Paul Simon

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.

I was actually worried for a minute at the start. He looked so old, and the sound was kind of eh, but it perked up quick! Perfectly paced, too. Almost like he's some sort of a pro or something. ;) Didn't know you'd be there, Rob, otherwise I would have made my way through all the rich/pretty/old people to wherever you were.

(Crossposting, the Cars last night also started sort of eh but stayed that way).

gonna see him in exactly a month in a 1500-capacity venue in Dublin. Can't wait.

That video of him on Sesame Street posted by Scott way upthread is great!

This is a pretty great story:
http://coverlaydown.com/2011/05/great-moments-in-coverage-paul-simon-picks-random-fan-out-of-the-crowd-to-cover-duncan/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CoverLayDown+%28Cover+Lay+Down%29

He did that in Washington DC too! This is starting to look fishy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/paul-simon-at-dar/2011/05/26/AGvtsFCH_story.html

Maybe he's just doing that everywhere on this tour

well even if it's a "thing" the woman's facial expressions in the duncan clip are pretty priceless.

aw

i remember reading abt that on roger eberts blog

its awesome!

omg that is killing me

i'm dead

also
http://stereogum.com/722022/david-byrne-paul-simon-you-can-call-me-al-road-to-nowhere-live-in-nyc/video/

30 years later, the cartoon brought to life:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W8pwMnZMNuQ/TINIzcGfauI/AAAAAAAADoA/wrlli9MgQcs/s400/slfig1.jpg

Hold on!
This album is bloody great!
I only got it this weekend. Already I'm liking this more than Rhythm Of The Saints, which I love.

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).

It's sparser, here, sonically, but keeps this loose sense of time that is absent on records by ____ and ____ and other bands who are influenced by ____.
Great kora on "Rewrite". Great lyrics! This is totally awesome!

yessssssss

such a good, good rec. amazed

i thought he and garfunkel were both so likable in the 'bridge over troubled water' documentary.

Giving this my first attentive listen now and really enjoying it - the sound is really great, really feels like he's in the same room with the galloping chug of the percussion but with lots of space for his voice in there. Need to give it a few more spins, see if the songs themselves really sink in, but it's a nice listen on a purely sonic level.

I saw Shampoo last night for the first time in a while. Don't think I ever noticed before that Simon got the music credit. The stuff by other people is fine ("Manic Depression" at the party is really good); don't know how much the selection was his and how much was Hal Ashby's. The recurring bit of background music written just for the film didn't sound anything like something Simon would write, though.

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

yeah its really p rad

Didn't want to muck up the poll thread, but hey:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FLuu1Brk7U

^^ Comedy special w/ Charles Grodin et al

lol @ Art Garfunkel getting 4th billing

can't remember if this came up in the poll thread but, y'know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1DJDnddsbU

Paul Simon & Sting: On Stage Together
Thu, Mar 13
Verizon Center
On Sale: Mon, 11/18 10am

Hmmmmm, not sure I like the sound of this

it's the King of Pain championship

for a nice Jewish boy, it's always seemed odd to me that Simon invested so much of his work with Xtian imagery and references. has he ever talked about this?

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/?p=10056

Review and setlist.

Paul Simon and Sting set list at the United Center

Simon and Sting:

1 Brand New Day

2 Boy in the Bubble

3 Fields of Gold

Sting:

4 Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

5 Englishman in New York

6 I Hung My Head

7 Driven To Tears

8 Walking on the Moon

Simon and Sting:

9 Mother and Child Reunion

Simon:

10 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

11 Dazzling Blue

12 Graceland

13 Still Crazy After All These Years

14 Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

Simon and Sting:

15 Fragile

Sting:

16 America (Paul Simon cover)

17 Message in a Bottle

18 The Hounds of Winter

19 They Dance Alone

20 Roxanne

21 Desert Rose

Simon and Sting:

22 The Boxer

Simon:

23 That Was Your Mother

24 Hearts and Bones/Mystery Train (Junior Parker cover)/Wheels (Chet Atkins cover)

25 The Obvious Child

26 Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

27 You Can Call Me Al

Encore – Simon and Sting:

28 Bridge Over Troubled Water

29 Every Breath You Take

30 Late in the Evening

lol

http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/ows_139322104428881.jpg

http://www.moviehole.net/img/alandale.jpg http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070809233743/muppet/images/2/2d/Robinfloor.jpg

do they swap that toupe on alternate nights?

Ha.

I see Kot liked the Chicago show (with many thanks to those "exotic" rhythms)

their mutual affinity for exotic rhythms unified the sprawling 2 1/2-hour show. Whenever Sting indulged in lethargic ballads (“The Hounds of Winter”) and Simon became wrapped up in wordy introspection (“Hearts and Bones”), those Third World grooves righted the course.

Simon’s band brought rubbery bass lines, washboard and spoons, percolating hand percussion and sinewy guitar chatter via Africa, Jamaica and Louisiana.

Wow, that setlist really emphasises how massively Simon overshadows Sting as a songwriter.

tellingly, Simon doesn't do a Sting cover

for a nice Jewish boy, it's always seemed odd to me that Simon invested so much of his work with Xtian imagery and references. has he ever talked about this?

― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, December 17, 2013 9:23 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean i think this is squarely grounded in some annie hallish WASPphilic NY thing. we come on a ship they call the Mayflower.

seems like it could just as easily be white boomer standard fetishization of African American gospel/black spirituality

Based on the photo above, it would be funny if Sting played the Chevy Chase role during "You Can Call Me Al."

Interesting how if this tour had happened in 1987, the world-music crossover would've been so clear and central to the two. Neither have left it behind in their newer albums, but it's not what they're known for, either.

yeah except there is this definite puritan seam that predates the explicit references to various black musics that he obviously borrows from later on, arch and stately. private invocations, angels in the architecture, a turning canticle and a melody from bach.