Paul Simon

The coupla tracks I heard from the new one implies Simon learned a few lessons from Eno, even if that last record was a stiff.

Stuff I read about this: He samples Sonny Terry. "Amulet" was originally an instrumental he wrote for Brazilian singer Luciana Souza who added her own vocal melody overtop.

Here's part of the L. Souza with Simon duet at the Beacon in NYc awhile back doing "Amulet". The Simon album version is just an instrumental

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v517/paulfournier/Paul%20Simon%20Beacon%20NYC%202-13-09/?action=view¤t=Amulet2-13-09016.flv

He samples a bit of Reverend J.M. Gates' sermon "getting Ready for Christmas Day" in “Getting Ready For Christmas Day"

http://dust-digital.com/gates

http://www.avclub.com/articles/paul-simon,53706/

some interesting bits in this interview. He explains the "Jay-Z" lyrical reference and talks about Eno and his 18 year-old son playing James Blake for him

I listened to some of the Panda Bear (from Animal Collective) stream on NPR after this one on NPR and I think Simon, despite utilizing some of his same ol' techniques, is less monochromatic than Panda Bear who is stuck on his dreamy Brian Wilson thing. Not that either one is great, but this appears to be more listenable. Does this type of thinking mean I'm old?

the rhythms overall are stronger than anything he's done in a long time (and I think rhythm is really key to his best songwriting).

I swear I read somewhere that while Simon had done so on ocassion before Graceland, that starting with that cd he began emphasing the usage of interesting rhythms that he heard from others to get him out of a songwriting block. He uses influences from others to kickstart his writing. Now previously we have discussed how some of his collaborators (Los Lobos, Terrance Simien) have grumbled that they have not gotten any songwriting credit on songs(some defend Simon on this).

I hear the so-called "rhythmic" approach on his first solo album!

Sometimes over the years he added rhythm himself via guitar in the songwriting process and sometime in the studio via supporting musicians at various stages of the songwriting process. With some albums he notes in that AV Club interview that he started with drums first.

at the end of the day, will any bed of exotica rhythms or chance operations overcome the preciousness inherent to simon's songwriting though?

Will any message board put an end to rhetorical questions?

But, to answer it, the preciousness is his most charming feature, cuz it's so precise.

You won't find an answer to your question here bb, we've got diamonds on the soles of our shoes.

or: xp

i knew he was talking about that jay-z billboard, it was close to my house.

Interview is interesting. Funny how to him this is less of a 'drum' record, but to me it seems more rhythmically alive than the last few. I like this, because it makes sense of some things I've long thought about him, that people miss a lot of what makes him great by focusing so much on his lyrics:

I like working with sound—sound and rhythm. I like the abstract more than “What does that mean?” Nobody ever says to you, “Why did you use a harmonium?” Or “What is that ringing sound that occurs here?” The questions are always “What does that song mean?” or “What were you trying to say here?” The abstract is just more interesting because it doesn’t really have anything to say, but if it is good, it creates thoughts and feelings, and I enjoy that. For me, once the music creates those thoughts and feelings, I begin to write a song about it. But if I just left it at the instrumental track, I think people would listen to it and think up their own songs and thoughts. That would be fun, too.

Surprise isn't bad at all, I just never listen to it.

btw there's some docfilm on the way about the making of Bridge over Troubled Water

yeahhh, i think it's included w/ the new reish of that album.
preciousness, eh? i mean, maybe at times, but to me it's more clarity of intent. or something.

it's interesting to me how the real "serious" sorta folk songwriting giants of the 60s - Dylan, Neil Young, Paul Simon - who could all be comfortably resting on their laurels by now, are still cranking out records. and genuinely interesting records at that. whereas all the more rock guys are burned out and worthless (lol Rolling Stones)

probably something to do with being a band vs. a solo artist? all of the dudes you mentioned (dylan, young, simon) have been able to swtich things up in terms of collaborators and sounds over the years, whereas the stones are kinda locked in one thing.

hmm yeah that makes sense.

otoh Lou Reed, not so vital a songwriter anymore eh

yeah not really. i sort of expect lou to have one more good to great album, but maybe that is expecting too much. does he even really write songs anymore?

A Bigger Bang was better than Surprise.

harsh

A- vs B record.

playing Glastonbury if the hints are owt to go by
http://www.nme.com/news/glastonbury/55932

how come no one told me paul simon did a solo acoustic tour in 1984? just found a recording, sounds amazing. great set list, cool reworkings of the songs.

Christgau loves it – his first A for a Simon record since Graceland.

A Bigger Bang was better than Surprise.

OTM. "A Bigger Bag" is pretty good! "Surprise" was super dull, especially considering the Eno imprimatur and compared to the underrated "You're the One."

BTW, I don't know if there's a thread for this, but what's up with Jewish songwriters like Simon, Leonard Cohen and Dylan (even pre-Christianity) invoking lots of Christian imagery?

you know all the best Christmas songs? written by Jews

I read one reviewer here compare the new album to "Heart and Bones". This is obviously not at all true though, because what made "Hearts and Bones" so special was all the ballads, and the new album doesn't have ballads at all.

It is not at all bad, but it is now about time Paul Simon put away all that annoying percussion forever and go back to all those Rhodes-tinged ballads he was so great at until and including "Hearts and Bones". Those are the ones that represents Simon at his best and most musically sophisticated.

sb

annoying percussion forever

still hongro after all these years

There's a ballad called "Dazzling Blue" which evokes "Hearts and Bones," but Geir, I guess, missed it because the tabla confused him into thinking he was listening to a George Harrison or Kula Shaker recod.

kinda mostly loving everything abt this rec

'questions for the angels' is on some dreamy vdparks song cycle ish

First Paul Simon album since Rhythm of the Saints that I like after one listen - and I've found that none of those records I initially disliked have grown on me at all. I wonder if it's the production, which in many ways seems to hearken back to his mid-70s heyday (some of my first musical memories are of lying in the back section of the station wagon watching the telephone poles tick by and listening to "My Little Town" and the rest of Still Crazy on the 8-track) but with a nice, understated update-sheen (unlike Surprise which sounded to me like "LOOKY HOW MODERN I CAN DO")

good album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI0enx_Jnqc

impressed they sounded so good live with just 2 vox and a single acoustic guitar

The title track (nice electro blues stomp) and "Dazzling Blue" are the keepers.

can we talk about how good so beautiful or so what is? it is really good!

It's really surprisingly good live, too.

I like it, although there's too many angels, Christmas mornings, and too much love.

you monster.

Saw him this past Monday at the smaller local venue. Boy, is his band good. Also occurred to me what a natural fit the African stuff remains for Simon, making songs like "50 Ways" and "Kodachrome" sound even more square than ever. The night's deep cut: "Cool, Cool River."

yurgh would love to see him in one of these clubs he's been playing.

yeah, The Vic show was great. one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life. and I'm not even the hugest Paul Simon fan! but damn that band was amazing. Super tight, but also loose enough to pull off a few Grateful Dead "->" style transitions ("Vietnam" -> "Mother and Child Reunion", "Hearts and Bones" -> "Mystery Train", "Kodachrome"-> "Gone at Last")

His new songs all sound great, they blended right in with the older stuff.