SOUNDTRACK: CHADWICK STOKES-Tiny Desk Concert #432 (April 13, 2015).
I had recently been hearing about Chadwick Stokes on WXPN. But I didn’t really know anything about him. I just looked him up and found that he has been making music for almost twenty years, with the bands Dispatch and State Radio (under the name Chad Urmston) and now as a solo artist. He apparently is a big time activist as well, and his accolades ring high.
The three songs he plays her are wonderful. He has a great voice that reminds me in some ways of Cat Stevens (even though Stokes is from Boston and certainly rocks harder than the Cat). Although he even mentions Stevens in the third song.
I love the way the first song, “Pine Needle Tea” starts out slowly (with Stokes on the guitar) and a delicate xylophone playing along. Then half way through, both accompanists start playing floor toms–one with stuff on it to deaden the sound and one (Will’s) with no deadening to really pound away.
I love the faster parts in the second song “Horse Comanche” and also how in the slower parts both guys sing lovely high harmonies. It makes me laugh that the fellow who plays the melodica solo stands almost ramrod still while waiting for his time. (He is actually Stoke’s brother, Will). I have grown to really enjoy the melodica lately. I love how the end of the song has the repeated refrain with great harmonies and the melodica all playing together.
Chad jokes after the song that “Comanche” has a dropped D E string and he always forgets to retune it live (and his brother says he forgets to remind him to re tune it) so half way through the next song “it goes Wah.”
The final song is called “I Want You Like a Seatbelt” which gets a laugh. It is a funny title but it proves to be a great simile. I love the vocal melody of this song. And when it really gets going it is infectious. It’s just way too short.
I need to dig into his back catalog. And here’s a link to this great Tiny Desk.
[READ: April 10, 2015] “Democracy in Batumi”
Sometimes an excerpt from a novel (Waiting for the Electricity) piques my interest. In this case, however, it really didn’t.
In this excerpt, Slims Achmed Makasvili is from Batumi on the Black Sea. He is writing to Hillary Clinton (we’re not told why to her specifically). He says that Batumi is not very well-known. The local dictator is tearing down old buildings, but Slims wants Clinton to know that Batumi is a natural port for petroleum deliveries. He says that there are great business opportunities available for America here. Then he asks if she knows the movie Jesus Christ Superstar.
The next letter (they are undated so it is unclear how far apart they were written) talks about how Clinton’s version of democracy and his are quite different. The Batumi Center for Democracy has expanded and even has an air conditioning unit. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 