I've been totally obsessing over this lady on youtube today. She's good at piano. Double good.

Below is her playing a Rachmaninoff piece called "Little Red Riding Hood" that I hadn't heard before. I'm guessing that the inspiration for this song was the idea of a girl's unfortunate encounter with a wolf. If I'm right, the symbolism has the abrupt bass melody being the menacing-as-hell wolf and the mid/trebel melodies being Little Red Riding Hood. As the piece matures, the bass and trebel meld together more and more, as the wolf gains the girl's trust. I get the impression that the song ends before the story ends, with the wolf eating both Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. There's nothing that I really identify with a hunter coming to save them. Please note, however, that I'm talking out of my ass and am probably wrong.

Bottom line is that Ms. Lisitsa is sick good and that Rachmaninoff remains one of my favorite composers.

A friend played Graham Smith for me shortly before I left Atlanta for the summer. I was sitting on a stuffed cardboard box in his packed up apartment when he put on "USHC Brand Men's Jeans" and completely floored me. The song evolves so nicely but never repeats itself. There is no central refrain or loaded reprise, just the steady progression of ideas towards their comfortable, although not entirely obvious, conclusions. I guess I could just call it indie rock with a power pop tint, but that doesn't sound especially exciting.

I got this album over the weekend and "USHC Brand Men's Jeans" is now situated comfortably in my iTunes' Top 25 Most Played. I guess it's a good thing that I'm writing about this now, because I am definitely going to burn this one out very fast.

It is definitely worth noting that Graham Smith doesn't repeat himself lyrically. Ultimately it is a practice that will limit his appeal, but when he pulls it off, it is pretty impressive. It's obviously more challenging to construct a song without a chorus to fall back on. We've all heard songs that sound like the artist is trying to kill time until he or she gets back to the hook. A great chorus acts as a crutch to some extent. It's nice to see someone step away from the framework and take the risks Smith is taking.


Ushc Brand Mens Jeans - Graham Smith

I hate family gatherings. I hate them with the fire of a thousand suns. I don't really like most members of my extended family and I have no relatives my age. The time is mostly spent justifying my existence to older relatives and hoping that younger relatives don't talk to me.

My great aunt has been particularly bothering me lately. My life is apparently completely worthless because I'm not pursuing a career in law. She also wants me to break up with my girlfriend because she's not a Jew.

Needless to say, I need to calm myself after these terrible experiences. Oftentimes, music plays a role in this process. The latest piece of music that has settled my nerves has been Scriabin's Etude in D-sharp minor. This piece is all payoff. Give it a listen.

Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska is a disarmingly simple recording. I guess that makes sense. Springsteen famously recorded the album while touring, sitting in hotel rooms with a guitar and hammering out these appreciably haunted folk songs. Nebraska isn't much more than a well-mastered demo and that clearly works in its favor. The ideas sound fresh and, while the recording is impressive for what it is, its imperfections lend another layer to the songs.

"Atlantic City" is remarkably clever for a demo. Spingsteen recorded rough harmonies an octave lower than the lead melody, mixed them down, and threw some reverb on them. They climb up out of nowhere, assume their appropriate place, and create emotional urgency. The backups allow the listener to really appreciate the barrenness of the song. There aren't any sounds in that register and when they creep up, it both adds force to the melodies they accompany and pulls the listener back from the guitar to a vantage point where he or she can appreciate the entire landscape.

Side note: A few months ago I was having a pretty had time trying to figure out how to pick a good guitar tone. I could make the guitar sound great in isolation, but once I added it to a full song, it always seemed out of place. My friend told me that, when mixing, it helps to think of the song as a physical space. Everything needs its only place and your tools are, largely, based on EQs, panning, and volume controls. By bringing the volume up or down, you can bring the sound forward or backwards, panning brings it side to side, and EQs bring it up or down (as the frequency would obviously indicate). I think the physical space framework can be helpful when trying to replicate or understand why a certain sound in a song has the affect that it does.

Second side note: Nebraska looks exactly like the cover of this album.


Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen