Brooke Fraser's Flags

*This is a music review I wrote for my digital journalism class. Visit the original here*

It is often said that our lives are like stories, but this sentiment comes to life through the character-driven narratives in the third album of New Zealand's pop/folk songbird Brooke Fraser.

Flags boasts eleven songs that wind around topics of love, grief and wandering, using slow ballads and lilting sing-along tunes. This album marks a new chapter in Fraser's career, with a transformed approach to lyric-writing and music-making that sets it apart from her previous work while still offering loyal fans what they expect and love. The album, released on October 12th 2010, was the first to be produced by Fraser herself, making it a truer reflection of her vision and style.

While the What To Do With Daylight and Albertine albums were intensely introspective contemplations, in Flags Fraser channels her emotions through specific characters. This creates a beautiful mosaic of story-telling that brings the listener close to the issues without having them spelt out. Fraser shows us the worlds of others and lets us find our own in it, such as the exploration of grief, Ice On Her Lashes, in which a widower speaks to and about his deceased wife.

Flags is given depth and texture by Fraser's collaboration with numerous talented contemporaries, such as Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and indie folk singer William Fitzsimmons, who features on the deluxe album version. The duet with Aqualung's Matt Hales, Who Are We Fooling?, not only brings two great voices into harmony, but brings a bittersweet dialoque about commitment to life. Fraser's choice to include such a variety of inputs on the album, without shifting the focus from her, is a sign of her maturity as a song writer that many lack.

Another highlight that gives this album its unique edge is the incorporation of various instrumental elements that range beyond the usual piano, guitar and harmonica ensembles that have become the staple of many pop/folk artists. There's a variety of human percussion, from finger snapping to knee clapping that gives the album its unique sound and gives it a sense of community and fun.

Especially the little tune Here's To You exemplifies this, with a trumpet reminiscent of the Beatles and an assortment of background noises that seem to place the listener into a noisy pub with all of their friends.
One of the strengths of Flags is its distinctive structure. Fraser hooks the listener the whimsical love song Something In The Water, that is just as sunny as the 'demeanour made of bright, pretty things' described in its first line. The sound progressively becomes more slower and more intense. This serves Fraser well by letting songs like the smooth love ballad Sailboats revolve and hinge on her voice.

Although the transition is well-crafted and easy to follow, the intensity and sparseness of songs such as Flags can be hard to digest. The album demands the listeners full attention and although the lyrics are thought-provoking gems, the tracks can feel somewhat inaccessible if not examined closely.

Flags intertwines enchanting stories and sounds to bring Fraser's work to a new level. This album asks for devotion and, if taken seriously, will reveal treasures far beyond its catchy choruses.

I can’t leave you my body
But I’ll leave you a tune
This is my legacy 

Cheers to you

Here's To You by Brooke Fraser

You can stream all the songs on Brooke's site.

Weekend Mix Tape #2

This week I was swallowed up in a work-coma once again, but at least the end of term will soon be here and then I can start blogging properly. Im itching to get some posts out on newly released albums and projects from old favourites.

Until then there's nothing like a weekends mix tape to get your mind off work. I picked some songs that somehow seem made to be played after each other. They are a little strange the first time you hear them, but very easily creep into permanent spots in your playlist. Don't miss out on the bittersweet depth beneath their melodious exterior that is so easy to sing along to.

clap your hands say yeah!

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - The Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth

There's a charm in this tune not every mainstream radio listener could appreciate. This song does a good job of doing whatever it wants, not what's expected and still has a odd smoothness to it. It might be a little awkward and mismatched at times, but that's what makes it so special.

Note: This is a great one for those five minute breaks in between studying that you use to dance around your room till you can tackle work again.

bon iver

Bon Iver- Skinny Love

It's no surprise that around here this song became a trend as fast as patterned leggins will stop being one. It pulls you towards it till you're pleading along with the beautiful voice of Justin Vernon that's tinged with desperation and heartache. Bon Iver and especially this debut album deserves so much more than a quick mention, but Skinny Love is strong enough to make you devoted all by itself.

Great Lake Swimmers – Your Rocky Spine

Your Rocky Spine brings me back to those pristine moments when you get to stare out at mountains, rivers and forests and it seems that that's all there is. The lyrics sing love into this wilderness and the banjo leaves you with a rusty aftertaste. This is one of my favourites from these Canadians and is worth a good long listen.

“And the mountains said I could find you here
They whisper the snow and the leaves in my ear
I traced my finger along your trails
Your body was the map I was lost in there”

from Your Rocky Spine

Listen to the song on Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! site

Listen to Skinny love on Bon Iver's Myspace page.

Listen to Your Rocky Spine on Great Lake Swimmer's Myspace page. 

The pics are cc thanks to Chema Helmet and benzpics63

Weekend Mix Tape #1

The weekend can't come quick enough after weeks like the one behind me, when there's little time for anything not related to studying (including blogging, unfortunately). When it is finally there, why not enjoy the temporary glimpse of freedom with some good tunes?

So here it is – the first Sound Between weekend mix tape. This one is short and you might have heard these songs before, but hopefully it'll give you something to tap your feet to.

Regina Spektor- On The Radio

The sweet voice that gave everyone goosebumps with The Call (featured in Narnia: Prince Caspian) twists and turns around this track with an ease that is so signature to her experimental style. On The Radio runs the risk of just getting stuck in your head with its catchy chorus, but with a closer listening the verses wind around meaningful contemplations of love and life.

Josh Pyke- Forever Song

Josh once again longs for swapping the mundane for the perfect in this track of his Memories & Dust album. He sings like he's retelling stories of that perfect trip, when you felt free and at peace with all. The Forever Song longs for that feeling to come back.

darwin deez

Darwin Deez- Radar Detector

When I met a local songbird in the bathroom of a club a while ago, I seized the chance to swap artist names. She recommended this from the funky debut of the equally funky looking Darwin Deez. The album is arguably repetitive, but that just makes it easier to sing along to the funny choruses that make you jig up and down a bit. Radar Detector is no exception. Listen closely and you'll find some equally unusual ideas for a date.

Old Man River- La

This guy has equally groovy hair as Darwin Deez and will make you sway from side to side while he repeats a single syllable. What makes this song really worth it is the arb music video.

Hint: if you listen closely around 1:53 you'll hear a duck that is just as randomly funny as the video. 

 

There you go. A sweet voice, two funky dudes and a piece of forever- what more does a weekend need?

“I want the song I can sing forever,
I don't care for structure,
Just to know it's mine”

Josh Pyke – Forever Song

The Darwin pic is cc thanks to  CZMJ 

Click song names to see youtube videos. 

Kudos to the lovely Lonely RabbitDiaries for introducing me to the song La. 

Jon Foreman

On rainy Sundays like this, when there is nowhere better to be than in bed, I always find myself going to those same special artists that have come with me so far that their songs feel like hugging an old friend. This is the comfortable, familiar niche of my music collection that is laced with memories and I always come back to. 

Today I found myself gravitating towards the smooth voice and deep lyrics of one Jon Foreman in his various incarnations. There's over a decade of albums from his legacy as the frontman of Christian rock classic Switchfoot. Then there are a few rugged jems from the Fiction Family album, his 2009 project with Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek.

The real essence of Foreman for me is his solo work- an album called Limbs & Branches and a series of EPs named after the four seasons. He described them in an interview as a “personal consolation for pain” and you can hear it in every bittersweet lyric set to intimate guitar pickings. Foreman's music reflects a deep desire for a more fulfilled life and the struggle against everything that keeps him from it. These songs were written late at night, never really intended for more than himself and you can hear it.

 Some songs, like White as Snow, are honest contemplations of his personal faith. Despite my usual aversion to direct renditions of biblical text, Foreman has managed several decent ones that stand on their own two musical feet. The EPs also include beautiful love songs like Deep In Your Eyes (There Is A River) which crackles with the unspeakable feelings between lovers.

The Winter EP deserves a special mention, because it is one of the most thought-provoking and insightful contemplations of death I have heard in a long time. These are the songs for the people who are willing to look past a song that's 'so emo' and can let it creep in and affect them. To this day my fingers naturally start playing Learning How to Die whenever I pick up a guitar when feeling emotional.

Jon Foreman is one of those artists I always come back to and at the rate he's going, there will be a lot more to come back to. His music is like someone showing you something only they know.

Build me a home inside your scars
Build me a home inside your song
Build me a home inside your open arms
The only place I ever will belong

I'm Still Running by Jon Foreman 

Extras:

Follow Jon on Twitter- his tweets are worth it.

Lastfm has some good content on Jon

Pic is cc thanks to ALQ!

the start

           I used to be one of those bloggers who spews out a long string of everyday ups and downs. After a reasonably long break to run around Europe and grow up, I'm re-entering the blogosphere with new courage and a new angle. 

This time around, my love for indie folk and rock music was the only thing worth writing about. We all have something that follows us, carries us and makes us – this is mine. 

 

I've seen the power of the right song at the right time and how music can connect and free people. A good tune that hits your core or just makes you forget everything around you can change your day or your life. Discovering that new perfect band can make you feel a little less alone or a little more like you.

I hope this blog can bring you a bit of this.

A note on content:

I'll be mixing anything newsworthy and exciting from the music world with older music that I discover and rediscover. After all, there's a reason they don't put sell by dates on CDs.

That's it for now.

Here's something from Souls Like The Wheels by Avett Brothers.

“Souls like the wings, spreading out
Away from bad memories
Make us capable of taking off and landing
Alive with understanding”

Pic is cc thanks to [Filhi][bahthi] photography ( with great hopes )