Congratulations MGMT

MGMT, released their sophomore album, Congratulations this past Tuesday, April 13th. The band consisting of former Wesleyan University students Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden have injected, through their previous album, Oracular Spectacular, a sense of new found joy into the current musical landscape, and the continue to delight the senses of listeners with their current offering. This kaleidoscopic romp through diverse musical genres steeped in the allure of sixties surf music, has the comfort of childhood mixed in with it’s modern embodiment of youth, rebellion, love, and the quixotic feel listeners yearn for whenever they listen to a rock album. They may be doing in their own special way, what Sly Stone, offered years ago, take you higher through song.
They are going to appear on Saturday Night Live on April 24th to promote this ode to surrealism and surf culture, mixed with their own mix of original bohemian freedom. Also check them out on May 11th on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Samples from the highly anticipated release can be played on the left side of this Harmonious Bouquet entry. Hit play and indulge your senses.


Cowbells and organ chords set the frenetic pace for this crazed and eerie take on surf music that name checks the godfather of ambient in its punkest track (“Brian Eno”). But in between enlightened ramblings, the band interjects a refrain that bursts forth brighter than a July sun (“Someone’s Missing”) and cues up psychedelic movements that wash ashore like the calmest of waves (“Siberian Breaks”). These moments form an undertow, luring you in and keeping you immersed. Once the sonic tide breaks and recedes, MGMT is left standing, quite solidly, on new shores. –Christina Lee, PASTE MAGAZINE

Rufus Wainwright Debuts New Album Tomorrow April 20th

Singer-songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright is releasing a new album, tomorrow April 20th. All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, is the latest offering from the performer who spent the last year working on an opera, Prima Donna. This giant feat was inspired by Wainwright’s ever-present love of the theatre and themes of love and tragedy, as was his material on his current album. The artist’s oeuvre includes many nods to the agonies and ecstasies of life through the dramatic and lost romanticism of the Shakespearean Sonnets, with some even being directly turned into lyrics word for word on the album. The clip above is a little taste of what you can expect to receive under the cellophane tomorrow morning. Wainwright, “lauded as the “greatest singer-songwriter on the planet,” by Elton John, does not fall short of the praise. He validates it.

Facebook fans favor Bowersox

Christofer Machniak

Singer Crystal Bowersox is not only the odds-on favorite to win American Idol, she’s Number One in fans on Facebook.

Bowersox leads among the remaining seven contestants with 60,689 fans on her Facebook fan page as of about 6 p.m. Thursday. Casey James was second with 33,725 and Lee DeWyze was third with 30,736.

The numbers reflect official fan pages created for the contestants — a first time move for the TV’s top show, according to this post. In early March, producers announced they were going to consolidate the pages, but a review of the pages shows they still exist and the contestants or someone on their behalf are still posting status updates.

Top 24 qualifier Tyler Grady even posted he has regained control of his page on April 6.

“Hey, guys! I just got control of this American Idol fan page again. Hope everything is well with you all. Please check out my band Wailing Waters at http://www.facebook.com/wailingwaters ...Tell me what you think! :)”

But a large Facebook fan page doesn’t necessarily translate into phone votes. Andrew Garcia, who didn’t receive enough support to survive this week, ranks second in fans of the Top 24 with 45,047. Katie Stevens, who joined Garcia in leaving the show, is sixth with 23,156. Both have more fans than surviving rivals Siobhan Magnus (20,968), Tim Urban (17,056) and Michael Lynch (5,925).

The numbers also show that Adam Lambert (17,957), who didn’t make the Top 12, is more popular on Facebook than Urban and Lynch.

Multiple unofficial pages also exist and attract additional fans, but those weren’t calculated in this snapshot.

Here’s the breakdown:

Top 12
60,689 fans Crystal Bowersox
45,047 fans Andrew Garcia
33,725 fans Casey James
30,736 fans Lee DeWyze
28,191 fans Aaron Kelly
23,156 fans Katie Stevens
20,968 fans Siobhan Magnus
17,056 fans Tim Urban
16,060 fans Didi Benami
5,925 fans Michael Lynch
762 fans Lacey Brown
367 fans Paige Miles

The best of the rest
17,957 Adam Lambert
10,835 John Park
6,542 Tyler Grady
5,235 Lilly Scott
4,373 Jermaine Sellers
3,845 Katelyn Epperly
3,414 Ashley Rodriguez
2,459 Janell Wheeler
1,906 Michelle Delamor
1,678 Haeley Vaughn
352 Todrick Hall
128 Joe Munoz

The Day Local Music Died

Jordan R. Climie

Joe Daily was a friend, a classmate, a son, a brother and a voice for the fight against cancer. He was also a musician and poet, and his words were cut short in the summer of 2008 when the battle against cancer was lost.

Cory Glover, now an adjunct professor in the Communications Department at the University of Michigan-Flint, played various shows with Daily around mid-Michigan, most notably at The Elbow Room in downtown Flushing. It was here that a hometown crowd came to listen to Daily’s words as he strummed the guitar.

“I don’t think we were ever delusional about becoming some sort of folk heroes,” Glover said. “We had simply found an outlet for ourselves and we became closer friends because of it.” Glover called the long nights that he and Daily would go through chords as young teens still learning the ins and outs of playing as “a beautiful mess,” something he wishes could be recreated.

Daily’s poetry was also part of his artistic soul, and there was even a collection of his poems published for sale. “Joe always called himself a poet first and a songwriter second,” Glover said. “For me he was one in the same. Sometimes the poems and songs would bleed into one another and other times they would find a different path, but they were always moments framed using his unique gift for word choice and filtered through his life’s experiences.”

Glover has no regrets about their friendship, except for the fact it ended so soon. “He challenged me through everything and I’d like to think I did the same for him,” Glover said. “We had a peaceful collaboration and friendship that I will severely miss.”

Local College Student Lays The Beats

Jordan R. Climie

The rap music scene around Flint has been one that has foundations dating back to the days of GM and Auto World. But for a University of Michigan-Flint student there’s a whole new mountain to climb.

Josh Smith, a sophomore theatre major, performed at Lake Fenton High School last month to a larger than expected crowd. “It really made me feel great to see so many people out, some I knew and some I didn’t know,” Smith said.

Smith has always had a fascination with rap, hip-hop and R&B music, and ever since he came into possession of his Apple Mac Book, Garage Band has been his friend. “Garage Band is this feature on Mac’s that allows you to create some really cool stuff,” Smith said. “I’ve been able to compile all my vocals into it and add whatever backing sounds and beats I want to.”

          
Smith hopes to put out a CD in the near future using this technology, with help from fellow theatre major Ken Hollis. “He’s got some good stuff,” Hollis said. “I’m really proud of him being so aggressive about getting this thing off the ground.”

          
Originally from Clio, hip-hop music isn’t something that Smith grew up getting a chance to listen to. “It was mostly country music and rock and I had to go out on my own to find stuff like Run DMC to really enjoy,” Smith said.

          
To him his future has no limits. “I’ve really got no ceiling now for my future. The only place to go is up.”

Musical Bliss

Billie and Andy Bliss at home. Photographs by Terry Rayment.

Local musician Billie Bliss has moved north in Mich. to Traverse City and this self-proclaimed “small town” girl is finding inspirations through new sources. She is one of the many emerging singer-songwriters who are echoing the soulful sentiments of the sixties through her art. There seems to be a renewed interest in the fundamentals of music and the pure expression of feeling lost on listeners in the recent decades. Playing folk music with her husband and guitarist, Andy Bliss, Billie cites this union as "wonderful and honest." Her husband who also plays the mandolin, is one half of a pair of sensitive souls echoing the artistic give and take of lovers James Taylor and Carly Simon, and Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash, but with an apparent ease not often seen in the music realm.

“I don’t think there is a stronger bond you can feel with someone than when you are playing music with them…it is our best form of communication,” says Bliss.

Bliss’ powerful piece titled Alice, is a take on the Lewis Carroll character. She sings, “help me from falling into dark black holes,” with a voice of a much older and wiser woman, not a doe-eyed 24 year-old with the unassuming presence. This haunting piece is not the only literary inspiration in Billie’s repertoire. She cites Sylvia Plath and Irvine Welsh as great influences, as well as the seasons, and her womb. “I have written my fair share of woe is me songs while I was in fact in a great mood,” says Billie who fittingly longs to learn to play the evocative cello.

Her wise beyond her years understanding of what truly matters is further evident by her commitment to her equally young lover through marriage and close bonds with family, friends, and relatives. While the rest of the world is spinning into the material, Billie seems to balance her Internet searching via her phone with a natural and organic way of being, that almost seems simply a part of history and no longer the norm. This singer-songwriter has an apparent understanding of the real essentials of life and hopefully her music relays the lost message to the masses in the near future. We aren’t bound to outside influence. Bliss’ body is adorned with the Nietzsche quote, “Without music, life is a mistake.” The strongest message her persona and music emanates is that we are essentially here to love and music just may be the quickest vehicle.

Blessing God and the Gays

Whatever Works

“She’s what I call a meteor – singers who entertain people for a while. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. But then there are people like Neil Young who show up at Glastonbury 40 years into their career. And that’s a very different kind of artist. Neil Young doesn’t have to get his bum out on stage! The question is, will Lady GaGa be playing alongside Neil Young at Glastonbury in 20 years time? She wants to entertain people. Right now, half the world is depressed and they need to be entertained. So her timing’s perfect.” -Tori Amos

Is Lady Gaga a fleeting rainbow in our dark sky or is she the new heiress to the pop music throne. Tori Amos has proven herself to be a musical genius and respected artist. Does her opinion on Gaga have any merit or does it seem like a snide remark from a fellow quirky pianist equally loved by the outsiders, especially the gay community?

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, otherwise known as Lady Gaga, straddles the line between pop and venerable artist. This may be the one thing that has propelled her popularity to such grand heights. She is dancing happily in between a state of question. Like Amos, Gaga was playing music on the piano as a toddler and then performing in gay clubs by her teens. Both seem like the consummate outsider. Had Tori thrown down dance beats with her finely crafted song-writing perhaps she would have reaped the benefits of fame. Or maybe the tiny Italian girl with the shapely tush is a product and any fine musician would recognize this grand imposter and poster girl for the avant-garde.

The public hasn’t done much dissection into her rise. They seem to simply enjoy her music. A succession of hits, a unique and intriguing image, and a hermaphroditic allure have catapulted Gaga into a realm of pop culture icon and possible living legend. In her own way she may have done what fellow Italian and gay icon Madonna did, and created a niche in culture where even the sharpest music critic falls prey to her indulgence. She has brought a kaleidoscopic color to the bleak musical landscape and the even bleaker times. Amos thinks it has been to Gaga’s benefit that the economic landscape needed a lift from the sonic one. If so, is that really so bad?

Exceptional pop music resides in a big question mark. Is it good? Is it bad? Should I like it? Should I not like it? These questions seem to always rise to the surface. Pop music that is enduring, like Madonna’s catalogue, and perhaps Gaga’s is an entity of great importance in the artistic landscape. It is a sonic collage of sound, image, and sensation. It is not simply the music that defines these icons. It is the package. It is the timing. It is the cultural atmosphere. It may even be in the stars.

At the 2009 MTV Music Awards Gaga said “Bless God and the gays.’ Perhaps, that is all there is to it. It could be that simple.

LADY GAGA ON MYSPACE:

http://www.myspace.com/ladygaga

OFFICIAL SITE:

http://www.ladygaga.com/badromance/defaultdb.aspx

TORI AMOS ON LADY GAGA:

http://www.theinsider.com/news/2764095_Tori_Amos_Slams_Lady_Gaga_Won_t_Be_Around_Long