Howdy, interwebs!!!!

So, here it is. Another blog! Just what the iWorld e-needs!!! But I have high hopes for this. I'm hoping to turn BtB into a place where different musicians and artists can come and have their own voices broadcast to whomever is gracious (or bored/unemployed/undate-able) enough to come by and spend some time with us. I'm pretty much gonna wing it, so new features will be poppin' up at random & inappropriate times. Just like this one:

COVER-TASTIC TUESDAYS!!!

So to kick thangs off, I've cooked up this idea that I (and hopefully others down the line) would take one of their favorite songs and record a cover of it. Once a week. Tuesdays. Talk about the original tune, tell embarrassing stories of how such & such song reminds us of a horrible romantic encounter gone wrong, etc., discuss our interpretation, have you guys tell us we suck, or we're awesome. Whatevs. By the end of a year of this, if my calculations are correct (*carry the 11, divide by pi*), we'll all have 52 more songs out there for the world to never hear about. Or maybe it'll be something completely amazing.

First up: Will Johnson - "The Re-Run Pills"

Will Johnson occupies an entirely enviable position in the world of indie rock. As leader of the Denton, TX, rawk juggernaut centro-matic, as well as the more pastoral South San Gabriel, and his singer-singwriter-y solo releases, he's responsible for a tremendous amount of music that, while prolific and quite varied, is astonishingly consistent in quality and tone. Like a rural Robert Pollard singing about strip malls, or The Flaming Lips without nearly as much acid damage, he's hit a groove in his career where he can, in practical terms, certainly pay his bills. But he also has earned himself countless opportunities to collaborate with other talented musicians and performers while keeping a firm grip on his own artistic integrity, gaining critical respect along the way.

Here's Will playin' guitar w/ Patterson & Brad from the Drive-By Truckers.

Here's Will playin' drums w/ the Monsters of Folk on Leno!

Alright, NBC shut that video down, but here's a consolation clip.... Gettin' to play with Jim James, M. Ward & Conor Oberst! Pretty good work, if you can get it. I bet the paparazzi is a bitch. But we here at Below the Basement aren't jealous of Will at all. (ed.-we're totally jealous. damn.)

His work with centro-matic is a fuzzed-out affair, with overdriven drums (that still maintain that swing), warm, economically-but-lovingly-recorded guitars, and typically inscrutable lyrics about blood banks and hi-fi jams and imaginary superheroes. South San Gabriel brings on the keys and the violin, and is a slower entity, veering into funereal dirges and southern gothic tunes that sound like they've been coated in cough syrup, but to hypnotizing effect. His solo work has been compared to the likes of Heartbreaker-era Ryan Adams, as well as fellow downbeat & weird troubadour Cass McCombs.

In "The Re-Run Pills", Will takes a relatively straightforward lyrical tack in expressing sadness and regret to a significant other, but not without an undertow of resentment. Whether it's autobiographical, or just good, ol' storytellin' sung from the viewpoint of a made-up character, the narrator seems to take his partner's jabs to heart, apologizing for things that he feels are only problems from her perspective, and he seems to be less than sincere with his pleas for forgiveness. It's ultimately his fault, he knows, but it's still hurtin' his pride to say it, and that makes him mad. Even at his quietest, Will exudes a sort of quiet storm that lends urgency to even his most plaintive songs. His melodic rasp notwithstanding, the way Will phrases his words, and draws out single words into multi-syllable things of wonder ("sound" = "sow-hee-yow-hee-yow-ha-hound-hahhh-ound") turn what could be average songs in lesser hands into whispered masterpieces.

Here's Will performing the song on Glorious Noise:



And here's my cover.

Or you can stream the tune from The Train Wrecks myspace.

This cut was recorded over at the Sound Design building at Savannah College of Art & Design. My good friend Nathan Hager was behind the boards, Eric Dunn on stand-up bass, me on whatever's left. I chose to pick up on the driving feel of the song, even though I've never heard a version of the tune with drums. Ain't no thing without that swing. Hope you enjoy it. It's an iTunes file (somebody fill me in on how to convert .m4a's to .mp3's, please!), so let me know if there's any problems with any of the links on this site, and I'll fix it and'or send ya somethin' fer yr troubles....

I'll be back soon!

Marquez