C.C.’s got song on the brain, probably because of her own immersion in the stuff, with three performances coming up in the next 10 days all involving songs of hers (er…well, one of the performances was last night at the opening of the new Galapagos! I may blog about that whole experience later. But quickly, it was a fierce and strange night in a fierce and strange space. I don’t think DUMBO knew what was about to hit it).

But song is a particularly vital form, one that spans all styles of music, and all cultures. Beyond the popular use and abuse of songs–namely abuse by TV/radio culture that dishes out song after song to be consumed and forgotten, like little nuggets of McMusic; or the tired marketing trope of actors bursting into song in TV commercials; or those annoying and condescending credit report songs with bizarre prosody and forced rhymes–songs can be treated in a variety of interesting ways.

There is a particular vitality of the song in downtown performance. Dance theater artists often include songs in their work; generally pop songs of all styles and eras. Some songs are called on to add a very specific emotional element to a performance sequence, others are employed ironically to affects that are sometimes poignant, sometimes off-the-mark. Some performers sing live (earnestly, ironically, and/or emotionally), some lip sync, others just let the song play while acting out a little sketch. And sometimes songs are used in a more traditional way, like creating a dance to a ballet score.

To digress for a second, I’d like to point out a review of Loretta Lynn by Jon Caramanica in The Times. Hat’s off to Caramanica for writing probably one of the most difficult reviews he’s ever had to write. To have to give a negative review not only to someone who is legendary in their field, but whose command of her craft is diminishing simply for the effect of time on her body, must have been heartbreaking. But I think he did the right thing to correctly speak to both her legend and her dwindling presence.

I included this review because of its focus on an artist who made her career through song; through genuine song; through sitting and thinking about life, reflecting, and then writing songs that speak to true experience.

But that isn’t the only kind of song, nor do I think it should be. Variety is always better; versatility prime. And C.C.’s tastes certainly span the gamut. So we thought it would be fabo to think back through the best and worst moments in song, in performance (and a couple films), from the past year or so.

So here’s a broad recap. In no particular order…

Best – Jack Ferver’s “I am disappeared…I am disappointed…” song he performed with Renee Benson at the end of his show “I am trying to hear myself” at the New Museum.

Best – Miguel Guiterrez’s use of Gwen Stefani’s “Early Winter” in his show “Nothing, No Thing” at La MaMa. First played at high volume, Miguel seemed to shrink on stage as the song overtook him. Later he howled the song a capella at the top of his lungs in what was truly a gut-wrenching solo. It was so tweaked that Roslyn Sulcas called it tuneless, even though the Stefani melody remained intact, if seriously strained.

Best - John Jasperse, the same night at La MaMa, opened his work “Pure” with a seriously gorge dance to Rick Ross’s “Where My Money (I Need That).” Fierce.

Worst – Meg Stuart and Philipp Ghemacher’s “Maybe Forever” at DTW. Whether it was the sheer length of the show or whatever, these songs were more like little digressions into boring pit stops on an already endless stretch of highway.

Best – Ann Liv Young’s ash-soaked performance at the opening of the new CPR in Bushwick was libidinous and hedonistic. But there’s just something about her approach to song–simultaneously sincere and ironic, awful and endearing–that makes her, oddly, one of today’s leading practitioners of the melodie.

Best – Neal Medlyn’s take-down of Beyonce at the New Museum was exhilarating, if a tad one-note (pun intended). Whatever: he’s still fierce, and fiercely using song to entertain us all.

Best - Jerome Bel’s “Killing Me Softly” in “Pinchet Klunchun and myself.” Lip-sync irony at its best, also because it takes the lyrics quite literally. Moving, powerful, simple: hilarious.

Best – From Adrienne Truscott’s “Genesis, No!”, Neal Medlyn and Carmine Covelli miming a pair of lovers being stuck in a car listening to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone”

Worst – The theme song from “Happy Days” played during intermission at Fiona Shaw’s Samuel Becket’s “Happy Days” at BAM. Ugh…

Best – Joanna Newsome, if only for making us take a close, hard look at ourselves. Y’all know we went full circle on this girl. But she does have a true talent, and her songs can be mesmerizing.

Worst – Juno. The whole attitude of this movie sucked, culminating in that lame-ass ending w/ the two teens playing guitar together. I’m not saying that Kimya Dawson’s songs were bad, but the way they were used to curry favor for a script that was, at best, amateur, insulated and self-congratulatory, sucked my balls. (And, obviously, not in the good way.)

Best – “Sweeney Todd: The Movie”. I might take flack for this, but Helena Bonham Carter’s version of “The Worst Pies In London” is like the sweetest, saddest thing I’ve ever heard, other than the sound of my own crying at night after a long hard day of living in NYC.

Best – Justin Bond’s “Lustre, A Midwinter Trans-Fest” at P.S.122 was a mini trove of song-tastic moments. Aside from Bond’s singular voice, there was a strong showing by M Lamar, whose “White Pussy” was one of the unmentionable gems L. Ro. couldn’t illuminate in her review.

Best – Katy Pyle and Eleonore Houlihan’s performance duo, Asubtout, has a pretty amazing song about crystals and unicorns, if I recall correctly.

And finally…

Best – Nick Hallet makes the list like a million times. His performance of Meredith Monk songs was a much needed moment of clarity and rigorous artistry at the closing party for Performa 07. Back in March, Earl Dax presented an entire evening of Nick’s original songs at Joe’s Pub, and Bridget Everett awesomely sang Nick’s awesome “Bring In The Boys!” number. Then, as recently as July 24, Nick and his cohort Zach Layton organized an installment of their avant-music series, Darmstadt, in honor of pianist Emily Manzo. It was basically this huge night of songs, from popular, present and classical genres. Nick’s own interpretation of Charles Ives’s song “Majority”, sung intentionally in a popular vocal style, was genius. I think sometimes that the classical vocal instrument does more on its own to make classical vocal music sound so weird and unapproachable. And when Nick crooned a little during the Ives, you could imagine folks down at the local watering hole swinging their arms around each other in a grand atonal chorus.

More about that night:

Aaron Diskin‘s all-too-short “History of Music pt.1″ was a smart and absurd summary of music from opera through reggae (pt.2 hopefully coming soon…). Seth Garrison and Clara Latham, who form the band Wilde Turkey, sang their song “Born to be a Star”, which segues nicely near the end into the chorus of U2′s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

Then, at the end, [quoting now from a comment I left over at Culturist] a performance of “Noise In You,” a song written by David Garland (b. 1955), who was in attendance, was one of the most eerily moving performances I’ve seen recently. Led by Christine Edwards, all fifteen or so of the night’s participants came out wearing hospital gowns, and sang in chorus, “I know there’s a noise in you…And I know that I’m noisy too…” to a sweet, child-like melody. The song is about how our bodies actually produce sound (or noise), even though we commonly regard our bodies as silent objects.

And at the very end, Edwards approached a little table that had on top of it a stethoscope attached to an amplifier. She held it to her neck, and as the music continued behind her, the sound of her heartbeat began to throb through the entire room. It was this crazy, humanistic moment, her vital sign seeming to humbly remind us that it had been present in the room the entire time. It is always present, as long as we are.

Hot.

Well, that’s kind of all I can remember. Any songs you’ve heard, liked, hated in performance or on film? Let us know!

August 6, 2008
Categories: Critics, Dance, Downtown, New Music, NY Times, Pop Culture, Pop Music . . Author: countercritic

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