January 2007 EP: Temporary Setback

Hello friends, family, fans, and mortal enemies! Though you may have heard these tracks in their formative days, join us in celebrating the official release of our first monthly EP, Temporary Setback.

“Monthly EP,” you say?

Here’s how this thing works. Each weekish, we like to post on the blog tidbits of music that we have each been working on for comments and critiques. This we call hello.music. But to keep our progress from being so open ended, we decided to do a monthly compilation that includes cover art, several tracks from the month, and some random notes. For Temporary Setback, Mike took charge of the EP title and tracklist. Aryn did the cover art, and I wrote the liner notes.

This month features six tracks that range from the acoustic loveliness of Mike’s “We Sang Modern English” to Aryn’s rockstar live recording of “Make Sure.” And “By Looking Out My Window” is my attempt at playing the concertina. Hopefully as we go along this year, you will see more and more collaborative tracks appear as we figure out how best to remotely record and share music with each other.

That is all for now. Feel free to leave comments here, and let us know what you think.

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Past EP’s

Temporary Setback :: January 2007
Clouded Spaces, Falling Skies :: February 2007
First Pull Up, Second Pull Down, Third Take Away :: March 2007
Ancient Telephones :: April 2007
The Cavalry Arrived Again :: May 2007
Designed In Anticipation Of His Centennial Years :: June 2007
The Rundown :: July 2007
The Ninth Great Fire :: August 2007
Empty Bottles And Dog-Eared Books :: September 2007
I Can Fix Things In The Morning :: October 2007
We Are Full Of Useful Noise :: November 2007
The Last Duel :: December 2007

hello.music round four — We Sang Modern English

hello.musicFinally… I took some time last night to finalize We Sang Modern English version FOUR.

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/WeSangModernEnglish_v4.mp3]

The delays came from visiting guests (damn you Aryn!) and simple writer’s block. I have tracked any number of combinations of lyrics and melodies for the choruses (those really long gaps between verses)…but have yet to find anything I really like.

You will hear some sonic additions to the sound near the end…still experimenting with getting those right for some sort of climax to the song, but you will get the gist. So for the final January EP (next MONDAY!!!) I am making this song my main area focus to see if I can get it as close to done as possible. Thoughts?

Will it sell blenders?

So I stumbled onto these “viral” videos awhile back and thought since we are increasingly being innundated with short internet ad campaigns, I should do my part in spreading the word. This is a series of “Will it Blend?” testing by the company BlendTec to show off how neat their blenders are in how they can blend pretty much anything.

Here is one with dental supplies:

[youtube]F3P6nlXhTtk&NR[/youtube]

and one with iPods:

[youtube]B8H29jU8Wrs[/youtube]

and one more with a golf club:

[youtube]7_YaNteKmew[/youtube]

I like their theme song. These clips have acheived success in the world of viral marketing: getting some random guy like me to push their products without getting a dime in payment.. Which I would gladly accept.

NPR Song Of The Day: White Flight, ‘Pastora Divine’

White Flight's album is out now.
White Flight’s album is out now.

Here’s a short thing on “Pastora Divine” — a song by a local hometown musician from Lawrence, Kansas, White Flight, for NPR’s Song of the Day. Read the piece and listen to the song.

Continue reading NPR Song Of The Day: White Flight, ‘Pastora Divine’

hello.music round four – By Looking Out of My Window (The Concertina Song)

hello.musicWith no further introduction, I proudly present:

By Looking Out of My Window (The Concertina Song).

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_greg/By%20Looking%20Out%20My%20Window.mp3]

Be on the lookout for posts coming soon about the refurbishment of my ebay concertina, which for me involves using a craft store hot glue gun on rattling surfaces.

My Problem is that Church Organ…

Arcade FireSo what do you think of the new Arcade Fire song, “Intervention“? It seems the bloggy world is anxiously waiting this band’s follow up to the indie classic, Funeral: the sophomore effort Neon Bible has people worked up to the point of near giddiness. And though everyone thinks the first single is amazing, I am a little less enthusiastic. I think my problem is that church organ. While it’s powerful, but I am not sure it works. Here’s why:

In the version I heard, which may or may not be the final mix, the organ is large and atmospheric in the room; it has a big and thunderous presence as it echoes with tons of reverberation. By its nature, the room is large and distantly mic’d to capture that ambiance. But something’s not right.

It seems everything else (from the drums to the vocals, guitars, keys, bass and so on) are close up in the mix. And inherently because the way they were probably recorded, in a close, dry, intimate setting like a studio or basement, it sounds flat. This proves to be problematic for me because the song never copes with those two various sounds and it never becomes one. And while the song overall is heroic and anthemic, they contradict each other and it pulls me out of the moment. It is very consciously trying to have that epic moment, but the organ feels over dramatic and over the top– and a bit self-serving.

It will be interesting to hear this song in the context of the album as a whole, because for me that was the strength of their previous album. I believe the album drops the first week of March. Check your local music shoppes, and internet connections for further details.

NPR Five For Friday — Melisma

I have a new article up on NPR’s Five For Friday. You can also find it as a stand alone feature as well. Enjoy.

NPR Five For Friday

How ‘American Idol’ Uses (and Abuses) Melisma by Michael Katzif

Jennifer Hudson's got a Golden Globe and mellifluous melisma.NPR.org, January 11, 2007 · Jennifer Hudson’s Golden Globe-winning turn in Dreamgirls has critics raving about her stunning vocals. But fans of the singer have known about her talent since her humble beginnings on American Idol. And even if you’re not one of the 30 million addicted viewers of the Fox TV show, you’ve probably heard one of Hudson’s musical tricks: melisma.

Melisma is the musical art of creating a run of many notes from one syllable. In the United States, singers in the African-American church popularized the vocal practice, which dates to Gregorian chants and Indian ragas. When Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin began singing popular music, they brought melisma to more mainstream audiences. Whether you love it or hate it, Whitney Houston’s hit “I Will Always Love You,” with its elongated “iiieeee-eyes” and “ooooeeeooos,” is a prime example.

American Idol contestants (and pop singers) sometimes abuse and overuse the technique in songs. At worst, they can fracture a word into a soulless slur of syllables that feels both alienating and groan-inducing. Plus you have no idea what word they’re singing.

To get ready for the new AI season, spend a few minutes this weekend with our guide to melisma, courtesy of Anthony Heilbut, music producer and author of The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times.

How was melisma used in the early days of the African-American church?

Usually one person would recite a lyric or line of a song. Then congregants would repeat the line with their own variations. The ultimate choral effect was immense.

Can you describe that sort of melisma?

The melisma of a traditional gospel singer is rooted in folkloric moans and blue tonality. The most transcendent moments occur when a melismatic line is saturated with blue notes.

What can melisma accomplish in a song?

As some crucial moment in the lyric, the singer will worry a word to the point of abstraction. Ideally, the vocal distortions, the intricate and convoluted division of one syllable into as many as breath will allow, convey an eruption of feeling. But melisma can become so predictable that the singer’s passion can be questioned, even though the singer is usually making “ugly faces” to convey the soul’s torments.

How has melisma changed over the years?

As gospel singers became more professional, they would try to outdo [each other], much like a jazz musician in a cutting contest. The fancier the runs, the more amused or delighted the audience might be.

About 20 years ago, I dubbed these elaborations the “Gospel Gargle” and the “Detroit Disease.”

Why blame Detroit?

Some of [melisma’s] earliest and most audacious practitioners hailed from the Motor City. [Their variations] are much more self-conscious. In more recent years, soul singers, and ultimately pop singers, adopted these very busy and self-advertising forms of phrasing.

So while a great gospel singer such as Aretha Franklin can employ melisma for dramatic purposes in a manner that seems true to the song’s message, singers today seem to indulge themselves in a manner that is both virtuosic and anonymous. And the more it is done, the worse it is done. Something that might have seemed fresh and charming in the beginning began to seem self-indulgent and, to many of us, exhibitionist.

What are they doing wrong?

Often, there isn’t any musical justification of what they are doing. [Their runs] interfere with the flow of the melody, of the lyric, of the harmonies, sometimes of the rhythm itself. It’s frequently a very vulgar and ugly display. [That’s] the style of American Idol singers, most of whom are amateurs. [They] are simply mimicking the devices of the style’s most famous practitioners — singers like Mariah Carey, who indulge in runs.

How can melisma serve singer and song?

It can carry both the singer and the congregation to a higher sense of the song’s meaning; until it really becomes really a form of musical catharsis.

For example…?

When [the late gospel singer] Marion Williams sings “The Day Is Past and Gone,” her subtle use of melisma helps turn a lullaby into a cosmic blues. The note-bending begins with the third word, “is,” which is echoed in the next measure by a moaned hum, which is also melismatic. The listener understands at once that she is singing about something deadly serious. By the time she has reached the penultimate line of the second verse, “but death may soon disrobe us,” each melismatic turn has led us to the song’s crux.

With all the attention and backlash this style receives, how subjective is any of this?

In and of itself, melisma can be a great thing, it’s just been terribly abused by some untalented and insensitive singers. But I think the practitioners like to think that this is a sign of their engagement in the song.

The irony is that melisma is one of the glories of gospel music; I feel a real loyalty to it. I don’t think you can get very much better than gospel singers at their best.

hello.music round three – Make Sure (Live From Luxembourg Theatre 2007)

hello.music

This one was created from a drum track that I laid down a few months ago and recenty rediscovered. After playing around with the bass track I felt like it had a very live feel to it, and decided to (after also discovering the g-band audience noise) try and simulate a live show sound. I think it works pretty well, being a short track, I would envision it being a set closer or something.

The vocals on this one are meant to be long drawn out segments to help pad over the musical background. I had fun making this one, as its something different than (I think) I have tried before. Anyway let me know what ye thinks…

Make Sure (Live From Luxembourg Theatre 2007)

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_aryn/make_sure_livefromluxembourgtheatre2007.mp3]

FIVE Releases in 2007

Andrew Bird

For music fans, the holiday months can be the best and the worst of times. This being the time when fan and critics alike take stock of all the music of the past year, crafting lists and feverishly pouring over their rankings of the good, bad and ugly. But this is also the most stagnant time of year when when it comes to new albums. So while you wait for that next Shins album to change your life (again), here are five upcoming releases just migh thaw those cold winter doldrums.

FIVE Releases to look forward to in early 2007:


1) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — Some Loud Thunder (Jan 30)

As many will recall (who could forget?), the Brooklyn five-piece broke the internet in half in 2005 with their self-titled debut all without assistance of a record deal or press campaign. Since then, fans of the archetype DIY band have been clamoring for the follow-up, Some Loud Thunder. Predictably, its getting major blog buzz due to producer Dave (The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) Fridmann’s assistance. To curb some of that long anxious wait until the January 30th release, the band has made two tracks available for download on their website.


2) The Frames — The Cost (Feb 20)

The Frames have always seemed on the cusp of breaking out into something bigger. It seems that everyone who knows them, loves them, but that’s just it. Not that many people know The Frames, or its braintrust, Glen Hansard. Already released in overseas, The Cost was recorded live in the studio and captures and expands upon the Irish band’s live sound. On a dime, they can dynamically swing from quiet self-conscious folky dirges to all out swells of energetic guitars and cinematic noise. This album is already on my list of most overlooked albums for 2007 and it’s not even out yet.

3) Ry Cooder — My Name is Buddy (Mar 6)

Rumour has it this album’s moniker and namesake was decided upon while recording the last album. Being sent a mysterious photograph of a cat, the guitar player’s guitar player and Bueno Vista Social Club founder wrote a song cycle of sorts that told Buddy’s story. Instead of focusing on traditional Cuban music this album seems to be tailored towards blues and Americana, something of a return to his early career. Cannot go wrong with Ry.


4) Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha (Mar 20)

Proving on his last album that he can not only be a skillful violinist but a prolific songwriter and composer. Andrew Bird‘s latest follow up will continue on that path and hopefully I will finally get to see him live when he tours behind it this spring. Still not living down skipping out on seeing him and Sam Prekop in Chicago over Thanksgiving 2005. So it goes.

5) Radiohead — untitled seventh album (???)

When is this thing finally coming out? WHEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNN??!!??! The heavily anticipated seventh album that people were expecting last year never came. But with last summer’s US tour roadtesting over a dozen new songs, all we can do is wait for them to finish formally recording it. Some of the tour favourites were “Arpreggi,” “Nude” and my personal favourite, the ethereal 70’s Mick Jagger-esque “House of Cards.” You can check in on their glacial process at the band’s official blog Dead Air Space or the all encompassing fan site Green Plastic.

Music fans can also expect new releases this year from The Shins, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, the Sea and Cake, Wilco, Rufus Wainwright, Rilo Kiley, Interpol, Modest Mouse, Wolf Parade, the New Pornographers, Bright Eyes, Feist and so many many more. However half the fun every year is discovering that new artist coming completely out of left field. With all these great artists its shaping up to be a great year for music. What albums are you looking forward to in 2007? Respond in the comment thread or email us at [email protected]