Interactive Poll XXVII: Collaborations Don't Work

Samuel:  FFS “Collaborations Don’t Work”  Right off, the singer makes me think of Ray Davies, especially with the tongue-in-cheek humour of the song.  Very clever piece of music, vocals switch from dance-hall to mock-operatic, starting very starkly just voice and acoustic guitar (or is that a uke?), then full band and orchestral production values as well.    Ends quietly with electric piano, the entire piece sort of is cleverly arranged as seeming to be different things patched together, but of course it is entirely deliberate and does actually work.  Onde Acaba o Oeste  (feat. Viviane)  “Anaquim – 10 Anos“  Bass and electric guitar begin the piece with slowly building drums.  It settles in to a conversational tone with the full band softly playing along, and builds a bit into perhaps the chorus (we shall see).  Presumably Viviane enters the stage and sings, continuing the story.  She plays a solo on a horn of some sort (related to a bombarde, or indeed one, I can’t see it clearly enough).  I see by translation, that this is the story of a rover of some sort, perhaps an old soldier or a person with no country anymore.  There is a sadness to the piece, one feels this is a soul that will always be lost.

Hrychu:  The Recover Collective “Back at the Finja Shack”  Begins with synths and some percussive hits, a spoken into , becomes very bouncy and upbeat still on synths.  This one, as the illustration suggests, sounds very much like a video game soundtrack (or an musical montage of one), with the themes changing and about midway, male vocals are heard.  Second third has electric guitar chiming in.  Spooky laughter and spoken word ends, after an almost false ending.  What is your contribution to the piece, Hrychu?

Logan:  Haco & Sakamoto Hiromichi “Zero Hills”  I very much like the beginning right away, with cello and violin duetting.  Mournful female singer then joins the cello played pizzicato and bowed saw (the theremin before the theremin was invented, lol), I think?  Very pretty and haunting piece, the interplay between her clear vocals and the deep, deep sounds of the plucked cello with the occasional resurgence of the higher pitched violin is just lovely.  A very quiet almost childlike chorus way back in the mix is added near the end of the piece, with the violin sliding into some dissonance as the piece quietly concludes, in a fade-out.  Pierre Henry & Urban Sax “Gate of Paradise”  A blatting sax (or is that on keys?) sound begins the piece (quit harming those sheep!) with blurt and blips of higher pitch at odd intervals.  The blatting becomes more shrill and a kazoo-ish ululation is thrown in for good measure.  More layers and textures are gradually added.  Very hypnotic piece of music.  Toshiyuki Miyama and His New Herd “Masahiko Sato - Ni”  Sonic blast to begin with, almost feedback-y noise with clickery stringy things and dissonance,  cascading horns float in and around, with creaks for punctuation….woingy keys join in and whirly horns are next.  Flutes and/or keyboard flutiness flips into the mix, while those horns and such just keep on continuing.  Somehow I envision deep space with this kind of thing, or perhaps microscopic shenanigans, which you could hear if you were tiny enough.  Drum solo!  And back to the woingy-doingies.  Drum solo!  Percussive piano begins and the band comes back in.  Wow!  Was I driving?  😉

Suitkees:  Nena and Kim Wilde “Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime”  Back to the 80s and synth pop/rock….loved your intro.  The ultra-cool vocals of Nena and Kim Wilde together….dark and light hair in the video reflect their dark and light(er) vocal styles.  They mesh really well vocally, perfect 80’s production here.  Great song for summer driving on the coast.  Cesar Zuiderwijk & Jasper van’t Hof “Polo”  Piano beginning with kick drum and then full kit joining in, in a jazzy upbeat groove.  Synth keys add an almost orchestral swell underneath, with the bass and drums steadily keep on underneath.  A sax comes along and joins in the fun.  Another great piece for driving along while enjoying a great view and some music to go along with it.  Bill Bruford & Michiel Borstlap “Two Left Shoes” My favourite drummer here.  😊  Begins with syncopated percussion then keyboards and I think bass?  The percussion becomes more complex and builds tension.  Keyboard wash, then a repeating line on the keys. The keyboards and percussion continue on in this vein and eventually it turns down to a quieter piano with the same main melodic notes and some swirly whirlies on the piano, as those drum continue on in oh-so-interesting ways.  The piece ends after the swirly parts.  Bozzio, Levin & Stevens “Lost” A favourite combination of mine, I have another recording of this grouping, “Black Light Syndrome,” in my collection.  This one has some strong hitting chords with more great percussion behind it all.  This one is very angular to my ear, if that makes any sense.  The washes return with some repeating keys and then some just absolutely searing guitar.  Love that guitar.  The dynamics shift to a bit more quiet of a setting and spiky sounding punctuation.  Bass is also very engaging, as should be….These are all masters at what they do.  Fantastic.     And back to the main theme before the piece ends abruptly.  *applauds*

Lorenzo:  Fabrizio De André “Khorakhané (A Forza di essere vento)”  Beautiful, soaring keys with an electric guitar begin the mournful piece.  Vocalist with much emotion tells the sad story.  A bell tolls with swelling orchestral touches.  Most of the production is very spare.  A woman sings at the very end of the piece, this one gave me chills.     Another from Fabrizio, arranged by PFM “Amico Fragile”  Guitar and the now-familiar-to-me voice of Frabrizio.  He reminds me much of Leonard Cohen, in his subject matter and delivery, although he has a more “musical” voice.  The electric guitar is very passionate in this one.  His sense of angst and frustration with the empty-minded come through quite clearly in the piece.  Thirdly, “La Guerra de Piero”, also Fabrizio, this time in collaboration with Modena City Ramblers and Piero Pelù.  Begins with oud or lute?  Flutes join in with the impassioned vocals that tell of the ravages of war.  They slip into an Irish slip jig, “The Butterfly.”  Reminds me of what I think of as a “village song,” a term I use from time to time (not sure how technical it is).  I like the beat of this a lot and the instrumentation as well as the tale. 

Lewian:  Jah Wobble, Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit & More “It Was A Camel”  Braking sort of sound made on cymbals, I think, bass comes bubbling in and muted speaking comes along.  Jumpy sort of guitars and horns with scratching (whatever gait IS that camel using?) and percussive piano begins layering in.  The camel’s life just gets more complicated as wah-wah-y horns begin infiltrating and it all drops out for the piano to flourish for a moment.  Back to the main story with whistles at intervals and some almost-Island-ish or African guitar wangling in.  The piece comes to a fade as it closes out.  Somehow it made me envision a sort of cartoon camel who was visiting different places, as you watched from his perspective.

Cristi:  Coverdale/Page “Whisper a Prayer For The Dying”  Begins with repeating electric guitar lick and David Coverdale’s classic rock-type voice.  The music becomes more intense and Coverdale goes into the outer limits of his range.  Orchestral hits punctuate and the repeating guitar riff returns and becomes a fiery solo by Page.  The orchestral bit reminds me a bit of “Kashmir,” a brief homage, perhaps.  This is obviously first class music of it’s genre.  I prefer the lower register of Coverdale, which he utilizes quite a bit in this one.  Off Course ft. Erik Truffaz  “Tales of the Lighthouse”  Now for something completely different.  Soft jazz feel to this, goes perfectly with the windsurfing cover.  Electric piano, congas perhaps as percussion and muted horn join together for a perfectly relaxing time.  Later, a return to the horn soloing again.  Pretty guitar solo about midway through.  Makes me want to sit in the sun and enjoy an adult beverage while the band plays on.

Mike:  Monsters of Folk “Dear God”  Light, almost poppy music with some nice harp glisses at the start 😊 Belies the sound at the beginning of a pop sort of song, as the song asks some serious questions.  I like the combination of a really modern production feel here, the chorus is sung in a very soulful way.  The guitar lead is tastefully done, as it comes in near the conclusion.  This one might come back to haunt me, I think.  Temple of the Dog “Hunger Strike”  I remember this one, so can’t vote for it, but it’s a great song.  Thank you for reminding me of it. Beck, Thurston Moore, Tortoise “One Man’s Dream”  Piano at the beginning as guitars are tortured in various ways against that as a backdrop.  There are some orchestral bits on synth?  Or is it just feedback?  Can’t really tell.  When there are not the odd hesitations, I almost start to like what they’re doing, but it feels too disjointed to me (although I understand it’s supposed to) to get a grip on what they’re doing.  There is a spoken part through a lot of strange filters.  I’ll leave this one to the professionals.

Easy Money:  John Cale & Terry Riley “Church of Anthrax”  Love love love the name!    Organ and bass and some electronic keys and percussion set the scene.  Very back of front production, I enjoy the various layers as they enter the room and sit down in the pews, if you will.  This is very spacey in a good way.  It is fairly avant feeling, yet with a purpose, which the Yanni cover by Beck et al seemed to be trying too hard to me to achieve.  Violin comes along and joins the worshippers in the church, then saxophone, I think, perhaps tenor?  Or that could be done with keys, I don’t know.  But I very much enjoy the groove.  Are they accepting new members at the church?