Jaron's Journal
| June 3, 2010, 12:06 AM Weekly Blog #6: Why I love the Jake Russell Band album "Turning To Dandelions": Part II |
| Hey all, I'm back with another weekly blog post entitled:
Part II: The last half of the lunar cycle Last week I discussed why I loved the Jake Russell Band album "Turning To Dandelions," and got about halfway through. This week I finish the review, with the last half of the album; a solid collection of great songs which finish out the man's existential journey begun in the first half of the album. Track 10: Blue Lounge Chair Another one of my favorites, this song is all about the lyrics, and there is plenty of them--six stanzas worth. The first five verses are sung in a quiet low voice, while the final verse is sung an octave higher in an emotional half-scream. A simple folksy guitar, punctuated by sound effects which aid the imagery of the lyrics, serves as the backdrop for the song and mockingly clashes with the final verse. The song seems to be about a man who's looking back on his life with feelings of alienation, guilt and desperation. You get the feeling that life has passed him by and that his condition is worsening with each passing verse. Track 11: Full Moon Now the moon is full! And in this song we return to the "Moon 2" riff introduced in the song "Gibbous Moon;" except we now have a different melody, different lyrics, a different singer, and a different, more depressing, theme expressed against them. In this song we have a man struggling with lust as he grows impatient waiting for the right girl, a very human struggle. Track 12: I Became the Wind This song has quite a dynamic range. It begins in a very minimalistic fashion, with a simple melody sung against a few plucked notes. In this part, I feel we have a man unsure of how he feels about a girl entering into his life in a non-committal way. This is followed by an extended arpeggiated solo which segues into a more hopeful, full guitar piece. Here we learn that the man has accepted her presence, and is trying to be there for her. The song then returns to its minimalistic beginnings as the man tries to tell the girl that he's capable of loving her. Track 13: The Spider and the Grasshopper This catchy, singable tune, set against an acoustic guitar and an accordian, is full of great lyrics laden with imagery. In the first verse we have a spider waiting to catch and eat something to satisfy her appetite and keep the "insect population at check." In the second verse we have a playful, carefree grasshopper who offers rides to passers-by, but never jumps beyond a certain height. The third verse ties it all together. We learn that the spider and the grasshopper represent someone who's only interested in shallow relationships, someone who "takes what they want when they want it." They tend to have relationships that go in cycles (represented by the jumping grasshopper), and they tend to prey on the innocent. The song seems to be sung from the perspective of someone who was bitten by this person. The song ends with a great musical build punctuated by strings and piano. Track 14: Turning to Dandelions Now we get to the title track. And does it stand out on the album? You bet it does! It's probably my second favorite track on the album, and it expresses alot of what has gone on before, both musically and lyrically, in a 16 minute song (the amount of time it took to boil water and prepare ravioli, heard in the background of the song) that only feels like a 5 minute song. There's so much to it. The song begins with lyrics from "I Became the Wind" pitted against the "Moon 2" theme found in "Gibbous Moon" and "Full Moon." In this part, we also learn that the "moon is waning." The song slows down, and the singer wonders if he's going to have to face all his troubles alone. The next two verses, which speak of a worsening situation, are very self referential. They are played against the riff from the end of "Hadron collider", the electric guitar solo now being emulated by the accordian. The "God machine" also references "Hadron Collider," "tout le monde et une nonne" references the song bearing that name as well as "Candide's Blue Period," and the "keys tap-tap-tapping against my steering wheel" references "Crescent Moon." Then the song picks up as an incredibly catchy riff plays. A hopeful build-up of lyrics brings us to a repeating anthem, reminiscent of "Hey Jude," that states that dandelions may be weeds, but they're still beautiful. We'll call this the "Dandelion" theme. This echoes the theme of "finding beauty in an imperfect world" found in "Candide's Blue Period." The song ends with the "Moon 2" theme being played in a light piano melody. Track 15: New Moon In this song, which uses the "Moon 2" theme again, we have the moon finishing its cycle in a new moon. At first listen, this song sounds like an instrumental piece, but if you listen closely, you can hear lyrics buried underneath. They are hidden, just as the moon would be during a new moon, and they speak about the hope of the moon's resuscitation. We also hear about "harvest time" for the crops which have been growing in various lyrics throughout the album. Track 16: Two Ways of Approaching the Same Thing As the name implies, this song has lyrics that approach the same idea in two different ways. In the first pass, pitted against a soft acoustic guitar, we see a man who has no power to move or influence what he can't control. In the second pass, we see that though the man has no power, he's hoping that God does, and that something will change what he cannot control. The ending changes from a spotty guitar melody to a more fluid melody, signifying the different approach. Track 17: Dandelion This song is an instrumental that plays the "Dandelion" theme found in "Turning to Dandelions" with an accordian set against an acoustic guitar. Track 18: Big Speaker The final track, a short song pitted against a very simple guitar piece, comically tells us that the speaker has nothing "big" or "meaningful" to say, perhaps just the simple message that beauty is found in imperfection--a theme echoed throughout the album. This also exemplifies the neuroticism of the album, as it's not trying to "say" to much, it's just trying to tell a story from its own perspective. And that's all, folks! Once again, this is an all-around great album, musically and lyrically, and it is definitely worth a listen! |