Enlightened Conflict

Tag Archives: songs about self doubt

never go back

June 6th, 2012

A Vermont band. Go figure.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals is from Waitsfield, Vermont.

Think St. Lawrence University <or is it college … anyway … think>.

The band was originally formed in late 2002 when one future Nocturnal saw Potter perform folk songs in a student-run venue called The Java Barn on the St. Lawrence campus. He approached Potter about starting a band, citing James Brown and The Band as musical influences he heard in Potter’s voice and original songs.

Grace has a voice that I would describe as “one with a soul.” It’s not thin. It’s not operatic. It’s Janis Joplinesque but a better actual voice.

Many of you may know Grace for her guest vocals on “you & tequila” with Kenny Chesney.

I was actually introduced to Grace & Nocturnals with this song … Apologies <a spectacular ballad>: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC5EgI9dcqo

But. I continue to believe this is their best song to date … a spectacular bluesy song called Stop the Bus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N77cFgQSvTk

Ok. Enough of the old stuff.

Here is their newest song … Never Go Back. Really nice. Really … well … Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. Its stays rootsy but you can hear they are playing around with some different sounds & techniques.

I could have included the cd version but this live version is so good I included it instead. And even better … it is a live performance at the University of Vermont <go Catamounts>.

Never go Back (at UVM): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiY2vSlKIy4

why you wanna

June 6th, 2012

Well.

I haven’t written about a country song in a really <really> long time. Mostly because I haven’t heard anything worth a shit in a long time.

And this one busted out of the car radio speakers.

“why you wanna” by Jana Kramer.

Now. Jana Kramer.

She sounds as country as country can sound. And she has a nice voice and it is a nice really listenable country song … but … here is the big question …  can you really be a country singer if you grew up in Detroit <or the rust belt I think> and live/work in LA?

And can you be a country star if you are an actress that played an LA girl on One Tree Hill?

Can a woodchuck really chuck wood?

Anyway.

This was the song that caught my ear on the radio …

Why you Wanna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&src_vid=17Xta8oJDQQ&annotation_id=annotation_456212&v=Ho5HV_9_o_E

Oh.

This was the song they should have released first:

Whiskey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySUuhDcAl2I&feature=relmfu

Country girl or not … these are good country songs.

have a bloody mary

June 6th, 2012

So. I have been a Silversun Pickups fan ever since  heard one of their songs on some random san Francisco unknown band late night radio show.

But, I admit, I like their music in doses. Similar to Billy Corrigan’s voice with The Smashing Pumpkins the vocals, when they are right, are really right … and when they are wrong … well … it is grating.

Regardless.

They just released their first album since 2009. Neck of the Woods is pretty good with their style of a driving low level rock propelled by nice melodies … and oddly <for songs that have a nice melody> they aren’t driven by some great hook but rather a good 4-5 minutes of a song tied together really well.

“Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)” is the first single from Neck of the Woods and it is a really good song. Here is what one reviewer said:

Musically, “Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)” recalls the way M83 manages to construct the ethereal guitar textures and romance-glistening synths of the John Hughes era into something distinctly modern. Aubert’s wistful chorus, meanwhile, alludes to the spooky sleep-over game that South Park updated several years ago to involve Biggie Smalls. This five-minute dream-popper has more live-band muscle than your average chillwave ‘80s reverie, though the bittersweet emotional state it conveys isn’t necessarily any easier to articulate.

Now.

I thought the metaphors went a little overboard <but it was a fun read and I did like the M83 reference> but at least it wasn’t your typical Rolling Stone pretentious review.

Anyway.

Here is Bloody Mary. 6 minutes of a pretty sweeping melodic rock song.

Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxSWj5bou9M&ob=av2n

build to burn

May 6th, 2012

So.

I have been thinking of writing about Linkin Park for some time.  They have a new song called Burn it Down that actually got me thinking this is the time.

They are the band I should hate but I love.

I should hate them because they scream a lot <instead of singing> and the music is not the most well written music.

But I love them because, first and foremost, they captured the voice of a generation.

Old people probably call it angry music. Old people call it noise.

I tell old people that it is the voice of their children.

When they began they were about self doubt, self esteem, fear, pain, and insecurity … all typical things found in teens.

Their songs captured how young people felt. While others may have written about love and heartache they wrote about love and insecurity. They wrote about “why don’t you listen to me.” They wrote about growing up and the dance between “I know what I am doing” and “I don’t know what I am doing.”

And their music captured the feeling of “I have something to say” in every note and chord.

I am not sure any band of that time captured the softer “I am talking to you” and the angrier “you are not listening to what I have to say and it is important to me” sense better.

Somewhere I belong, In the End, Numb, One Step closer … if you wanted to know what your teen was thinking they were saying it.

In the end: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVTXPUF4Oz4&ob=av2e

Numb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXYiU_JCYtU&feature=relmfu

One step closer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qlCC1GOwFw&feature=relmfu

Now?

As older more thoughtful young men … they are the voice of a generation’s social conscious. They began with personal issues and have evolved into social issues <without ever losing sight of the personal aspect>.

Their music is questioning the why and what aspects of all that is happening in the world today. And they continue to do it in their powerful rock riff chords balancing the talk rap and Chester singing thoughts and screaming questions.

Burn it Down is all about building it … only to burn it down. And trust … and the failures of the ones you trusted. And the power to burn down what you have enabled to build. The power of a generation to … well … actually do something. The power to build. And the power to burn it down.

The thing I love? It could be social awareness. It could be personal awareness. And that is life these days. What is personal is also part of what is happening socially.

Their new song “burn it down” is the best of what Linkin Park is best at. It is powerful to listen to … musically and lyrically.  And while the message is good, and interesting, the way the song is put together is superior. In the chorus they drop in a bone shivering lower octave synthesizer/organ just as Chester goes up vocally to sing “bring it up … to burn it down.” The combination of the low low and high melody makes for great listening. The video is one of their typical ‘lots of post production’ videos … they are always good for slowing down film to intensify movement and reversing film to give a surreal feel to some basic movement. Anyway. Really well put together song.

Burn it Down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxytyRy-O1k

Old people ignore Linkin Park as noise.

And because of that they don’t listen.

And that is a mistake <if they want to understand this generation>.

Linkin Park has something to say.

They had something to say ten years ago. They have something to say today.

Their music is not for everyone … but their message is worth everyone listening to.

Enlightened Conflict