Song of the Day

Song Of The Day: Katy Goodman & Greta Morgan – Pay to Cum (Bad Brains cover)

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Paul in Song of the Day | Leave a comment

A well done cover can often make you see a song in a whole new light. This is true of the upcoming release Take It, It’s Yours, wherein Katy Goodman of La Sera and Greta Morgan of Springtime Carnivore take a collection of punk songs and replace the high speed and aggression of the originals with sweet, jangly dreampop delivered at a leisurely pace. Amongst great versions of songs by The Buzzcocks, The Replacements, Billy Idol and others, one of the standouts is their cover of the Bad Brains’ “Pay to Cum.”

Katy Goodman explains their take on it in the press release for the album:

“On the surface a song like ‘Pay to Cum’ seems really masculine, but to me, the lyrics are really more about freedom,” Goodman says. “You have the right to sing, you have the right to dance. When you have two girls harmonizing on these songs, they take on a new meaning, because you’re listening in a different way.”

Take It, It’s Yours is out August 26 on Polyvinyl Records

Song of the Day: Kishi Bashi, Hey Big Star

Posted on August 7, 2016 by Gary in Everything, Song of the Day | Leave a comment

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Last time I heard from Kishi Bashi was back in 2012, when he gave a great Tiny Desk concert. That is, of course, years ago. The multi-instrumentalist has released tracks and albums each year since that time, always with his signature dobos-torte-like multilayer offerings, orchestrating bewildering melodies, soaring choruses, and dazzling loop samplings.

“Hey Big Star” is something on the leaner side, however. While it’s still no slouch at filling in the silence (there IS none), it does so quite a bit more efficiently than its predecessors. When the choir chimed in at 2:30, it took me back almost 80 years to the opulent Mandarin parties on the banks of the river in Shanghai. Alas, failing to be alive at that time, where it really transported me was a karaoke bar.

Sonderlust, Kishi Bashi’s next album from which “Hey Big Star” issues, will be out on September 16th.

Song of the Day: Japanese Breakfast, In Heaven

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Gary in Song of the Day | Leave a comment

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Those of you who listen to music mainly for the tonality, flow and hooks to the extreme of shunning lyrics could probably sympathize with the knock-out punch I walked into. These are the opening lines to “In Heaven”:

The dog’s confused
She just paces around all day
She’s sniffing at your empty room

The backdrop is unmistakably uplifting until the lyrics hoovered up the entire atmosphere. The realization dawns that this is about coping with a death of someone dear. Yet the improbable sensation of floating remains. Held aloft by the buoyant music, you wonder about the enforced altitude and anxiously anticipate an appointment with pavement that never occurs. It’s one thing to collude sadness with melancholy melody, but quite another to force a smile with an upbeat song about sadness. Even without that interesting aside, it shines as a very good tune.

“In Heaven” is the first track off of Japanese Breakfast’s Psychopomp album, released in April of this year.

Song of the Day: Honeysuckle – It’s getting late

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Gary in Everything, Song of the Day | Leave a comment

 

Honeysuckle is a type of climbing vine or shrub with bright flowers and poisonous berries, in case you wanted to know. If three of said shrubs performed at the Newport Folk Festival, hippies might jump for joy, scientists could be similarly over-the-moon, and doomsday-preppers would turn-tail to stock their armoured trailers full of weedwackers. Sadly, only the part about them performing in Providence last year was true.

Just your plain’ole, progressive folksy humans from Boston, MA, Honeysuckle released their self-titled album earlier this year. The opener “It’s Getting Late” summarizes their approach quite well. Listen for the sweet yet honest three-part harmony. And the bright banjo that decorates the song like Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs, guiding you over the pessimistic lyrics to a hopefully cannibal-free ending.

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