Much of Elton John’s music, because of its compositional depth and piano-based complexity, is well-suited to symphonic and choral arrangements and it has likewise inspired such treatments over the years. His 1970 eponymous album is a particular benchmark in this context, as several of its songs (“Take Me to the Pilot,” “Sixty Years On,” “Border Song,” “The Greatest Discovery,” “The King Must Die”) have been performed by the likes of the Royal Academy of Music, the Julliard School of Music, and, most notably, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra during John’s historic 1986 tour of Australia (which was documented on a hit live album the following year, spawning a Top 10 single of “Candle in the Wind”).
Such orchestral resonances surface throughout John’s current album, The Diving Board, particularly in songs like “The New Fever Waltz” and “Home Again.” John recently performed the latter along with students from USC’s Thornton School of Music and Croatian virtuosos 2Cellos.
Check out the just-released video of this rare performance:
Those who have the ability to forget that Sting was once a dynamic vocalist who wrote some ferociously good pop songs may enjoy his latest album, The Last Ship (Cherrytree/Interscope). For everyone else, this effort, his first after a decade-long sabbatical in the classical ranks, should find it among the British legend’s most tiring and tedious. Ostensibly dealing with the decline of the shipbuilding trade during the 1980s’ in the city of Sting’s birth, Newcastle, England, The Last Ship finds Sting serving in the role of a minstrel. And in that capacity alone he does quite an admirable job, too, as he capably conjures moments of dramatic, eloquent storytelling, often enough in spoken-word passages. Besides, the problem with the album isn’t its script, so to speak, but rather its soundtrack. For the most part, Sting sings/speaks over some indiscriminate strumming—some brief orchestral flourishes also surface from time to time—the words coming across as far more considered than whatever sense of a tune carries them. Pop music (if that’s what you want to call this) may not be the right medium for telling these sorts of tales or, more to the point, Sting doesn't pull it off as he should. As demonstrated by even the most literate-intensive singer/songwriters, from Leonard Cohen to Joni Mitchell to Bob Dylan, the music must possess some engaging quality in and of itself, whether it’s a chord structure or a chorus or even just a hook. Otherwise, it’s just prose with some ambience. The album’s not a lost cause completely, as solipsistic love songs “The Night The Pugilist Learned How To Dance” and “I Love Her But She Loves Someone Else” evoke the sort of romantic longing that would’ve complemented The Soul Cages or Ten Summoner’s Tales. Overall, though, The Last Ship lacks the musical intrigue that could’ve made what may very well be an evocative tale into an album worth listening to.
Even the band’s name suggests empathy: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, hailing from Springfield, Missouri, make a suitably merciful impression with their latest LP, Fly By Wire (Polyvinyl Records). Delicate echoes of early ‘80s synthpop (“Unearth,” “Cover All Sides,” “Ms. Dot”) complement moments spiked with a bit more shimmer and thrust (“Nightwater Girlfriend,” “Young Presidents”), making for a disarmingly intoxicating mix of indie pop. Incidentally, the Russian government apparently gave more consideration to the band’s moniker than the band did in picking it (go figure), and so it invited SSLYBY to participate last year in a cultural exchange mission. Now, there’s no hard evidence to suggest that SSLYBY’s performances for schoolchildren and the like in the former Soviet Union softened any administrative hearts and minds, but Syria wasn’t convinced to comply with a chemical-weapons accord all on its own—just saying. Maybe SSLYBY can get Pussy Riot out of prison, too.
Allen Toussaint is an American treasure. One of the seminal musical exponents of New Orleans, he has composed, produced, and arranged some of the most beloved and enduring music of the rock ‘n’ roll era, his works having been covered by the likes of the Rolling Stones, Glen Campbell, and Aaron Neville. In July of this year he received the National Medal of Arts, the highest civilian honor bestowed to artists and patrons of the arts. “It was absolutely wonderful,” says Toussaint, “just a highlight of my life.”
With his new live album, Songbook, Toussaint reclaims his classics. Recorded in 2009 at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan, his home away from home since Hurricane Katrina ravaged much of the Big Easy, he performs a solo set of his most definitive songs—“Southern Nights,” “Get Out My Life, Woman,” “Lipstick Traces,” among dozens of others—all along reflecting the enthusiasm that comes from a lifelong commitment to his craft.
It’s an apprenticeship that for Toussaint began as a young child when a piano was delivered to his family’s home for his older sister to play. He hasn’t stopped since. Was there ever a moment early on where you said, “I’m not only intrigued by playing music but—all modesty aside—I’m talented?”
Well, I’ve never been vain enough to tell myself that, but I certainly fell in love immediately. As a kid coming up that’s all I ever thought about that I wanted to be—like, “What would you like to be when you grow up?”—I was already doing it. I was going to be with this piano from now on. I felt that throughout my life and I’m still as in love with it as I was when I got started. So many people have dreams of being a professional musician, but they ultimately realize they don’t have what it takes to reach that level. But you’re good, and you had to have been good—or good enough—in the beginning so that you could continue getting better.
I always just worked diligently at learning new things because this music world is quite a journey. There’s always something new. There’s always a new melody [that] can come after all of these years. You still could write a new tune tomorrow. There’s always music to learn, exercises even to practice. So it’s quite a journey. It’s all about the journey itself. I didn’t really think or know where it would take me, but I do know as I live and breathe, I’ve wanted to be playing music and primarily the piano. And then of course I began writing and arranging and that was another marvelous aspect of the music that I dearly appreciate as well. So it has so many peripheral things in the whole music scene. It just offers so much, and I’m glad that I’m involved in most of it. What informs your work ethic? You have such a meticulous approach to making music, using horns and strings, etc. It’s like an orchestral approach within a pop-music context.
Yes. Well, it all seems to be whatever the primary plot and subject and song calls for. If it calls for a simple rhythm section, that would be fine. But some songs, when you write them, they seem to have an invisible request that, “It takes more for this. It takes a good horn arrangement to go along with this.” I’m always very much ready for that because I love arranging as well. But, I must say, I don’t try to force what doesn’t fit at the moment, but I do love when a song requires something else added whether that be a full complement of strings or whether [what] it calls for is based on the guitar, I just love the whole thing. Each one is just as important and I consider it dearly and I approach it that way. Considering that as an instrumentalist you’re primarily a piano player, is there ever a conflict in writing for other instruments on which you’re not as proficient?
That’s a good question, but no, I have no problem there because I love the possibilities that you have when you do what I do. You’re in charge of the whole orchestra, and so even if you don’t play the guitar you can write what you want to hear a guitar play. Like when I'm writing for horns, I don’t play all of those horns but I know what I want to hear them do. No, my piano playing is something that I love dearly—it’s a personal thing—and I’ll probably play the piano part whenever necessary on the tune I’m doing, but when I’m writing any of the other instruments I hear them for who they are and the sound that they have and what they bring to the table and the spirit of it. One of my favorite songs of yours is “Back in Baby’s Arms.” Did you write that for yourself or for another artist to cut originally?
That was written for me. I wrote that for myself, which is not done a whole lot because I love writing for other artists because I’m inspired by other voices more than I am by my own. But that was for me to sing and no one else. I remember Glen Campbell, when I’d see him at concerts backstage, he is the only other person I’ve heard who’s mentioned that song. You and Glen Campbell, thank you. Thank both of you. This new album, Songbook, invites some retrospection as its songs have been a part of your life for many years. Are you ever struck by the craftsmanship you displayed on the originals? Are you ever taken by how well they’ve held up over the years?
Well, I’m so glad that they did, but many times if I were to think of such I wouldn’t know why or I couldn’t explain it based on whether they were well-done or what about it; I’m just glad that it happens like that that I have songs that have withstood the time. But I’m always on the way somewhere else. Every day I live it just seems like just a few days later than when I got started. I’m always on the way to the next corner or the next bend or the next mountain. And you still find the same joy in it as you always did?
Oh, yes indeed. It’s just wonderful that there’s always somewhere else to go musically and spiritually. The world is inspiring in the things you can see and the things you can’t see.
Sting is at a point in his career where he can follow whatever mood or muse he so desires. Such is pretty much what he has spent the last decade doing, too, with left-field explorations in lute (Songs From the Labyrinth), seasonal lore (If On a Winter’s Night...), and orchestral adaptations (Symphonicities) broadening the contexts of his artistry. That said, Sting is now set to return to mainstream pop with his soon-to-be-released LP, The Last Ship, which for fans of his most definitive music should serve as reason to rejoice.
However, if the album is characterized by songs like his newest single, “And Yet,” don't bother. At first it almost sounds like latter day Steely Dan if not for it lacking any hint of swing or groove, sort of like smooth-jazz schmaltz. Perhaps it will complement the narrative arc of The Last Ship—the album ostensibly depicts the decline of the shipbuilding trade during the 1980s’ in the city of Sting’s birth, Newcastle, England—but as a song in its own right it’s a bland, unremarkable effort.
Say what you will about whatever bizarre stunts or statements she makes in a seeming effort to shock. Madonna knows how to entertain. After 30 years, her continued ability to put asses in arena and stadium seats is all but incomparable. And while her latest studio album, MDNA, didn’t sell like some of her past blockbusters it nevertheless inspired a massively successful concert tour. In fact, the 88-date trek netted the superstar $125 million, landing her on top of the Forbes 2013 list of top-earning celebrities. For those who attended and those who wished they had, MDNA World Tour/Live 2012 (Live Nation/Interscope Records), which is culled from back-to-back nights (November 19 and 20) at Miami’s American Airlines Arena, suitably justifies their love. Madonna is as much a video star as a music one—a DVD and Blu-ray of this title is also available—and her concerts are accordingly packed with multimedia extravagance. In the context of a live album, though, certain visual elements and interludes don’t translate all that well—some interlude segments get a bit tedious—but such is a negligible criticism for the sake of continuity, which is a primary concern for just about any live recording. For the most part, the album is a treat. Of the MDNA songs, “Turn Up the Radio” and “I’m a Sinner” are the obvious standouts, with fervent audience sing-alongs turning them into party anthems. Older ones like “Papa Don’t Preach” and “Open Your Heart” are radically reinvented to complement the show’s overall vibe with its nearly nonstop, techno-throbbing soundtrack. This is a meticulously constructed set from start to finish; Madonna doesn’t take requests like Springsteen or stop what she’s playing on a dime to play something else like Prince. Every second of this performance is rehearsed to regimented precision, but the unflinching vitality Madonna exudes throughout—and especially on warhorses like “Express Yourself,” “Vogue,” and “Like a Prayer”—makes listening to it a whole lot of fun.
There’s a lot of buzz of late surrounding British singer/songwriter Charlotte Aitchison, known more familiar as Charli XCX.
The 21-year-old’s quixotic synth-pop debut, True Romance (released back in April on Atlantic Records), has spawned such hit singles as “So Far Away” and “You’re the One” while the Icona Pop smash, “I Love It,” has further illustrated her talent as a composer.
Already a seasoned performer on the live stage, she’s opened for the likes of Coldplay and Ellie Goulding, and she’s currently supporting Paramour on a string of UK arena dates. Her first headlining tour begins next month in North America—tickets for a previously scheduled N. American itinerary will be honored, where applicable—which will also feature such acts as Kitten and TWIN iDol, the latter with whom she’s collaborated on a new remix of “Wave,” a track by UK band Crystal Fighters.
Check out “Wave,” due September 23 at Beatport and October 8 on all other digital music services.
North American tour dates for Charli XCX: 11/11 – Montreal, QB (Sala Rosa) 11/12 – Boston, MA (Sinclair) 11/13 – New York, NY (Irving Plaza) 11/16 – Washington, DC (U Street Music Hall) 11/18 – Nashville, TN (Mercy Lounge) 11/19 – Atlanta, GA (Vinyl) 11/20 – Orlando, FL (The Social) 11/23 – Houston, TX (Fitzgeralds) 11/24 – Austin, TX (The Parish) 11/25 – Dallas, TX (Club Dada)
Sure it sounds like something he hashed out in about twenty minutes while the veggie burgers simmered on the grill outside, but what Paul McCartney is capable of writing in twenty minutes is often better than what most other artists slave to create in weeks or months. “New” is a bubbly little pop tune in the vein of eighties singles like “Press” and “Take It Away,” made all the more endearing by the now seventy-one-year-old Beatle’s still-boyish charm and enthusiasm. What the song has going for it more than anything else, though, is an instantly memorable, hum-along melody—News Flash to No One: McCartney writes memorable melodies—which even after multiple listens ensures that it’ll take a while before “New” ever gets old.
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