Mullins is a distinctive songwriter, steeped in tradition but indisputably original, and he assembles a keenly woven set of tracks in Light You Up — still, there is something tauntingly brief about Matthew Sweet’s appearance on “California.” (You petered out after your debut, so mull it over: an electric Thorns album would be sweet!)
Best Coast sounds like the product of Zooey Deschanel and Tegan & Sara meeting on a drizzly day in sunny Californ-i-a, deciding to form a band; unfortunately, though, not much is surprising after the first couple tracks, but the band oozes potential and hints at what they may be capable of in the future.
Hello and welcome to another edition of Original Wednesday here at the Laptop Sessions!
Tonight, I’m happy to present the second installment of my summer preview series of my forthcoming album The 2010 Project. I began recording demos a few months ago, as I mentioned in a previous post, and now I’ve officially hacked out a track listing. There will be thirteen tracks, all of which are fully composed now and have been recorded in demo form — a few of the demos are more fully produced, but minimally.
Now, I’m at the phase where I’m putting together the tools I need to record. With the help of a friend, I’ve recently picked up a set of seriously great headphones, which will be a necessary component of the mixing process. He also helped me pick out a USB microphone that I’ve been experimenting with this week. There is a line in and external mic plug that I may use if I’d like to refine the sound quality as I begin to record the tracks in a couple weeks. Finally, I had to replace my guitar pedal, which I had to throw away a few months ago when I pulled it out of storage and found the batteries had leaked. I tried to clean it out, but it was too far gone. So, I just got the latest Zoom pedal, which I can’t wait to try out!
Which brings me to the track I’m unveiling today. Previously, this has only been played for two people: my girlfriend and one of my dearest friends of all time. Both encouraged me that the new music I’ve been writing is among my best, so I’m hoping to make them proud by the time I’ve finished recording this new album.
And it’s about time — this marks four years since Love Out of Fashion!
“I Would Prefer Not To” will be the second track on the album, following “No Lights, No Sound.” Those of you English majors out there will pick up on the allusion to the Herman Melville short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street.” The verses are as simple as they come, only two chords: D and A. When I record the studio version, I hope to flesh out the riff I have in my mind and make that more catchy. The chorus is more interesting and, as in my favorite songs by artists like Bob Dylan, Mike Fusco, and others, the lyrics change slightly each time around. The song deals with the conflicts that arise from not wanting to disappoint others, but also needing to follow your impulses and passions. It’s a very personal song, critical at times — though it’s meant to be more confident than scathing — and I think there is a universal quality to it, regardless of its personal nature.
Without further ado, I give you my acoustic performance of “I Would Prefer Not To.” I hope you like it, and that you’ll continue to check back for more Original Wednesdays in the near future.
With this being the season of togetherness and all, it only seems right to present the “Best Collaborations of 2010” category. This is a pretty short one, as there are so many collaborations of different sorts throughout the music industry — I wanted to highlight only a few standouts. Number one with a bullet, at least for me, has to be this year’s Beach Boys reunion on “Don’t Fight the Sea,” a track on Al Jardine’s solo album that found not only surviving Beach Men Jardine, Brian Wilson, and Mike Love but also Carl Wilson collaborating on lead and background vocals. This was, of course, due to Carl Wilson’s vocals being posthumously remastered and added to the mix.
The next collaboration is one of the great partnerships of recent years: rock/alternative pianist Ben Folds and novelist/lyricist Nick Hornby teamed up this year for some of the smartest sounding rock the former has turned out in years.
Danger Mouse has been extraordinarily productive in recent years, but his collaboration with Sparklehorse — a particularly quirky one at that — is one of the darkest albums of the year, and a standout among this year’s music releases.
My honorable mention belies the soft spot I have for all things Wallflowers-related, one that is not nearly satisfied by Jakob Dylan’s solo catalog.
So, enjoy this brief list today, and check back for a top fifteen tomorrow!
BEST COLLABORATION
1) Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, & Carl Wilson (“Don’t Fight the Sea” – A Postcard from California)
2) Ben Folds & Nick Hornby (Lonely Avenue)
3) Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse (Dark Night of the Soul)
Honorable Mention: Court Yard Hounds & Jakob Dylan (“See You in the Spring” – Court Yard Hounds)
