My Morning Jam

8:00 a.m.: “Lazy”, Deep Purple 

Personally I like to be woken up slowly. The start of “Lazy” is all about progression– an instrumental build up: the organ echoes creating a spiritual-like trance before ushering you to consciousness, the little jazzy break-down a jolt to your listless limbs, the ticking percussion a friendly reminder that the time has come to get out of bed before the song swings into full throttle. And when it does, you get Gillian’s voice confirming your current state. “You’re Lazy,” he says, and it’s nice to hear. But if there’s a song that’ll make you want to get up and go, this is the one to do it. It’s a dose io irony in your morning coffee.

8:07 a.m.: “Veni, Vidi, Vici”, The Back Lips

Let the mellower beat of this Black Lips song remind you that the day ahead holds nothing that the right kind of attitude can’t control. Splash cold water on your face, look into the mirror and repeat the (slightly altered) words of Julius Caesar: Cause I came, I saw, I conquered all… Repeat, repeat, repeat, and by the time you’re done brushing your teeth you’ll be ready to take over the world! (Or at least the smelly subway.)

8:10 a.m: “The Bare Necessities”, The Jungle Book Soundtrack

Didn’t see that one coming, huh? I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. More than the motto, a little throwback into childhood is always a great way to keep your head on your shoulders and a smile on your face.

A Sound for September

The Tree Swings Diagonally

Fables and Fornication

The correct word would actually be parable ­– there are no talking animals in The Rolling Stones’ song “Spider and the Fly,” so you’ll have to excuse my lack of precision for the sake of alliteration. Released in 1965, “Spider and the Fly” has become my favorite song from the Stones’ fourth album Out of Our Heads (also home to the seminal “Satisfaction”) for its structural simplicity, it’s infantile simile, and its omission of repercussion to the idyllic debauchery of a rock star on the road. Despite the docile harmonica, the mellow guitar solo*, the “would have run away but I was on my own,” creating the illusion of premeditated acquiescence to his little girl’s wishes, they are just other pieces to Mick Jagger’s intricately woven web.

*replaced by the harmonica in this live version

13 minutes of live music

Attic Addict session w/ We Are Enfant Terrible

We Are Enfant Terrible from Attic Addict on Vimeo.

M. Ward @ La Gaité Lyrique

Experience Portland in Paris, is how la Blogothèque advertised M. Ward’s concert at La Gaité Lyrique this past Friday. It isn’t hard to see why when the venue is a converted theater built in 1862, the bar an opulent Haussmmanian reception hall, and the concert a man on stage with his acoustic guitar singing the epitome of music proper to America: country. There’s more to it, of course. M. Ward at times uses a harmonica or switches to the keyboard; his songs are also colored with the weight of blues and the edge to rock.

Still, M. Ward is above all guy-on-guitar music that evokes a very different, simpler setting ­­– one of campfires and cowboy boots, lawn chairs and hand-rolled tobacco. What isn’t so simple, however, is the way this Oregonian manipulates his instrument. Opening his show with a medley of “One Hundred Million Years,” Ward saved his distinctive scruffy singing for the songs to follow. But under the dance of Ward’s fingers, voice was given to his guitar as it alternatively whispered and choked, became feverish or impatient with emotion.

Country is distinctive of the South, not the West Coast where M. Ward is from. But to those music fanatic foreigners who have only a romanticized conception of Portland ­– a granola-eating, peace & love place that breeds a surprising number of talented, alternative musicians ­– the purity and timeless quality of M. Ward’s music embodies just that.

Gummy Skulls, The Flaming Lips

Watch how The Flaming Lips delivered four new tracks. Some less sophisticated procedures include biting straight into the yummy flavored gummy.