated parents reunite the family of three for pizza and ice cream. While the majority of the song is seen from the eyes of the child, horrified by the staged normalcy and just wanting the day to pass, in the final seven words, we finally see the day from the parents' point-of-view, serving as a sad memorial to a failed marriage, "It used to be our birthday too." Or "Working Day," (the only outwardly autobiographical song on the album), which juxtaposes the daily insecurities of a struggling working artist with the exaggerated arrogance and bravura needed to combat the intensely powerful, daily feelings of creative impotency. Until the final stanza, it almost comes off as a character study of a schizophrenic, but Hornby quickly brings it into focus, "Hey, hey... It's a working day." It's not surprising that most of the songs carry similar literary qualities.

On the outward, the song "Picture Window" serves as a tale of a sick child and her mother searching for optimism at the dawn of a New Year. Upon hearing the chorus, one must wonder, with it's repeated use of the word, "Hope"—a word still echoing so resonantly as a one-word campaign slogan—if it's an allegory for the depression and angst facing the nation as the cold realities of the post-election Obama era set-in, "You know what Hope is? Hope is a bastard, Hope is a liar. A cheat and a tease."

The most famous character profiled on the album is that of teenage Levi Johnston, the unwillingly (in the song, at least) recruited fiancée of Bristol Palin (daughter of recent Vice-POTUS nominee Sarah Palin).  While the chorus of "Levi Johnston's Blues" is intentionally comedic, quoting verbatim from Johnston's Facebook page, "I'm a fuckin' Redneck, I live to hang out with the boys, play some hockey, do some fishin’ and kill some moose. I like to shoot the shit, do some chillin' I guess. You fuck with me and I’ll kick your ass," Hornby treats him as a sympathetic victim of circumstance, "And when I try to tell them I'm 18 years old, they say 'Levi its too late, you've got to do as you're told.'" The song itself has no less than three melodic hooks; one consisting of the bass/piano motif found in the verse, another—easily the most memorable—in the melody of the pre-chorus/bridge and interestingly, the least catchy of the triumvirate is found in the Facebook-quoting chorus itself. The unconventional structure is a perfect example of how working off of someone else's lyrics sheet pushes Folds into unpredictable territory. The results are consistently refreshing and reward repeated listening.

Ben Folds returns to many of the textures that he experimented with on Way to Normal and his earlier all-synthetic instrumental one-off, Fear of Pop. Where Way to Normal's tended to jar the listener with its synthetics at times, making it seem on-the-whole, less cohesive, Lonely Avenue is unified. Much of this can be owed to the delicate and beautiful string arrangements of Paul Buckmaster, which adorn five of the album's 11 tracks. It's not surprising that these string arrangements also recall Elton John, as it's Buckmaster's string charts that also grace John's "Tiny Dancer" (ironically once covered by Folds), as well as countless other hits of the past forty years. Although other musicians are employed throughout the album, Lonely Avenue (again ironically, given the shared above the title credit—something that Elton John's Bernie Taupin was never awarded) comes off as the most one-man-band affair of all of Ben Folds' albums.

At the time of this writing, three bonus tracks are associated with the release of this album, and while they are essential for the completionist, their B-side like status is deserved. (Two are original songs, while a third is an alternate "pop" arrangement of "Picture Window." Two can be found on iTunes while the strongest of the three, "Christian Life," is an Amazon exclusive download.)

Those who are familiar with the previous work of Nick Hornby know that he is a true music-junkie, a man who clearly regards musicians as divine. It remains to be seen whether the Folds/Hornby collaboration continues past Lonely Avenue; however, for the time being, Hornby can say that for a moment—with a little help from a friend—he stood alongside his heroes.

9 out of 10 stars—David Glassner

Things You Need To Know About Pomplamoose

Before you go running for the hills screaming, “What is Pomplamoose! Is it contagious? Is it delicious? Does it cause Cancer?,” let me assure you that Pomplamoose is harmless and appears to be having a great deal of fun in San Francisco.

It is contagious. It is delicious. And while it doesn’t appear to be causing anyone any severe Cancer, there can be no doubt that it is most certainly addictive.

That said, I will tell you everything you need to know about Pomplamoose before I share with you where to get real authentic Pomplamoose. (Unfortunately, I can’t share this information just yet, for fear of losing your audience forever!) 

Pomplamoose Are Two People Who Make Music

Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte write and record great pop music. In the case of the latter, they also have a penchant (and talent) for recording cover versions of past and present popular songs they have admiration for.

Nataly sings all of the lead vocals (and most of the back-up vocals, sometimes having her vocals octopl-tracked, but we’ll get to that later), plays the majority of bass parts, whistles (albeit poorly), and God knows what else. She is also fluent—and on rare occasions likes to write and sing—in French.

Jack seems to be musically capable of doing pretty much anything but most often can be seen playing guitar, twinkling on his 120-year old upright piano, banging away on the drums, adding percussion, singling back-up vocals, or even adding a counter-melody via a professional toy piano or xylophone.

While I haven’t truly deciphered who is writing the core material, my hunch is that it’s very much a collaborative effort. As far as I can tell, Nataly and Jack adore one another.

Pomplamoose Have a Credo

Specifically, "What you see is what you hear. (No lip-syncing for instruments or voice), If you hear it, at some point you see it. (No hidden sounds.)" This refers to their main form of expression and distribution; the music video, which they have updated, refashioned and molded into something they call, "VideoSongs." 

The somewhat confusing credo above happens to be what distinguishes a "VideoSong" from the olde-fashioned music video you (or your parents) grew up with in the 80's. To perhaps put it more simply, Jack and Nataly literally VIDEOTAPE the creation of every single note in the process of recording their music. This allows them in the end (I would assume towards the end of the mixing and mastering process), to edit a video which is completely "live" and in sync with the recorded audio. Still confused? 

To simplify further, when you see Nataly singing on camera, you are also hearing her sing the identical take on the record. If you hear Nataly singing three-part harmony behind the lead vocal, you'll see three additional little Natalys singing next to her on screen in what often visually resembles a musical comic book (which judging by their taste in t-shirts, seems to be a medium they have affection for) or the opening credits to The Brady Bunch. When you see Jack sitting at that antique upright piano whose exposed hammers are visibly dancing right in front of his face, you are hearing that exact performance on tape. When you see Nataly and Jack sitting on the floor, Indian-style playing "Pattycake," a microphone is present, capturing the "performance" for the percussion track. 

With all due respect (I believe to Jack, who—if the dateline serves me well—created the VideoSong concept), I think the term "RealityMusic," (i.e. reality TV meets music) describes their form of expression better than "VideoSong." The down-to-earth, wholesome demeanor of Nataly and Jack, plus their favoring of acoustic and analog timbres in their music, lends them a very homegrown feel which also bolsters the "reality music" vibe.

Pomplamoose Will Make You Dance

I'm not talking to the chicks out there who dance all of the time. I talking to the macho men out there... oh, and the music snobs (I'm sometimes guilty of the latter); the ones that normally wouldn't be caught dead dancing or are more comfortable in the realm of playing air-this or air-that, or simply nodding their collective heads. You will dance. Worse yet, you may even spend hours dancing in front of YouT... oops, I almost slipped and told you!

Pomplamoose will also make you laugh heartily at times and often have you smiling ear-to-ear. If for some reason, you have absolutely no interest in feeling happiness, you should avoid Pomplamoose at all costs.

(If you're discovering Pomplamoose for the first time) 
Pomplamoose is the Best New Show of the Fall Season!

Often at the tail of their VideoSongs, you'll be treated to Jack and Nataly sharing a little bit of themselves by addressing the viewer directly or through a bit of behind the scenes footage. Whether they are trying to sell you a super-soft t-shirt, telling you about an cool new record by an artist they admire, plugging an "upcoming" gig which in reality already happened a year ago and 2,000 miles away... you will watch them.

The more you indulge in Pomplamoose, the more Pomplamoose you will crave. The chemistry between Jack and Nataly (and partially as a result, the chemistry they share with their audience) is infectious. The more you watch them, the more you'll regard them as friends... or at least, you'll wish you were. In addition to the reason above, this phenomenon can also be attributed to the intimate status with which they bestow upon their audience as a fly-on-the-wall during their creative process. While there is nothing overtly sexual in any of their VideoSongs, one can easily be reminded of how William Hurt gushed to Holly Hunter about their own collaboration in the 1987 film Broadcast News, "It was like... GREAT SEX!"

Jack and Nataly are having so much fun doing what they're doing, that you can't help but subconsciously place yourself in their shoes. You want to have the fun you see them having on camera, and as a result and a testament to the power of the imagination, you suddenly find that you are. My wife likes repeating funny things I say because she says, "It's fun saying funny things." Don't be surprised if upon repeated viewings or listenings, you find yourself mimicking what you've seen Pomplamoose do on camera. It's fun doing fun things.

Whether they're joking with one another, or engaging the camera directly, the interaction between Nataly and Jack is delectable. As Lucy is to Dezi, as Edith to Archie, plus a dash of how Bruce Willis' "David" was to Cybill Sheppard's "Maddie"... Nataly and Jack have "It." Up until the recent night when I discovered Pomplamoose for the first time, I had probably never spent more than twenty straight minutes on YouT... damn, I almost gave it away again! Soon, I promise. I know your mouth is watering.

Pomplamoose Just Might Be Revolutionary

As far as I can tell, Pomplamoose have come up with what is perhaps a new genre or even a new form of media. They have also in the process, tapped into the very life-blood on the new musical economy and zeitgeist, perfectly fusing music, video, the internet and reality TV into something truly unique and original. They have already collaborated with the occasional special guest, Ben Folds (through whom I owe my discovery of Pomplamoose) and Earth, Wind and Fire's Allee Willis.

My guess is that very soon, you will see other artists flock to Jack and Nataly to receive the Pomplamoose production treatment. I also think they will serve as an inspiration for many young artists from all disciplines. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to one day find them occupying the throne previously occupied by Prince, Jam & Lewis, The Dust Brothers, as the producers du jour. It would certainly be a refreshing turn from the current artificiality that tends to dominate the pop charts.

Pomplamoose is Free!

Please don't run away from me just yet, but Pomplamoose share themselves for free on YouTube. Currently, they have close to 40 VideoSongs available for your immediate consumption, almost half of which are originals. Some of the cover versions are better than others, and your preference there will most likely be driven by your like or dislike of the original composition.

When "Pomplamoosing" the songs of their contemporary peers—such as the case in their remake of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies"—they seem to always best the original hit version. (They have also recorded music, videos and VideoSongs as solo artists, so once you've engorged yourself on Pomplamoose, you can continue to snack on their solo endeavors, or Nataly's project with another singer-songwriter, Lauren O'Connell called, My Terrible Friend.)

If you want to take Pomplamoose on the go (you will), their music is easily and affordably available at traditional online music outlets, iTunes, Amazon or their via their own website. If you're among the few that have a brick and mortar music store nearby, don't bother looking for Pomplamoose there. Not only are they unsigned to a record label (they are keenly aware that in today's landscape—while a record deal may be a luxury—it is not a prerequisite for success), they have never pressed their music onto CD.

That said, I will now offer a four-song introduction to the art of Pomplamoose; three originals and the aforementioned Beyoncé cover. Once you've digested these, you can head over to YouTube, to dip into the rest of their oeuvre on their own channel. I have a hunch you will.

Don't say I didn't warn you.