Guilty Pleasure... Not-As-Manly Acoustic Covers

For those wondering, which I know is all of you because you love me so much, I haven't been able to blog often because I tend to prefer writing longer posts. Noel says it's because I'm basically writing articles, and he's probably right. Since these articles take so long, it's hard for me to commit to starting/completing them, but I'll try to get one out before Sunday. Why? Let's just say it's... time-sensitive. But it's a doozy.

I was talking with Noel about how I don't want do really do shorter posts about what I'm doing recently and all. That's not my style, yo. Also, with Twitter, I feel like there's even less of a desire for me to write blog posts on recent life. Here's a topic I can write less on though.

I'd just write about an acoustic band I discovered a couple weeks ago, kind of randomly, that I've enjoyed. Sure, it's not the manliest thing in the world, but hey, leave me be. I enjoy my different remixes of music, and sometimes they aren't the Girl Talk-type mashups but the acoustic, stripped versions. And then I sit in a bubble bath with a glass of chardonnay.

I first came across Boyce Avenue around the time that Chris Brown "Forever" wedding dance video came out. You've all seen it. If not, you should check it out. Anyway, after seeing that video, I wanted to check out Chris Brown's original music video (it's OK), and I also came across Boyce's cover of it (I learned how to use links better! Yeah! It only took 3 posts). I like! Think I'm crazy? Check it out first, and then call me crazy. Or call me genius. Yes.

I must say I'm a sucker for these covers. There's the stripped "How Far We've Come" by Matchbox 20, this cool version of Umbrella, the always enjoyable and underrated little song that could, "Landslide" (I'm a sucker for that song, even the Dixie Chicks version is enjoyable).

So yeah, check them out. Try to determine in your opinion just how useful the 2 other brothers are in the group, cause they seem pretty extraneous to me. It's like they were like uh, hey bro, can we ride on your coattails and play percussion instruments in some of your videos? Awesome. I'm gonna go tell mom I'm quitting school. How are they able to sell all their covers on iTunes? Did they have to go through all the copyrights with all that? Your guess is as good as mine. Final note, this acoustic version of "Since U Been Gone" is also enjoyable, and it has another song inside of a song in it too! Oh yeah!

Chicago: The Song, Not the City

After inaugurating my blog with a super sports-nerdy topic, I decided I would try to mix things up right on the 2nd entry, away from a main topic on sports or movies. What do we have instead? Music! Better at that, Sufjan Stevens! For those wondering, as far as I'm aware, the best way to pronounce his first name is Souf-yahn. I also realized halfway through this article that I had difficulty writing about this subject well or humorously... but here we go!

It took some time for me to actually listen to Sufjan Stevens. The first time I heard about him was during my freshman year at Rice, when I heard about a bunch of different artists and thus got a bunch of different albums to check out. With such an influx of music, I didn't get around to listening to all of them, including his music. I probably listened to a little of his Illinois album once during the year, which normally won't hook me into an artist, especially if I am not really paying attention.

This leads us to the summer of 2006, when I watched the Little Miss Sunshine trailer online (see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWyH_twcMl0&feature=fvst). Midway through the trailer, the song Chicago by Sufjan Stevens came on, arguably his most well-known song (it's pretty much no contest, actually), and I was totally entranced. What a magical song, I thought. What song was this? I knew I had heard it somewhere before. After some searching I found out it was Sufjan Stevens, and I also realized that it was already on my iTunes. I began to listen to the album, and a love for his music was born.

I don't want to branch too far from focusing on the song though. Maybe another time I can write more about his music in general or the time I went to his concert in Dallas, and it was the best concert I've ever been to, even greater than that time I went to Woodstock in '69. But Matt, how can you write so much about one song? Easy. There are 4 album versions of the song. And they're all good.

Later in the entry, I will rank the 3 alternate versions of Chicago, but first, I want to talk about the original (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDRrqcZbdPU). You can't beat it, and with good reason. It's just such a good song. For starters, you have the intro, with the xylophone (is it a xylophone? or whatever it is. I never know) and strings leading into the...other instruments that are playing (this is why a music entry is hard for me, I don't know what instruments are playing half the time). You have Sufjan singing about moving around and trying to find a new place, a new home to find hope in, getting away from his past, etc. You have the trumpet throughout the song, with its catchy melody. You got that background vibrato sound from that other instrument I don't know. You have the background chorus stepping in at various points with Sufjan. The part in the bridge where Suf is singing "I've made a lot of mistakes" and the chorus is singing the same phrase in different harmonies just gives me chills. The song has its different waves of louder and softer parts meshing well together. And other stuff that I don't know how to explain. It just has it, man. *

I remember that fall semester, everyone I played that song for thought it was awesome. The main criticism I ever really remember about the song was my friend Elias saying that the trumpet was too tacky for him. But did I mention that Elias is a crack cocaine addict who might have come straight out of The Wire? I think I forgot to mention that earlier.

*Plus, a side note, it is followed up by the powerfully saddening song, Casimir Pulaski Day. Quite a 1-2 punch there, maybe even better than the 1-2 punch of I Want It That Way and Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely on the Backstreet Boys Millenium album. Just kidding. Also, here's an example of what Chicago was like when I saw it in concert. Yes, he wore those wings and his band was that big. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1PUqZyeuAk&feature=related

Now, to explain how there are 3 different versions. After the great Illinois album that Sufjan made, Sufjan made another album, The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album. On it? That's right, 3 different versions of Chicago! Yeah baby! Chi-town what up! The 3 were spread throughout the album, helping to rejuvenate the album at some points where some of the outtakes/extras showed that they weren't on the original album for a reason. All 3 versions bring a new take to the table, although I certainly have different opinions on them.

#3 - Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mLSeqNS8rs): This might be the least exciting fresh take* of the Chicagos. Not that it's bad of course. Sufjan could do a scratchy voiced crazy metal version of Chicago, and I would probably still dig it. It's just the least of the 4. Like being the worst player in the Dream Team. You still gotta be good to be on the Dream Team (unless you're Christian Laettner circa 1992). Its strengths? It's relaxing, and it's got some cool voice mixing in the middle-end portion of the song. And it's pleasant sounding, so it's got that going for it. Otherwise, one nice tidbit is that it's technically the longest song of the 4 Chicagos, give or take a few seconds. Good for you, Adult version!

*Bill Simmons' podcast, the B.S. Report, is sponsored by the Subway Fresh Take Hot Line. It's such a goofy sponsor, half the guests make some comment on its silliness. I just think you need to know these things.

#2 - Acoustic Version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQU5rY8yjlo): This is definitely a different take. Quite different. Acoustic Chicago ain't your grandma's Chicago. This is even more nicely mellow than the Adult version (I take joy in short handing it like that), and I dig the sublime vocal backgrounds too. I'm also a fan of the stronger presence of the single female "girl power!" voice in this one; it really reminds me of a version you would hear in a talent show/coffee house type of situation. This track provides that opportunity to help folks who want to perform this song but can't do the original version unless they have a massive band in place.

#1 - Multiple Personality Disorder Version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ER-ut8BcI): This one is probably the funkiest of the versions, and I dig it as such. It's got some cool experimental stuff going on, PLUS it's got that crazy trumpet going on still. Awesome! This song is the one version that I have on my iPod shuffle, since it's shorter (clocking in at a [relatively] speedy 4:35, and yeah, I just used parentheses within parentheses!) and more upbeat than the original throughout, although maybe not at the original's peaks.

So there you have it. There's my attempt at a music post. I'm just glad I got through that one alive. Viva Sufjan, and here's hoping he one day releases another studio album.