jonathan richman: is this guy a class fucking act or what?

what was it, drums and bass?

wait you're saying richman did a drum'n'bass album in the 1990s??

yeah a collab with µ-Ziq iirc

maybe it's more ambitious to not do the easy thing and just slap together a band that runs through Roadrunner every night.

Ok, forget about the first Modern Lovers album. I'm with Jonathan in that don't rate it that highly. And I don't have a problem with him performing solo, or with Tommy on drums - I've paid money many, many times for just that, but I'm not gonna pretend that I'm seeing the best Jonathan Richman show. He was a much better performer in the 70s and 80s than now, and one of the reasons is because he was writing songs that involved other people in their performance. Yeah he's a charming performer, but even more charming were the harmonies and the call and response thing that formerly featured in so many of his songs. Often his performances sound mawkish and self-indulgent. Every song ends the same way (by softly singing the title) and a big chunk of his repertoire hasn't changed since the 90s. Let's not pretend he's doing anything edgy.

edgy is overrated

ive never looked for edginess in the music of jonathan richman

Keep meaning to pause this summer feeling set, but not yet not yet (from the Burger Boogaloo, or something like that, last year in Oakland; 39 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4TjC20AOds

Now that's a band.

it's true that the early-mid 1980s was the high point for him, viz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta6EnFN48xk

There's so much wisdom, purity and personality in his current live act that I hadn't even considered the idea of him touring with a full band.

But it'd be interesting to see; even on the new record he's got a ton of backing singers all over his songs, and he has a lot of fun playing off of them. I kept hearing them in my head when he played "Let Me Do This Right" live (great song, btw).

xpost. Pretty much any live recordings from the Rockin' Robins period are essential!

absolutely class act

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbUYJfbZ-Qc

Nobel Prize one day surely.

last year's album has finally been put on the bandcamp they created for him the other month

https://jonathanrichman.bandcamp.com/

The ancient weird guy in his toga
Staff in hand
The ancient bearded guy doing yoga
On the sand

Really glad to get to hear Ishkode! Ishkode! all the way through and all the other recent material. It's a really good album, I think. I find what he has to say to still be very interesting and I love his musicality. The abstractness in his compositions has obviously gotten even more extreme.

From Bandcamp: JONATHAN RICHMAN DOES NOT USE THE INTERNET. ALL EMAILS WILL BE SENT TO BLUE ARROW RECORDS, HIS LABEL.

I wish I could say more than "I love his musicality." I suppose it's not the simplest thing to discuss. He's obviously exploring the use of very minimal melodic and harmonic materials more and using more dissonance. I live his voice as an improviser, too, in his singing and his playing.

*like*

Jonathan re-wrote and re-recorded Old World for the 2008 album

years late but ty for this, had no idea that new version was on an album. as I mentioned upthread, it floored me

New single:

https://jonathanrichman.bandcamp.com/album/penchant-for-the-stagnant-b-w-not-so-much-to-be-loved-as-to-love

Nice

:)

Old and New at the same time; so divine.

M. White!!! hail fellow well met

this guy is a class fucking act

Jerry Harrison plays on b-side!

Okay, now you’re speaking my language

have been enjoying the Action Packed compilation that's on Spotify and really this guy is just the classiest act

Took my 7 year old daughter to see him a while back. After the show she gave him a drawing of beavers partying at a dam and he was very appreciative and talked to her about the joys of drawing.

Klassy all the way.

Bit of a "Sister Ray" groove on the new one. (:

Weird keyboard drone even

I may have to travel to the states to see this guy

He used to tour elsewhere

makes sense, songs in French and Italian too... but seems he's only toured US the last 10 years?

I'm pretty sure I saw him in the UK in 2009

...so the Astral Weeks book has a long section on Jonathan & the Velvets.

xp aah ok, and now I see there was actually a 2012 euro tour as well

I guess I'll write him a letter

x-post--

I got the Astral Weeks book but haven't yet read the chapter on Jonathan & the Velvets. I saw the author do a book reading & talk. He said the Velvets played Boston a lot, and that young Jonathan sometimes was driving them around the city.

New album! Co-produced by Jerry Harrison who plays Mellotron, harmonium, and clavinet!

https://jonathanrichman.bandcamp.com/album/sa

Coool!!

what the hell?!

There was the Paramahansa Yogananda song on the last album. Eastern influence becoming much more prominent!

this is what the world needs now

i understand your dating bar ways

Can't go back to fainting couch and corsetry
Can't go back to pompadour and cummerbund

Saw Jonathan last night in Denver — still a class fucking act. A fair amount of vintage French and Italian poetry set to song.

He was doing the French and Italian a bit last time I saw him, plus a Sufi poem. My buddy wanted to see that Denver show but he said it was sold out by the time he tried to buy a ticket.

I plan on visiting the states with the sole purpose of seeing Jonathan

this is good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6dBDc82om0

That was really great... until Andrew Bird's song at the end.