Lie to me and tell me everything is all right

One of the great things about the iPod is you never know what you’ll hear.  Put it on random and suddenly a favorite track from years ago will fill your brain and for that one special moment you’ll be reminded of who you used to be.  That’s what happened when I heard Jonny Lang’s "Lie To Me".  And as the riff was pounding in my brain, as I listened to the North Dakotan emote, I wondered, how did I DISCOVER this.  MTV.  Or maybe it was VH1.  They went on it because Jonny was young, and cute, playing an older man’s music WELL!  The track was so infectious that I checked out the album.  And found a bunch of winners.  I even went to see him at the Troubadour.  I don’t go out to hear new bands anymore.  I just don’t have the desire.  Then again, I’m not exposed to new bands.  I’m just dunned by people in the business to go see their new charge.  So I can exult in the joy of their investment.  So I can write about the music and give them a leg up.  This is so far from the way it used to be.  When by just being a fan you were exposed to stuff.  And hooked.

I don’t watch MTV anymore.  Not even the reality shows.  I gave up on "Real World" when it was clear that it was only a springboard to stardom and had almost nothing to do with reality.  As for music…  The thought of being exposed to anything but high-priced rap on the channel is a joke.  And that’s what VH1 has become.  A joke.  A sniveling E! clone.  And terrestrial radio is either the same stuff they play on MTV on Top Forty or the same old tracks on rock stations.  All presented like we care.  And I don’t.  To quote an old song, baby, how’d it ever get this way?  To where there’s no center.  No clubhouse.

The other night I read this magazine "Paste".  They reviewed all these albums I’d never heard of.  I wondered whether I should believe.  It’s not only that I desire a filter, I desire to be on the pulse.  Oh, I want a few bands that only I know about, that I can proselytize about.  But society is about belonging.  I want a modicum of acts that have fans.  I want to be a member of a club.  There used to be a club.  They called it FM radio.  Listen to a station and you knew not only the new music but everything that was happening in town.  Now I read reviews of acts in the L.A. "Times" and am stunned that they were even playing.  I mean back in the seventies I just KNEW what was going on.  Who was playing the Forum, even if I wasn’t interested.  Cars paraded those KLOS stickers given out at gigs.  Oh, KROQ does something similar, but it’s smarmy.  It’s all attitude.  It’s middle-aged people ripping off kids.  There’s no respect.  Just the same joking attitude that pervades our society.  Yeah, we know this sucks, but this is the SYSTEM!  You can’t fight the system, can you?

I was driving to A16 yesterday to buy a new pair of hiking boots when I heard Death Cab For Cutie on XM’s Loft.  This song called "What Sarah Said".  I flipped the buttons, seeing what else was on the system.  And when I came back to the Loft, Death Cab was still playing.  But now the tune had turned instrumental.  And was really good.  This cemented it for me.  I had to check the band out.  This locked me in.  Mike Marrone gave it his imprimatur.  The President of the club was telling us it ALL it was good.

But what came next was even better.  "Galaxies".

I don’t know why I remembered the name Laura Veirs.  Maybe because it was so close to Meredith Vieira.  But it was in a distant memory bank.  Until I heard this tune on the Loft.  And another one after it, "Lake Swimming".

Are you a fan of the first Suzanne Vega record?  There’s a mood, a FEEL to that record that I’ve never heard replicated.  Like you’re in a thinking girl’s bedroom.  And she’s letting you into her world.  Story by story.  THAT’S what this Laura Veirs music sounded like.  I haven’t been enraptured by a record on my wavelength in EONS!  This was not another pretty girl trashed up to sell her body.  This was somebody I might know.  That I might WANT to know.

Well, I learned that Laura Veirs was not another Britney clone when I got home and fired up her Website.  She’s not beautiful.  And that’s such a relief.  And how interesting that her album’s on Nonesuch.  It’s getting to the point where you can almost trust the label.  That if they put something out, it’s good, or at least deserves notice.

But one of the great things about Laura Veirs is she’s NOT been noticed.  There’s not the usual oppressive hype.  I discovered her the OLD-FASHIONED way.  In passing.  On the RADIO!

What did Frank Zappa say?  Writing about music is like dancing about architecture?  That’s why I tend not to get into the actual songs themselves, the musicality.  My goal is only to describe the mood, the feeling I get when I listen to the music, so you’ll check it out.  I’d like you to check Laura Veirs out.

You can’t hear my favorite track on the album so far, the opener "Fire Snakes".  But you can stream a bunch of songs on her Website.  And even watch a video for "Galaxies".

Go to: Nonesuch Launch the player.

Choose your connection speed and "Galaxies" will start playing.  Of the four tracks available, after "Galaxies" play "Magnetized".  THIS is the sound and feel I’m talking about.

You can also go to lauraveirs.com.  Not that there’s much there.  Which kind of works at this stage of the game.  She’s a mystery.  You want to know more.