Times We Had

I want to avoid commenting on the music I write as much as possible. Like talking about sex, it takes away the power of the unspoken gesture. However, in posting this link to a video of a song I wrote, I feel I must say something.

“Times We Had” is a simple song – a meditation on the nostalgic emotion that accompanies the moment in a relationship where you look back at all the silly inconsequential landmarks. When I wrote the song, I had no intention of pairing it with film. Yet, I wanted to share my music in different ways and over time, the idea of creating a music video seemed viable. I am not a film maker. I can barely manage to take photos that are in focus even when using auto focus.

Somehow I came across the idea of editing public domain footage to create a music video and within these limits I decided I was capable of creating something interesting. I spent a long time looking through various websites to find any footage worth using. There are many public domain B-movies, but I didn’t have the patience to sift through an hour and a half of footage to find a useable four minutes. I eventually stumbled upon a film of an alleged Soviet reanimation experiment. The original film is about ten minutes long. It depicts the workings of some strange laboratory where scientists experiment on dogs with the intent to bring the dead back to life. The footage can be disturbing until you realize that it is utterly fake, at least I hope it is.

I initially thought the film was bizarre. I still do. But that is precisely why I decided to use it for a music video. The video was strange enough to capture my attention, but the theme of the film also overlaps with the message of my song. The scientists attempting to bring the dead back to life, like lovers looking back upon their relationship, are motivated by some sense of nostalgia – an unwillingness to let go.

I only hope that the eye poking, severed heads and what not don’t detract from the music.

“Times We Had” – Stephen Joseph

Jim Sullivan: A Tattered Testimonial Drifting Across the Aural Landscape

In March 1975 a musician named Jim Sullivan left Los Angeles and headed toward Nashville with the hope of developing a successful music career. He never made it past Santa Rosa, NM.

Sullivan’s VW Bug was found 26 miles away from a motel he had checked into.

Some think he wandered into the desert and got lost. Some think he developed a relationship that went sour with a local family allegedly tied to the mafia. And others think aliens abducted him.

What is known is that Jim Sullivan was never seen again.

The alien abduction theory is must likely connected to Sullivan’s 1969 debut album titled U.F.O. It featured cryptic lyrics about the highway, the desert and aliens.

Throughout the late ‘60s and early ‘70s Jim Sullivan performed nightly at a Malibu, CA bar. His gift for musical storytelling earned him a cult like status on the West Coast.

Sullivan was on the cusp of fame – hanging out with movie stars and performing on the Jose Feliciano show. He even had a cameo appearance in the epic hippie film, Easy Rider.

Sullivan’s career certainly seemed to be steadily gaining traction. Phil Spector’s legendary sessioneers, The Wrecking Crew, even loaned their talent to creating the U.F.O. album.

But U.F.O. was largely different than the performance Sullivan gave on stage. Rather than a one-man-and-a-guitar sound, the album was a full realization of instrumentation and imagination. It was a folk-rock record with a head full of astral dust.

Sullivan’s voice is deep and full on the recording. His phrasings unravel like incantations. The album is brimming with unhappy pop songs scraped from the smog filled lethargy of Los Angeles.

Yet, the album failed to gain critical attention.

Sullivan released another unsuccessful album in 1972. And by 1975, with his marriage falling apart, Sullivan left for Nashville hoping to etch out a new life as a sessioneer on Country and Western albums.

At this point in Sullivan’s story the few facts that remain are comingled with assumptions and wild exaggerations.

What has been documented is that the police pulled Sullivan over about 15 hours after he set off from LA. He was taken to a police station, passed sobriety tests, and instructed to stay the night at a local La Mesa motel to get some rest. He complied.

Sometime afterwards, the Genetti family, suspected to have mafia ties, spotted his car on their ranch and confronted him about his business there. The following day his abandoned car was found 26 miles down the road.

Sullivan’s guitar, wallet, clothes and several copies of his second album were found in his car and at his hotel room. There was no note and no Jim. He had disappeared.

The missing person search that followed uncovered no sign of Sullivan’s body.

Fortunately, his music has survived – thanks to Light In The Attic Records.

Sullivan’s album, U.F.O., was once nearly impossible to find – a record so rare that you could scour the Internet or independent record stores without finding a trace of it.

The Seattle based record label, Light In The Attic Records, however, made it their mission to uncover this long forgotten treasure. After hundreds of phone calls, e-mails, letters, faxes, private detectives, telepathy, palm readings and meetings with Jim’s wife, Light In The Attic Records has produced an excellent digital mastering of the original recording.

U.F.O. is a psychedelic-folk masterpiece. Beyond the mystery, Jim Sullivan’s music remains, available now to a broader, new audience – echoing like a cosmic, tattered testimonial in the transcendental aural landscape.

Arcade Fire Victory

I have an eclectic taste in music and tend not to hold much regard for award shows. But when Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” won a Grammy for album of the year, I decided perhaps this is worth reflection.

Not just because I’m a fan, but because I find the implications of such a beautifully melancholic album, combined with the fact that the general Grammy audience had never heard of the band, intriguing.

After the awards show, the Twittersphere blew up with comments from upset viewers, many claiming they didn’t know who Arcade Fire was and expressing anger at the band’s success.

Considering the highly commercial competition for the coveted award from artists like Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, it is understandable that a band from the fabled “indie-rock” genre could go unnoticed.

This would make sense, except that Arcade Fire is one of the biggest indie bands in the world. They have headlined giant festivals like Coachella and Bonaroo and have sold out multiple performances at Madison Square Garden.

The word “indie” deserves some consideration. It is largely associated with the financial means by which an artist supports itself. By this definition Arcade Fire is indeed indie.

Yet, if indie is defined by the financial entity that controls artistic property, then big names like Robert Plant, Taylor Swift, Drake and Eminem could be considered indie as well. They have all, in one way or another, been responsible for controlling how their music is sold.

The term “indie” now becomes complicated. Nobody would seriously argue that Eminem is indie, even though he is signed to his own Shady Records label. He is too mainstream to bear such an esteemed categorization of alternative appeal.

Another way to use the term indie could be in reference to the style of music, such as music that is creatively different than mainstream hit-makers. But this becomes problematic too, much like the favorite 90s catch-all term “alternative.”

Whatever slot Arcade Fire is filed into, their talent and artistic ability shines through. Members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences chose “The Suburbs” as album of the year because of its exemplary artistic statement.

The album is a collection of contemplations about fleeting youth, familial responsibility and personal disappointments. It is a recording that deals with truth and accepting the personal flaws that are most difficult to acknowledge.

“The Suburbs” is full of orchestral textures, rock sensibilities and chamber pop quirks. It is deeply creative, theatrically flowing and cohesive with interludes and multi-part songs. Although the songs tend to be loose and busy, they are not overtly complex.

There is tension built around the paradoxical desperation of wasting time as an adult by focusing too much attention on the wasted potential of youth. Feelings of disillusionment and disappointment are iterated repeatedly throughout the album. It is bleak, but it is bleak with purpose. The album recognizes the soul-crushing tragedy of growing old and mundane.

On previous albums, Arcade Fire celebrated youthful revolt, leaving home and pointing fingers at the establishment. But this album is more about the complexities of entering adulthood – not wanting to participate in the modern, hyperactive, disconnected world, yet having to deal with the everyday reality of it.

“The Suburbs” is an artistic statement representative of the transitioning digital world we live in, highly reflective of this past decade. It raises big questions worth wrestling with.

Arcade Fire’s music industry peers chose “The Suburbs” as album of the year probably for many different reasons, but musical creativity, thought-provoking expression and outstanding talent must have been among them.

Top 25 Albums of the Decade

Compiling a list of the top 25 albums of the decade is like saying I like the scent of sandalwood better than lilac. It’s a subjective matter. Yet, within the following opinionated list lay works of brilliance no music snob could rightfully deny. Each album is a piece of art from start to finish. The following have stood out and made an impact on me these past ten years. Enjoy.

25. Incubus – Morning View (2001)

Undoubtedly the best Incubus album, it is full of imaginative riffs and fervent melodies. Morning View was a step toward more original song structures for the band. The album has a soft and heavy ebb and flow.

24. Devendra Banhart – Rejoicing In The Hands (2004)

A psych-folk masterpiece. Imagine a Spanish Nick Drake singing about “Tit Smoking in the Temple of Artesan Mimicry.”

23. Dillinger Four – Versus God (2000)

A punk-rock band that actually hasn’t sold out, Dillinger Four has a pop-punk style that is crunchy and catchy. This is an intelligent album that focuses on the punk industry exploiting the youth culture. There is plenty of cynicism and satire here. “All the billboards in the world can’t cover our eyes.”

22. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Ease Down The Road (2001)

A quiet, thoughtful album suitable for an early morning cup of coffee. A poetic and depressing album to come to terms with.

21. Andrew Bird – The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)

A magical breath of fresh air from the Chicago born violinist Andrew Bird. The instrumentation on this album is complex and inventive. Bird sculpts musical worlds with a childlike curiosity.

20. Bob Dylan – Modern Times (2006)

A legend gets his second wind for the third straight time.

19. Against Me – Reinventing Axl Rose (2002)

An impressive debut album, a personal and political, fist pumping romp. Amazing lyrics, great rhythms and memorable messages. “Baby, I’m and anarchist and you’re a spineless liberal/We marched together for the eight-hour day/And held hands in the streets of Seattle/But when it came time to throw bricks through that Starbucks window/You left me all alone.”

18. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)

Steven’s second album in his fifty-state project proves to be his pinnacle work. Meditations on random facets of the prairie state. 48 more states to go.

17. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008)

Pure, easy-going harmonies. Soak in the calm atmosphere of their self-described, “baroque harmonic pop” jams.

16. Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk (2009)

A super-group of super-sonic proportions. Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, Jim James from My Morning Jacket and M. Ward collaborate on this fuzzy-folk-rock masterpiece.

15. Iron and Wine – The Shepard’s Dog (2007)

This album is a departure from the typical Iron and Wine lazy soft-spoken melodies. The musical styles on this album vary to form a captivating texture throughout. Great album from beginning to end.

14. Mason Jennings – Use Your Voice (2004)

This is a perfect album. It is a masterpiece of intimate song craft and minimalist production. The stripped down sound complements the honesty of Jennings’s lyrics perfectly.

13. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (2008)

Bright, fun and unique. An ambitious debut from sweater clad Columbia University graduates.

12. The Strokes – Is This It (2001)

A stroke of inspiration for garage bands worldwide. Simple rock full of charisma and rhythm. Irresistible.

11. Josh Ritter – The Animal Years (2006)

Ritter stretches the boundaries of folk music with this album, full of mysterious lyrics and straightforward melodies.

10. The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan (2005)

This album is the White Stripes most musically integrated record. Though it still maintains the garage rock, blues influences of their previous work, it explores new styles through piano and acoustic guitar.

09. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005)

Poetic, personal and political. A great album for a grey day.

08.The Avett Brothers – Emotionalism (2007)

Honest, heart felt folk/bluegrass/rock. Catchy melodies and full-throated harmonies make this album difficult to stop listening to.

07. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

Artistic noise, narcissistic lyrics interrupted by pure pop jems. This is Wilco’s defining moment.

06. My Morning Jacket – Z (2005)

A groundbreaking record. Mind bending.

05. Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)

A psychedelic rock epic. The band’s crowning achievement. When I fist heard this album I thought, this is the record I want playing when I loose my virginity.

04. Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News (2004)

A well-rounded record of sloppy melodies, fierce wit and outstanding riffs.

03. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)

The album was given its title because several band members had lost loved ones during the process of making the record. This fact comes through in its sound – vulnerable, yet confrontational. So called “baroque pop/indie rock,” this album is a unique statement by an excitingly imaginative band.

02. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife (2006)

This album was inspired by a Japanese folk tale in which a peasant in rural Japan finds a wounded crane on a walk one evening. He nurses it back to health and the crane flies away. Days later, a mysterious woman shows up at his door and he takes her in. They fall in love and get married. They are both poor, so she offers to start weaving cloth, which the husband can take to the market to sell, under the condition that while she’s weaving, he must never look in on her. He agrees and they become moderately wealthy from selling the silk cloth. The husband’s curiosity is unstoppable and he looks in on her as she’s weaving. He discovers that she’s a crane and has been pulling feathers from her wings and weaving them into the cloth. Upon this discovery, the spell is broken and she flies away.

This album is stunningly beautiful and theatrically compelling.

01. Radiohead – Kid A (2000)

This album breaks forms and explores new territory. Abstract, surreal and sonically arresting. I remember fist listening to this record in total awe. I couldn’t get over how creative and experimental this band became. I didn’t stop listening to this album for months. Radiohead continues to surprise me, but this album was particularly earth shattering.