Playlist: The Meaning of Live

Web posted November 25, 2010

By Libby Sterling | Juneau Empire

The live album — it's no new phenomenon. The first musicians to make recordings did so in a live setting, and they probably never imagined the possibility of the multitrack technology that has now become the norm in the industry. But there's something about capturing the many elements of an unperfected stage performance that keeps the live albums coming.

Bluegrass/country sensations The Avett Brothers like live albums so much that they've put out three, the most recent of which was released last month. After a month of studying "Live Volume 3" in addition to years of listening to their previous releases, I have lots of thoughts.

This is a band whose music takes me to both high and low places, whose songs make me cry one minute and laugh the next. Their ballads are sung with words that reach deep inside me and conjure emotions I didn't even know I was capable of feeling. What's more, their hoedowns are fun-filled and cause every muscle in my body to involuntarily dance along. The Brothers do it all, and they make me want to do it, too.

Having spent so much time with these boys singing their songs in my ears, I have fashioned in my mind how I imagine them to be as people. I've gathered from their soulful, loving lyrics that they must be the most passionate partners a girl could ever want — lovers who say the right things, who sing lyrics that rival those of any love song ever written. Then again, there's always the possibility that they're just faking it all for ratings. If so, they've got a really good gimmick going, and have caused lots of fans to genuinely fall in love with them in the process.

So, after more than a dozen releases, including two other live albums, why release a third? The songs have been heard before, and in their original recordings they can be enjoyed sans screaming audience. Shrieking fans bother me enough at shows, so why would I invite them into my living room?

Charlotte, North Carolina's enthusiasm elevates as the album rolls along. Luckily, they don't sing along with all the words in every song, just the lines that are easy to remember. They offer tumultuous support when an unfixable fib is made in one of the first songs in the show. Their rapturous cheering also buys them a three-song encore. Though less fanatical, the band appears to have just as much fun as the crowd, voicing their appreciation for their fans multiple times throughout the set.

"It's real difficult to sound sincere on a microphone, but we love you all, too, in a very big way," Seth Avett says in response to thunderous applause after the live rendition of one of my favorite tunes of theirs, "When I Drink."

The production quality is a bit higher in this album than in the first two live recordings. Each musician is clearly heard and balanced well with the other stage elements. The clinking of bar glasses that can be heard in "Live Volume 2" don't appear in this latest release, nor does the occasional out-of-tune note with which their first live title is littered.

If it is personality that a listener is seeking in their musicians, they'll find much more of it in a live recording than in a product that has been perfected — and possibly dehumanized — in the studio. "Live Volume 3" contains minimal music recesses between tracks, but each tidbit of banter reveals another side of the music and the songwriters behind it.

The live aspect of each song, sung a bit differently than we're used to hearing it, gives a fresh perspective on tunes that have been spun the same exact way hundreds of times. Here and there, a vocalist will take a liberty, embellish a line, revise a lyric or simply change the emphasis of a certain phrase to breathe new possibilities into interpretation. Songs that have provoked so much thought and emotion in the studio recordings are now taking a second shot at the hearts of their listeners, and their shot is right on target.

I'd still rather see them live with my own eyeballs, but if a live disc is the closest I'm going to get, I'll take it.

'Dance' a delight even for a couch potato

Web posted November 11, 2010

By Libby Sterling | Juneau Empire

Hundreds of fiddlers record albums full of tunes each year. Some write their own original music, while others attempt to play tunes as closely as possible to the way they are traditional rooted. Others still cling to the traditional aspects of tunes they have come to love, but also infuse them with their own spices and interpretations.

Vermont-based Lissa Schneckenburger is a fiddler of the latter persuasion. Her September release, "Dance," features 10 traditional tunes with her twist put on them. She chose to record tunes that have been played by fiddlers over hundreds of years, translating them in her own way to speak to what she called "a new generation of musicians."

From "Petronella" to "Jamie Allen," the album is a delight. As its title implies, these are certainly dance tunes. Each of which is attached to a particular traditional dance of the contra persuasion. But unlike many dance CDs, "Dance" isn't just a marathon of marches. Its pace and tone changes from track to track, walking the line between lively and relaxing and therefore appropriate for both morning and end-of-day listening. So one may spin the disc while lounging on the couch, but it's likely that some of the livelier tracks will at least lead listeners to tap their toes in appreciation.

The fiddle is featured as the album's main voice backed by guitar, but a handful of other instruments are sprinkled here and there for good measure - a walking bass line, a few plinks of a banjo, toots of horns and a piano accordion that plays alongside the fiddle like a good friend.

Schneckenburger will bring the sounds of New England to the far west with series of performances and a workshop in Southeast Alaska. Accompanied by guitarist Bethany Waickman, Schneckenburger will begin this weekend in Sitka with fiddle and guitar workshops at noon at Blatchley Middle School, followed by a 7 p.m. performance at the Sitka Performing Arts Center. Waickman and Schneckenburger will then hit the road for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Juneau. Their last Alaskan appearance will be Tuesday at the College Coffeehouse in Fairbanks.

Lament of pumpkins gone to waste

Web posted November 4, 2010

By Libby Sterling | Juneau Empire

These few days after Halloween make me sad. All over town beautiful, juicy pumpkin meat left to rot in the rain. I think of all the soups, pies and other baked goods that could have been made with the food that is now nothing more than compost. All those seeds that could have so easily become toasted snacks for us are instead going back to the earth.

There is a bright spot in these post-jack-o'-lantern times - pumpkin prices drop dramatically as the demand for carving squash suddenly dies. They came a long way to get here; don't let all this imported biomass go to waste.

October gave way not only to a bountiful harvest, but also to a crop of new releases in the music world. As with any culinary recipe, some ingredients were mixed more successfully than others, but none are failures. Some selections fill the ears of their listeners with perhaps more auditory calories than are needed, but there are morsels of goodness within each one.

"The Fool" by Warpaint

My taste is very picky when it comes to vocalists. It's hard to put a finger on exactly what the qualities I look for in a singer; it's more of a case-by-case basis. To be honest, in this case I'm not completely thrilled.

Warpaint is a female quartet out of Los Angeles whose sound has been described as hypnotic post-punk. As far as instruments are concerned, these girls are doing alright. They use their guitars and drums to create a thick, layered sound. However, if this were a war between voices and instruments, the vocals may as well surrender - in most cases they aren't strong enough to compete with the music in what is supposed to be the background. Oft-flat vocal lines are consistently buried so far under the layers of instruments that there's no hope of understanding the lyrics. This leads me to believe that these ladies don't put much emphasis on their words - not that there's anything wrong with that.

That said, a certain track did catch my attention enough to be noted. In track six, "Baby," Warpaint stripped away enough of their usual layers for a beautiful song to emerge - the best track on the whole album. The vocals are solid and easily distinguishable above a simple acoustic guitar part. The background vocals are sprinkled on top in moderation, creating interesting intervals that probably wouldn't be most musicians' first choice, but they work very well in this piece. This song is so good, it makes me wonder if I missed something in the previous five tracks, so I go back and listen again. The verdict: it's a little better after another time through, but "Baby" still has something to it that the rest of the album just doesn't.

"Weather" by Annie Gallup

Annie Gallup is a poet. I was struck with this as soon as her disc began to spin in my player. Her chosen verbiage is satisfying and pleasant. She tells stories of important events in her own, unique way - just the way I like to hear them.

Gallup's backup band is fabulous, consisting of a traditional string quartet. This is rare for most singer-songwriters, but I applaud Gallup for taking the risk in ditching her guitar. It works. The entire album is backed with the strings bowing and plucking away to create a unique soundscape to highlight Gallup's vocals.

So Gallup's lyrics are great and the background music is great, but the two of them don't quite mix. I'm torn between the two sides - letting loose in the midst of beautiful string arrangements vs. listening to Gallup's truly interesting lyrics, which require intense focus. Her vocal parts are just too wordy and delivered too quickly to properly balance with the peaceful movement of the string parts.

I'd rather like to hear her lyrics read as spoken word, and I get my wish in tracks four and six, "Sixty Eight" and "Late," respectively. In the first, Gallup speaks boldly above a strong cello's pluck, leaving ample reflection space between stanzas. In the second, Gallup's fast-paced delivery of words, which hurts her in other numbers, finally works to her advantage.

It's clear that Gallup has stuff to say, and it's clear that she has good taste in backup bands. This is, unfortunately, another example of very cool ingredients just not mixed as successfully as they could have been.