Feb 042025
 
i love la grammys

The city of Los Angeles has been put through the wringer the past month and the fact that the Grammy Awards were able to be held there on Sunday seems like a minor miracle. The ceremony opened with a heartfelt introduction by host Trevor Noah acknowledging the city and its role in popular music. The show then kicked off in earnest with a supergroup paying tribute to the city. And they did so with what seems like the obvious choice: Randy Newman’s “I Love LA.”

The group was led by the Goldsmith brothers, Taylor and Griffin from Dawes, who both lost their houses, their childhood home and their studio in the fires. They were joined on-stage by a diverse group of musicians including John Legend, Sheryl Crow, St Vincent, Brittany Howard and Brad Paisley.

A few of the lyrics were changed, removing Newman’s trademark snark, and replacing it with a tribute to the firefighters and first responders as well as celebrating the resilience of the city. (I’m usually not okay with changing lyrics, especially when they completely de-fang a song, but they get pass on this one.) Enjoy the performance and if you can, make a donation to help the people most affected by the fires.

Nov 112024
 
Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes

Though they predate Brit-pop by over a decade, Pulp have been forever linked to the movement due to their hit albums and their biggest hit, “Common People,” which was once voted Britain’s favourite Brit-pop song. Later a Rolling Stone poll found the same thing about their readers, so the song is indelibly linked to moment in time where a band ten years older than their contemporaries somehow broke through and helped define an era.

Taylor Goldsmith, one half of LA folk rockers Dawes, chose this iconic song for his recent appearance on AV Undercover. In the pre-performance interview/chit chat, Goldsmith says it was the story-song nature of “Common People” that drew him to it, as that stands out so much from the other Brit-pop songs. Goldsmith has been listening to and playing it for years when he was younger but hadn’t played it in some time.

As with many solo acoustic covers of big hits, the focus is on the lyrics more than it is in the original, which has a big sound that kind of distract the listener. Goldsmith plays it a tiny bit slower than the original and gives it the folk balladeer treatment. He adds some speak-singing and alters his register to give the song some dynamics it would otherwise be lacking in such a performance.

The result is a pretty performance – occasionally interrupted by the distant sounds of somebody’s children – fully celebrating the nature of “Common People” as one of the great put-down songs in music history. Check it out:

May 212024
 

Long Distance LoveWell, how about that! On the same day as a still-going Little Feat put out a blues cover album, Sam’s Place (review incoming), so too choose Sweet Relief to put out Long Distance Love, a star-studded charity tribute to their late founder and lynchpin, Lowell George. Star-studded? Well, let’s say the likes of Elvis Costello, Dave Alvin and Ben Harper are all present and accounted for, with George’s own daughter, Inara George, also putting in an appearance.

Lowell George was a slide guitar maestro, a singer/songwriter with a penchant for complex swampland boogie, polyrhythmic shuffles to delight both brain and bootheels. He formed Little Feat back in 1969, after a short spell with Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. A set of well-received albums followed, until 1979, when George (a) dissolved the band, (b) released his solo album Thanks, I’ll Eat It Here, and (c) died of a massive heart attack at the age of 34. It took eight years before the relicts of what had assuredly been his band reconvened, and they remain a vital presence, with George’s songs still the ones the fans mainly come to hear. These are the songs that return to the spotlight on Long Distance Love, and the four and a half decades since Lowell’s voice was stilled have done nothing to dampen their vibe.
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