Tag: bjork

MIXTAPE: Sam Blasucci’s Life Forms in Live Performance

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Coming early 2025, I will be releasing a live concert film of my new record, Real Life Thing. The film runs like a play of sorts, including different set changes and moods for each song as we run down the entire track list of the album. To me, live performance is the reason for making music. It’s the best way for me to tap into something deep in myself with those that have come out to do the same. It’s also the way that I make my trade as a human; I think live performance already brings an honest and vulnerable energy since it is our livelihood.

Songs evolve each time they’re performed live and each instrument reflects a current mood. It’s an endless mixed bag of potential outcomes. So much of a performance is pulled from all of the energies involved – the crowd, the band, the venue and the ghosts that live there, the time of year, etc. It’s the most exciting part of music to me and that’s why I decided to make my playlist all live performances of some of my favorite songs. – Sam Blasucci

“If I Was Your Girlfriend” Live In Utrecht (2020 Remaster) – Prince

I could have made this entire playlist just live Prince recordings that blow my mind, but that might only be fun for me. I especially love this version because it’s a song he wrote as his alter ego persona Camilla, who sang it on the album (Prince pitched his voice up to sound higher). But in this version, you just get Prince in Europe with his natural voice and it’s one of my favorite recordings of his ever.

“Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” Live in London – Leonard Cohen

I think this is Leonard Cohen’s best album of any, live or in the studio. He was better and better with age. This is the cute version of Leonard as an old man finally, singing this song in the way it feels like it should have always been sung. Of any live performance on this list, this is the one I would have loved to see most in person.

“LA FAMA” Live en el Palau Sant Jordi – Rosalía

Some live versions I think are better than the studio versions and this is one of those cases, although I love the studio versions of all the MOTOMAMI songs. When Rosalía released this on the deluxe version of the album, it gave the song another side and clicked with me even more.

“Hunter” (Live) – Björk

If the purpose of a live performance is to tap in to something, Björk never missed. She’s the hunter.

“Knock On Wood” Live; 2005 Mix; 2016 Remaster – David Bowie

This is my favorite era of David Bowie (Cracked Actor). I especially love his vocal performance in this version. It’s not easy to cover a classic song like this and have it feel tastefully ramped up, but I think he brought it and crushed it.

“Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)” – Donny Hathaway

Willie Weeks may be my favorite bass player and his solo section toward the end of this is widely known as one of the coolest bass moments, and with good reason. I suppose it shouldn’t be that hard to tap in when Donny Hathaway is leading the band.

“17 Days” Piano & A Microphone 1983 Version – Prince

When you can strip it all down to a single instrument and a voice and come through with so much power and spirit, that must be the true peak of live performance. When there is nothing else in the pot, all the secret parts of the music come out and make magic.

“Hot Burrito #2” Live at Lafayette’s Music Room – Big Star

I always thought Alex Chilton had some similarities with Gram Parsons. They sort of sing in a similar way and they both show so much emotion in their songs. I think that’s why he could make this version hit so hard. Chilton is at the top of my list of guitar players as well, and this song is a reason why.

“Ventura” Live 2003/The Fillmore, San Francisco – Lucinda Williams

This was recorded on my birthday in 2003. Although I was in 3rd grade and not in attendance for the show, I’d like to think I helped with the vibes. This one sounds like November in SF to me. Another amazing thing about live performance is capturing the energy surrounding the show.

“Woman of Heart and Mind” Live at Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA, 8/14-17, 1974 – Joni Mitchell

Another version that I prefer to the studio cut. The sound of the night and the live acoustic guitar; Joni’s semi-confrontational and conversational writing style seem to be designed for an in-person type of listening.

“Angel Eyes” Live In Toronto/1975 – Jim Hall

Jim Hall is another one of my favorite guitar players. I learned about this song years ago on tour in Colorado and it has ever since remained one of my favorites.

“Stay a Little Longer” Live at Harrah’s Casino, Lake Tahoe, NV April 1978 – Willie Nelson

This feels like a good burning ender to this playlist, although it is the very opening of the concert it was taken from. Willie’s recipe is 3x the speed of the original, a couple out of control solos, and likely some exotic mood modifiers.

Photo Credit: Jo Anna Edmison

MIXTAPE: Call Me Spinster’s LadyVox Crock-Pot

Posted on by Editor

As sisters, our deepest musical influences come from the shared “Crock-Pot” of our household. Our mom is a classical singer and choral director, and daughter of an eccentric music-savant with an encyclopedic knowledge of Gilbert and Sullivan. Our Amish-born dad was raised in the shape note choral tradition, but flew the coop and became a guitar-plucking singer-songwriter in the vein of Paul Simon and Dan Fogelberg. We were raised on music with an emphasis on voice — Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Ella Fitzgerald and loads of art songs and choral music from all over the world.

We began playing together as a cover band, dipping into our teen favorites, from TLC to the Andrews Sisters, Sparks to ’90’s boy bands. Now that we’re writing our own music we’re pulling from an even broader scope, from the Brazilian and West African percussion Rachel studied in college to Amelia’s obsession with ’80s French pop to Rosie’s deep love of classic rock radio hits.

This playlist is a sampling of vocal-centric artists that straddle the line between various types of pop and folk music that are either currently playing on our speakers, or artists whose DNA flows through the music we make. — Call Me Spinster

Pinc Louds – “Soul in My Body”

I stumbled across this band only recently and am obsessed. The power and vulnerability of Claudi’s voice is mesmerizing, and I love their use of raw percussive sounds like the kalimba, held together with synthy glue. – Amelia

DakhaBrakha – “Baby”

DakhaBrakha formed as an avant-garde theater phenomenon in Kiev, and pulls together folk traditions and soul/pop in a way I’ve never heard before. I love the combination of acoustic instruments like harmonica, glockenspiel and bowed cello/bass with some electric twangs throughout. – Amelia

Call Me Spinster – “Morning”

This song began as a sort of call and response, a cappella lullaby. We toyed around with the idea of keeping it that way, using only body percussion. As we started building it, though, Rachel started hearing a samba-style bateria. As layers quickly snowballed, we started calling it our “Lion King song,” including elements like strings and cymbals that aren’t elsewhere on our EP — but still built around that simple vocal call and response. – Amelia

Fiona Apple – “Hot Knife”

I first listened to this song when a friend told us to cover it — but we didn’t dare touch it, because it is perfect. Fiona Apple’s frenzied energy building in layers and countermelody, on top of a rumbling drum and dissonant keys makes me feel like a sleepless night after a killer date when you feel like your heart might shake down the walls of the apartment. – Rosie

Zap Mama – “W’happy Mama”

Zap Mama was a staple of our combined middle/high school CD collection and one of the most memorable groups we’ve seen live. It’s a group of badass women led by “Zap Mama” Marie Daulne who mix pop, jazz, and folk. They’re living proof that voices can be anything and all other instruments are extra party. That party brings in elements of funk and hip-hop throughout the song, but goes back to a cappella sounds at the end, reminding you what the true elements are. “Chante, chante, she say, she say.” – Rosie

Rubblebucket – “On the Ground”

I have listened to this album on repeat over the past few years. It makes me dance and cry. Kalmia Traver’s honest and unfettered vocals feel like a best friend reminding me to look around once in a while and stop taking things so f-ing seriously. – Amelia

Cocteau Twins – “Iceblink Luck”

Heaven or Las Vegas is one of my favorite complete albums of all time. Elizabeth Fraser’s uber-melodic, acrobatic vocals were the obvious draw for me, but as we incorporate more electronic elements into the songs we’re working on for our first full-length record, I am paying closer attention to their perfect cocktail of dreamy distortion. – Amelia

Les Rita Mitsouko – “Marcia Baïla”

Catherine Ringer is one of the most balls-to-the-wall performers ever, not only in her vocal style, but [also] the weird visual worlds that she and Fred Chichin created over the years. If you haven’t seen the music video for this song or for “Andy” do yourself a favor. We are often drawn to artists whose visual aesthetic seems inextricable from their music: Kate Bush, Tyler the Creator, FKA Twigs, etc. – Amelia

Lim Kim – “Awoo”

One of the driving forces for finding new music is making playlists for my yoga classes. “Awoo” has a way of wiggling into many — it has the perfect blend of joyful yet meditative vocals and groovy yet simple rhythm. I love when the voice can be a percussion instrument without sounding like an a cappella group. Janelle Monae and Kimbra also nail this vibe. Lim Kim just hits right every time. – Rachel

Alabama Shakes – “Gimme All Your Love”

This album took us by storm as it did so many — and we keep coming back to it again and again, particularly as we began our recording journey. Brittany Howard has the rare ability to harness the raw energy of her live performance in the studio, and the pacing and build of her songwriting is so unusual and satisfying, like the turn in the middle of this song and the build towards the end. – Amelia

Björk – “Hyperballad”

Björk gives us all permission to feel epic feels with few words and ear-dazzling, diverse orchestration. She has been hugely influential for us and so many artists across genres for multiple decades, probably even in bluegrass. I would love to hear a banjo choir re-make of her album Post — just sayin’. – Rachel

Juana Molina – “Al oeste”

Juana Molina has this super sexy and intimate way of singing that feels almost like the microphone is lodged inside of her. Her songwriting always has a trance quality, with a wink. It lulls you into a dream and then adds a tickle to make sure you’re really listening. – Rachel

Judee Sill – “The Lamb Ran Away with the Crown” (Remastered)

We had to include at least one of the great earnest singer-songwriters of the ’60s/’70s, and who better than the enigmatic, bank robber-theosophist-composer Judee Sill? One of our own songwriting tendencies is writing singable songs that have something sneaky lurking underneath — a disjointed rhythm, an odd structure, an unusual chord progression… perhaps this is the ghost of Judee. – Rachel

Lucy Michelle – “Heart Race”

We grew up falling asleep to our dad picking guitar in the living room and this pattern mixed with Lucy’s lilting and beautifully raw voice is everything that is home. – Rosie

The Roches – “Hammond Song”

I also play in a band called Holy Sheboygan and our first gig ever was in Hammond, Wisconsin’s (pop. 2000) Earth Day Celebration. The lady who hired us pleaded for us to cover “Hammond Song.” We haven’t yet, but we did fall in love with The Roches. The shout-singing style is very reminiscent of our Amish family’s shape-note vocal production, the cascading almost choral songwriting, shameless unisons (#sistergoals), and the drone all fit right in to our sisterhood of sounds. – Rachel

Photo credit: Our Ampersand Photography

Ask Jolie Holland: Bearing the Brunt of Ignorance

Posted on by Editor

Hi Jolie,

I have a question I’d like to ask for your advice column: I am a female musician who is surprised by the number of negative voices coming at me as I turn 40 because I don’t feel diminished. When asked or interviewed about my art, the first inquiry anyone leads with is some variation of “How could you possibly still think you are relevant?” 

I, and my music, are improving with age, like most people and things do. But now my work is suffering because I am failing to ignore these outside voices telling me I am now irrelevant. I would like to ask you for advice on making music and art. I never wanted to trade on youth or sex. But now I feel like I’m screaming into the void. Thank you for your work, and for reading this.

*   *   *   *   *

Dear Quatrogenarienne, 

I am so appalled. I am so embarrassed on behalf of humanity for this nonsense you have endured.

You have to cleave to the source of your creativity. Your work is important, no matter what these fools say.

My first thought is that these people are projecting their fears onto you. One way you could respond is to ask them if they think they will be obsolete by the time they turn 40. We’re part of a culture where white men are generally perceived as “the norm.” Journalists will rarely mention the gender or race of musicians if the band they’re writing about is composed of white men.

The president of my old record company talked about how hard it is for Black rock groups to make it. The culture is so racist that Black bands don’t tend to thrive outside of Black-dominated genres. He was saying it’s not just that record labels don’t know how to market them; the general public doesn’t know how to receive them, either. Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio once told me about an embarrassing white fan who was raving at the (mostly Black) band, “Y’all really bring the funk!” TV on the Radio is not a funk band by any stretch of the imagination.

Performers who are not white men end up doing a lot of emotional work, a lot of convolution in reaction to the fantasies of the dominant culture.

Grimes doesn’t work with engineers because she knows that, if she were to hire someone, the press would attribute all her production work to them. I don’t think she’s being paranoid. 
Björk talks about how she hired a male artist to contribute to some of the beats on one record, and then the press stated that this man had produced, or done, all the beats. He had done some tiny percentage of the percussion on the album, and the rest was Björk’s work.

I have done production on all my albums, and I was the main producer on Springtime Can Kill You. I walked in the door with a male friend, and the house engineer presumed that my friend was the producer. These kinds of indignities are constant and on-going for every single female artist I know.

White male performers have a much broader cultural leeway to define themselves than other performers. Just because you’re a female musician doesn’t mean that you’re a dancer. You don’t have to be a sequined diva. Not every woman who plays music has the desire to present themselves as “ageless” like Madonna, Dolly Parton, and Mariah Carey. 

I admire Freakwater for their unapologetic brilliance as songwriters, for their wildly moving sound. And, I gotta admit, I love how they’re not all dolled up to hell. I admire the forthrightness with which Marianne Faithful, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Patti Smith are foregoing plastic surgery. I wish it weren’t so rare to see our icons age naturally.

Obviously, a lot of people are sincerely confused by stereotypes — these journalists included.

A wonderful friend of mine shot the last video I released, “Waiting for the Sun,” and he asked me, mid-shoot, if I’d written the song. What he meant was that it sounded so “classic” that he assumed it might be a cover. I have to see that it’s the sexism inherent in our culture that led him to wonder if someone else had written the song. People have been asking me if my songs are covers ever since I started playing. If I can contextualize the question as a symptom of our culture’s sexism, then I don’t get my feelings hurt, and I can see my friend for who he is. I know that he works with very talented, famous, high-achieving women, and even he is not immune to an assumption that could be seen as sexist.

We’re suffering through sexism, racism, and ageism. We can do the work of naming the wrongs and working collectively to right them. And, at the end of the day, if we bear the brunt of ignorance, the only way to make it through unscathed is to just keep being as big-hearted, as real, as brilliant as we really are.

Love,
Jolie

Have a questioni for Jolie? Email it to [email protected]

 

Over the span of her career, Jolie Holland has knotted together a century of American song in jazz, blues, folk, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll. A founding member of the Be Good Tanyas, Holland has released a half-dozen critically lauded albums of her own material over the last 12 years. She recently rejoined forces with Samantha Parton — her former Be Good Tanyas bandmate — for a new duo project simply called Jolie Holland and Samantha Parton. Holland currently resides in Los Angeles.