John Martyn - "Bless the Weather"

Another semi-obscure singer-songwriter - John Martyn hails from Glasgow, Scotland. Enjoy listening to one of the most mesmerizing sections of acoustic shredding in the history of folk music: 2:50-end.





Good starting points for John Martyn listening:
"Bless the Weather" - 1971
"Solid Air" - 1973

Joanna Newsom - "Ribbon Bows"

Probably the best storyteller since Bob Dylan. No other musician in recent memory has been able to lift me right off my feet and transport me to this beautiful, deserted landscape that presumably exists on this planet, somewhere between the dirt and the clouds. 

 

Tip of the day: buy "Have One On Me"

Donny Hathaway

Not a lot of people know of Donny Hathaway, partly because he only survived until the age of 33, partly because he only released three albums over the course of his life, and lastly, because those three records feature very little of his original music.

Here are two of my favorite tracks from “Donny Hathaway – Live (1972)”, which is a must-have for anyone with an audio playback device.

“Jealous Guy” (Lennon):

&

“The Ghetto” (Hathaway, Hutson)

      * the last two minutes of the song are cut - probably YouTube's fault

Dirty Projectors - Acoustic performance of "No Intention"

I'm not the biggest fan of the album version of this tune (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAqmjOER-PU), but when I heard this performance from Sirius radio a few months ago I was floored.

While listening:

- notice the detailed, decorative motions from the guitar in the verse sections. Instead of using material like this for a solo, articulation of a new section, or a climactic build, the intricate motive is used as a secondary melody against the vocals (the primary melody). What David Longstreth is essentially doing is presenting himself as the lead vocalist AND lead guitarist while using the three lovely ladies as an accompaniment. Nice!

- dig the use of the capo on the 8th fret here. He basically transforms his classical into a ukulele.

- check out the density of those vocal harmonies (particularly when all four are in at the same time). The first instance is at 0:34-0:39. This moment sticks out for two reasons; a beautiful double suspension chord is formed by all four voices, tightly secured by consecutive 2nd's held between Angel and Haley; and the pentatonic mode which the song has been built upon thus far is altered by the alto voice, which anticipates the opening of a new window of modal possibilities.

- notice how Longstreth does some swapping of the melody and accompaniment during the chorus. The guitar switches from playing a secondary melody to an accompaniment texture while Angel and Amber (the two highest female voices) switch from accompaniment to secondary melody. You can feel the texture change immediately at 1:12.

- understand that despite the quirky elements of this song, specifically concerning melody, harmony and texture, this is still pure pop music. The proof is hidden in the form: verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus.