Thank You Friends

In Honor of Record Store Day...

Quick news to warm the hearts of power pop lovers everywhere:

Omnivore Recordings is reissuing Big Star's Classic Third album on limited edition 180-gram vinyl. Only 2000 copies are available worldwide -- and you could win the record-geek's equivalent of a Golden Ticket because they're randomly inserting 5 original test pressings (courtesy of Big Star Jody Stephens) into the run. Go to your local record store tomorrow (April 16) to buy, buy, buy.

In celebration of the release (and of record geekdom in general), Plasticsoul's Steven Wilson (on guitar and lead vocals) and Clicks and Pops favorite Brandon Schott (on backing vocals, uke, and toy piano) have a wonderful gift for you: their gorgeous cover of Big Star's "Thank You Friends" -- recorded completely live to 4-track cassette in the living room of Brandon's then empty new house on May 10, 2010.

More info (and limited free downloads) here!

Cover Me

You Know I Know When It's a Dream...

Brandon Schott, whom I first wrote about here, has a new single coming out next week on iTunes: "God Only Knows" b/w "Strawberry Fields Forever." And he's performing this week to celebrate the release.

More on that in a minute. But first:

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As listeners, we hear covers in a very different way than the way we hear original songs.

This is more pronounced when the songs are well known. Many "classic rock" songs from the 60s and 70s are so deeply imprinted after decades of radio play (not to mention hours spent listening to these songs on vinyl, cassette, CD, and MP3) that they're nearly a part of our DNA.

For songs that are well-known, we carry our memory of the original with us as we hear the cover. That makes Slavishly Faithful covers purely an exercise in nostalgia. It makes Radically Rearranged covers more interesting for how they differ from the originals than in how they are similar. And it makes Slapped Together covers something best enjoyed in the moment during a live show (where hopefully there's enough else happening to distract us from how crappy and poorly executed the cover is).

For most musicians, covering really well-known songs is just asking for trouble.

Because, really, does the world ever need another version of "God Only Knows" or "Strawberry Fields Forever"?

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Which loops me back around to Brandon Schott.

These two songs aren't your typical covers. The arrangements are neither radically different nor slavishly faithful.

Instead, Brandon's versions tunnel inside the songs, letting us rediscover essential truths we might have forgotten, combining the very familiar with the revelatory and peeling back layers of songs we thought we knew everything about.

Brandon's "God Only Knows" opens with Indian tabla marking out percussion, infusing the track instantly with a 1966 vibe. Bells and organ echo the original, but veer off from the Beach Boys arrangement. Harmonies are understated here, sneaking up on you instead of hitting you over the head Beach Boys-style. The song builds and builds as it moves along, confidently gaining momentum, and power. And then there's the ending.

Holy ****.

Brandon's son Tyler sings a boy-soprano counter-melody at the end of the song that completely takes my breath away. (And if you don't get goose bumps from it, you either don't like music or you're a robot passing for human -- and in either case I wonder what you're doing reading this.) Close your eyes when you listen to this and you'll swear for 3 minutes and 50 seconds that Brian Wilson really could write teenage symphonies to God -- at least for a few months in 1966.

Here's a taste of Brandon's take on the Beach Boys:


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"Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song most people know backwards and forwards. Originally recorded to be a cornerstone of the Sgt. Pepper album (whose loose concept had something to do with childhood... and nostalgia... and LSD), it was rushed out as a single (a double-A side with "Penny Lane") in early 1967 when EMI realized that Sgt. Pepper would take many more months to finish.

Brandon's take on "Strawberry Fields" is simple and stark, mostly just a piano and voice. All through the song, you'll wait for familiar instruments to come in -- starting with Paul McCartney's mellotron that opens the Beatle version. But for the most part, things are kept austere here, with ghostly reverb and faint glimmers of instruments substituting for the full psychedelic orchestration of the original. Time and again, I find myself waiting for Ringo's familiar drum fills, then feel thrown off-balance when they don't appear. Instead, backing vocals emphasize the ethereal nature of the song, underscored by a piano that sometimes sounds like it was stored in a damp basement for several decades. The overall effect is mesmerizing -- and wallops you with the full force of something long-forgotten but vitally important.

Here's a taste of "Strawberry Fields":


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For those of you in or around Los Angeles, Brandon will be doing a special release party for his "God Only Knows" single on May 20 (this coming Thursday) at the Renaissance Hotel and Spa in Hollywood. Admission is free (my favorite price) and open to all ages. Great music and maybe a few surprise special guests. 25 people will also win a special limited-edition CD single of the songs.

Then, a week from Tuesday (May 25th), you can buy the single from iTunes. For more info, go here.

Very highly recommended.

Dandelion

A Quick Reminder:

Brandon Schott's Dandelion album (which I wrote about here) is available tomorrow now from all your favorite online music sources.

Brandon's website has also been redesigned and spiffed up, check it out here.

And here's a video of "Fire Season" from the new album:

Taraxacum Californicum

Warning: We're not in the carefree, bouncy teen pop world today.

Spirituality and hope are nearly impossible to do well in rock music.

Too often, the results are preachy and melodramatic or general and meaningless. Almost no one gets the balance right.

But Brandon Schott does. His new album Dandelion (coming on September 29, 2009) is a rare collection of 13 gorgeous, hopeful, piano-based pop songs shimmering with melodic hooks and heartfelt vocals. The music is spiritual but inviting, clever but not self-conscious, hopeful without being sappy, and melancholy but uplifting. These are the kind of songs that remind you of the simple power and glory of music.

Dandelion's stark, simple pop songs seem to come from a world outside of time, hearkening back to a less trendy time when achingly gorgeous melodies and yearning vocals ruled the airwaves. If Ben Folds and Jon Brion were to have a child (and who am I to say they didn't?), that child would grow up to be Brandon Schott.

From simple songs about appreciation ("May the Sunrise Keep Us Warm") to songs about lost childhood ("Four Winds") and hope ("Falling Forward," "I'll Be Waiting," "All Will Be Well," and "Unknown"), this is music for grown-ups. And the wolves are never far from the door, threatening to destroy everything you hold dear (especially in "Fire Season," my favorite track from the album). Yes, it's incredibly beautiful and catchy, but no, you won't find disposable tunes about high school romance, dancing, or who looks hot.

Ordinarily, that would be all you'd need to know. And I'm tempted to leave it at that and send you off to Brandon's MySpace page to listen to "Fire Season," which should convince you to buy the album.


But there's another side of the story. Explaining the title, Brandon says: "Dandelions remind me of childhood, of a certain way of seeing the world – of blowing seeds into the air as a kid, and watching them float on; a beautiful and weightless wonder. Yet, it's a weed – an unwelcome growth in an otherwise tended garden. A cancer."

Need anything else to tell you we've left the world of seemingly cloned teen pop singers far behind? We've stepped beyond metaphor here -- this is literal, life-threatening cancer he's talking about.

Because a couple years ago Brandon Schott was having chest pains, went to the emergency room, and walked out with a cancer diagnosis.

Most of these 13 songs were written during his treatment and recovery and the album was recorded largely with acoustic instruments in a church in Glendale, California (which lends an airy, resonant feeling to the music).

None of the songs directly mention cancer. Or religion. But they're all infused with the energy and hopefulness Brandon brought to his successful battle against cancer. And while you could enjoy the album without knowing any of this, the backstory brings a level of depth, beauty and grace to each of these songs – especially the gorgeous "Unknown," a duet with Brooke Fox.

Bonus video: Brandon recording "May the Sunrise Keep Us Warm" live with band (and string section) in St. Mark's Church in Glendale:


The bottom line: If you worship at the altar of McCartney-esque pop (and if you're reading this, chances are you do), Dandelion contains 13 benedictions to help renew (or restore) your faith.