"I'd Be Lyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyying"

In listening to Greg Laswell's album, I became a little overwhelmed by the production. It was just a little over the top at times. Too clean, if you will. I assumed that, live, the songs would take on a life that isn't really represented on the album. My assumptions were correct.

After a stunning and, I felt, under appreciated performance by the striking Denver musician Ellison Park, Greg Laswell humbly took the stage.

Sitting at keyboard just outside the spot light, Greg placed his hands on the keys, swaying slightly, and began to build a melody. After a few moments, he awoke from his trance, lifted his head, and started his first song. The audience, most of which, it seemed, were there for the evening's headliner (Rachael Yamagata), wasn't too focused on Greg until his slightly scratchy vocals seeped through the speakers, but after a moment on the mic, the bar quieted down, head turned, and Greg was on fire.

Now, fire has many properties. This was no wildfire, but a slow-burning, soft and crackling fire that you light to throw the pictures of an ex-lover into. Only Greg himself knows the depths of what may have been a raging inferno, but the audience that night surely grasped that there was something ablaze in Mr. Laswell.

Songs on the album that were previously bogged down by overproduction showed their true sincerity when the lone Mr. Laswell plucked their strings and sang their words, and songs that I previously assumed perfect on the album gained an entirely new meaning once I heard them yelped and belted out on stage. His voice, dry and tired due to travel and the altitude here in the Mile High, took on a hoarse, coarse quality that only added to the emotions burning inside the spirited Mr. Laswell.

To lighten the mood a little, Greg told funny little anecdotes about his songs, about his night, about the flowers on stage which he took complete credit for (He just wouldn't have accepted going on tour with Rachael if she didn't let him have his flowers on stage). If his music wasn't enough to win a crowd, then his banter was doing it's part to fill in the gap. Quite the charmer, Mr. Laswell.

After only one song anyone who was there for Ms. Yamagata was equally as pleased with Mr. Laswell's performance. Okay, well I guess I can't really make that assumption, but when he left the stage, there were many moans of malcontent. I was a little disappointed not to hear my favorite song on the new album, "I'd Be Lying," and just as he stepped off the stage, I heard a woman to my right yell out the title of the track I'd been missing, which got my hopes up a little and, out of character, I yelled out somehting like "yeah! I'd Be Lying," (I'm not much of a song-asker), but Greg was cooked, and it was not too much of a disappointment that he did not retake the stage. I talked to him after, and he said that the song is a little hard to pull off live, it being in 5/4 and all.

Greg Laswell - I'd Be Lying
Greg Laswell - The One I Love
Greg Laswell - Days Go On

Did you miss him? come to these shows then (He'll be back in May):

Mar 31 2009 8:00P: Crocodile Cafe w/ Rachael Yamagata Seattle, Washington

Apr 2 2009 8:00P: Slim’s w/ Rachael Yamagata San Francisco, California

Apr 4 2009 8:00P: Troubadour w/ Rachael Yamagata Los Angeles, California

Apr 6 2009 8:00P: House of Blues w/ Rachael Yamagata San Diego, California

Apr 21 2009 8:00P: Detroit Bar (w/ Lenka) Costa Mesa, California

Apr 25 2009 10:00P: Hotel Cafe Los Angeles, California

Apr 27 2009 8:00P: Martini Ranch (w/ Lenka) Scottsdale, Arizona

Apr 29 2009 8:00P: The Launch Pad (w/ Lenka) Albuquerque, New Mexico

May 1 2009 8:00P: Urban Lounge (w/ Lenka) Salt Lake City, Utah

May 2 2009 8:00P: Fox Theatre (w/ Lenka) Boulder, Colorado

May 8 2009 8:00P: Canal Room New York, New York

Greg Laswell - Three Flights From Alto Nido
Verdict: Like () +

Like with a few other artists recently, I was initially suspicious of Greg Laswell's sound. It was, at first, a little too on the pop side of the spectrum. As diverse as I like to think my taste is, I'm not much of a Top 40 kind of guy. It all sounds too methodical and soulless. Greg's music, at first, kind of had some similar qualities ... but by the third track I knew that there was so much more to this album than a few pop singles and a bunch of bullshit in between.

(tangent starts here)
My problem with "pop" is that it sounds like it's just going by a formula that has been well established as something that works with the human mind, and when you have a formula, all you have to do is plug yourself in the right way and you're a hit-maker. This is not how the world works, it's hella more complicated than that, but this is what the product sounds like to me, and when that's the case, something has gone terribly wrong. The formulaic songs don't have the life of an innovative song, and, thus, don't interest me. In art, there are a few respectable ways to go about things: traditional and innovative. There are those who like the music they listen to to sound like all the other songs they listen to. Fans of contemporary blues artists, that fit into this category, will probably not look too far back for music, and won't accept things too experimental. For them, the best era of blues is the contemporary stuff. This doesn't just go for blues. The other side of that, the innovative, searches for the songs that do something no one has done, or songs that have experimented in some way. The innovative fan doesn't always get music they like, but every once in a while they discover something that is pure gold, which makes it all the worth while.

I'm on the innovative side, for the most part. Like most continuum's, you can be anywhere on it at any given time. I admit it, sometimes I get in a Metal mood, but mostly I like to skip around. So when I hear something that sounds like it's trying to be like something else that has all ready been established as a working combination (ex: lets say I recognize that The Arcade Fire is just about the biggest band around these days, so I form a 7 piece orchestral indie rock group and write profound songs [okay, they're not Socrates, but just go with me on this one]. If I sounded like the Arcade fire, I would either be a rip off, a tribute, or I would be doing the music in the traditional style, adding no innovation.) I don't like it. Music shouldn't just be that easy. It's like building a plastic statue and calling it gold.
(tangent ends here)

Okay, all that said Greg Laswell's music seems to me to be what pop music a few years from now will look to in order to get it's tips. A few aspects of his music seems a little formulaic (vocal flow, production, song content, instruments, song structure), and, to my ear, whether or not he's using very awkward scales, that doesn't matter when it comes off like a pop song. A few of the tracks, because of this, kind of just bore me. The man has a wonderful voice, and can clearly write a song, but when I'm reminded of 1990's alt. rock, this doesn't speak of innovation.

Now that that's been said, I did, over all, enjoy the album. There are some undeniably beautiful songs, innovative and poppy all at the same time. It really is no surprise to find out that this is not his first album, because it sounds like it's fairly methodically composed, or, if anything, pretty well thought out. One song that stands out above all is I'd Be Lying. Anyone who can write a song in 5/4 and make it an unquestionable pop song is clearly a talented musician. It took me a minute to realize that it was, in fact, in 5/4. Seriously, well done Mr. Laswell. Other songs, such as The One I Love and And Then You have conventional/traditional qualities, but for some reason the damn things are just freaking awesome. I think it's that his voice really is carrying the album, and that, without them, they songs really could just be forgettable incidental music. That seems to be another pop quality that, right now, I'm going to forget about, because, despite my lust for innovation, sometimes it's nice to hear a good, fun song that sooths your spirit, and, for that, Greg Laswell can really deliver.

Greg Laswell - I'd Be Lying
Greg Laswell - The One I Love
Greg Laswell - Days Go On


Greg Laswell will be at the Larimer Lounge tomorrow night with Rachael Yamagata. I'll see you there. I couldn't think of a better tour mate for Greg. gonna be a hellovashow.

Elijah Wood is everywhere

Greg Laswell - How The Day Sounds


aaaaand this weirdness: