Music Milestones, 1977: Talking Heads – Talking Heads: 77

One of the many successful acts born of the burgeoning mid-1970s punk scene from New York City, the Talking Heads adopted a literate yet funky approach to their music that heralded the birth of new wave. Although the lyrics of songs by the Talking Heads are generally sophisticated, they broach rather prosaic topics revolving around various aspects of life routine and human relationships. Thus, the mundane subjects of songs by the Talking Heads are effectively elevated to an extraordinary level by their worldly take on music. While the sophomore record of the Talking Heads was aptly titled More Songs About Buildings and Food, such simple topics were originally addressed in their first record Talking Heads: 77, which I chose to review here. “Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town” opens the record with a catchy tune, where the band resorts to the use of steel drums to accentuate the tropical feel of the song. Exotic sounds are also present in “Tentative Decisions”, which deals with boys and girls concerned with decisiveness. In “Don’t Worry About the Government”, David Byrne personifies the U.S. government and pays tribute to its civil servants, while “Pulled Up” reminds us that the road to success in life is built with the help of our loved ones. Here’s a stripped-down version of “Psycho Killer”, filmed by Jonathan Demme and included in the highly recommended documentary “Stop Making Sense”:

Music Milestones, 1976: Ramones – Ramones

While earlier bands such as the Stooges and the New York Dolls may have laid the foundations of punk, the Ramones were arguably the first punk band in the strict, three-chord sense of the term. Their musical formula was simple and straightforward, and consisted of playing crude songs about lowbrow topics that were powerfully performed at fast pace and in minimal fashion. Unsophisticated as this recipe may seem, it not only lent itself to easy listening, but also provided a lasting staple to rock and roll during 20 years since its inception. The Ramones steadfastly adhered to this musical formula throughout their career, so I think that their eponymous first record is the most relevant and appropriate for review. “Blitzkrieg Bop” opens the hostilities with an indelible call to arms interspersed with lyrics “about kids going to a show and having a good time”, as Tommy Ramone once put it. ”Beat on the Brat” constitutes a brutal critique of the spoiled New York City upper class that Joey Ramone witnessed during his youth, while “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” is the softest and mellowest tune in the record. Toward the end of the record, two songs stand out: “53rd and 3rd” tells the probably autobiographical story of Dee Dee Ramone “turning tricks” in Midtown Manhattan, and “Let’s Dance” is a faithful yet accelerated cover of Chris Montez’s composition. For a condensed sample of Ramones, listen to “Judy Is a Punk”, which is the shortest song in the record lasting a mere minute and a half:

And for a didactic rendition of “Judy Is a Punk”, check out this video:

Music Milestones, 1975: Patti Smith – Horses

Alongside with other acts such as the New York Dolls, the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads and Blondie, Patti Smith was part of the thriving musical scene of New York City in the 1970s that led to the emergence of punk rock in the United States. Although Smith is widely regarded as the godmother of punk rock, her music embraced elements of poetry and improvisation that were foreign to the basic aesthetics of punk. Despite the sophistication of Smith’s approach to music, her songs are delivered with seemingly primitive energy in Horses. In the opening track of the record, Smith recreates Van Morrison’s standard “Gloria” to yield something altogether new and greater than the original. The record contains two lengthy improvisational jams, namely “Birdland” and “Land”, where Smith gives free rein to her surreal stream-of-consciousness storytelling. “Redondo Beach” is a story of female homosexuality and death told at rocksteady pace, while “Break It Up”, co-written by Smith and Tom Verlaine, is a more conventional tune where Smith’s passionate vocals struggle with dueling guitars. I leave you with “Gloria”, which is my favorite Horses song:

Music Milestones, 1974: Tom Jobim & Elis Regina – Elis & Tom

Tom Jobim and Elis Regina were two towering figures of Brazilian popular music that crucially helped to advance and disseminate this musical genre. While Jobim played a pivotal role in the birth of bossa nova together with Vinícius de Moraes and João Gilberto, Regina was a performer whose excellent voice and emotional commitment to music rendered one of the most talented and cherished singers in Brazil. Elis & Tom fulfilled Regina’s old wish of recording some of Jobim’s most relevant songs with the composer, and the result is stunning. The record begins with perhaps the best rendition of “Águas de Março”, where Regina and Jobim engage in a playful and very entertaining call and response. In “Triste”, Regina sings about solitude and disillusion against a melancholy backdrop of piano, flutes and electric guitar. “Soneto da Separação” is a beautiful parting song where Jobim and Regina illustrate the separation between loved ones with witty metaphors. “Inútil Paisagem” concludes the record in low spirits and addresses the pain of loneliness, namely how it renders beauty useless. For a glimpse of Elis & Tom, I share “Chovendo na Roseira”, a hopeful tune that deals with life and renewal:

Music Milestones, 1973: João Gilberto – João Gilberto (Águas de Março)

Together with Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes, João Gilberto played a prominent role in the advancement and outreach of Brazilian popular music (MPB) from the 1950s onward. After careful study of the roots of Brazilian music and the songbooks of great jazz composers such as Duke Ellington, Gilberto devised a new style of singing and guitar playing that marked the birth of bossa nova. Although most of the relevant bossa nova songs were recorded in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, here I review a particularly meaningful record produced after the bossa nova craze. João Gilberto (Águas de Março) contains two original Gilberto compositions and eight interpretations of MPB classics, which were recorded in minimal fashion with Gilberto’s subdued voice and gentle guitar accompanied by Sonny Carr’s frugal percussion. All songs are delivered at a slow pace and display a repetitiveness that renders them somewhat hypnotic, yet not monotonous. Jobim’s “Águas de Março” opens the record with a relentless collage of apparently disconnected lyrics, which arguably recalls Rio de Janeiro’s heavy rains of March. The record includes three atmospheric instrumentals, namely the eerie “Undiú”; the relaxed “Na Baixa do Sapateiro”; and the nostalgic "Valsa (Como São Lindos os Youguis)". Geraldo Pereira’s “Falsa Baiana” lays out the proper rules to dance Bahian samba, while Roberto Roberti and Herivelto Martins’ closer “Izaura” addresses the conflicting coexistence of carefree love and work duty. For a sample of João Gilberto (Águas de Março), listen to Janet de Almeida and Haroldo Barbosa’s “Eu Quero um Samba”:

Music Milestones, 1972: David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Often disdainfully regarded as a sort of rock chameleon for delving into a wide range of music genres throughout his career, David Bowie has shown a remarkable ability to adapt to new circumstances that required thorough musical innovation. Starting as a folk singer in the mid 1960s, Bowie repeatedly changed his approach to music and his discography is as varied as to include adept takes on glam rock, soul, electronica, jungle and industrial music, to name a few distinct styles. My favorite period of Bowie’s discography is definitely the 1970s, from Hunky Dory to his Berlin trilogy with Brian Eno. Although Hunky Dory already features a signature of glam rock, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is the culmination of that kind of sound and shoulders with the best releases from glam acts such as T. Rex, Roxy Music and the New York Dolls. “Five Years” sets the stage and tells an apocalyptic tale of Earth five years before its destruction. “Moonage Daydream” is a key song in this conceptual record, where the hero Ziggy Stardust is born to save Earth from doom. The record finishes in style with three excellent tracks: “Ziggy Stardust” pays tribute to the hero and his guitar; “Suffragette City” is the most straightforward song in the record, with a piano line reminiscent of Little Richard’s compositions; and the closer “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” depicts the decay and collapse of Ziggy Stardust. For more insight into The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, listen to “Suffragette City”:

Music Milestones, 1971: Chico Buarque – Construção

A close follower of the bossa nova movement and dedicated apprentice of earlier composers such as Tom Jobim and João Gilberto, Chico Buarque had a flying start in his musical career with the release of four stellar eponymous records in the late 1960s. These records blended bossa nova and samba to great effect, and cemented Buarque’s position among the MPB giants. However, the best of Buarque was yet to come. Construção, released upon Buarque’s return to Brazil after exile, is arguably his most accomplished effort to date and undoubtedly one of the best records of Brazilian music. Here, Buarque broaches darker topics than those in his previous discography, while his lyrics are more politically engaged. “Deus lhe Pague” constitutes the most biting political comment in the record, where Buarque openly criticizes the Brazilian dictatorial regime and its social aftermath. “Cotidiano” and “Construção” are also socially concerned, and address the boredom of daily routine and the debasement of the workingman, respectively. “Valsinha” is a sad love song about a couple that experiences a brief moment of joy after a long period of dullness. “Minha História” imaginatively retells the story of Jesus Christ as the son of a sailor and a prostitute. My favorite song in Construção is “Samba de Orly”, a tribute to the exiles during the military dictatorship that was composed by Buarque, Toquinho and Vinícius de Moraes:

Zap the World, Episode 1: 2012 Music in Review

Below you can find the first episode of my podcast Zap the World! In this first episode, I play some of the tunes that caught my attention in 2012. The playlist for the first episode of Zap the World is the following:

Spiritualized - "Hey Jane" (from Sweet Heart Sweet Light, out on Double Six Records)

Neneh Cherry & The Thing - "Dream Baby Dream" (from The Cherry Thing, out on Smalltown Supersound)

Six Organs of Admittance - "Close to the Sky" (from Ascent, out on Drag City)

Tame Impala - "Mind Mischief" (from Lonerism, out on Modular Recordings)

Cat Power - "Ruin" (from Sun, out on Matador)

Lee Ranaldo - "Angles" (from Between the Times and Tides, out on Matador)

Redd Kross - "Stay Away From Downtown" (from Researching the Blues, out on Merge Records)

Sic Alps - "Glyphs" (from Sic Alps, out on Drag City)

Ty Segall - "Thank God for Sinners" (from Twins, out on Drag City)

Thee Oh Sees - "Lupine Dominus" (from Putrifiers II, out on In the Red Records)

While I intend to post new episodes of Zap the World as regularly as possible, they will come out less frequently than the posts of my retrospective Music Milestones. So, please bear with my slow pace and enjoy the music!

(To download this episode, right-click here and choose to save link.)

Music Milestones, 1970: José Afonso – Traz Outro Amigo Também

Heavily influenced by his tenure at the University of Coimbra, José Afonso began his musical career playing fado typical of that Portuguese city. The fado from Coimbra informed Afonso’s early guitar playing and singing style, as well as some of the topics that he addressed in his songs. However, Afonso eventually emancipated from the rather strict conventions of the fado from Coimbra, and developed into a folk singer in his own right that would become one of the most vehement voices against the Portuguese dictatorial regime. Afonso has a vast body of work and my favorite period of his discography ranges from 1970 to 1974, starting with Traz Outro Amigo Também. While this record still displays many characteristics of the fado from Coimbra, there are already hints of a break from that music genre. The record starts with “Traz Outro Amigo Também” and “Maria Faia”, both fine examples of the fado from Coimbra. “Canto Moço” appears to be a call to arms mobilizing youth against the regime. Afonso’s lyrics are most caustic in “Os Eunucos (No Reino da Etiópia)”, a harsh denouncement of those who betray freedom and other fundamental values. “Carta a Miguel Djeje” is a tribute to a former servant of Afonso’s during his stay in Africa, and constitutes the most accentuated departure from traditional fado in the record. “Epígrafe para a Arte de Furtar”, a harrowing piece about humanity and identity based on a poem by the oft-neglected Portuguese writer Jorge de Sena, is for me the best track in Traz Outro Amigo Também:

Music Milestones, 1969: Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left

A singer/songwriter prodigy from the British folk scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Nick Drake failed to find a significant audience such as that of his peers Sandy Denny and Bert Jansch. Drake’s reclusive persona and his aversion to the stage certainly contributed to his commercial failure, which in turn drove him through a downward spiral that may have been the cause of his untimely death. Although Drake’s musical career was short and unsuccessful, he managed to release three landmark records that aged remarkably well and influenced many artists after his demise. Five Leaves Left is the first record released by Drake, and sets the stage for the dramatic and melancholy sound present throughout his scant discography. “Way to Blue” is a song that deals with uncertainty and hope, where Robert Kirby’s string arrangement renders Drake’s voice all the more poignant. In “’Cello Song”, Claire Lowther’s cello and Rocki Dzidzornu’s congas provide a laudatory atmosphere to Drake’s eulogy for a girl. “Fruit Tree” addresses the elusive nature of fame, a subject that would ironically concern Drake’s own path until the end of his short career. “Man in a Shed” is perhaps my favorite track in Five Leaves Left, a bittersweet love song with fine piano and bass accompaniment: